Editing Crypt (section)

==Development==
[[File:Pori crypt 2.jpg|thumb|The 17th century crypt found in 1911 in the city of [[Pori]], Finland]]
First known in the early Christian period, in particular North Africa at [[Chlef]] and [[Djemila]] in [[Algeria]], and [[Byzantium]] at [[Monastery of Stoudios|Saint John Studio]] in [[Constantinople]] where Christian churches have been built over [[Mithraeum|mithraea]], the mithraeum has often been adapted to serve as a crypt.

The famous crypt at [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]], Rome, developed about the year 600, as a means of affording [[pilgrim]]s a view of [[Saint Peter]]'s tomb, which lay according to the Roman fashion, directly below the [[high altar]]. The [[tomb]] was made accessible through an underground passageway beneath the [[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.<ref>Apollonj Ghetti, ''et al.'' eds. ''Esplorazioni sotto la confessione di San Pietro. Eseguite negli anni 1940-1949'' (Città del Vaticano, 1951) 1:173-93, noted in Werner Jacobsen, "Saints' Tombs in Frankish Church Architecture" ''Speculum'' '''72'''.4 (October 1997:1107-1143) p. 1134 note 70.</ref>

The [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] crypt (the Crypt of San Antolín) in [[Palencia Cathedral]] (Spain), was built during the reign of [[Wamba (king)|Wamba]] to preserve the remains of the martyr [[Antoninus of Pamiers|Saint 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rutasconhistoria.es/loc/cripta-visigoda-de-san-antolin|title=Cripta visigoda de San Antolín|last=Salvador Conejo|first=Diego|website=Rutas con historia|access-date=April 19, 2020}}</ref>

Crypts were introduced into [[Franks|Frankish]] church building in the mid-8th century, as a feature of its Romanization. Their popularity then spread more widely in western Europe under [[Charlemagne]]. Examples from this period are most common in the early medieval West, for example in [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundy]] at [[Dijon]] and [[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 architecture|Gothic]] period crypts were rarely built, however [[Burial vault (tomb)|burial vaults]] continued to be constructed beneath churches and referred to as crypts.