Of the Catacombs of Nicomedes in Rome not much is known, not even the exact location where the saint was buried. The site can only be visited through intervention of a special papal office.
Nicomedes Catacombs Rome
Address, opening hours and admission
Address: Via dei Villini, 32 – Rome. District: Nomentano. Public transport: Bus 60. Opening hours and admission: The site cannot be visited, except through (rarely granted) permission from the Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra. Italian name: Catacombe di Nicomede.
History and description
The Catacombs of Nicomedes were probably constructed at the site of a former entrance to Rome’s water system. According to an inscription on one of the walls they must have already existed in the year 388. These Catacombs were only discovered in the last century.
Unfortunately a number of hallways of Nicomedes’ Catacombs were destroyed during the construction of a pozzolana ( a kind of cement) mine.
Little is known about Saint Nicomede himself. He is thought to have been a Presbyterian who was martyred, killed and thrown into the Tiber. A clergyman got him out of the river and made sure that he was buried along the Via Nomentana. (A Presbytarian was a kind of bishop and the word does not refer to the present Presbytarian church.)
A clergyman then got him out of the river and buried him along the Via Nomentana.
In the 7th and 8th centuries several manuscripts mention a basilica dedicated to Nicodemes, but traces of it have never been found.
After the construction of the building housing the Ministero dei Trasporti more or less on top of these catacombs, tourists have not been allowed to visit them.