30 Sep 08: Finally, some kind soul told me that this place is called Cappuccini. I googled about it and I am pretty sure that the full name is Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini.
A more relaxing sightseeing day for us, after the mad cow rush the day before. It was very hot, seemed hotter than Singapore, on 29 May. It’s always good to start Europe first from the South like Italy, as it is warmer; then move to colder regions so that by the time, those colder regions should be nearer to Summer and turn warmer.
We visited the Catacombs, which are the underground burial places under Rome. It was a mind boggling experience, seeing human bones being arranged artistically with shivers down the spine.
I only saw scenes of skeletons in an upright position while watching some adventurous Hollywood movies, never did I expect that I could see these kind of bizarre bone displays right in front of my eyes!
These bones are all arranged artistically above us! Frankly speaking, it was rather eerie to walk through the catacombs, as there were not many people around us too. And a little secret here, no one is allowed to take photos of these bones, so the photos were not very clear as I snapped them quietly. 😛
The cylindrical Castel Sant’Angelo (Castle St. Angelo) used to be a fortress and castle, and is now a museum. There were some peddlers selling fake branded bags like Prada nearby. ~The Illuminati Lair in Angels & Demons by Dan Brown!
Ponte Sant’Angelo, the mesmerising Roman bridge with an artistic reflection in the placid water. The tinted photos were taken with my shades as the photo filter.
Walking along the street, we passed by this bizzare looking garden with many headless sculptures, pillars, etc.
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Basilica of Saint Mary Major) is an ancient Catholic basilica of Rome, located on the summit of the Esquiline Hill and is considered by many to be the second most beautiful church beside St. Peter’s in Rome.
Restoration work on the floor being done by skillful hands.
San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter in Chains) is a basilica famous for housing Michelangelo’s statue Moses and the relic of the chains that bound Saint Peter while imprisoned in Jerusalem.
A Pyramid in Rome? Yup, the Pyramid of Cestius, located near Porta San Paolo, a gate that looks like a castle.
Porta San Paolo, the castle-like gate.
San Paolo Fuori le Mura (Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls), a patriarchal basilica dedicated to Saint Paul, near the site of his tomb. It is one of the four churches considered to be the great basilicas of Rome. The three others are St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Peter’s.
Rome is not built in a day; we combed it in a day! [part 1]
Rome is not built in a day; we combed it in a day! [part 2]
Rome is a fine city… we got fined!!!
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Wow wow wow..am gonna visit those places when I stepped on Rome one day!! The skulls look scary..
@Lz: Yep, pretty scary, cos it’s something that I had not seen before too, especially the skeletons wear robes and are held in an upright position! And bones are attached to the ceiling and walls around us, pretty eerie place.
rome is indeed a nice place to visit…been there awhile ago… hehe!
i believe they also have a catacombs in paris. i want to visit either but it looks creepy (and eerie) if only a few of you guys are in a group 😛
Dear Eunice,
THE UNIQUE TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE IN ROME IS OUTSTANDINGLY GORGEOUS AMONG ALL OTHER STRUCTURAL DESIGNS IN THE WORLD, not to mention the wits and vision behind the prime mover ~ Michelangelo.
With all of these factors set aside, I’d also like to mention that you captured the serenity and soul of each edifice in Rome. It truly mesmerized my eyes and it put back into life the lost vivacity of those now deadly skeletons.
Keep on snapping photos. Your idea of using your shade to avoid the sparkling sun is great! Never thought of that before, and I personally love to capture man-made architectures!
I love this post! Found it very interesting and unique. Except that the skulls are very scary 😉
And by the way, I’ve been to most of those places in Rome that you wrote about on your blog too 🙂 🙂 Okie cheers!
hye Eunice,
the pictures are nice, tho some are not clear because you snapped them secretly=P
It’s my pride that you share with us about catacombs in Rome..But, I wanted to know, what are the reasons they built the catacombs & arranged the bones & sculls like that? When did they start doing this?
Hello….nice photos 🙂 but some of them are like…emm….kinda scary…ha ha…..
Thanks for sharing 🙂
@Chee Wei: :ohohoh: really jealous of you, earning pounds in London and having fun in Europe at all time!
