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1. Austria – Catacombs of St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna
2. Czech Republic – Catacombs of Znojmo
3. Egypt – Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa (or Kom al Sukkfa, Shuqafa, etc.) in Alexandria
4. England – Catacombs of London and others
5. Finland – Catacombs of the Helsinki Orthodox cemetery at Hietaniemi cemetery
6. France – Catacombs of Paris. Mine workings were used at end of the 18th century and had no religious purpose other than as an ossuary for storing the bones of cleared graveyards.
7. Ukraine – Odessa Catacombs
8. Italy – Catacombs of Rome; Catacombs of Naples; Capuchin catacombs of Palermo and others
9. Malta – Rabat Catacombs
10. Peru – Catacombs of the Convento de San Francisco, Lima
11. Spain – Catacombs of Sacromonte in Granada
12. United States – Indianapolis Catacombs
13. Salina Catacombs, Naxxar, Malta
14. St. Peter's Cemetery, Salzburg, Austria
Catacombs are human-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Many are under cities and have been popularized by stories of their use as war refuges, smugglers' hideouts, or meeting places for cults.
The first place to be referred to as catacombs was the system of underground tombs between the 2nd and 3rd milestones of the Appian Way in Rome, where the bodies of the apostles Peter and Paul, among others, were said to have been buried. The name of that place in late Latin was catacumbae, a word of obscure origin, possibly deriving from a proper name, or else a corruption of the Latin phrase cata tumbas, "among the tombs". The word referred originally only to the Roman catacombs, but was extended by 1836 to refer to any subterranean receptacle of the dead, as in the 18th-century Paris catacombs.
Catacombs, although most notable as underground passageways and cemeteries, also house many decorations. There are thousands of decorations in the centuries-old catacombs of Rome, Paris, and other known and unknown catacombs, some of which include inscriptions, paintings, statues, ornaments, and other items placed in the graves over the years. Most of these decorations were used to identify, immortalize and show respect to the dead.
Although thousands of inscriptions were lost as time passed, many of those remaining indicate the social rank or job title of its inhabitants; however, most of the inscriptions simply indicate how loving a couple was, or the love of parents and such.
In recent years unique strains of bacteria have been discovered that thrive in catacombs, inducing mineral efflorescence and decay. These include Kribbella sancticallisti, Kribbella catacumbae, and three types of non-thermophilic (low-temperature) Rubrobacter.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs
