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The Catacomb of Callixtus was discovered in 1819 and is considered the most extensive known Christian burial complex. It bears the name of the 3rd-century pope Callixtus and was a customary burial place for Christians during Roman times.
It is big, big, big! In some places, the catacombs reach over 4 stories high and a path through the various galleries is almost 5 miles long! Still, one question remains: why did the Christians bury their dead here? It's hard to believe that the ancient Romans, who had outlawed Christianity, didn't know about this massive cemetery only steps from their city. Well, of course they knew about it. So, why then didn't they destroy these catacombs? Well, there was a very important Roman law which stipulated that citizens belonged to the Empire during life but that they were free during death. In other words, they were free to worship the god of their choice in the afterlife and no one had the right to desecrate a burial spot. With that in mind, many Christian noblemen donated land so that Christian dead could be buried without any problems. Any kind of rite or ceremony inside the catacombs, of course, was prohibited (the people were living, after all), so plenty of persecutions took place inside the catacombs but the structure itself was never destroyed.
