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Catacombs of Rome

Beneath the Roman countryside stretches a network of galleries dug into tuff that served as a cemetery for the first Christian and Jewish communities. Walking through them you see walls covered with stacked rectangular niches, vaulted family chambers and frescoes with biblical and symbolic themes, such as the Good Shepherd or the fish. Some catacombs, such as San Callisto, Priscilla or Domitilla, can be visited with a guide and preserve paintings and burial spaces from the first centuries.

Things to do at Catacombs of Rome: 5 missions

• See the cubiclesLook at the polygonal chambers called "cubicula", which sometimes widen out.
• Visit the crypt of S. SebastianoVisit the restored crypt of S. Sebastiano, with a table altar on the site of the old one.
• Admire Jonah's cubiculumAdmire the cubiculum of Jonah and its four-stage painting cycle, from the late 4th century.
• Walk through the cryptsWalk through a labyrinthine part of the galleries called the "crypts", about 2 m high and 80 or 90 cm wide.
• Take in the cubiculum of the CoronationAdmire in the oldest parts of the complex the cubiculum of the crowning, with a rare depiction of Christ crowned with thorns.

Near Catacombs of Rome