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General plan of the Catacombs of Syracuse, called the Grottos of St. John. It is difficult to assign a true reason for these immence excavations, nevertheless their form is more regualr than those of the Roman Catacombs: the arrangement of the galleries, the proportion and happy distribution of the ensemble and details, all appear to indicate that from their origin these excavations were expressly destined for the sepulture of a numerous population; and it appears equally evident, that they passed successively from the Pagans to the Christians.
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Plan of one of the circular halls seen in the above Catacomb.
Section of the same hall. Some of these halls may be remarked on the plan, which, from its extent and general size, and height of the galleries, the order and arrangemnt of the cavities for sepulture, gives the idea of a work executed with design and leisure, and with means very different from those at command in producing the Catacombs of Rome.
Seroux
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