place · L0332

Villa Torlonia Catacombs קטקומבות היהודים בווילה טורלוניה

Two interconnected Jewish catacombs on two levels beneath the grounds of the Villa Torlonia on the Via Nomentana — found by chance in 1919 and immediately recognized as Jewish by the density of painted menorot. More than 13,000 square meters of galleries hold some 4,100 tombs and over a hundred inscriptions in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew; the frescoed chambers of the upper catacomb include the celebrated painting of an open Torah shrine flanked by two menorot, with shofar, lulav, and etrog — among the earliest surviving depictions of Jewish ritual objects in any funerary setting. The complex is not currently open to the public.

The painted arcosolium of the Villa Torlonia catacombs — an open Torah shrine with scrolls visible inside, flanked by two large menorot, with etrog, shofar, and oil flask, over a band of floral ornament. — Photo: Michael Tour Guide, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

I. Who

Hebrew: קטקומבות היהודים בווילה טורלוניה
Also known as: Jewish catacombs of the Villa Torlonia, Via Nomentana Jewish catacombs

III. Where

Modern location: Beneath the Villa Torlonia grounds, Via Nomentana, Rome, Italy

V. How do we know

Claim	Evidence	Confidence	Sources
The catacombs were discovered by chance in 1919 beneath what were then the stables of the Villa Torlonia, explored to 1930, and re-excavated by Umberto M. Fasola in 1973–74, who showed that two originally separate catacombs on different levels had grown together. The complex extends over more than 13,000 square meters with roughly 4,100 tombs and over 100 epitaphs in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. It remains in situ and closed to the public, with conservation and reopening plans long under discussion.	archaeology	★★★★★	Villa Torlonia Catacombs U. M. Fasola, 'Le due catacombe ebraiche di Villa Torlonia,' Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana 52 (1976), 7–62 Italy: Villa Torlonia catacombs (Jewish Heritage Europe)
The frescoed arcosolia of the upper catacomb, dated to about 320–340 CE, carry the most famous images of the complex: an open Torah shrine with its scrolls visible, flanked by two large seven-branched menorot, with shofar, lulav, etrog, and an oil flask around it. These are among the earliest surviving paintings of Jewish ritual objects anywhere, and the shrine composition closely parallels the Torah-ark panels of later Land-of-Israel synagogue mosaics — the same visual language of the arba minim and the menorah that Vayikra's festival commands placed at the center of Jewish observance. The biblical link is iconographic: the fresco depicts the ritual objects of the Torah's festival commands, not an event.	archaeology biblical	★★★★☆	Villa Torlonia Catacombs — the Torah shrine and menorah frescoes Vayikra 23:40 (the four species taken on Sukkot, depicted beside the shrine)
The catacombs' period of use runs from about the second or third century CE through the fourth, the lower catacomb being the older; radiocarbon work on the Torlonia galleries has suggested that Jewish catacomb burial in Rome may predate the Christian catacombs. The identification of the complex as Jewish is beyond doubt — menorot are painted and scratched throughout — making it the most unambiguously Jewish of Rome's burial complexes.	archaeology	★★★★☆	Villa Torlonia Catacombs — dating Catacombs of Villa Torlonia (Visit Jewish Italy)

Referenced by: Jewish Inscriptions of Rome (JIWE II)