Ipogeo dei Cristallini, Naples

Ipogeo dei Cristallini is an underground funerary complex in Naples, made up of Hellenistic tombs. The chambers were created between the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC, then disappeared beneath flood-borne earth reaching about 15 metres in depth. In 1889, Giovanni di Donato uncovered a tomb while digging in his palace garden; archaeological work through 1896 revealed four underground tombs, which opened to visitors in June 2022 after restoration.

Each has an upper room for funeral offerings and a lower burial chamber, linked by a stairway. The best-preserved is tomb C: its lower room has a barrel vault, a Medusa relief, and painted images of funeral objects, including a jug, candlesticks, and a hanging patera showing Dionysus and Ariadne. Painted couches and laurel wreaths complete this vivid subterranean setting.