From the Basilica of St. Mary of Sanità one can reach the catacombs of the African S. Gaudioso, who arrived in Naples in A.D. 439, because of the persecution of the Arian King of the Vandals, Geiseric.
The translation of the relics of St. Gaudioso to the city (IX Century) caused the abandonment of the place until XVI Century, when an image of the Madonna and Child dating back to V-VI Century, was rediscovered. The image, which is the oldest of Naples, is currently in the Basilica.
A distinguishing element is the burial of the dead skulls recessed into the walls of the ambulatory and the opening of a newer area below the catacombs, for the realization of so-called "seditoi", or "gutters", seats carved into the tufa on which the dead were laid to dry before being placed in an common ossuary or a private grave.
On either side of the ambulatory open cubicles with valuable paintings arcosolia containing Christian symbols like the lamb, the peacock and grapes (V Century).
