Catacomb of Pontian

The Catacomb(s) of Pontian is one of the catacombs of Rome on the Via Portuensis, notable for containing the original tombs of Pope Anastasius I (399–401) and his son Pope Innocent I (401–417).[1] The Catacomb was discovered by famed Italian explorer Antonio Bosio in 1618.[2]

A drawing of the baptistry in the Catacomb of Pontian

Both Anastasius I and Innocent I were traditionally regarded as martyrs, but this is now regarded as dubious, due to the lack of a contemporaneous persecution.[1] In the ninth century, Pope Sergius II moved the bodies of both popes to San Martino ai Monti in an effort to save them from destruction during the Lombard invasion.[1] The catacomb does not contain the tomb of Pope Pontian, who was interred in the Catacomb of Callixtus, nor is it named after him; rather it is named after an unknown third-century Christian martyr.[2]

Other notable remains in the Catacomb include: Saints Abdon and Sennen, martyrs Milix and Vincent, Saint Pollio, Saint Candida, Saint Pigmenius,[2] and Saint Quirinus of Rome. The Catacomb contains a fifth/sixth-century fresco of Saints Marcellinus and Peter along with Saint Pollio, as well as an ancient baptistry containing a painting of the crowning of Abdon and Sennen.[2]