Rome, Italy, July 10, 2011: Catacombe di Priscilla and Santa Maria Maggiore

Today is Sunday. This morning, while the girls slept, I went out for food stuffs, only to find most shops closed. I may have timed it incorrectly, I’m not sure, maybe shops were opened earlier. I did find the local fruit and vegetable stand open – and bought four small potatoes, some green grapes, two white peaches, a handful of cherries, a bulb of garlic and another fresh loaf of bread. I returned to the apartment and made sliced potatoes, scrambled eggs, sliced up fruit and bread and butter. The girls were so happy to have a real breakfast. A note about breakfast: it has been hard for Catalina and Gaby to accept the cereal with milk here, their favorite breakfast. I had bought some cereal, similar to Total, but the girls do not like the flavor of the milk, Parmalat. So breakfast has been croissants, fruits or bread and butter. Just recently I bought some Nutella to add to the repertoire. I did find another brand of milk today, that tastes very similar to American milk, and unlike Parmalat, it needs refrigeration. Parmalat does not need refrigeration until after it’s opened.

So the girls were so happy to eat before beginning our day’s adventure – The Catacombs!

I had read in Rick Steves book that the Catacombs of Priscilla were more intimate and less crowded. They are northeast and a couple of bus changes, on the outskirts of the city. All four of us took off for the first part of the journey to the highly active Termini Train Station. Sarah had made friends and they had planned on going to the beach, so off she went, while the two younger McKays and I headed north. I tried to look out for the bus stop, but missed it by one stop. So we had to doubleback in excessively hot, humid weather. We knew we couldn’t walk back to the stop, it was too far and uphill in the stifling heat. We lucked out, got on the right bus and a bus inspector was kind enough to let me know when to get off.

After hopping off, I realized I had not brought my dog-earred and worned map, but I had visually memorized where we needed to walk. Plus I had written the directions down, but really, the street map of Rome (that came with the Roma Pass) were worth their weight in Roman gold. So we headed where I thought we should go, and just a couple blocks later we unknowingly were standing directly over the catacombs. A passerby must have heard me say, “I know the Catacombs are here somewhere…” because from across the street she said, “here!” and pointed upward to a sign painted on brick wall, “Catacombe di Priscilla.” Yup, that’s it.

The catacombs are within a small convent run by nuns. The ticket office was quaint, manned by an elderly Italian-speaking-only nun, and an elderly gentleman who translated. Because Gaby is only 15 years old, her ticket was only 5 euro, while Catalina and I got tickets for 8 euro each. We were then shuttled quickly to catch up with an existing tour in English (though barely English). As we headed down the tunnels, it was significantly cool in the catacombs. I was thankful! This is where you want to be when the heat is unbearable. Catalina eventually had to put on a sweater (we had brought scarves for covering just in case). Gaby drew and wrote in her sketchbook while we were inside and we were told no photographing. 

The small courtyard at the Catacombs of Priscilla.

More of the courtyard.

The back of the building above the Catacombs.

In the area we were shown, the tombs were empty as the bodies had been relocated out of respect for the deceased. But you could clearly see what was what. There were two-person tombs (gee, the people looked like they were pretty small); childrens’ tombs (very small); and babies tombs (downright tiny). There were also many frescos of Christianity and its symbols – sometimes pieces of coverings for the tombs. We saw one of the first paintings of Mary and the infant Jesus. The tour guide claimed it WAS the first; and that it was painted in 2 A.D. There were paintings of Noah, Lazarus, Susan, Daniel and more.

The poor people that were buried in the catacombs wanted to be close to the martyrs, and so yes, there were martyrs buried there, too. There were also a couple of underground chapels rich with Christian symbolism all around, the fish, the dove, the anchor…and more. It’s funny, but after all those ornate and elaborately decorated churches, I felt closer to Jesus I the catacombs than any place. I think it was the strong belief and devotion to Jesus, God and salvation in all the symbolism, all throughout the iconography painted or carved only within 200 years after the death of Christ. They believed salvation was right around the corner, so embalming wasn’t necessary, just wrapping in linen and being placed in the tomb (then it was sealed with a decorative cover of sorts, usually terracotta).

It as a short tour, relatively speaking, and we bought some postcards then headed to an outdoor café for some, that’s right, gelatto. 

Waiting for their chocolate and vanilla gelatto.

On our way back, we took a bus back to Termini, where we looked at some of the outdoor vendors cheesy wares. Nothing was worth purchasing. It was just junk. I had asked the woman at the Information Booth where the #60 bus stop was located, but she simply said, “Nazionale, to the left.” I thought I understood that direction, but couldn’t find that bus stop, so we walked quite a way towards our apartment. We stopped at a church called, Santa Maria Maggiore and were pleased to see such a gorgeous and huge church. Gaby had to cover her legs and we all covered our shoulders to go inside (they had they papery/tissue shawls on the outside for us to use). There seemed to be some sort of service going on, so we only entered the front of the church and out of respect, we left right away and did not take photos of the inside. We did take some photos of the outside.

We finally found a bus stop, but I spied a supermarket across the way and picked up some chicken and fruit. I made arroz con pollo with a side of fruit and bread for dinner. While TV usually consisted of just Italian-speaking shows, we happened to turn on the set and found American shows in English (not dubbed in Italian for once). It was a nice treat to watch TV for a bit.