Some of the results of the project have just been published in open access on Histories:
Cecalupo, Chiara. 2026. “Catacomb Rediscoveries in the Central Mediterranean (16th–20th Century): An Overview” Histories 6, no. 1: 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/histories6010022
Full article available here: https://www.mdpi.com/3783860
The article focuses on the rediscovery of catacombs in the central Mediterranean and explores some of this historiographic heritage through different kinds of documents in order to present some interesting results regarding human and cultural connections among Tunisia, Malta and Italy. It presents an overview of the history of the rediscovery of the catacombs without focusing on the details of individual explorers or events but rather by identifying some key points that reveal a trend among scientific research, antiquarianism and confessionalism. These points are crucial elements in defining a broad international and interdisciplinary phenomenon, one that goes way beyond the rediscovery of every single catacomb. This article begins with an archaeological point of view to explain what was a catacomb between the 2nd and the 7th centuries and then offers a brief history of catacomb exploration through the centuries, from the late 16th to the early 20th century. The central part of the text is dedicated to the development of the main pillars that identify the process of catacomb rediscovery: the political frame, cultural circulation and the movement of people.
Catacombs rediscovery 