Biking the Appian Way

Trip Start Nov 06, 2011
1
3
8
Trip End Nov 14, 2011


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow
Where I stayed
Zen House

Flag of Italy  , Lazio,
Wednesday, November 9, 2011

After breakfast, we walked a little bit west to a major intersection and then began a southeast walk down the Appian Antica, the ancient road of Rome. The road is a bit residential at first, and then becomes a narrow commercial scene. Eventually we came to Quo Vadis where a tourist office rents bikes out. Specific to Wednesday's, the normal bike path was closed, so we could not ride bikes to the nearby catacombs. Instead, we took the bus 2km down to the San Sebastian Catacombs. Although used as a general burial area in Roman times, they now lie underneath a church. Most of the catacombs are dug into volcanic rock that was soft at the time but hardens up when exposed to air. Contrary to some popular belief, Christians did not probably meet in worship under here, although many people lived in the tunnels during hard times. There were some lamps still built into the walls in places for lighting.

Next up, we rode the bus back to the bike rental place and rented two at a rate of 3euro per hour per bike
City Walls
City Walls
. The first part of the Way has a lot of auto traffic and is too narrow to ride a bike down, so we had to detour through a large park on the north side of the road and then cut back. From there, it's a mixture of new cobblestones and ancient pavers. The road is only about as wide as two sedans and is lined ancient roadside remnants. We rode several miles before turning around at the aqueducts. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

After dropping off the bikes, we took the bus back into the main part of the city and located the Trevi Fountain and also checked out the nearby Popolo Plaza. We walked to the Borghese Gardens, but ended up not checking out the private museum due to cost, time, and weariness. We caught a bus back home and had Indian food for dinner.
 
Slideshow

Use this image in your site

Copy and paste this html: