Rome Underground Layers Tour, San Clemente, Santi Cosma e Damiano

Your tour begins at the Basilica of St Clement, a time-machine, where in one building we can descend over a thousand years. This unique archaeological allows us to explore some of the many underground layers of Rome.

We start on the ‘modern level’ in a beautiful church dating back some 800 years. The apse is decorated with stunning gold mosaic from the 12th century and a cosmatesque floor. It is from here that we travel back in time.

Directly beneath the church is an earlier and much larger Christian Basilica of the fourth century. Here you will see how one church was abandoned and replaced by another. Known for its large collection of medieval frescos, there is even a comic strip with the first example of written Roman dialect.

A few steps down and we find yourselves in an ancient Roman house later converted into a Mithras temple. . Across a small passage we descend yet further to another public building dating back to the first century. Underneath that……. A surprise!!

We will take a short walk past the remains of the gladiator school to the Basilica of St Cosma and Damiano. What makes it unique is that it was built directly on top of the ruins of the Roman Forum and is comprised of two far older buildings. Here you will learn how the many layers of the city of Rome formed thanks to frequent floods.

Named after two doctors martyred in Greece, the Basilica of St Cosma and Damiano was converted into a church in the 6th century, serving as a hospital for the poor and for pilgrims. Inside, you will see how a 4th century temple on the Roman Forum and a 1st century library were converted into a church on two levels. Later, due to the raising of the land level in the forum the lower level was abandoned, preserving the antique bronze door and the only original still in situ on the Roman Forum.