A truly magical place of Rome is the Basilica of San Clemente with its extraordinary undergrounds. I often come here on tour, giving visitors the opportunity to understand how long the history of Rome is, how fertile and splendid the subsoil of the Eternal City is, and how much the historical evolution of a single place is still clearly visible. The Basilica of San Clemente, in fact, is a very ancient church, dating back to the 5th century AD and dedicated to the third pontiff in history, with whom we can understand how special ancient and historic Rome is. Follow the suggestion a of a tour guide, come here!

The underground areas of the Basilica of San Clemente of  Rome, in fact, develop underground for meters and meters, going back in time and letting us discover how the area has evolved. basilica, dating back to the complete renovation in the Middle Ages (13th century), with its cosmatesque floor and its shining mosaic. From there, we go down to the first level, where we can admire the original basilica dating back to the 5th century AD: from the ancient columns to some marble fragments, not to mention the frescoes and walls which, by modifying the internal environment, were added during the 9th and 10th centuries. A true historical puzzle, to which a second level is added. Descending more and more underground, and going back in time, we come to the third century a.D., where an ancient mithraeum was built. An underground and mysterious place par excellence, the mithraeum was the sanctuary dedicated to the Persian divinity Mithras, who enjoyed great favor among Roman soldiers stationed in Persia and returning to Rome, or among slaves. Attached to the mithraeum there are some rooms where the initiates studied, in order to arrive at the full knowledge of the truth and of the mysteries.

But that's not all, as a third and final level awaits us! Going more and more back in time, we arrive at the 1st century a.D., when where the basilica would have risen we find some bare rooms perhaps belonging to a domus, probably belonging to a wealthy owner. What do we know from? From the type of housing, from the number of rooms found, to a pleasant, sweet and beautiful underground spring, which still flows there today and is visible, with its crystal clear drinking water. Did the owner have access to water all to himself? In that case, he must have had a lot of money and a lot of influential friendships. It also extends to the hypothesis that these rooms were part of a horreum, therefore a warehouse for storing basic necessities. Or, for others, here at the I century a.D. there was the mint of Rome. In one way or another, the fascinating underground world of the Basilica of San Clemente in Rome once more attests to how stratified the subsoil of a city like the city is, which never ceases to amaze.