@Jasper: Yes! Catacombs of Paris are famous. Hmm, guess what, only two of us visited this catacombs in Rome, and hardly anyone around us as it was evening time!
@Bridge: Wow, you really described the unique characteristic of Rome very well! Surprisingly, the photos look better behind the shades than applying photo filter using Photoshop!
@Shawn: Yes indeed, I always enjoy staying at your blog for those well-written Europe travel posts and stunning shots!
@Piggy: Frankly speaking, when I was uploading these skeleton photos at night, I felt a bit eerie too! :dsadasccc:
@meimei: The catacombs in Rome are ancient underground Christian/Jewish/pagans burial places. They started doing this in the 2nd century.
Why they built catacombs? This was a response to overcrowding and shortage of land, as Christians at that time were persecuted and they had to bury their dead secretly.
Why were the bones arranged in such a way? :question: Good question!
I don’t know! I think from what I read, it’s basically a form of artwork in the olden days. Who knows? Share it with us!
you must remember…earning pounds in london = spending pounds as well… london is one of the most expensive cities in the world…bankrupt soon!
@Chee Wei: Wa serious ah! :ha: Well well, I am going to interview you soon, about London/UK travel tips!
Rome is a beautiful city. Thanks for sharing.
WOW.. Awesome post Eunice ! I have heard so much bout the Catacombs in Rome and Paris , and this is the “second” time am seein them !! The first time was in an episode of the TV series , “The World’s most Scariest places” !! I remember them tellin , many “weird” events take place in the Catacombs in the Night !!! he he he.. Scaryyyy !!
@ Meimei :
Very good question Meimei !! I wd add something to wat Eunice said ! Although these Catacombs were created in the 2nd century , it was only in the 16th century that these arrangements and “art work” were made !! It was due to the Pandemic called the “Black Death” or “Black Plague” that wiped Europe in the 16th century !!! SO many ppl died during this Plague and they had no place to bury them and so , had to be buried in these Catacombs !! And these Bone-Skull-arrangement were done by Prisoners – maybe not as a art-form , but Just to create More Space for bodies to be buried !! Got the info from Wikipedia 🙂
@Leafless: Thanks for visiting me too! 😀 Feel free to share your views here. 😀
@KC: Wow! Guess what? I also got the info from Wikipedia haha, only that I a bit lazy to read all. Good job man! :iamdead:
@ Eunice : He he.. Ok 🙂 Do read the rest sometime ! Its very much interesting !! Wiki Rocksss !! 🙂
WOW Eunice this is soooooo great….I really love it…I wish I could visit Rome in the future..hahaha…but the skull scare me a little bit but it’s amazing…muah….
@KC: Totally agreed! Google and Wiki rock! :loveheart:
@Cinderella: Italy is my favourite destination you know! Love her! Do let me know when you are going Rome!
Eunice cheche, thnx!! i understand liao, haha…i tink mayb they arranged it in that way without any reasons, just their creativity, ahah
Sis everything that you saw there, I am not jealous. I envy you. hehehe… I hope we can visit these places someday. The Catacombs? Oh my goodness, just by looking at the pictures, it’s really mind boggling and pretty eerie.
By the way, are you the one in the picture with the Pyramid of Cestius? 🙂
@The Asian Traveler: Yes I am the one in the picture! I am everywhere in this blog :shy:
the place seems to be so creepy and scary sis….
I wanted see Rome for myself soon. It’s beauty is timeless. your shots made me wanted to go the soonest possible time.
@Cielo: Ha! Yes indeed, but it’s definitely worth the trip!
@Traveler on Foot: Rome is a beauty with great historic sites, and I also hope to revisit Italy again. It’s one of my favourite travel destinations.
:loveheart:
omg the bones. tht is creepy. first time i saw sumthg like this *shivers*
Very interesting pictures of Rome, Eunice. I especially liked the pictures of the Porta Sant’ Angelo and the ones inside the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. Italy has so many churches with great architecture and great art – paintings and sculpture. Have any pictures from Florence? Or Venice?
I’d also like to see pictures of the Santa Sophia in Istanbul/Constantinople. Have you been there yet? Not that I’m planning your trips for you, or anything. 🙂
@hana: Ya, I had to “act cool” when I walked through the catacombs too!!
