Lake Albano - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

The Via Francigena was an uncodified path that gathered the walkers as they funneled into Italy from all over Europe. It was a conglomerate of many roads merging together for safety, convenience and hospitality. In medieval times it was an important road and pilgrimage route for those wishing to visit the Holy See and the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul.

The catacombs of St. Callixtus are among the greatest and most important of Rome. They originated about the middle of the second century and are part of a cemeterial complex that occupies an area of 90 acres, with a network of galleries about 12 miles long, in four levels, more than twenty meters deep. In it were buried tens of martyrs, 16 popes, and very many Christians. The area of the catacomb proper is about fifteen hectares, and it goes down for five levels.

The Aurelian Walls in Rome was built in the third century A.D. and are about 19 kilometers long. Works began by Emperor Aurelian during a time of insecurity throughout Italy and the empire. It was originally constructed of tufa concrete, with a facing of triangular bricks. It was originally constructed of tufa concrete, with a facing of triangular bricks.

The largest church in Rome after St Peter’s, this vast basilica stands on the site where St Paul was buried after being decapitated in AD 67. The basilica is within Italian territory and not the territory of the Vatican City State. The interior of the Basilica of St. Paul is magnificent, with enormous marble columns and beautiful gold mosaics. On the basilica’s walls, visitors will be able to observe the portraits of each of the popes, while a ray of sunlight lights up the portrait of the curren

One of the most beautiful and luxurious pubic baths in ancient Rome begun by the emperor Septimius Severus in AD 206. There were three main bath chambers: the frigidarium, or cold room; the caldarium, or hot room; and the tepidarium, or lukewarm room. There were also large open-air swimming pools. Marble was used lavishly, and sculpture, mosaics, frescoes, and other decorations ornamented the interior.

The Pyramid of Cestius was most likely built between 18 and 12 BC. The 36-meter high pyramid was built as a tomb for a wealthy Roman under the sway of all things Egyptian. It is a remarkable monument, made of white Carrara marble and exactly 100 Roman feet high. It stands at a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the approximate line of the modern Via Marmorata.