Rome › Video › Catacombs and Via Appia In ancient Rome, no burials were allowed within city walls, Christians were forced to bury their dead outside of Rome, in catacombs. A couple miles outside of Rome there are numerous catacombs and many of them are open to the public. Via Apia, known in its time as the queen of the long roads was the largest paved road on its time and it stretched from Rome to Napoli and Brindisi. These two tourist attractions are a good place to visit by tourists interested in the roman and Christian history.