Built in the first half of the 1st century AD, these two independent tombs, which originally had a north-facing entrance (A), are identical in their layout. Both had an unroofed vestibule (B) and a roofed funerary chamber (C) with niches for the cinerary urns along the walls. Funerary banquets could be held on the terrace roofs, accessible along a staircase. In a space created between the two tombs was the ustrinum (D), the area where the bodies of the deceased were cremated; in the 2nd century AD, it was occupied by an inhumation burial.
Reconstruction drawing of the façade of a necropolis at Ostia
(A. Pascolini)
Plan and sections of the Colombari Gemelli
Reconstruction of the niches with cinerary urns inside
General view of the colombaria of the Porto Necropolis, Isola Sacra
View of the outer enclosure of colombarium no. 32 of the Via Laurentina Necropolis