DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0195
chap, iv.] ROCK-HEWN CHURCH. 93
" Here stay thy step ; the place is sacred to God, to the
Virgin, to the repose of the departed. Pray or pass
on." We did neither, but entered, and found ourselves,
not in an Etruscan sepulchre, but in a Christian church—
a church in the heart of the rock, with three aisles,
separated by square pillars left in the tufo in which the
temple is excavated, and lighted by windows, also cut in
the rock which forms one of the walls. It is small, low,
and gloomy, but interesting on account of its singularity
and antiquity, being believed by the Sutrini to have been
formed by the early Christians, at a time when their
worship was proscribed within the town. That it is of
early date cannot be doubted ; the walls of the vestibule
and the ceiling of the church retain traces of frescoes of
the thirteenth or fourteenth century. On the ceiling were
St. John the Baptist and St. Michael; their faces cut from
the rock in relief. The altar-piece was an old fresco of
the Madonna and Child, which was under repair by a
young artist of Sutri. This gentleman courteously pointed
out to us the curiosities of the church. He took us into
an adjoining cave, which served as a sacristy, and showed
us a door which, he said, led to catacombs, supposed to
communicate with those of Rome, Nepi, and Ostia, and
where the early Christians were wont to take refuge from
Imperial persecution, hold their religious worship, and
bury their dead. There are many wild legends connected
with these mysterious subterranean passages ; the truth is
that, though their extent has been greatly exaggerated,
they are very intricate, and it is not difficult to lose
oneself therein. On this account the Sutrini have blocked
up the door leading to their subterranean wonders.
Finding we were strangers, and had not yet seen
the lions of Sutri, the young artist threw down his
brush and palette, and insisted politely on doing
" Here stay thy step ; the place is sacred to God, to the
Virgin, to the repose of the departed. Pray or pass
on." We did neither, but entered, and found ourselves,
not in an Etruscan sepulchre, but in a Christian church—
a church in the heart of the rock, with three aisles,
separated by square pillars left in the tufo in which the
temple is excavated, and lighted by windows, also cut in
the rock which forms one of the walls. It is small, low,
and gloomy, but interesting on account of its singularity
and antiquity, being believed by the Sutrini to have been
formed by the early Christians, at a time when their
worship was proscribed within the town. That it is of
early date cannot be doubted ; the walls of the vestibule
and the ceiling of the church retain traces of frescoes of
the thirteenth or fourteenth century. On the ceiling were
St. John the Baptist and St. Michael; their faces cut from
the rock in relief. The altar-piece was an old fresco of
the Madonna and Child, which was under repair by a
young artist of Sutri. This gentleman courteously pointed
out to us the curiosities of the church. He took us into
an adjoining cave, which served as a sacristy, and showed
us a door which, he said, led to catacombs, supposed to
communicate with those of Rome, Nepi, and Ostia, and
where the early Christians were wont to take refuge from
Imperial persecution, hold their religious worship, and
bury their dead. There are many wild legends connected
with these mysterious subterranean passages ; the truth is
that, though their extent has been greatly exaggerated,
they are very intricate, and it is not difficult to lose
oneself therein. On this account the Sutrini have blocked
up the door leading to their subterranean wonders.
Finding we were strangers, and had not yet seen
the lions of Sutri, the young artist threw down his
brush and palette, and insisted politely on doing