Romeinse Katakomben, Heide quarry, Valkenburg aan de Geul, Limburg, Netherlandsi

Regional Level Types
Romeinse Katakomben	Tourist mine
Heide quarry	Quarry
Valkenburg aan de Geul	Municipality
Limburg	Province
Netherlands	Country

The Romeinse Katakomben ("Roman Catacombs") are an underground tunnel system in Valkenburg in Dutch South Limburg. It is an extremely careful replica of parts of the catacombs in Rome. At the beginning of the 20th century, parts of the most important catacombs in Rome were carved with great precision into the limestone of Valkenburg under the supervision of architect Pierre Cuypers. The entrance to the Roman Catacombs is located on Plenkertstraat near the De Leeuw beer brewery, the flint mines of Valkenburg and Geological monument Groeve Einde Plenkertweg. Above the quarry lies the Polferbos.

The Roman Catacombs are a national monument.

In the sixteenth century, the underground cemeteries of the first Christian community were rediscovered in the soft tuff soil of Rome. Thousands of simple, often anonymous, burial niches have been carved out in extensive corridor systems.

In the fourth century these catacombs gained enormous interest and were increasingly provided with decorations, vaults, stairs, and chapels.

In 1908, Jan Diepen, the son of a wealthy textile manufacturer from Tilburg and living in the Villa Alpha, was impressed by the catacombs in Rome and conceived the plan to recreate the Roman catacombs in Valkenburg in some marl quarries carved out by block crushers. He did this together with his brother Karel Diepen, who went to live in the Villa Rozenheuvel.

Under the leadership of architect Pierre Cuypers, the most beautiful parts of the fourteen most important Roman catacombs were copied in Valkenburg. In addition to the hundreds of graves, sculptures, marble memorial plaques with inscriptions, chapels, wash places, light and air shafts and other examples of subterranean architecture have been carved and constructed. Numerous paintings from the third to the seventh century of early Christian art have also been reproduced in, among other things, portraits of the dead, images of saints, Biblical themes and other decorative decorations.

On July 12, 1910, the first part of the Roman Catacombs was opened to the public. At the time, people entered the catacombs via the entrance building on top of the slope: the Cuypershuisje.

A second section was opened on July 2, 1912.

In 1966, the marble statue of the Roman shepherd Pastor Bonus was stolen by a group of boys. In 2018, the statue was returned to the museum by the family after the perpetrator's death.

The Cuypershuisje was restored in 2012.

In 2014, a series of larger restorations began. In 2014, the Baker's Crypt and the Basilica of Felix and Adauctus were restored. In 2015, the Januarius Crypt was restored.

After a crowdfunding campaign in 2017, the Restoration Atelier Limburg Foundation took over the restoration of the murals in the Capella Greca in 2018.

The entrance building was renovated in 2019.

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeinse_Katakomben_(Valkenburg)
Wikidata ID:	Q2202460

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality