Overview: So numerous are the wonders of Rome that even the most attentive visitors miss many of them. We propose a tour through some of these too frequently overlooked places, providing richness and texture to our image of Imperial and Early Christian Rome.

We'll start at the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels , which is built into what was the heart of the great baths of the end of the third century AD. The magnificent columns that welcome us to this holy place and draw us into its secrets have stood witness to the comings and goings of gods and men since the time of Diocletian. They whisper to us of the splendour of Empire , revealing complex and detailed architecture, ample rooms of various temperatures, pools, saunas, interior gardens, gymnasiums and libraries, around which wheeled an intense and vibrant social life. During the Middle Ages, many areas were abandoned, including the baths. The men of the Renaissance, energized by a new faith in humanity, created basilicas over the ruins of pagan ancient Rome . A past no longer damned returned to lend a hand to the present. Inside the basilica, originally designed by Michelangelo , we find magnificent angelic sculptures as well as a tremendous Sundial , commissioned by Pope Clement XI to demonstrate the accuracy of the Gregorian calendar and to determine precisely the date of Easter.

In the National Museum of Palazzo Massimo there are countless masterpieces of timeless beauty. The marble statue of Emperor Augustus with veiled head in the vestments of Pontifex Maximus, or High Priest. The sublime bronze sculpture of the Pugilist and the pained, intense expression on his face, his gloved hands and scarred body. The Sleeping Hermaphrodite in marble, a beautiful youth lying on a cloak who from one side appears to be a woman, with the sensuous curve of waist and hips, only to discover the other side, revealing the anatomy of a man. The Lancellotti Discus Thrower , familiar to us from advertisements and art history books, reflects the absolute harmony of body and mind . A body in tension, contracted in a position of extraordinary beauty, is caught in the moment just before the great power of the release.
In this museum we also find the most spectacular ancient frescoes that can be visited in Rome . From a villa belonging to Livia, wife of Cesar Augustus , we see the frescoes that decorated the walls of a large underground room . They depict fantastic gardens, a paradise where magical light caresses the wings of birds in flight and the ripe fruit of exotic trees. In this artistic vision we find a reflection of the spirit of the age, the peace and prosperity of Augustus.

Equally rich are the collections of ancient mosaics, coins from the Republican era on, and jewelry from various ages recovered from tombs. Also worthy of attention is the extremely rare mummy of a child of eight from the second century BC , found on the outskirts of Rome . When she was found during excavations, she was still wearing her necklace, her earrings, and her gold ring . Next to her was an ivory doll that she used to play with, a cherished companion that her parents could not bear to deprive her of as she set forth on the lonely journey of the afterlife.

The Basilica of Saint Prassede now takes us to the Middle Ages and reflections of new ideas and experiences of the divine in the enchanting Byzantine mosaics of the chapel of Zenon , a mausoleum complete with a beautiful Christ Jesus held aloft by four angels ensconced in the vaulted ceiling.

We conclude the tour in another place suspended in time, the Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains. This sacred space was created for the express purpose of housing and presenting for veneration the blessed chains that bound Saint Peter while in prison. We also find the great tomb of Pope Julius II, begun but never completed by Michelangelo . We are struck by the grandeur, the energy, and the enigma with which, through the ages, the gaze of Moses has challenged us, a gaze that truly reveals itself to only the most attentive traveller, seeking, in art as in life, to better understand both himself and others.

Wonders, surprises, and baited breath in the three hours of Secret Rome, which we invite you to explore with us!