Today’s final Roman adventure took me to the catacombs of the Appian Way. Of course, I stopped at the Trevi Fountain on my way to the catacombs and tossed a coin in the fountain to ensure a return visit.
I grabbed two small croissants and a hot chocolate and sat by the fountain for a while before setting off on my morning adventure. I knew two different buses that would take me to my first stop, and chose the one that went closest to the Catacombs of St. Callixtus. Of course, the bus driver spoke no English and when I thought we might be close, I asked before getting off. “St. Callixtus?”. “Sì, sì,” he said. What he really should have said was, “You need to stay on the bus for two more stops or else risk taking your life in your hands walking along this narrow, ancient street with no sidewalks.” Anyway, I made it. Oh, and if you think taking a bus along the cobblestoned Appian Way sounds fun… well, it sure gives you a good massage!
First up: the Catacombs of St. Callixtus. The catacombs contain three levels and thousands and thousands of tombs. Wealthy families and families of popes and martyrs had their own family rooms, while the poorer were entombed in the walls along the corridors. I took the tour with seven other Americans and a broken English-speaking guide. Along the way we saw the tombs, of course, but also frescoes painted in the 5th century using minerals and vegetables for pigment. We stopped in a small chapel well underground before we came back up, and the gentleman who was guiding the tour suggested that we could pray or sing before we left if we wanted. So here we were on Good Friday, eight Americans singing “Were You There?” in the catacombs of St. Callixtus in Rome. Definitely a memory I won’t soon forget. Sadly, no photos are allowed in the catacombs, so I had to buy a postcard to remember the experience.
The second catacomb I saw, St. Domitilla, was equally impressive and contained more colorful and detailed frescoes. St. Domitilla contains over nine miles of catacombs, though we saw only a small part. The plan was to also visit San Sebastiano, but by that point I was already catacombed out and knew they would all blend together in my mind anyway. I got on the bus back to the Centro Storico and had time for a quick lunch and gelato (at my favorite place – The Gelatist; I even went for three flavors today!) on the way back to my hotel. Then it was off to the airport for the 9 hour trip back to Boston!
Traveling with Laura 