# CRYPTO

By [3miy-crypto.eth](https://paragraph.com/@3miy-crypto) · 2023-03-01

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A **crypt** (from [Latin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin) [_crypta_](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crypta#Latin) "[vault](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burial_vault_\(tomb\))") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains [coffins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin), [sarcophagi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcophagus), or [religious relics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relic).

Originally, crypts were typically found below the main [apse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apse) of a church, such as at the [Abbey of Saint-Germain en Auxerre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_of_Saint-Germain_en_Auxerre), but were later located beneath [chancel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancel), [naves](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nave) and [transepts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transept) as well. Occasionally churches were raised high to accommodate a crypt at the ground level, such as [St Michael's Church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael%27s_Church,_Hildesheim) in [Hildesheim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildesheim), [Germany](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany).

Etymology
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The word "Crypt" developed as an alternative form of the [Latin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin) "vault" as it was carried over into [Late Latin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Latin), and came to refer to the ritual rooms found underneath church buildings. It also served as a [vault](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_vault) for storing important and/or sacred items.

The word "Crypta", however, is also the female form of _crypto_ "hidden". The earliest known origin of both is in the [Ancient Greek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek) [_κρύπτω_](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%BA%CF%81%CF%8D%CF%80%CF%84%CF%89#Ancient_Greek) (krupto/krypto), the first person singular indicative of the verb "to conceal, to hide".

Development
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The 17th century crypt found in 1911 in the city of [Pori, Finland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pori,_Finland).

First known in the early Christian period, in particular North Africa at [Chlef](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlef) and [Djemila](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djemila) in [Algeria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeria), and [Byzantium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantium) at [Saint John Studio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery_of_Stoudios) in [Constantinople](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantinople) where Christian churches have been built over [mithraea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithraeum), the mithraeum has often been adapted to serve as a crypt.

The famous crypt at [Old St. Peter's Basilica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_St._Peter%27s_Basilica), Rome, developed about the year 600, as a means of affording [pilgrims](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrim) a view of [Saint Peter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Peter)'s tomb, which lay according to the Roman fashion, directly below the [high altar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_altar). The [tomb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb) was made accessible through an underground passageway beneath the [sanctuary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary) from where pilgrims could enter at one stair, pass by the tomb and exit without interrupting the clerical community's service at the altar directly above.[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypt#cite_note-1)

The [Visigothic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visigoths) crypt (the Crypt of San Antolín) in [Palencia Cathedral](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palencia_Cathedral) (Spain), was built during the reign of [Wamba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wamba_\(king\)) to preserve the remains of the martyr [Saint Antoninus of Pamiers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoninus_of_Pamiers), a Visigothic-Gallic nobleman brought from Narbonne to Visigothic Hispania in 672 or 673 by Wamba himself. These are the only remains of the Visigothic cathedral of Palencia.[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypt#cite_note-2)

Crypts were introduced into [Frankish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franks) church building in the mid-8th century, as a feature of its Romanization. Their popularity then spread more widely in western Europe under [Charlemagne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne). Examples from this period are most common in the early medieval West, for example in [Burgundy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgundy_\(region\)) at [Dijon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dijon) and [Tournus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tournus).

After the 10th century, the early medieval requirements of a crypt faded, as church officials permitted relics to be held in the main level of the church. By the [Gothic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_architecture) period crypts were rarely built, however [burial vaults](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burial_vault_\(tomb\)) continued to be constructed beneath churches and referred to as crypts.

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*Originally published on [3miy-crypto.eth](https://paragraph.com/@3miy-crypto/crypto)*