Things are getting out of hand here in Rome.  I stepped on the sidewalk and a portion of it stuck to my shoe because of the melted tar.  We’ve had a good night’s rest, but too short. We laze around the apartment enjoying the air conditioning.  No one is too anxious to hit the streets, since by 9 a.m. It’s already over 90 degrees outside. There is one place in Rome, however that is always cool- the catacombs.  For some reason Sarah insists she wants to see the catacombs (must be a Goth thing).  I’m lukewarm on the idea, Melissa wants to go and Sam and Margaret seem indifferent.  Matt and Isa opt for the modern art museum.  We finally get going by about 12:30, setting out for the bus stop recommended on the catacomb website.

We cross the Tiber and walk along the Circus Maximus, visions of chariot races in our heads.  We turn left toward the coliseum and then right toward St. John Latern Piazza.  We are looking for the #118 bus that will drop us off outside the entrance to the Catacombs of San Calisto.  We cannot find the #118 bus stop at the square.  We walk from stop to stop without success.  A man offers to sell scarves to the women so they can enter the church that faces the square; perhaps he is right and a few prayers will help. It is incredibly hot, and we are growing desperate.  Finally I pull out my phone and Google a route to the catacombs- it suggests the #714 bus, which we find and board.  A short ride later we exit and see a sign to the catacombs.  We set off down the road and continue walking for a kilometer.  We find an information office and inquire within. The helpful man walks outside and directs us to a gate.  From the gate it’s about a kilometer to the catacombs, he says.  And so we walk. A large open field lies on our left, an olive grove on our right. The sun blazes over head. Beneath us are the catacombs.  It’s all quite peaceful with the exception of a bronze statue of a demonic monk boy leering as we walk past.

After that final long kilometer we reach the entrance, buy our tickets and wait with our language group to descend into the cool of the catacombs, the largest in Rome, with over 20 kilometers of passages on four levels.  Sixteen Popes are buried here, along with about half a million others, almost all Christians from the second to fifth centuries A.D.  In the nineteenth century the catacombs were systematically opened in a search for relics and old popes, and all the remains were moved to the lowest level.  What remains is a procession of empty crypts and broken marble decorations with ancient symbols such as fish to mark the dead as Christian.

Finally our time has come, and we follow our personal Charon down a series of steps into the catacombs below.  As we descend the air cools, a slight smell of earth, but no odor greets our noses,  Electric lights show the way, although there are shafts cut through the soft stone to the surface that provide a dim light as well.  In ancient times oil lamps rested in alcoves in the walls.  Various size crypts and burial chambers lime the walls.  The more elaborate are lined with marble and have artwork painted on them, such as the chamber of the Popes.  I don’t count sixteen burial areas in that chamber, so maybe some of them shared.  At any rate they are no longer there.

After about half an hour in the catacombs we emerge cool and refreshed.  Close at hand is a gift shop, but we skip that and opt instead for some cool water flowing from a nearby fountain.  Filtered through sixteen Popes I figure it must have some healing powers and drink my fill.  A sign leads to bus 218 just outside the entrance to the catacombs: a miracle occurs, the bus arrives and whisks us back to the Circus Maximus and we are soon back at the apartment.  A second miracle shortly occurs when we are seated at a nearby restaurant called Enzo’s and have a fabulous meal.