Rome might seem like an unlikely place to travel and celebrate Halloween. After all, what’s scary about pasta, pizza, fine wine and gelato (except, perhaps, for the resulting effects on your waistline)?

The Eternal City is beautiful and filled with life, but there’s also a darker, haunting undertone to the city as well. And what better time to explore it than Halloween, traditionally the day when the spirits of the dead get to come back and mingle with the living? Here are 4 reasons to get a fast passport and celebrate Halloween in Rome:

  • The Catacombs– When Christianity was still new, most of Rome was pagan and burying dead bodies was still something of a novelty. Most people who died were simply cremated. Burials were also forbidden within city walls, so wealthy Christians living outside the walls donated land to be used as burial sites. The dead were buried in underground tunnels. Today, these catacombs are open for tours, although most of the bodies have since been moved.
  • The Capuchin Crypt: Below the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, Capuchin friars buried their dead, then later exhumed the skeletons and used them for a super-creepy interior decorating project: bones adorn the walls of the crypt in intricate patterns, bones form chandeliers and light fixtures, and entire human skeletons are arranged in various poses. The entire crypt functions as a memento mori (reminder of death), pointedly brought home by the inscription in one of the rooms: “What you are now we used to be; what we are now you will be..”
  • The Colosseum: Thousands of people and countless wild animals died in the gory “games” held in the Colosseum. Is it any wonder that some people consider it to be haunted? Many people have even claimed to see the ghosts of gladiators re-enacting their last battles.
  • Castel Sant’Angelo- Originally built as the burial place of the emperor Hadrian and his family, the Castel Sant’Angelo was later used as a prison, with executions being held inside.

If you’d like to visit Rome for Halloween, you’ll need to get a fast passport. Regular passport processing takes about 6 weeks, while the government’s expedited processing option takes about 3. But never fear- fast passport processing that takes as little as 24 hours is available at Regional Passport Agency offices or from private expediting companies like RushMyPassport.com.

Apply for a fast passport with us today!