Via Appia Antica and Catacombs

Description

Known to Ancient Romans as the regina viarum (the queen of roads), Via Appia Antica originally commenced at Porta San Sebastiano near the Baths of Caracalla and ended at Brindisi in the southern heel of Italy. Named after Appius Claudius, the Roman Consul who built the first 90 km of the street in 312 BC, the road is lined with ancient buildings and catacombs.

In ancient Rome it was forbidden to bury bodies inside the perimeter of the city wall (indeed the dead were generally cremated), thus the first Christians dug 300 km of tunnels into the tuff outside the city walls in order to bury the bodies of their beloved wrapped in white cloth in rectangular niches (loculi) dug into the walls of the tunnels and sealed with marble tombstones.

The catacombs lining Via Appia include the catacombs of San Callisto, San Sebastiano and Domitilla.

For visitors

Guided tours

No entrance fee charged