WEB CDT Private Rome Catacombs Tour

This is a wonderful introduction to some underground sites in Rome where we will go back 2,000 years and physically walk through layers of time in Rome Catacombs!  Learn about the development of the city and the difference between the city of the living and the dead. We will meet at the Basilica San Clemente, a treasure for understanding the archaeology of the ancient city.

We will start on the ‘modern’ level in a church dating back to the 12th Century.  After admiring the beautifully decorated church and marble clad floor we descend into the past.  The lower levels of the church take us back in time to a much earlier, larger church from the 4th century.  Beneath this lies a 1stcentury Roman house, later converted into a cult temple to Mithras, an Eastern God adopted by the Romans.    Finally, we walk through an underground doorway, crossing an ancient street into a public service building from the 1st Century with an astonishing discovery below.

Our next stop is the Rome Catacombs outside of the ancient city walls, we will take private transport to one of the oldest and largest catacomb complexes on the Via Appia.  Here we will learn how early Christianity changed burial practices.  First, we descend into a 4th century church built directly on top of the catacombs, from here we go straight into a labyrinth of hand-made tunnels filled with graves in the walls.  We will explore several parts of the catacombs learning about death in ancient Rome and see crypts with pagan and Christian decorative themes including the tomb of Diogenes, a grave digger who created the endless corridors of graves.

Rome Catacombs tickets & Basilica San Clements tickets included.

Want to visit Rome’s main sights also? Check out our Colosseum and Vaticantours!