Last day in Rome

We decided to ditch the tour for today as we had already visited what they were going to see and it would have been a bit frustrating to repeat when there is so much more to do.  We are finding on tours it is difficult to predict how much arttention they will give to a site, so if you want to get a really good look, best to do that yourself.

Today we had another go at seeing the Catacombs, and mission accomplished.  The catacombs are ancient burial grounds of the Jewish Christians in the 2nd Century AD, used when land to bury people was in short supply, and the Romans got first dibs.  We visited San Sebastiano's Basilica under which lie approx 7 miles of tunnels.  The soft volcanic soil of Rome is particularly good for digging out tunnels, as then when exposed to the atmosphere, the soil hardens up quickly.  They carved out niches in the tunnel walls, and then sealed the niche with a block of marble after the perfumed, mummified body was interred.  A little bit creepy but fascinating at the same time.  No photography allowed there.

This is San Sebastiano's Basilica where underneath are the burial tunnels. Originally over 100,000 people were buried there, including St Peter and St Paul for a short time according to the tour guide.

After this underground experience, something nice to look at up top was called for.  We went for a walk along The Appian Way.

This is the oldest Roman road in Rome, and still extremely busy.  Italian motorists are nuts driving along this really single lane road at high speeds, and then turning a single lane into two!!! or three with a motorbike!!  This road was the southern entrance into the city, gatewayed by the Porta San Sebastiano.

Along this road we had a look at the Villa and Circus of Maxentius.

This was the entrance to the circus or arena for chariot racing.  The low brick walls are like the starting blocks for the chariots, the low walls on the farside in front of the trees were the "bleachers" or the seats for 10,000 spectators.

This is a panoramic view of the racing space where the chariots raced doing circuits of seven laps. There was also a Box attached to the palace, so the Emperor did not have to leave home to watch the racing.  According to the guidebook, this was all built, but never used!!

I think we did about 5 kms of walking today.  No wonder my feet hurt!  So back to the underground and home to the Hotel.. Beautiful sunny weather today, not a rain cloud in sight.