Rome Pt 4 - Catacombs of Rome (3 Aug - 10 Aug)

After the Vatican tour we spent the rest of the day recovering in our apartment (despite the heat).  The next day we had another tour booked, this one was to the Catacombs and underground crypts of Rome.

We were picked up at 9am by our driver and tour guide (Deano and Antonella) outside the apartment and we headed to our first stop - the Catacombe of San Callisto.  As we were getting into the car, Antonella asked how much of Rome we'd seen and we had to reply that we hadn't seen much due to the heat.  So she tailored the tour, stopping at the Circus Maximus so we could take some photos.

 The Circus Maximus is an ancient chariot racing course just behind the Forum and Colesseumay the base of Paletine Hill.   It is 621m long, 118m wide and could hold 150,000 spectators.

Circus Maximus

Palace ruins on Palatine Hill

One of Rome's many fountains - the water came out of the faucet, but if you blocked the hole it came out the top like a drinking fountain. The water was nice and cold and tasty

Closer shot of the ruins, thje rocket thing is not an original.. not sure what that is actually..

Us in front of the Circus Maximus

Our next spot was an interesting little side-trip to the Knights of Malta Gate.  The building was the Villa del Priorato di Malta, the Villa of the Knights of Malta, otherwise known the Knights of St. John Hospitaler, one of the few remaining Knight orders from the Crusades.

That in itself was pretty cool, but the best part was the view, through a peephole designed in 1765.  Antonella didn't tell us what to expect, so I was thinking we might see a nice garden at best, or some nude old knights skinny dipping in a pool at worst...

Heading to the door

The door with the peephole (lower right)

This shot of the view is impressive, but it was too bright to capture the main thing..

You can see the Dome of Saint Peter's Basilica in the arch at the end.  We couldn't capture it on photo, but there's a cool picture and some info on this site)

We also spotted some interesting things on our drive to the Catacombs:

Altar Della Patricia - More on this one later

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs

Quirinal Hill

Unfortunately the Catacombs had a "No photos" policy, but there were some interesting stories - not least of all, the origin of the word catacomb.

Arriving at the Catacombe

The Catacombs are named after Pope Calixtus I and are also referred to as the Catacomb of Callixtus.

In the first century (40-100AD) most Christians were buried in public cemetaries, but some of the richer folk had their own private tombs.  In the middle of the second century some of these tombs were opened up for other members of the faith - either those rich and who could pay, or otherwise charitable cases such as children or the homeless.

By the third century the catacombs were under the posession of the church and donations were made to upkeep them.  After Nero, when the persecution of the Christians was halted (313), the catacombs were visited and expanded.  The catacombs were ceased after the Sack of Rome in 410 and the tombs were treated as shrines.  The situation with the sacking of Rome became worse and the Pope was no longer able to gaurentee the safety of the martyrs and relics buried in the tombs so they were bought into the city and the tombs were abandoned.

The were discovered again in the 1600s and extensively damaged by looters looking for holy relics or valuable items to sell.

Buried in this catacomb were sixteen popes and fifty martyrs over 15 hectares.  Most (9) of the Popes were buried in a single chamber that became known as the Papal Tomb or Crypt of the Popes.

The buried Popes were (years in brackets are the years they served as Pope)
Anicetus (155-166)
Soter (166-174/175)
Zephyrinus (199-217)
Urban I (222/223-230)
Pontian (230-235)
Anterus (235-236)
Fabian (236-250)
Lucius I (253-254)
Sixtus II (257- 258)
Dionysius (259-268)
Felix I (269-274)
Eutychian (275-283)
Caius (283-296)

Eusebius (309-310)
Miltiades (311-314), and
Damasus I (366-384)

Also buried in the tomb were many martyrs and saints, such as Saint Cecilia and St Tarcisius (an altar boy who was killed for bringing the sacrement to Christians).

Most burial sites were known as necropolis (place of the dead), but the Christians believed in reincarnation so they prefered coemeterium (place of rest).  The word catacomb was used to describe a specific location - a place by Via Appia (The Appian way).  It literally translated the "Place by the hollow", referring to an old quarry.  So people would say that their relatived were buried 'ad catacumbas'.  Eventually the word expanded to mean any underground Christian cemetary.

Since we couldn't take photos, here the picture from the guide book of the burial niches

You can see from the picture that there are many levels of niches.  Initially the tunnel would be quite shallow and people would be buried in niches at that level.  When the niches filled, the floor was lowered and a second level of niches was made and so on.  So the top most niches were the oldest.

Heading out of the catacombs, we headed to the Appia Antica - The old Appian Way road.  This was a road that, in Roman times, lead between Rome and Brindisi-  It was built in 312BC and used to march troops to keep the area secure and to fight wars and expand.

We were able to walk on an original segement of the road, one that the ancient Romans would have walked on over 2000 years ago.

