Michelangelo's Moses and St. Clemens Undergrounds Tour

ITINERARY :

This is the itinerary of the standard 3 hours tour, but if you wish we can customize it to make it longer or shorter!

• HOUR 1

  We will start out tour with the Church of St. Clemens and its underground. The basilica was built in 12th century above an Ancient Roman house, a Mithraic Temple and a paleo-Christian church. During this visit we will discover the majestic interior of the current Basilica, richly decorated with apse mosaic, medieval frescoes and marble statues and then descend three levels under the church to see its subterraneans which reveal the ancient history of Rome.

  Leaving the Basilica of St. Clemens we will continue our tour to see the ruins of the Ludus Magnus, an ancient gladiator training school located on the northeast side of the Colosseum. This complex was built by the emperor Domitian in the 1st century AD and it is considered the largest of the gladiatorial arenas in Rome: the rest of the structure is still hidden under the street level.

• HOUR 2

  A short walk through the city center will bring us to the Colle Oppio Park, where we will see the ancient ruins of the Domus Aurea, the “Golden House” of Emperor Nero. This huge palace complex was built in 64 AD and it was the most lavish and expensive building in Rome with more than 150 rooms finished in white marble, ivory, precious mosaics and frescoes.

• HOUR 3

  At the end of our history-focused journey we will visit the church of San Pietro in Vincoli. This early Christian Cathedral houses an important relic, the chains used to bind Saint Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem and many other significant artworks including Michelangelo’s dramatic Moses statue, one of the greatest woks of the Italian genius.