By Elisa Black-Taylor
The Roman Cat and the Lost Catacomb sounds like the title to an adventure film, much in the tradition of Indiana Jones. This is the true story of a stray cat in Rome who discovered a 2000 year old catacomb in Rome last week.
The adventure began around 10 p.m. on October 16 when Mirko Curti and a friend were chasing a stray cat away from his apartment complex in the Via di Pietralata neighborhood. This area is full of tufa rock cliffs as well as grottos, which the cat slipped into. The two men decided to follow the stray cat inside.
The men slipped into one of the cliff openings and followed the cat’s meow Inside where they discovered Roman niches dug into the rocks, as well as human bones on the floor. The niches were typically used by the Romans to store ashes in funeral urns.
Archaeologists date the catacomb between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. It’s believed that heavy rains in the Via di Pietralata area a few weeks ago loosened the tufa rock, making the entrance visible.
Many of the cliffs in this area have been heavily quarried over the years. Archaeologists believe the soft tufa rock collapsed, causing the human bones to fall into the funeral urn area of the catacomb.
This isn’t the first big discovery in Rome in recent years. Romans aren’t as thrilled with new archaeological discoveries as those of us who live in newer countries. They live on top of ancient ruins, and many times the excavation of new discoveries interferes with their daily routine. An ancient Roman road was recently discovered in the parking lot of an Ikea store outside of Rome. The city’s rugby stadium also has excavations going on nearby. A concert hall in Rome is built around an unearthed Roman villa.
Valentina Stefano from the Italian Confederation of Archaeologists recently told The Telegraph (UK):
“The Italian government is always talking about the importance of our culture and heritage, but the fact is they have been cutting funds for the sector.”
I would imagine the confederation is thankful the cat found the catacombs without charging a fee. I wonder if anyone will take the stray cat into their home for discovering this important historical site?
Curti has called this “the most incredible experience” of his life.
Comments anyone? I do have a comment myself. I wonder why the two men went to the trouble of following the cat they were trying to chase off? Ten o’clock at night seems a strange hour to go on a foot chase after a cat. People chasing cats make me nervous. Just saying…
Elisa, I read your description of what you guys call Caesar’s A-hole to my husband and he burst out laughing. He said, “They sound like our kind of people,” meaning your sense of humor is as twisted as ours.
Its a sheer rock cliff on the other side of Caesars Head. I don’t think I made any photos of it. Its a more dangerous pull-off on a mountain road where the actual park has visitor parking and a gift shop.
Elisa
Your link showed Caesar’s Head State Park– so what’s Caeser’s A-hole? And why is something in the eastern US named for Caesar? Love the mountains– they make the bluffs around here look like nothing. That would be a great place to explore.
Hope this will copy for you of Caesars Head.
Its 2 miles before you reach The head. Near Brevard NC and also near Tablerock. You can see a couple of vehicles at the bottom of it where people pushed them off a cliff. And there’s also the Devils Kitchen at Caesars Head. Scared the crap out of me going down it. I don’t like stairs leading down a mountain. Archie drug me down them anyway. And Clemson University uses Stumphouse Tunnel to make cheese. We used to go hiking in that area. There’s a lot of caves but I’m too afraid of snakes to explore them.
Elisa,
Jeff and I still want to get out to see you and Laura and all your cats one of these years when we have both money and time to do it. I’m bursting with curiosity now. Caesar’s A-hole? I’ve got to know what that’s all about!
Ruth