Catacombs of Sant’Eutizio

The catacombs, located in nearby Sant’Eutizio, part of Soriano nel Cimino, are testimony to the martyrdom linked to the spread of Christianity. Eutizio was born in Ferento in 1200, and after his priesthood was sent to Soriano, where he settled on a farm 5 km away, a place that today bears his name. Here he dug some caves in the pozzolan under a high tuff rock, to do the work of his apostolate. However, under Diocletian’s persecution he was arrested and sentenced to death. Some priests and Christians, however, managed to steal his remains and bring them back to his caves, where they buried him.
So many were the miracles of the Martyr that his tomb soon became a pilgrimage destination, and many Christians also began to express the desire to be buried near the saint’s remains. In the caves today, it is possible to admire numerous frescoes depicting the saint, or Christian figures, and some sarcophagi containing human bones. Part of the cave is used to collect the “waters of St Eutizio”, in a basin that receives the drops from the vault above. Many believers have testified to having experienced miraculous effects after drinking the water.