Today, we were up and out a bit earlier than usual. We took the Metro to Termini – the Main Rome Train Station – then caught a bus to our destination. Today was the Catacombs of Priscilla. There are 62 catacombs in Rome but only 5 are open. This one dates back to the 2nd Century. The early Christians buried their dead as opposed to the Romans who cremated. This was a donated piece of land, given by a wealthy woman named Priscilla.
There are over 44,000 graves in this Catacomb. They would dig down one level and bury the body, wrapped in a linen cloth. As the first level was filled, they would dig down in the soft volcanic soil and make another level. Imagine a narrow hallway with bookshelves on each side. This is how it looks. With turns and twists for acres underground. All of the bodies have been removed and reburied in the Pantheon or in St Peter’s. When the bodies were buried, they were sealed with terracotta tiles and Roman cement. A marble or clay plaque would be put on the face of the grave with the person’s name, perhaps their age, family or children’s names. The wealthy might have a type of room to bury their family in, and we saw beautiful frescoes painted in these rooms. Or it might be a society, say of bakers who would share one of these rooms. To go down into these catacombs to bury the dead, they would carry oil lamps no bigger than their hand. No one would come back to visit as it would be almost impossible to find the grave and it had terrible odors of the decomposing bodies.
In this Catacomb of Priscilla, there is the oldest known painting of Mary and the baby, Jesus. A man is standing next to them telling of the birth of Jesus (in the Old Testament) and a star…and there is a star over Mary’s head.
There is an ancient wine cellar there that was before the catacombs. Now it is a chapel. There were also artifacts found in the graves…jewelry, a hairpin, tools and the small oil lamps. Also some glass from bottles. We had a guided tour and the guide spoke in English and Italian. I found that I could understand most of her Italian because she was speaking slowly for a family of Brazilians with us. It was a very interesting tour and my claustrophobia didn’t kick in at all.
We took,the bus back to Termini, caught the Metro and went to lunch near our apartment. It is a German place and we sat at the table right next to table #6 where Pope Benedict used to eat often, as this was his favorite. I had the buffet to sample all the dishes…all good…and Andy had fondue. I will get the fondue the next time.
Came home and did what we usually do in the afternoon…read and sewed.
Think tomorrow will be housecleaning and I need a haircut. Nothing exciting. Big plans for Saturday…but you will have to wait!
Ciao for today!