Hypogeum

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Hypogeum Ipogeo De Beaumont Bonelli Bellacicco in Taranto
Hypogeum Torre Pinta in Otranto

A Hypogäum (lat. Hypogeum , gr. Hypógeion , of hypo "under" and Ge "earth", "the underground lying") is an underground, a vault -provided tomb .

The term is mainly used for pagan facilities as a demarcation from the Christian catacombs . On the other hand, there is a Bronze Age culture called the catacomb tomb culture . In specialist literature, the term is also used in the Christian context. The time span extends from the Stone Age to the Roman Age.

For example, the famous Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni on Malta and the Brochtorff Circle near the Ġgantija near Xagħra on Gozo date from the Neolithic Age .

The influence of the Greco-Roman death or hero cult in connection with the hypogea on Christian tombs and basilicas is discussed in the professional world. For example, there are similarities between the hypogeum of Theodoric I in Ravenna and the Christian martyrs' graves and chapels in Syria . The frescoed hypogeum of the three Palmyra brothers is remarkable . This comes from Byzantine times.

More recent examples are the hypogeum at the Silivri-Kapi in Istanbul and the hypogeum flaviorum . Hypogea from Roman times from the northern Italian and Apulian areas are for example the hypogea of ​​Trinitapoli and the hypogea of Torre Pinta near Otranto . A number of hypogea of ​​Roman burial grounds are known in Germany. A prominent example is the so-called Roman grave in Cologne-Weiden .

While the term hypogeum in Greek still stands for “cellar” to this day, in other languages ​​it refers to any underground facility under an ancient building. The hypogeum of the Colosseum in Rome was known. There it was a question of a branching, complicated system of corridors, trap doors and pulleys, through which gladiators or wild animals could be brought into the arena relatively suddenly and to the surprise of the audience through an opening trap door.

As hypogea is also called underground fungi with bulbous fruiting bodies, eg. B. truffles .

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