Rome Catacombs Opening Hours, Site by Site

Rome catacombs opening hours for each open site

The three complexes on the Appia Antica and Ardeatina strip do not share a timetable. San Callisto works in two blocks, 09:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 17:00, with two hours shut in between. Domitilla splits its day along the same lines, stopping at 12:00 and starting again at 14:00 until 17:00. San Sebastiano stays open continuously, Tuesday to Sunday from 09:15 to 17:15. Priscilla, on Via Salaria, runs 9:30 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 17:00 Tuesday to Saturday, and its Sunday morning session starts only at 11:30.

The smaller sites need more care. At Sant'Agnese on Via Nomentana the clock is set by the departures themselves: a 30-minute accompanied visit leaves on the hour between 10:00 and 12:00, then again between 15:00 and 17:00, Monday to Saturday. San Pancrazio on the Janiculum opens Tuesday and Thursday 9:30 to 12:00, plus a Wednesday afternoon slot of 16:30 to 18:00, which gives three mornings and one afternoon in the whole week. Santi Marcellino e Pietro on Via Casilina is the only one whose hours move with the season, 10:00 to 13:00 and 16:00 to 19:00 from 1 April to 31 October, 15:00 to 18:00 in the afternoon for the winter half, and it has to be booked ahead. The hours here come from the sites' own published timetables, so check again on the day you travel in case a celebration or a maintenance notice shifts a session.

The weekly closures fall on different days at neighbouring sites

San Callisto and San Sebastiano stand on the same road, a short walk apart, and they shut on different days. San Callisto is closed every Wednesday. San Sebastiano is closed every Monday. Domitilla, round the corner on the Ardeatina side, is closed every Tuesday. That mismatch causes the classic wasted trip out here: people take the 118 on a Wednesday, find the San Callisto gate locked and assume the whole strip is closed, when San Sebastiano and Domitilla are both working normally.

Priscilla also closes on Monday, so a Monday trip leaves you San Callisto, Domitilla or Santi Marcellino e Pietro. Monday takes out the ticketed park sites too, if you want anything above ground: Villa dei Quintili and the Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella open Tuesday to Sunday. San Pancrazio is tighter still, open Tuesday to Thursday only, and Santi Marcellino e Pietro drops out every Thursday.

• Monday: San Sebastiano, Priscilla, San Pancrazio and the park sites closed
• Tuesday: Domitilla closed
• Wednesday: San Callisto closed
• Thursday: Santi Marcellino e Pietro closed
• Friday to Monday: San Pancrazio closed
• Sunday: no tours at Sant'Agnese, and Priscilla starts at 11:30

Catacombs of Rome last entry times and the midday break

Entry anywhere underground is on an accompanied visit with the site's own staff, which makes the last departure the time that matters. At San Callisto groups leave every 30 minutes and stay underground about 40 minutes, and the last morning departure is 12:00. Arrive at 12:20 and your next chance is 14:00. Domitilla starts the final tour of each session 20 minutes before that session closes.

San Sebastiano is the site to aim for if your morning has gone sideways. It runs straight through from 09:15, with last admission at 16:45, and 16:45 is also the start of the last tour in English, so a late arrival still works there when nothing else will take you. Priscilla publishes its own cut-offs, 12:00 for the morning and 16:00 for the afternoon, with each group capped at 25 people and about 45 minutes underground. San Callisto states a minimum of two people for a visit, and San Sebastiano warns that a party of fewer than two may be put back to a later departure.

Between 12:00 and 14:00 the Appia strip stops. San Callisto and Domitilla are in their break, Priscilla runs to 13:00 but starts no tour after 12:00, and San Sebastiano is the only gate that will let you in. Use those two hours for the road above ground or for lunch, and be back for the 14:00 restart.

Sunday on the Appia, and the holidays that change the access

Sunday is a working day for the main complexes. San Callisto, San Sebastiano and Domitilla all open, the park monuments open, and Santi Marcellino e Pietro keeps its two sessions. Sant'Agnese runs no Sunday tours, Priscilla starts late at 11:30, and San Pancrazio is shut Friday to Monday.

