Underground Rome Private Tour with Catacombs: Discover the Invisible City by Car

As a result, hundreds of structures ended up buried under countless tonnes of dirt and rubble – buried  but at the same time wonderfully preserved for us! Can you imagine the amazement of the archaeologists when they found entire buildings, almost intact, trapped under tons of dirt? Are you ready to experience the same thrill today? On our guided tour we’ll travel back in time to see visit buildings dating back to the time of Christ and the first centuries of the Christian world, still fabulously decorated with the same mosaics and frescoes even now – all buried below medieval and Renaissance structures that literally sit on top of them!

With the engaging commentary of our archaeologist guide, you’ll have the opportunity to recreate the daily life of the Romans over the course of the centuries, catching a glimpse of what their lives must have been and how it changed over time – sometimes drastically. We’ll trace this story from the high-times of empire when the city of Rome boasted a multi-ethnic population of over one million inhabitants to the difficult era of decline ushered in by Barbarian invasions that broke the empire’s invincible power; we’ll learn about the city in the Middle Ages, when Rome was in reality nothing more than a small village of 20,000 people ravaged by wars and plague, and finally the new splendor of the Renaissance, when the city rediscovered its glorious past.

The Catacombs of Santa Domitilla is one of the largest and most interesting Christian underground cemeteries in Rome. The oldest section of this huge complex dates back to the 2nd century AD, making it one of the most ancient of Rome’s catacombs (although only five are currently open to the public, there are more than 60 of these sites buried beneath the city).

Little is known about who Domitilla actually was: according to tradition and the few documents that mention her name, she lived in the 1st century AD and was probably a rich aristocrat, maybe even a relation of the emperor Domitian, who ruled Rome from 81 to 96 A.D. Christian tradition asserts that she was married to one Flavio Clemente, a cousin of the emperor. When Domitian found out that the couple professed the Christian faith, he exiled Domitilla to the isolated Pontine islands and executed her husband in 95 A.D. According to many inscriptions found in the catacombs, the land where they were built once belonged to Domitilla, who donated it to the Christian community before her exile.

On our tour, you’ll descend into a unique Underground Basilica built in the 4th century in memory of the martyrs Nereo and Achilleo, two soldiers who were put to death by the emperor Diocletian because they refused to renounce their faith, and whose remains were buried in the catacombs of Domitilla. From there you will explore the tunnels of the Catacombs, passing thousands of ancient burials plots – from the loculi, simple graves carved into the rock for poor Christians, to elaborate family chapels where the wealthy buried their family members surrounded by beautiful paintings and carvings. Amongst the highlights of our guided visit are some of the oldest examples of Christian art in Rome, like a famous 4^th-century fresco depicting Santa Petronilla – according to ancient Christian legend Petronilla was none other than the daughter of Saint Peter himself.

After almost 2,000 years, the true identity of Saint Clement is still controversial: he has been variously identified as the fourth pope in the line of succession from St. Peter and as the same Flavio Clemente who was married to Domitilla and died as a martyr during Domitian’s reign. Whoever he was, Rome’s Christians honored his memory with an incredible building: the church might not look that impressive from the outside, but as soon as you pull open its ancient doors it will take your breath away.

In the apse of the church a magnificent 12^th-century golden mosaic glitters and sparkles, representing the crucifixion of Jesus in a highly symbolic and idiosyncratic manner – instead of a manmade cross, Christ hangs on the Tree of Life whose twisting branches and vines promise eternal salvation for the faithful.

In Saint Catherine’s Chapel meanwhile, we will admire beautiful 15^th-century paintings, the work of early-Renaissance dream team Masolino and Masaccio, who also frescoed the wonderful Brancacci chapel in Florence. Here their work depicts the life story of one of the most revered saints of all, culminating in her tragic martyrdom and death on the wheel that bears her name today.

Then our expert guide will take you down a little staircase, and you’ll find yourself in a completely different world. This is an ancient 4^th-century church dedicated to Saint Clement buried right under the floor of the medieval basilica. Accidentally discovered in the 19^th-century by an Irish Dominican friar who lived in the convent next door, the buried building turned out to be the original Saint Clement’s Basilica, abandoned after the devastating Norman invasion of 1084. The sacked church was in such poor condition that the new Pope Paschal II decided to simply fill it up with dirt and rubble and build a new church on top!

But the story of San Clemente doesn’t end there. Descend another staircase and we’ll find ourselves in two more buildings buried even deeper into the earth. One was probably a private house from the 2nd century A.D., and houses an incredibly spooky pagan temple dedicated to the eastern bull-slaughtering god Mithras. The other building, even more ancient, was possibly a 1^st century mint.