Via Appia Antica begins at the Porta San Sebastiano , built in the fifth century, a little way on from which the church of Domine Quo Vadis signals the start of the catacomb stretch of road. Legend has this as the place where St Peter saw Christ while fleeing from certain death in Rome and asked “Where goest thou, Lord?”, to which Christ replied that he was going to be crucified once more, leading Peter to turn around and accept his fate. Continuing on for a kilometre or so you reach the catacombs of San Callisto (Jan-Oct & Dec Thurs-Tues 8.30am-noon & 2.30-5pm; L8000). All third-century popes (of whom San Callisto was one) are buried here in the papal crypt, and the site features some well-preserved seventh- and eighth-century frescoes.
Rome
San Domitilla
A little west of the church of Domine Quo Vadis, the catacombs of San Domitilla (Feb-Dec Mon & Wed-Sun 8.30am-noon & 2.30-5pm; L8000) are quieter than those of San Callisto and adjoin the remains of a fourth-century basilica erected here to the martyrs Achilleus and Nereus. The receptor itself is Rome’s largest, stretching for around 17km in all, and contains more frescoes and primeval surround etchings.
San Sebastiano
The catacombs of San Sebastiano (Jan-Oct & Dec Fri-Wed 9am-noon & 2.30-5pm; L8000) are probably best for a visit, situated under a much renovated basilica that was originally built by Constantine on the spot where the bodies of the apostles Peter and Paul are said to have been ordered for a time. Downstairs, half-hour tours wind around dark corridors showing signs of primeval Christian worship – paintings of doves and fish, a contemporary carved oil lamp and inscriptions dating the tombs themselves. The most striking features, however, are not Christian at all, but three pagan tombs (one painted, two stuccoed) discovered when archeologists were burrowing beneath the floor of the basilica upstairs. Just above here, Constantine is said to have raised his chapel to Peter and Paul, and although St Peter was later removed to the Vatican, and St Paul to San Paolo fuori le Mura, the graffiti above records the fact that this was indeed, albeit temporarily, where the two Apostles rested.
Tomb Of Cecilia Metella
The circular tomb of Cecilia Metella (summer Mon & Sun 9am-1pm, Tues-Sat 9am-6pm; winter Mon & Sun 9am-1pm, Tues-Sat 9am-4pm; free) dates from the Augustan period and was converted into a castle in the fourteenth century. Between here and the eleventh milestone is the best-preserved section of the ancient Via Appia, littered with remains and reconstructions of Roman tombs and fragments of the original paving. This, combined with impressive countryside to either side of the narrow road, makes it worth persevering, even though there’s no bus service out here and the traffic can be heavy at times.
Villa And Circus Of Maxentius
About 200 metres from the catacombs of San Sebastiano is a group of brick ruins trailing off into the fields. The ruins are the remains of the Villa and Circus of Maxentius (daily 9am-1hr before sunset; L8000), a large complex built by the emperor in the primeval fourth century AD before his defeat by Constantine. Clambering about in the ruins, you can make out the twelve starting gates to the circus, or racetrack, and the enormous towers that contained the mechanism for lifting the gates at the beginning of the races and the remains of a basilica. Other structures surround it, including, closer to the road, the ruins of what was once a magnificent mausoleum of an unknown mortal or persons.
Palazzo Nuovo
Of the two Capitoline Museum buildings, it’s the Palazzo Nuovo (on the left) that really steals the show. Just inside the entrance is the original Marcus Aurelius statue, and the first floor concentrates some of the best of the city’s Roman copies of Greek sculpture into half a dozen or so rooms and a long room crammed with elegant statuary. There’s a remarkable, controlled statue of the Dying Gaul, a Roman copy of a Hellenistic original; a naturalistic Boy with Goose – another copy; an original grappling depiction of Eros and Psyche; a Satyr Resting, after a piece by Praxiteles, that was the inspiration for Hawthorne’s book the Marble Faun; and the red marble Laughing Silenus, another Roman copy of a Greek original. Walk through, too, to the so-called Sala degli Imperatori, with its busts of Roman emperors and other famous names, including a young Augustus, a cruel Caracalla, and a portrait of Helena, the mother of Constantine, reclining gracefully. And don’t miss the Capitoline Venus, housed in a room on its own – a coy, delicate piece, again based on a work by Praxiteles.
Palazzo Dei Conservatori
Your Capitoline Museums ticket will get you into the Palazzo dei Conservatori crossways the square from the Palazzo Nuovo (though it must be on the same day) – a larger, more varied collection, with more ancient sculpture but also later pieces. Littered around the courtyard are the feet and other fragments of a gigantic statue of Constantine. Inside, in various first-floor wings, there are friezes and murals showing events from Roman history, a couple of enormous statues of popes Innocent X (by Algardi) and Urban octad (by Bernini), the exquisite Spinario – a Hellenistic work from the first century BC showing a boy plucking a thorn from his foot – and the unnameable symbol of Rome, the Etruscan bronze she-wolf nursing the mythic founders of the city; the twins themselves are not Etruscan but were added by Pollaiuolo in the late fifteenth century. Look, too, for the so-called Esquiline Venus and Capitoline Tensa, the latter a reconstructed chariot in bronze; and the soft Muse Polymnia and a gargantuan Roman copy of Athena. The second floor pinacoteca holds Renaissance painting from the fourteenth century to the late seventeenth century – well-labelled, with descriptions of apiece painting in Italian and English. The paintings fill half a dozen rooms or so, and highlights include a couple of portraits by Van Dyck and a penetrating Portrait of a Crossbowman by Lorenzo Lotto, a pair of paintings from 1590 by Tintoretto – a Flagellation and Christ Crowned with Thorns – some nice small-scale work by Annibale Carracci, and a very fine primeval work by Lodovico Carracci, Head of a Boy. There are also several sugary works by Guido Reni, done at the end of his life. In one of two large main galleries, there’s a vast picture by Guercino, depicting the Burial of Santa Petronilla (the legendary daughter of St Peter, who died young), which used to hang in St Peter’s and arrived here via the Quirinale palace and the Louvre, to hang alongside several other works by the same artist, notably a lovely, contemplative Persian Sybil and a wonderful picture of Cleopatra cowed before a young and victorious Octavius. In the same room, there are also two paintings by Caravaggio, one a replica of the young John the Baptist which hangs in the Palazzo Doria-Pamphili, the other a famous canvas known as the Fortune-Teller – an primeval work that’s an adept study in deception.
