The entire area where the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano stands, in Rome, hides many underground treasures that are difficult to observe and visit. After all, what is considered the Mother of all Churches originates from the military victory that Constantine achieved over Maxentius, with the former partly eliminating some pre-existing buildings to erect the church. But there's more, because Rome is a city made of layers, and it's very easy to find something that, from the underground or beneath modern buildings, reminds us of the city's past. Think of the other large complex in the area, the San Giovanni Addolorata hospital, which has a real underground world full of surprises in its foundations. Discover them with your local tour guide in Rome. 

There are many elevations, frescoes, or remains of mosaics and various environments dating from the 1st to the 4th century AD. These are all elements belonging to different eras and buildings. Among the most important are the traces of the so-called Domus Annorum, a rich house inhabited by Annio Vero, maternal grandfather of Marcus Aurelius. The peristyle is interesting, the large porticoed courtyard that was among the obligatory architectural and spatial elements in a respectable Roman domus. Interesting are the remains of capitals and marble screens, but even better is the large central basin whose bricks, which make up the flooring, bear the indelible trace of a…caliga. The famous studded shoe, a distinctive symbol of Roman legionaries, has left some trace right here, on one of the bricks of the basin's floor, where the imprint of a foot is clearly visible. The main element of the entire underground and archaeological area is, undoubtedly, water. Numerous remains of drainage systems, lead pipes for water passage, hydraulic systems, and aqueducts have been found (in Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano, even today, small and unmistakable arches belonging to an aqueduct emerge among the roofs of some buildings). Remains of fountains and a huge reservoir with four large basins, probably used to host and store water, were also discovered. Interestingly, numerous human bones were found inside one of them in the past. A way like any other, by the historic hospital opened two centuries ago, to quickly dispose of the poor patients who met their death there.

From this brief excursus, you will have understood how extensive the underground world of Rome is. After all, we shouldn't be surprised. Think about how, just a few steps from the San Giovanni Addolorata Hospital, there is the nearby Metro C stop. A metro station that, in every respect, is also a museum, where some of the historical testimonies, among various artifacts, found during the excavations for the construction of the station are collected (click here to learn more). Still have doubts about how unique Rome is, so much so that even a hospital bears traces of its millennial past?