The construction of the catacombs seem to have become an obsession among ancient Christians by the middle of the 3rd Century. Combined with a universal belief in resurrection after death in the same body used during life and the deaths of multitudes of Christian faithful due to especially harsh persecutions from around the year 235 onward, the necessity to keep Christian corpses safe from those who hated them seems to have become the primary function of the ancient Christian Church. And, the best way to secure those bodies was to hide them underground in a labyrinthian network of galleries which would be difficult to discover and dig out once sealed with earth.

A Christian community cemetery dating from the end of the 2nd century A.C. and continuing in use to the end of the 5th century. It consists of a complex of three catacombs, comprising large, low passages with other smaller passages and a burial chamber joining. Passages join the three catacombs together. Niche-like graves (arcosolia) are cut into the sidewalls of the passageways; some of these were family graves. Graves were cut likewise into the floors of the passages. The graves are decorated with plant patterns and symbolic representations.

The existence of these catacombs in Milos shows that Christianity was established very early in the island and that Milos provided a bridge for the transmission of Christianity from Asia through Jewish traders. There was a prosperous Jewish community in Milos based on the trade in Milian minerals.

The catacombs were first explored by the German archaeologist L. Ross in 1844, followed by the French archaeologist Bayet in 1877, G. Lampakes in 1907 and finally in 1927 by G. Soteriou. 

Tag: The Catacombs of Milos