Catacombs of San Callisto

In this sense, you can take Trastevere as your base to explore the rest of the city of Rome as well, in order to see all those beauties that the city offers and that you cannot miss before leaving the Italian capital.

An example of these artistic and architectural beauties are the catacombs, which you have surely heard of.

Have you never heard of the catacombs and don’t know what they are?

Don’t worry, we’ll take care of giving you a very brief summary: the catacombs are large underground cemeteries that were built in Rome first by the Jewish community and then by the Christian one.

Unlike a common cemetery, however, these are a network of underground tunnels on whose walls the dead were buried, in niches placed one above the other.

The catacombs were often adorned with frescoes depicting the dead or their families.

You must know that there are 50 catacombs in Rome. There are really many, but if you think that they were developed for centuries, it is not surprising: the dead were to be buried somewhere and not for all communities cremation was a respectful option for the deceased.

Flying over these slightly macabre details, the catacombs are a fascinating place to see (provided you don’t suffer from claustrophobia), but there are some more beautiful than others.

In this article we present one of these catacombs, the Catacombs of San Callisto, giving you a brief overview of them and how to reach them from the Trastevere district.

Are you ready to discover them? Then keep reading this article!

The Catacombs of San Callisto

The Catacombs of San Callisto are the most important and renowned catacombs in Rome in which the popes of the third century AD were buried.

These catacombs are part of the Callistian complex, an area of ​​30 hectares that houses several funerary areas.

It seems that the Catacombs of San Callisto were created around the second century AD in an area that depended on the Roman church and their name derives from the deacon Callisto I (who later became Pope), who was in charge of administering the cemetery.

Of particular interest in the catacombs of San Callisto is the crypt of the Popes, which houses eight Popes of the past, but also the tomb of Santa Cecilia, the cubicles of the Sacraments, and other areas where other Popes were buried (in total 16 throughout the structure), are places that you will love to visit and admire.

The Catacombs of San Callisto can be visited from Thursday to Tuesday from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 14:00 to 17:00, unless important holidays such as New Year, Christmas, Easter or others fall on these days.

The cost of the ticket for the Catacombs of San Callisto is 10€, except for reductions for minors, the disabled or the elderly.

The Catacombs of San Callisto are located in Via Appia Antica, 110 in Rome.

Reach the Catacombs of San Callisto from the Trastevere district

It must be said that it is not impossible to reach the Catacombs of San Callisto from the Trastevere district, but you must be very careful and patient, because the journey is really long.

As always, the most direct method would be using a car, but traffic can be a deterrent. We suggest, therefore, to opt for public transport, in order to avoid stressing yourself in traffic.

That said, to reach the Catacombs of San Callisto from the Trastevere district you have to take bus 44 from Dandolo/Cassini to the Petroselli stop and, from the latter, take bus number 118 (one runs every hour) to the stop. Catacombs of San Callisto stop. As soon as you get off, all you have to do is follow the directions, walk a few hundred meters and you will arrive at your destination.

Here we are at the end of our article on the Catacombs of San Callisto.
We hope this article helped you to know more about this historical, artistic and funerary place.