Underground Rome and Catacombs Tour with Private Car: Treasures of Time Beneath Our Feet
Venture into Rome’s best underground sites and catacombs on a private tour
A journey in underground Rome to discover the three most exciting underground sites, with skip-the-lines tickets and accompanied by a private guide and car.
Walk through the galleries of the Catacombs of Domitilla, with its underground basilica unique in Rome. Experience the religious symbols of the early Christians and their ceremonies, some of which are very different from ours. For example, those held for the resurrection of their dead, believed by some communities to be forthcoming or in any case destined to happen during their lifes, and not at the end of time.
Explore the treasures of the Basilica di San Clemente's street-level church and the underground levels of the Basilica di San Clemente with your knowledgeable guide, licensed by the City of Rome and specialized studies in Art History.
Admire the beautiful mosaics of the main church, then go down to the one below and even further down to the third underground level, where the journey through time is complete: we are in the 1st century AD
Beenthralled by the discovery of a centuries-old story, where frescoes, sarcophagi, and inscriptions tell the daily lives of our ancestors Enjoy the enchantment of a secret corner of Rome in the Roman Houses on the Celian Hill, close to the Colosseum but out of the tourist itineraries, with this private tour centered on your interests.
Enter the luxuriously frescoed residence befitting a mighty figure of the era, buried for centuries beneath the current elevated church.
Mystery, archeology and beauty intertwined in a first-person mystery. Unique chance to learn, interacting with our guide, how mindsets have shifted in response to changing economic, political, and cultural conditions.
Explore how people have faced the challenges of their time in diverse ways: benefitting from past experiences to build a better world and activating forgotten personal and collective resources.
Duration
4 hrs
Tour Type
Private Tour
Wonders discovered
Famous people's stories
famous leaders
Rome's Underground Theorem: The Deeper You Go Down, the Further Back in Time You Go
The three underground levels of the Basilica di San Clemente and the Roman Houses on the Celio are immediate proof that the depths of Rome are brimming with history. We tread on entire neighborhoods buried by time. This is hardly surprising, as we are in the heart of ancient Rome, in areas continuously inhabited for over 2,000 years. Here, the supporting structures of buildings destroyed by fires or floods of the Tiber River were covered with waste materials and used as foundations for new constructions.
Thus, partly by chance and partly due to our ancestors' millenary attitude of preservation (saved from our consumerist vice), they have unwittingly bequeathed us treasures. However, it is only thanks to the passion and systematic excavations conducted by archaeologists that today we can enter these 3 once-subterranean spaces. We invite you to experience them with our local expert guide, armed with their same attitudes: enthusiasm, investigative approach, and a critical spirit.
Meet the Guide and the Driver
Your driver and guide will meet you at your hotel or a convenient location, depending on your preference. The meeting point will be confirmed in advance by our office. During the short journey to the first site, st. Clement Basilica, your guide will begin to provide you with an overview of the historical context of underground Rome. This will help you to better understand the significance of the sites you will be visiting.
1. Discover the Catacombs of Domitilla and the only underground basilica in Rome
Journey through the labyrinthine tunnels of the Catacombs of Domitilla, the largest and most extensive Christian burial complex in Rome. Explore the fascinating network of chambers and galleries, where early Christians were buried. Then, step into the unique underground basilica, a hidden gem of early Christian architecture.
Descending a long staircase, we immediately delve into the depths of the earth to unearth stories buried for millennia, while the anxiety of going underneath - for those suffering from it - slowly melts away. We are in the underground basilica of the Catacombs of Santa Domitilla, a large, magical space that is anything but gloomy. With our guide, you will discover how and when it was built, but above all, the stories and celebrations of the early Christians through the clues that time has preserved.
From the basilica, you will explore the most significant section of the galleries excavated between the tombs, winding underground for a total of about 17 km on 4 levels. As for the tombs, you will make sense of the many details that accompanied the burial of the deceased, more evident in some but well known from the over 150,000 tombs in total that line the narrow tunnels.
During the periods of use, the catacombs were accessible from several surface entrances, which were conveniently marked by small funerary monuments, called "cippi" or markers - with stairs leading down to the catacombs. This made it easier for the living to visit their deceased loved ones and to pay their respects.
But what is the prevailing feeling when walking through these underground tunnels? Not of despair, but of care, the care with which over the centuries those who remained took care of their departed loved ones, praying for them, carving signs of affection on their tombs, symbols of hope in the resurrection, of faith in the eternal life promised by Jesus Christ.
Our exploration of the catacombs is not just a journey through underground tunnels, but a journey back in time to the daily lives and religious rituals of the early Christians. You will learn about their beliefs and practices through the objects they left behind, the offerings they made, and the celebrations they held to honor their dead, as these rituals were a central part of early Christian liturgy.
1.2 Why are there so many catacombs along the Appian Way?
Likely to sell out
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