Catacomb of Callixtus

The Catacomb of Callixtus along the ancient Via Appia is among Rome's sixty subterranean burial systems and counts as the first communal cemetery of the early Christian community. Named after Callixtus I, who administered the site as a deacon in the early third century, it holds the Crypt of the Popes containing nine bishops of Rome as well as the crypt of Saint Cecilia. The stucco ceilings, frescoes and Greek inscriptions rank among the earliest surviving examples of Christian visual language. Today Salesian fathers guide visitors in several languages through a small portion of the twenty kilometres of galleries, past loculi, arcosolia and papal tombs. The cool silence of the tufa corridors makes the site one of the most atmospheric stops along the old consular road.