Page 448 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

446  ROME AND LAZIO

8 Catacombs Rome with all the buildings
which then stood within the
Via Appia Antica 126. @ 118, 218. San
Callisto: Tel 06 513 01 580. Open 9am– Aurelian walls. The south of
noon, 2–5pm Thu–Tue. Closed 1 Jan, the suburb features a lake and
late Jan–late Feb, Easter Sun, 25 Dec. shady park, and the huge
& 5 8 = ^ domed Palazzo dello Sport,
built for the 1960 Olympics.
In burying their dead in
underground cemeteries
outside the city walls, the early 0 San Paolo fuori
Christians were simply obeying le Mura
the laws of the time. They were
not forced to use them because Via Ostiense 186. @ 23, 128, 170, 670,
of persecution, as later popular 761, 766, 769. q San Paolo. Tel 06
myth has suggested. Many 4543 4185. Open 7am–6:30pm daily.
saints were buried here, and the Cloister: Open 8am–6:15pm daily.
5 7 =
catacombs later became shrines
and places of pilgrimage.
Today several catacombs are EUR’s Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro, the Today’s church is a faithful if
open to the public. The vast “Square Colosseum” soulless reconstruction of the
Catacombs of San Callisto, great 4th-century basilica
hewn from volcanic tufa, because of the outbreak of war. destroyed by fire in 1823. Only
contain niches, or loculi, which The architecture was intended a few fragments of the earlier
held two or three bodies, as well to glorify Fascism, and as a church survived, most notably
as the burial places of several result the bombastic style of the the cloister (1241), with its pairs
early popes. Close by, walls in buildings can look overblown of colourful inlaid columns,
the Catacombs of San and rhetorical to modern eyes. considered one of the most
Sebastiano are covered in Of all the buildings the best beautiful in Rome.
graffiti invoking St Peter and known is probably the Palazzo Elsewhere, the church’s
St Paul, whose remains may della Civiltà del Lavoro (the triumphal arch is decorated on
once have been moved here. Palace of the Civilization of one side with heavily restored
Work), an unmistakable 5th-century mosaics, and on the
landmark for people arriving other with mosaics by Pietro
from Fiumicino airport. Cavallini originally on the
The scheme was eventually façade. The equally fine mosaics
completed in the 1950s. (1220) in the apse represent the
Despite the area’s dubious figures of Christ with St Peter,
architecture, EUR has been a St Andrew, St Paul and St Luke.
planning success, and people The single most outstanding
are still keen to live here. As well work of art is the fine marble
as residential housing, the vast canopy over the high altar, the
marble halls along the wide work of Arnolfo di Cambio (1285),
boulevards are also home to a with the possible assistance of
number of government offices Pietro Cavallini. Below the altar is
and museums. Best among the the confessio where it is alleged St
latter is the Museo della Civiltà Paul was once buried. To its
Engraving of Christian ceremony in Romana, famous for its casts right is an impressive Paschal
Catacombs of San Callisto (AD 50) of the reliefs from the Column candlestick dating from the
of Trajan, and for a large-scale 12th century by Nicolò di
model depicting Angelo and Pietro
9 EUR 4th-century Vassalletto.
@ 170, 671, 714. q EUR Fermi, EUR
Palasport. Museo della Civiltà Romana,
Piazza G Agnelli 10. Tel 06 06 08. Museo
della Civiltà Romana: currently closed
for restoration – call for details. &
The Esposizione Universale di
Roma (EUR), a suburb to the
south of the city, was originally
built for an international
exhibition, a kind of “Work
Olympics”, that was planned
for 1942, but never took place 19th-century mosaic on façade of San Paolo fuori le Mura
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600

446-447_EW_Italy.indd 446 4/4/17 5:36 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm