Ancient Catacombs & Underground Rome Semi-Private Tour

Rome – the Eternal City, wasn’t built in a day! On this tour you will discover how Rome was actually built in layers, much of it being underground, over several hundred years. Due to the damage caused by wars, fires, floods, and other disasters, Rome was rebuilt upon itself time and again.

Your tour begins at the fascinating Basilica San Clemente, where you’ll uncover the mysteries of subterranean Rome.  San Clemente is a medieval basilica with stunning gold mosaics – in itself a true treasure. But hidden below is another church, built on a pagan temple – built on a Roman house! You’ll see frescos that have survived since the 8th century and learn about the early church and the martyrs depicted on the walls. You’ll hear why so many churches in Rome were built on top of Pagan temples. You’ll learn all about the mysterious cult of Mithras in the eerie temple beneath, and see the surviving altarpiece of Mithras and the Bull. Your guide will walk you through the first-century Roman apartment and tell you all about a day in the life of an ancient Roman!

Returning to the surface, you’ll head outside the ancient city walls to one of the largest catacomb complexes – the ancient burial grounds of the illegal, persecuted Christians in Rome. You’ll descend into this dark maze of galleries lined with hundreds of rectangular graves – now empty niches thanks to the Barbarian raids. You’ll learn all about the burial rituals and decode the secret messages in the frescos and carvings on the terracotta and marble gravestones. You’ll see the tiny oil lamps by which the gravediggers worked and see their pick axe marks and scrapes in the soil and tufa rock around you. A truly unique, fascinating, and awe-inspiring experience.

Then you’ll return to the surface and be driven back to the city center to enjoy the hustle and bustle of daily life in modern Rome – with the knowledge that another three cities exist beneath your feet!