This road is also famous because the army of the rebelling slave Sparticus (73BC) was crucified along this road, covered in tar and set on fire.  6000 slaves were killed along the 200km stretch from Rome to Capua.

Apppia Antica

Walking on the road

Appian Way

The stones still show ruts from the wagon wheels

Next stop was the Il Convenro Cappuchini, the Convent of the Capuchin monks.

The site consisted of a museum to the Capuchin monks and then a crypt with some interesting artwork.  Again, no photos allowed.

Capuchin Crypt

The crypts contained a variety of different art scences that told a story, however they were all made of the bones of friars who had died between 1528 and 1870.

The first room was the Crypt of Resurrection, with a picture of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, framed by human bones.

Second was a Mass Chapel - with no decorations for celebrating mass

Third was the Crypt of Skulls,
Fourth was Crypt of Pelvises
Fifth was Crypt of Leg and Thigh bones, and
Sixth and final was Crypt of Three Skeletons.

It was hard to find an exact history, but it seems that the monks were running out of burial space so exhumed the older skeletons to replace with newer bodies.  They gathered a large pile of remains and in the 1700s a monk asked to arrange them in a better manner to tell a story.

Since there were no photos, again I have some pics from the guide book:

Crypt of Three Skeletons - Symbolising judgement of the dead with the motto "What you are now we used to be; what we are now you will be."

Hall of Skulls

Hall of pelvises

Our final scheduled stop was the Basilica of St Clement, a good view into what is called the Rome Lasagna.  Most of Rome is built upon older Rome, which in turn is built upon older Rome.  Houses are filled with bricks and rubble and new houses built upon them.  The Basilica of St Clement is an amazing example - it is a 12th century church built on the ruins of a  329AD chuch, built on the ruins of a first century mint and cult house for the cult of Mithras.

Again there were no photos allowed.

The church itself was built in 1129 by Cadinal Anastsasius and was pretty cool, but not as impressive as some of the others we had seen.  We headed down a flight of stairs to the 4th century archeological dig.  This site was discovered filled with rubble and dirt and was excavated and is now open for tourists.

Below this was another level was the ruins of a building that was possibly destroyed in the fire of 64.  It is thought to have been a mint and then later a sactuary for the cult of Mithras - A religion practiced in Rome from 1st to 4th century.  Unfortunately we dont have any photos due to the restriction on photography.


Our tour was due to end here, but Antonella wanted to show us the Pantheon, one of the most famous (and most impressive buildings in Rome).

The Pantheon was built in 118-128AD as a Temple for Every God (the literal translation).  It has a large dome with a hole in the centre - as they hadn't worked out how to do a complete dome at this point.

It is one of the best preserved ancient buildings in Rome as it has been in constant use.

The side of the Pantheon

Fontana Del Pantheon

Front of the Pantheon

 The text reads "M[arcus] Agrippa L[ucii] F[ilius] Co[n]s[ul] Termium Fecit" or "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made this building when Consul for the Third Time".

It was thought originally that Marcus Agrippa had the Pantheon built in 29-19BC, but interestingly the facade actually belongs to an older version of the Pantheon that was destroyed almost completely.
The current Pantheon was built under Trajan.

Entrance to the Pantheon

Inside the Pantheon with the light from the Oculus

The Dome and Occulus

Someone was a little worn out after a busy day

Drainholes in the floor to allow rain to drain away

Altar

Us in the Pantheon. Smile Alana!

After the Pantheon we decided to reward ourselves with a gelato from Della Palmos Gelateri - with 150 different flavours, including a whole selection of soy ones that the boys could have.  I got a strawberry cheesecake and Creme Caramel, Kristine got Bailies Coffee and Lemon, Tom got Strawberry soy and chocolate soy, Cameron got mint and chocolate soy and Alana got Kit-Kat and Creme Caramel.

Yum!

Since we'd cooled down a little, we headed towards the Trevi Fountain, getting a few photos along the way:

Chiesa Di Santa Maria Maddalena

Columns along the side of the road

Triton Fountain - Piazza Barbarin

Palazza Montecitorio - Italian Parliment Building

Our final stop for the day was the Trevi Fountain, and man was it croweded (and hot).  The white marble reflected the heat and made it a little uncomfortable.

The Trevi Fountain is an iconic fountain in Rome, built in 1762 by Nicola Savi.  It is said that if you throw a coin into the fountain you will return to Rome (I always joked that it was to get the coin back).

Trevi Fountain

The kids throwing a coin in

Some bearded guy in an Aussie hat throws a coin in

Kris' camera is awesome - you can still see the coin in the air (on the leftmost of the two pillars)

Kris throws a coin in

Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio a Trevi Opposite the Trevi fountain

After the Trevi we caught the Metro and tram back to our apartment and got back just in time for dinner and to catch the edge of a small breeze which sprung up, but did little to alleviate the heat.