Catacombs of San Callisto

Sited along the Appian way, these catacombs were built around the end of the 2nd century, with some private Christian hypogea and a funeral area directly dependent on the Roman church. It takes its name from the deacon Saint Callixtus, proposed by Pope Zephyrinus in the administration of the same cemetery - on his ascession as pope, he enlarged the complex, that quite soon became the official one for the Roman Church. The arcades, where more than fifty martyrs and sixteen pontiffs are buried, form part of a complex graveyard that occupies fifteen hectares and is almost twenty km long.