Between 1910 and 1912, a large complex reproducing the catacombs was built in Valkenburg, on the initiative and at the expense of the textile magnate Jan Diepen (1872-1930), in collaboration with the architect Pierre Cuypers. Jan Diepen and Pierre Cuypers went to visit the catacombs of Rome for research and preparation. In Rome they made contact with the Vatican authorities, with the idea of reproducing a catacomb inside a hill on land owned by Diepen. The Commission of Sacred Archeology gave its approval and allowed on-site investigations and measurements. The inspiration for the paintings came from Joseph Wilpert's 'Die Malereien der Katakomben Roms‘.

Cuypers was head of the committee of advisors including archaeologist and Redemptorist Father Leo Hagen. He created underground corridors, rooms, niches and burial chambers in two phases: the so-called Callist group and then the second group, the so-called Domitilla group. In 1910 the Museum of the Roman Catacombs opened to the public.

The site consisted of more than sixty copies of areas of the catacombs of Rome in an underground series of galleries. Most of the places reproduced are those of Callistus, Domitilla, Priscilla. Various catacombs were cited and mixed together and were to be perceived as a single place. The crypt of Cecilia was intended to be the spiritual heart of the catacombs. Famous visitors were asked to sign on the walls to reproduce the practice of modern-day visitor signatures typical of Roman catacombs. 

Jan Diepen was interested in recreating an experience of mysterious atmosphere, but also had some scientific interests. In 1913, the Catacombs Foundation Valkenburg was founded to promote Christian archaeology as a study centre for research. It also wanted to present the public with evidence of the Christian communities and early-Christian faith. The complex was intended as an 'apologetic book' and a 'spectacle of the faith of the early Christians'.