Traffic is the part people miss. The first stretch of the Via Appia Antica past the Maxentius complex is closed to ordinary traffic every Sunday and public holiday, which is why Sunday is the day Romans walk and cycle it. On public holidays private vehicles are banned from the Via Appia Antica altogether, so a car cannot be driven to the catacomb gates on those dates. Cyclists have their own rule: dismount and push on the basolato, or use the dirt paths beside it. Public transport, or an outing with transport included, gets round the holiday ban.

Winter maintenance, August and the fixed feast-day closures

Mid-January to early February is the one window when two of the biggest sites are shut at the same time. San Callisto closes from 13 January to 10 February 2027, Priscilla from 11 January to 1 February 2027. Priscilla shuts again from 16 to 23 August 2027.

The pre-Christmas weeks hit San Sebastiano hardest: its annual closure runs from 7 to 27 December 2026, which takes out most of Advent. San Pancrazio publishes no hours at all for August, the Janiculum site standing shut for the full month. At Sant'Agnese the catacomb office closes from 10 to 17 August and from 16 November to 6 December 2026, plus the afternoon of 24 December and 31 December. Domitilla has had a winter closure running 24 December to 21 January and publishes no dates for the coming winter, so treat that period as uncertain and check before you fix a date. Christmas week is thin everywhere: San Callisto is shut on 25 December and 1 January, and Priscilla adds 24 to 26 December and 6 January.

For San Callisto, then, the dates to keep off your calendar are the winter block from 13 January to 10 February 2027 and four single days: 1 January, Easter on 28 March 2027 and 25 December.

• San Callisto: no sessions at all from 13 January to 10 February 2027, and the gate also stays shut on 1 January, on Easter Day, 28 March 2027, and on 25 December
• San Sebastiano: 7 to 27 December 2026, plus 25 December and 1 January
• Priscilla: nothing runs from 11 January to 1 February 2027 or from 16 to 23 August 2027, and the single days off are 1 November, 8 December, 24 to 26 December, 1 January and 6 January
• San Pancrazio: the whole of August
• Sant'Agnese: 10 to 17 August and 16 November to 6 December 2026, the afternoon of 24 December and 31 December
• Capuchin Crypt and Museum: Easter Sunday, 25 December and 1 January

Above-ground gates, the crypt in the centre, and which half-day to reserve

The state park sites along the Appia follow the season rather than the catacomb calendar, and they want their own ticket. The Capuchin Crypt in the centre opens seven days a week, with its own break between 13:30 and 14:30.

Pick the day before you pick the catacomb. Thursday, Friday and Saturday leave all three Appia complexes, Priscilla and the park gates open, which makes them the safe choice for a first visit. If Monday is your only free day, go to San Callisto or Domitilla. If it is Wednesday, go to San Sebastiano, and if it is Tuesday, San Callisto, San Sebastiano and Priscilla are all working.

For the half-day, take the morning. Be at the gate for the 09:00 or 09:15 opening and you get the first departures of the day, then the whole afternoon for the basolato, the Maxentius complex and the Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella. A 14:00 start works too, though it puts San Callisto's last morning departure and Priscilla's 12:00 cut-off behind you and squeezes the rest into three hours, with the park gates closing at 16:30 between November and the end of February. Underground visits run with the site's own staff in fixed departures, and the half-day outings on this site are timed to fall inside those windows, so the opening and closing clock is taken care of.

• Park sites, meaning Villa dei Quintili, the Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella, Capo di Bove and the Antiquarium di Lucrezia Romana: no Monday opening, then 9:00 until 19:15 between 1 April and 30 September, until 18:30 through October and March, and only until 16:30 from 1 November to the end of February
• Park last entry: 30 minutes before closing, and 75 minutes before closing at Villa dei Quintili
• Closed for restoration since 22 June 2026: the Tombe della Via Latina and the Complesso di Capo di Bove, so the Appia day has fewer stops than older write-ups show
• Capuchin Crypt and Museum at Via Vittorio Veneto 27: no weekly closing day, two sessions of 09:30 to 13:30 and 14:30 to 18:30, with the desk stopping entries at 12:30 and 17:30

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