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Rome has several catacombs. The last time I was here my attempted visit to them failed, and I had two failed attempts earlier this trip. But today we finally made it. The main ones are out on Apia way, and it's an easy bus ride to them. Although the area is not far, just outside of the original walls of Rome, you find yourself in pastures with country villas, and the Saint Callixtus catacombs are located in a park like area, with winding paths, and bikers and runners. I'm not sure if it was a because of our guide (P. Owen Mason; he was outstanding), but our tour particularly stressed the religious elements of the catacombs. He explained how many of those buried there were martyred "witnessing their faith" (ie, killed because they were Christian) and how the site was a secret holy place for early Christians in the 2nd and 3rd centuries and later an important spot for pilgrims (9th century). Being shoved between various tour groups all striving to take some posed picture in the Pantheon (or any other location), whose behavior seems unholly, one sometimes forgets how Rome has been a religious tourist destination for two thousand years. Our guide today was a priest (at least I think so, he had a collar, but my knowledge of Catholic practices is limited) and it was interesting to have a reading of a tourist site so clearer grounded in religion. Obviously the site itself invites it too. But our guide also made sure to convey that we shouldn't see the place as sad (there are over 500,000 tombs, many to children) or scary (over 20 kilometers of dark, weaving passages), because for Christians death is not the end and indeed many of the symbols found in the catacombs stressed peace, salvation, and reunification with loved ones. It's a nice perspective, even for a heathen like myself.

The site is a great, quiet destination, close to the city. The grounds are grassy, peaceful, and bucolic. The catacombs themselves are interesting. But if one needs another reason, visit the catacombs because being twenty meters underground also drops the temperature and it is comfortably chilly.