Rome underground shore excursion from Civitavecchia's port

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Catacombe di San Callisto, Via Appia Antica 110, 00179 Rome Italy

You will meet the english speaking driver just below your ship. He will hold a sign with your name. Then you board in a mercedes air conditioned minivan or sedan and make the way to Rome. Your first stop once in Rome, will be at the Catacombs of San Callixtus, where you can really learn pretty much about places like this and their use in the past. The Catacombe di San Callisto are some of the most amazing sights of any catacombs on Rome's Appian Way, some of the tunnels are phenomenal: 70 feet high and less than six feet wide, pigeon-holed by elongated tomb niches all the way up to the ceiling.

Of all the catacombs, those of San Callisto are among the oldest and certainly the largest (12 miles of tunnels over 90 acres and four levels that house the remains of half a million Christians), and were the final resting place of 16 early popes.

On the tour, you also get to ogle some of the earliest Christian art—frescoes, carvings, and drawings scratched into the rock depicting ancient Christian symbols like the fish, the anchor, the dove, and images that tell some of the earliest popular Bible stories.

Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Basilica of San Clemente, Via Labicana 95, 00184 Rome Italy

After visiting the catacombs, the driver takes you to another special place underground: The curch of San Clemens, which is not just a church, but is more like a journey backwards in time, across centuries where history mingles with legend and phantoms and mysteries accompany the voyager every step of the way.

In fact, San Clemente is not one, but three churches constructed one above the other, resting on the remains of earlier Roman habitations. Each of these strata evokes its own historical fantasy.

you discovering begins at the lowest point of the basilica complex. At the third level below the present church we find ourselves in a musty tufa-walled corridor, peering through an iron grill.

The atmosphere of mystery increases as we cross the passageway dividing the Clementine villa from the Roman apartment complex on the other side. Here, deep beneath the pavements of the modern city, emerge the shadowy images of Corinthian columns, Roman bas-reliefs, and the fragments of large granite pots.

You go across the time and archologychal levels, until climb to San Clemente's top - and present - level.

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Museum and Crypt of Capuchins, Via Vittorio Veneto 27, 00187 Rome Italy

Your last adventure will be to exploring one of the most impressive underground-places in Rome: The Chapucins complex in the area that used to be famous under the name 'La dolce vita'.

It's quite ironic, that in this section, we can admire a very macabre double-level religious bulding like this one. In fact, underneath this 17th Century church is an unusual catacomb featuring the skeletons of around 4,000 friars. Their bones are arranged throughout six chapels/crypts in lamps, sculptures and mosaic-like displays of flowers, geometric shapes, an hourglass, and various religious symbols. There is the Crypt of the Skulls, the Crypt of the Leg Bones, The Crypt of the Pelvises, etc. Some of the fully skeletal monks even seem strangely preserved and are still wearing their habits! Most impacting of all, however, is the plaque proclaiming, “What you are now, we once were; what we are now, you shall be.” This place is mind-bogglingly gross and fascinating all at once.


Duration: 1 hour