@Chuck: Thanks! And yes, I also backpacked Florence where we stayed in camps and visited the magical Venice too! Below are my posts on Florence and Venice.
https://travelerfolio.com/places/europe/italy/florence/
https://travelerfolio.com/places/europe/italy/venice/
Oh the catacombs. It’s really freaky, and I’m not so sure myself that I’d want my bones pulled apart and rearranged “artistically”. :S *shivers*
But, Ponte Sant’Angelo looks sooo beautiful! I love the way you made it tinted, so much more romantic. XD
p.s. Btw, yea I dropped by again. C: Voted for you too. And yea I just blogged. But I won’t be blogging again soon… but if you want you can add me on msn for my this email. Not the other one. Lol. C:
whoa… look at the bones!
interesting, but creepy enough, indeed XDD
And… I’m just thinking, how many spirits are wondering around there… XDD
@Ellisa: Hee… they are everywhere
:smoke:
@Pei Li: We will miss you…
I just added a Rome top ten on my blog. The Catacombs are included though I like your photos of it more. Check it out at http://www.travel-wonders.com/2008/09/top-ten-travel-wonders-of-rome-part-1.html. The repair photos are very rlevant – these old European cities like Rome seem to be in permanent repair, draped in scaffolding and with workers chiselling away at centuries of dirt, pollution and grime. The Pyramid was open ona day I was in Rome and it is only open once every ten years. The queues went for miles so I queued for well over an hour and a half. Annoyingly, there was almost nothing to see inside except for a couple of very modest paintings. The Roman population seemed very excited about being able to see inside.
@Mark H: That Pyramid only opens once in a decade?!! Gee, why like that?! How much is the admission ticket? You are really lucky to catch that! You queued for an hour plus for the pyramid, we queued for two hours for a ride in Disney! I guess yours is more worthy! XD I read all your three great posts of top ten wonders of Rome! Excellent work!
Cool pics, but the first pictures are the church of the cappuccini
@Paul: Finally I got the answer from you! I have been searching for the name of the place as I have totally forgotten about it! We visited this church (Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, right? I found the full name from wikipedia) on our own, following the map printed on a travel guide book. In fact, we were lucky to find this church while wondering around the street in a foreign land. Thank you Paul!
Wow rome looks really nice! I’m just browsing through your past posts!
@Chris: Pls browse through my old posts. Many are not “well-exposed” yet!! I only started promoting my site after 100 over posts, so many have not “seen the sunshine” yet. XD
You have made Italy look even older with that sepia effect… wow.. that’s indeed an experience to see thousands of skulls…. makes me shover!
@WebbieGurl: yeah man, when I edited those pics with skulls at night, I shivered too!
Awesome pictures! Do you mind if I use them when I teach “The Cask of Amontillado”? Surely Poe must have visted them.
Great photos! Which catacombs dids you visit in Rome? I think there are five different ones.
The bone cathedral looks awesome! I’ve got to see it live.
i love the pictures! i don’t travel much but if i can, i definitely want to go there! it looks so beautiful. i think the catacombs are gorgeous. i want to visit them. hehe, i like eerie things. and the cathedral! that was soooo pretty! i love gothic architecture.
That’s some scary stuff in the Catacombs. Great photos!
Wow..I like your photo looks scary..I’d like to visit that soon.
They are actually located in crypts (rooms) underneath the Capuchin Church of the Immaculate Conception (1645), located on Via Veneto, near Barbarini Square. Sort of the basement of the building.
You can check out a better description from another traveller here:-
http://www3.sympatico.ca/tapholov/pages/bones.html
I have been to both this church and to the actual catacombs south of Rome on the Via Appia Antica. The catacombs are tunnels dug underground and go for many kilometers, although usually only small sections can be visited by the public.
My poor memory seems to recall we were told the 4,000 monks were killed in some kind of purge in th 16th century. Correct me if I’m wrong
@Wazza: Yup, as I updated before at the beginning of this post, it’s at Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, or in English – Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins.
Check out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_della_Concezione_dei_Cappuccini
Thanks for your info. 🙂
What catacomb is this a picture of!!