Not all the wonders of Rome are so apparent. Not all of its artistic and historical wealth resides in the open. Melisande Aquilina says that a visit to Rome would be incomplete without adventuring within its catacombs and crypts.

Rome – a symbol of culture and religion. The capital city of Italy, Rome is renowned world-wide as a place to visit, a hotspot, a city teeming with possibilities, holding treasures relevant to both our past and our present. And yet, not all the wonders of Rome are so apparent. Not all of its artistic and historical wealth resides in the open, under the bright skies and sumptuous cupolas.

If you want to experience all of Rome, if you want to truly understand its multi-faceted, mesmerising, mysterious past, you must look down. Underneath all the rich buildings, picturesque vistas and priceless museums, lie at least 40 separate ancient catacombs – underground burial places where people used to be buried due to overcrowding and sanitation issues as far back as the 2nd century AD.

This is the underside of Rome, which though hidden from view, is as important as the other historical venues above. Although most famous for the Christian burials found within, perhaps due to the ancient frescoes and sculptures adorning them, the catacombs of Rome, in fact, hold people from all Roman eras and religions – from the Pagans to the Etruscans, to the Jews.

A visit to Rome would be incomplete without adventuring within its catacombs and crypts, most of which cannot be accessed without the aid and supervision of professional guides.

Basilica di San Clemente, Rome, Italy.Basilica di San Clemente, Rome, Italy.

It was quite easy to find a complete inexpensive tour online. There are, in fact, many of these, especially on such popular websites as www.isango.com, or www.viator.com. One can book and pay online weeks beforehand. The company responsible then groups a number of interested tourists and furnishes them not just with knowledgeable guides, but also with a coach, or other modes of transportations needed to visit a number of such sites.

Beware, you will need to go underground to experience the catacombs. Those visitors suffering from claustrophobia or from mobility impairments should be careful. And definitely not for anyone easily spooked!

Our group, which was very small, met up in Piazza Barberini by the Triton fountain, which is easily accessible by bus or metro. We were all set to visit three different sites in approximately 3.5 hours. We had be warned beforehand that since we would be walking on sacred ground, there was an enforced dress code to be respected. Both men and women had to cover their knees and shoulders, so, no shorts or strappy tops. Since we visited in February it was quite cold.

The coach left the Piazza and smoothly continued towards our first stop - The Catacombs of Domitilla. As we navigated through the traffic of Rome towards the Via delle Sette Chiese in the Southern part of Rome, our guide explained how we would be entering very narrow underground passages, called ambulacra, where the graves, or loculi, were dug as part of the walls themselves. Apart from the loculi, which could host one or more bodies, rich families at the time also bought whole niches, cubicles or private crypts, where whole generations could be buried together.

The Catacombs of Domitilla are unique in that they are not just the oldest of Rome’s underground burial networks, but also one of the largest. They are spread over 15 kilometres, and are very well preserved.

We were very impressed when we realised that the entrance to the catacombs was through a 4th-century subterranean basilica. Unfortunately, no sooner had we stepped over the threshold, that we were immediately and forcefully informed that no photos at all were allowed. Our guide also told us that this would be the case for all of the crypts we were going to visit that day. You can well imagine the groans and grumbles of the group... mine included.

Rebecca, our tour-guide, told us that the Catacombs of Domitilla were the only catacombs in Rome which still contained human bones. More than 150,000 bodies are buried there! I was very curious, but other were not so enthusiastic.

Although this burial ground is vast, the underground passages themselves are very narrow. Tall people will not be very comfortable traversing them either. They are very well lighted and well ventilated, yet the aura of mystery and solemnity remains.

As we trod those ancient ways, I could very well imagine the ancient Romans carving them out, and laying their dead within the small cubicles. They had to work almost in total darkness, and had only small lamps made out of hollowed stones or shells and filled with oil, to light their way. They worked hurriedly, afraid of being stranded in the humid, dank corridors filled with dead putrefying bodies.

Frescoes, sculptures, remnants of embellished artworks and paintings point to the fact that then, as now, people held their departed ones in high esteem.

Christianity was just a small simple cult, whose members were buried quietly. This is blatantly obvious when one realises that Christians were mostly buried within the small crammed loculi, while the older and larger, more ostentatious crypts and niches found in the layers below were used for the richer and more pretentious Romans. This tour lasted approximately 40 minutes.

The Fountain del Tritone at Piazza Barberini in Rome, Italy.The Fountain del Tritone at Piazza Barberini in Rome, Italy.

Our next stop was the Basilica di San Clemente with its beautifully restored frescoes and cunningly-wrought mosaics. According to tour guides, the basilica is a perfect example of the so-called lasagna phenomenon. This is because the three-levelled complex houses ruins belonging to three eras, cultures and modes of worship.

One starts by entering the present medieval basilica which was built during the 12th century. From here, one descends to the second layer consisting of an older 4th- century basilica. Then, again, one ascends a third time to view a largely intact Roman nobleman’s mansion belonging to the late 2nd century AD. Traces of the kitchen, larder and sleeping quarters can still be recognised. Here one also finds the Mithraeum – a sanctuary and place of worship of the cult of the god Mithras.

After visiting the basilica, we made our way towards the final leg of our journey, which took us back towards the centre of Rome, near Piazza Barberini. There we entered the Capuchin Crypt which consists of five small ossuaries located underneath the Church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Capuccini, built in the 1620s.

In the crypt one finds the remains of more than 3,700 bodies. These were not buried, but instead, displayed in such a way as to give a silent reminder to visitors of the transient and evanescent passage of life. The bones are believed to have been taken from the bodies of friars who died between 1528 and 1870. Some of them were even brought to rest there from the Holy Land. The crypt is believed to have been constructed sometime between the 16th and 18th century.

The Capuchin Crypt consists of a narrow corridor about 30 metres long connecting five rooms made out entirely of human bones, displayed and structured in a way so as to imitate furniture, ceiling cornices, chandeliers, hanging lamps with flower designs and walls made of skulls. Bones were fashioned into rosettes, crosses, coats of arms, crowns, stars, clocks and metaphorical depictions of the time.

First, one enters through the Crypt of Resurrection where one is welcomed by the small skeleton of a child on the wall. Each room is different and focuses on a specific theme.

There’s the Crypt of Skulls, the Crypt of Pelvises, the Crypt of Leg Bones and Thigh Bones and the Crypt of the Three Skeletons, where a centre skeleton, enclosed in an oval pattern of bones, holds a scythe in one hand and a set of scales in the other. A placard ominously says ‘What you are now we used to be, what we are now you will be...’

Although it is not known why the monks went to such lengths to produce such an astonishing and unusual intricate display, one is, nevertheless, surprised how much detail and thought was used to design each room.

Rome is a dream with countless things to discover and experience. Travelling to Rome was very interesting for a variety of reasons... visiting its crypts and catacombs was surely one of the city’s most spectacular and moving displays.

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