Rome Underground Tour
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Rome Underground Tour
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Rome Underground Tour

3 h
About this activity
You meet the guide beside the entrance of St.Clement's Basilica (5minutes walking from the Colosseum).

Ground Level: the tour starts inside St.Clement's Basilica, a wonderful Medieval church built 900 years ago and containing some of the most splendid mosaics of Rome.

30 feet underground: by a hidden staircase your guide will lead you to the first underground level, to get the earliest St.Clement's Basilica, a buried ancient church built about 1600 years ago and later destroyed by violent invaders and hidden by the floor of the later basilica.

Here you will walk through the ancient church galleries and admire Medieval frescoes still remaining on the walls and telling stories of Saints killed under the sea, earthquakes, mysterious Oriental empresses and the first Italian wall-writing found in the country.

45 feet below the modern streets level: it's not the end. Now you can get the second hidden stair to go even further underground. At the bottom of the stair you'll find an incredible dark area: a rectangular chamber with a light-opening of the ceiling and a marble altar in the middle. This is one of the underground temples of the Persian god Mitra, whose religion was imported to Rome by the legionaries about 1800 years ago.

50 feet underground: enter the lowest level. A gigantic building with a huge central open-air court. The problem is that now the court is filled with ancient debris and located almost 20 meters under the modern ground level. Walk through the rooms, one by one, and get the secret natural waterspring that gave water to the entire manifacturing area.

Now it's time go up and reach the modern age again. From St.Clement's Basilica you take a 10 minutes walk in order to reach the Celian Hill, one the most quiet and out-of-time areas of Rome. Your guide will make pass by the arch of an Ancient Roman aquaduct (the Claudius one) to reach the Basilica of the Saints John and Paul. This church was built around 1600 years ago above one of the most beautiful ancient residential blocks of Rome.

Here we are, underground again. Firstly you will visit the ancient "insula", an apartment building with stores built 1800 years ago and later transformed into a villa with mosaics and frescoes.

Walking by the ancient rooms you will get the most secret part of the area: the place where the bodies of ancient Christian martyrs were supposely buried about 16 centuries ago.

From there you cross an internal courtyard to get a second villa with a private underground bath. And at the very end of the courtyard you can stop in front of the highlight of this archaeological area: a wonderful water fountain buil 1700 years ago and painted with still bright and warm colourful frescoes. You will take 5 minutes only to realized that it was not painted yesterday, but during the Ancient Roman period!
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Included
  • Professional local guide
  • Vey small group (8 people maximum)
Not included
  • Entrance fees (18 euro per person. They can be paid cash to the guide the day of the tour)
  • Transportation to/from attractions
  • Food and drinks
Additional
  • Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • This tour is not recommended for children under 10, due to the long underground walk
  • Children older than 10 must be accompanied by an adult
  • Dress code is formal (please cover your shoulders and knees). Wear comfortable shoes and take a jacket with you to go underground
  • Your tickets will be held at the site box office for collection on the day of the performance. Tickets cost is 18 euro per person and it's NOT included in the tour cost (it has to be paid cash to the guide the day of the tour)
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travelers
Features
Tourism
90%
Cultural
75%
Original
25%
Reviews
5.0
4
D
Danny H
5 | 2019-07-03

Our guide was Simone. He is a qualified archeologist who is clearly passionate about his craft. He not only explained about the Basilica di San Clemente and the amazing church and buildings below it, but he also related the stories he was telling us to the political and cultural situation of the time. We then walked a few minutes to another Roman villa which is under a current day church. Simone’s stories were so interesting and informative. Our 3 hour tour passed in a flash and we learnt so much. This tour is not on the regular tourist route but is absolutely worth it!

M
Mark Carol Sato
5 | 2018-07-08

This tour was for St. Clements and underground. Really interesting history lesson and a great tour to do in the afternoon hours in the summer to beat the heat. Simona was a great guide - an archeologist who had the most interesting stories to share about the underground ruins and the church itself.

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