Info office:
Via Appia Antica 42
tel. 06-512-6314
www.parcoappiaantica.org

The Appian Way

The Via Appia Antica (Ancient Appian Way) is one of the original seven roads leading to Rome, Italy, and is lined by catacombs and Roman Ruins

The arrow-straight Via Appia Antica was the first of Rome's great consular roads, completed as far as Capua by 312 BC and soon after extended the full 370km (222 miles) all the way to Brindisi in Apulia, the heel of Italy's boot.

Bits of the Ancient Appian Way—there is a semi-parallel modern road called Via Appia Nuova; don't get them mixed up—are covered in tar now to facilitate vehicular traffic. But the original, rutted Roman flagstones still cover long swathes of this mighty ancient road, and it is lined by magnificent ancient tombs and creepy Christian catacombs.

A quick tour down the Appian Way

The initial stretch of the Ancient Appian Way in Rome is lined with ancient tombs of Roman families—burials were forbidden within the city walls as early as the 5th century BC—and, beneath the surface, miles of tunnels hewn out of the soft tufa stone. These tunnels, or catacombs, were where early Christians buried their dead and, during the worst times of persecution, held church services discreetly out of the public eye. » FULL STORY

Besides the Christian catacombs, the Via Appia Antica passes by a few other stopworthy sights. First, at Via Appia Antica 51, is the church of

Domine, Quo Vadis?,

legendary as the site where the soon-to-be-Saint Peter, scurrying away from the Christian persecutions in Rome, met a vision of Christ blocking the road. Peter asked, "Domine, Quo Vadis?" Latin for 'Lord, where are you going?' » FULL STORY

Past the catacombs, on the left side of the road at the top of a hillock, sits the castle-like Tomb of Ceclia Metella. » FULL STORY

There are loads more tombs, funuerary monuments, and roadside attractions along the Appian Way, which are all best explored during a nice stroll, easy mini-bus ride, or lovely (but bumpy) bike ride on a sunny Sunday (see below).

Always on a Sunday

Biking the Appian Way
On Sundays, the Via Appia Antica is closed to traffic except for an electric minibus and bicyclists. You can rent bikes either in town or at the little "Appian Way Park" office in the barn-like structure on your right as you descend the first hill outside the city's Porta San Sebastiano gate (€3 per hour,€ 10 pe day;Via Appia Antica 42, tel. 06-512-6314, www.parcoappiaantica.org).I warn you, however, that the ancient flagstones are terribly bumpy, so you'll end up riding on the dirt path of the grassy shoulder, which can turn into a bit of mountain biking.

The catacombs charge a fee, of course, but the road is also lined with ancient Roman tombs, monuments, and stretches of aqueduct that make for a lovely outing of free sightseeing.

When, after a while, you pass the little Appia Antica Caffé (via Appia Antica, 175, tel. 338-346-5440 or 340-319-8060, www.appiaanticacaffe.it) on the left at an intersection where your choices are straight or left up Via Cecilia Metella, stock up on snacks and drinks there, as there's nothing but countryside and crumbling ancient, monuments from here all the way to the Castelli Romani hill towns, 19 km (12 miles) away.

The Via Appia Antica remained over the centuries a popular Sunday lunch picnic site for Roman families following the half-forgotten pagan tradition of dining in the presence of one's ancestors on holy days.

This practice was rapidly dying out in the face of the traffic fumes that for the past few decades have choked the venerable road, but a 1990s initiative closed the Via Appia Antica to cars on Sundays, bringing back the picnickers and bicyclists (see sidebar)—along with inline skaters and a new Sunday-only bus route to get out here.

Biking the Appian Way has become a favorite activity of mine (see sidebar to the right)—though please, try it only on a Sunday. Monday to Saturday this road is teeming with cars, and to try to bike it would be suicidal.

Getting to the Appian Way

You can take Bus 218 from the San Giovanni Metro stop, which follows the Via Appia Antica for a bit, then veers right onto Via Ardeatina at Domine Quo Vadis? church. After another long block, the 218 stops at the square Largo M.F. Ardeatine, near the gate to San Callisto catacombs. From here, you can walk right on Via d. Sette Chiese to the San Domitilla catacombs; or walk left down Via d. Sette Chiese to San Sebastiano catacombs.

Alternately, you can ride the Metro to the Colli Albani stop and catch Bus 660, which wraps up the Via Appia Antica from the south, veering off it at the San Sebastiano catacombs (if you're visiting all three, you can take the 218 to the first two, walk to San Sebastiano, then catch the 660 back to the Metro).

On Sundays the road is closed to traffic, but bus 760 trundles from the Circo Massimo Metro stop down the Via Appia Antica, turning around after it passes the Tomb of Cecilia Metella.