We planned to catch the 9:00 bus, but decided to let Delaney sleep a bit more because of how busy we've been. We got to the stop at 9;15 and the ticket guy said the next bus was at 10:00 so David and Adam went to get sunglasses in the station. In the meantime, a bus pulled up, loaded passengers and left at 9:30. Then David and Adam returned and we waited for the 10:00 bus after all. Misinformation abounds...patience is essential.
We stopped at the Baths of Caracalla first. I wasn't sure what to expect. Previous 'baths' that I had seen were crumbling walls with no way to tell that they were baths rather than stables. Caracalla was a wonderful surprise. There were areas of mosaic floor tiles where you could actually see where the floors and pools had been. It was also HUGE! It could accommodate over 2,000 bathers at a time.
We had looked at our watches carefully to make sure to catch the next bus. As we were heading for the stop, we saw it coming, so we dashed down the hill to make sure we caught it. The bus quickly headed out of the city along the Appian Way. There were walls along each side of the narrow road and rolling hills. Our next stop was the Catacombs of San Callisto. We lucked out that the next English tour was only about a 30 min wait. Our guide did an excellent job giving the history of the catacombs as a burial place for the Christians during the Roman Empire. Over 500,000 people were buried there over several centuries. They hand dug the tunnels and niches, measuring each body first to custom fit the niche. It was easy to see which were for children and which were adults. The ground contains some clay, so that when it was exposed to the air as they dug, it hardened. The diggers would start with a man-high tunnel and dig niches, then when it was full they would dig into the floor making the chamber deeper (like the ceiling getting higher), with the oldest burials on the top level. Several chambers we passed through were over 20 ft ceilings. Eventually they dug a whole new level. San Callisto site had 4 levels. Level 1 had collapsed onto level 2. Level 2 we toured. Levels 3 and 4 were closed for conservation. They had removed all the bones from level 2 to level 3 except one set in a sarcophogus that was on display. Nearly all the bodies were laid out wrapped in cloth and covered in limn to contain the smell and decay. They were not put in coffins for the most part.
During the time of persecutions, believers were secretly Christian and the only sign that they left was a carving on their tombs of a fish, chi rho, or dove as Christian symbols.
Layout of the Baths of Caracalla. Three different kinds of pools: Calderium (hot), tepidarium (warm), frigidarium (cold). They would start with the hot and finish with the cold, even in the winter time. There were also exercise facilities and a library available.
Mosaic tiles from the ceiling domes
...Guess I need to load the pics from Delaney's camera of the floor tiles (the batteries in my camera died the 2nd day...)
We were not allowed to take photos inside the catacombs (sad face). This is the shop where I would have purchased postcards instead if it had been open instead of taking a midyear break.
Illustration of the different levels of the catacombs.
Illustration of niche diggers with hand tools. Small niches for children. Covered over and marked with names and Christian symbols.
No comments:
Post a Comment