Appian Way Catacombs Group Tour

Starting, with a small group, from our travel agency, near the Colosseum, you will be comfortably transported on an air-conditioned vehicle, in one of the most interesting and visited places in Rome, the "catacombs" on the Via Appia Antica. Definitely an exclusive tour, accompanied by an expert guide, for those who want to appreciate the true story and the mystery, an experience guaranteed to excite young and old. With this tour, we will guide you through time to discover a subterranean and parallel world in which for centuries Jews and Christians have looked after and venerated their dead.

Pass along the majestic Aurelian Walls and come to the archaeological area of the Via Appia Antica, immersed in the green Roman countryside, you will descend into the ancient world of the Catacombs, a complex network of underground tunnels among the longest in the world, which occupies an area of about fifteen hectares, consisting of about 60 kilometres of tunnels on several levels. The catacombs that we will visit (San Calisto, San Sebastiano or Santa Domitilla), for your tour will change depending on the day, but from where we go, you will have the opportunity to see ancient frescoes, crypts rich in inscriptions carved in the walls, niches with still remains of skeletons, small mausoleums, sarcophagi, tombs and small chapels that still today, after about 2000 years, are still used to celebrate religious rites. Here you will find the burial of famous people like popes, martyrs and, according to legends, even some apostles.

The Catacombs of Saint Callixtus The catacombs of St. Callixtus are among the greatest and most important of Rome. They originated about the middle of the second century and are part of a cemeterial complex that occupies an area of 90 acres, with a network of galleries about 12 (About 19 Km) miles long, in four levels, more than twenty meters deep. In it were buried tens of martyrs, 16 popes and very many Christians. They are named after the deacon Callixtus who, at the beginning of the third century, was appointed by pope Zephyrinus as the administrator of the cemetery and so the catacombs of St. Callixtus became the official cemetery of the Church of Rome. The underground cemetery includes several areas. The area of the Popes is the most important and venerated crypt of the cemetery, called "the little Vatican" as it was the official burial place of nine popes and, probably, of eight dignitaries of Rome's 3rd century Church.

The Thermae Antonianae, one of the largest and best-preserved thermal complexes of antiquity, was built at the behest of Emperor Caracalla on the Piccolo Aventino between 212 and 216 AD, in an area near the first stretch of the Appian Way. The rectangular plan of the building is typical of the great imperial baths; you entered the central body of the building by four doors on the north-eastern facade: on the central axis you can observe in sequence the caldarium, the tepidarium, the frigidarium and the natatio; on the sides of this axis are arranged, symmetrically around the two gyms, other environments. The original decoration was very sumptuous: written sources tell about huge marble columns, floors in coloured oriental marbles, mosaics of glass paste and marble on the walls, painted stuccos and hundreds of statues and colossal groups, both in the niches of the walls of the rooms and in the gardens.

The Circus Maximus (Latin for "largest circus"; Italian: Circo Massimo) is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire. It measured 621 m (2,037 ft) in length and 118 m (387 ft) in width and could accommodate over 150,000 spectators.[2] In its fully developed form, it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire. The site is now a public park.

The church of the “Domine Quo Vadis” is one of the first churches located on the Via Appia Antica, about 800 meters beyond Porta San Sebastiano. The Church has medieval origins but was rebuilt in 1600. It takes its name from the oral tradition according to which the apostle Peter, fleeing from the city to avoid martyrdom, meets Jesus to whom he addresses the following words “Domine quo Vadis (Lord, where are you going)?” And the Lord replied “Venio Romam iterum crucifigi (I am coming to Rome to be crucified again)”. Peter, aware of the rebuke, turns back to face his destiny and Jesus disappears but, in disappearing, he leaves the impressions of his footprints on the road. As evidence of the incident, within the Church, there is a stone with the imprints “of His holy feet”, left by Jesus precisely on the site where the Church now stands. The stone is actually a copy: the original is in fact preserved in the Basilica of San Sebastiano.

The Porta San Sebastiano is the largest and one of the best-preserved gates passing through the Aurelian Walls in Rome (Italy). Originally known as the Porta Appia, the gate sat astride the Appian Way, the regina viarum (queen of the roads), which originated at the Porta Capena in the Servian Wall.[1] During the Middle Ages probably it was also called Accia (or Dazza or Datia), a name whose etymology is quite uncertain, but arguably associated with the river Almone, called "acqua Accia", that flowed nearby. The present name is attested only since the second half of 15th century, due to the vicinity to the Basilica of San Sebastiano and its catacombs. The original structure was constructed by Aurelian ca. AD 275 and included a double-arched opening surmounted by bow windows and two semi-cylindrical towers. The façade was faced with travertine. After a later restoration, the towers were enlarged, increased, and linked, through two parallel walls, to the preexisting Arch of Drusus.

The Aurelian Walls (Italian: Mura Aureliane) are a line of city walls built between 271 AD and 275 AD in Rome, Italy, during the reign of the Roman Emperors Aurelian and Probus. They superseded the earlier Servian Wall built during the 4th century BC. The walls enclosed all the seven hills of Rome plus the Campus Martius and, on the right bank of the Tiber, the Trastevere district. The river banks within the city limits appear to have been left unfortified, although they were fortified along with the Campus Martius. The size of the entire enclosed area is 1,400 hectares (3,500 acres).[1] The wall cut through populated areas: in reality, the city at the time embraced 2,400 hectares or 6,000 acres.[citation needed] Pliny the Elder in the first century A.D. suggested that the densely populated areas, 'extrema tectum (the limits of the roofed areas) extended 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi) from the Golden Milestone in the Forum (Natural History 3.67).[2]

The Palatine Hill, (/ˈpælətaɪn/; Latin: Collis Palatium or Mons Palatinus; Italian: Palatino [palaˈtiːno]) which is the centremost of the Seven Hills of Rome, is one of the most ancient parts of the city and has been called "the first nucleus of the Roman Empire."[1] The site is now mainly a large open-air museum while the Palatine Museum houses many finds from the excavations here and from other ancient Italian sites. Imperial palaces were built here, starting with Augustus. Before imperial times the hill was mostly occupied by the houses of the rich. The hill originally had two summits separated by depression; the highest part was called Palatium and the other Germalus (or Cermalus). Using the Forma Urbis its perimeter enclosed 63 acres (25 ha); while the Regional Catalogues of the 4th century enclose 131 acres (53 ha).

The Aventine, one of the seven hills of Rome, was once a suburb of the ancient Roman city before becoming an important centre of Christian worship. Today it is still a place for a pleasant walk away from the noise of the modern city below.