The Catacombs of San Callisto and the Tomb of Caecilia Metella
This was by far the largest of the catacombs found, and although we could only visit a small portion of the complex, it was nevertheless impressive. At one point the catacombs contained the remains of 16 popes until the remains were moved to the Vatican by Pope Paschal in 821 CE. There were 4 floors in the structure, with the deepest at 75 meters. Many Christians were buried in the walls, including many children since the child mortality rate in the earlier centuries was so high. Even though most of the catacombs have yet to be excavated, and even less of what has been excavated is open to the public, we saw enough to know that these catacombs were something special. After the catacombs, Caroline did her student-led presentation on the Tomb of Caecilia Metella, which is one of the best-preserved funeral monuments in Rome.
Alicia, Dylan, Mitchell, Scott
(Our walk to the catacombs was at once scenic and pleasant.)
(Photographs were not permitted inside the catacombs.)
(That did not stop this intrepid photographer from snapping one.)
(The size of Caecilia Metella’s tomb was not a reflection of accomplishments during her lifetime, but rather solely of her family’s wealth and status.)
(The tomb measured twenty-nine meters in diameter; her sarcophagus once rested at the bottom of this immense cylinder; it is now in the Farnese Palace.)
(It was here, on the tomb’s exterior, that we were first introduced to the advent of the Roman architectural motif of the bucranium, or ox skull, and garland.)
(The tomb was converted into the Caetani fortress during the medieval era.)
(As with most ruins in Rome, it is now the home of many a “love bird.”)
William Skinner
