The Christian catacombs of the Appian Way

Rome's Via Appia Antica is lined by

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The spooky halls of teh Catacomb San Calissto in Rome, Italy.

Spooky halls of shelf-like graves line the Catacomb San Callisto in Rome, Italy.

Burials were forbidden within the city walls of ancient Rome as early as the 5th century BC. The Romans—pagan and, later, Christian, began a habit of burying their dead along and around the Via Appia Antica, the Ancient Appian Way, one of the major consular roads connecting Rome with the Adriatic seaports of the south.

Though most patrician Romans built their tombs aboveground, the early Christians hewed miles of tunnels—or catacombs—out of the soft tufa stone beneath the surface to bury their dead and, during the worst times of persecution, hold church services discreetly out of the public eye.

The Best Catacombs
San Callisto - The most crowded, but most impressive.
San Domitilla - Small but with intimate tours; my favorite.
San Sebastiano - The largest, but least rewarding.

A few of the catacombs are now open to the general public (see sidebar), so you can wander through mile after mile of musty-smelling tunnels whose soft walls are gouged out with tens of thousands of burial niches—long shelves made for two or three each.

The requisite guided tours, hosted mainly by priests or monks, feature a smidgen of extremely biased history and a large helping of sermonizing.

For directions on how to get to the catacombs, see the main Appian Way page.

Tips

Planning your day: Even if you're just riding a bus out here to explore one set of catacombs, figure on it taking half the day. If you want to see all of the catacombs plus the tomb and other sights, give it a full day—and have lunch at Hostaria L'Arcehologia.
Book a tour: If you prefer a private guided tour that visit to one of the catacombs, book one via our partner site Viator.com.

     • Catacombs and Roman Countryside Half-Day Walking Tour
     • Skip the Line: Crypts and Roman Catacombs Small Group Walking Tour (visits catacomb of S. Domitilla)
     • Christian Rome Afternoon Tour (visits one of the three catacombs, based on seasonal availability)
Pick your day wisely: Although each of the three major catacombs keeps the same open hours (9am–noon and 2–5pm) and charges the same admission (€8 each), they all close on a different day of the week: Tuesday for San Domitilla, Wednesday for San Callisto, and Sunday for San Sebastiano. So if you are gung-ho about it and want to hit all three, make sure you visit on a day when all three are open. (This, actually, is quite wise of them; that way, no matter which day you visit, at last two will be open.)

The major catacombs: San Callisto, San Domitilla, San Sebastiano
Other Appian Way sights: Domine, Quo Vadis, Tomb of Ceclia Metella
More sights outside the walls
More ancient sights and ruins in Rome
Churches in Rome

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The Christian catacombs of the Appian Way

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