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Underground Rome Catacombs Tour | Semi-Private Experience

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Group · 6 Max 2 hrs 30 mins Basilica di San Clemente Refundable booking
Private Catacombs Night Tour in Rome with Santa Maria Maggiore After Hours

Enjoy a fully guided semi-private tour of the mysteries of underground Rome with maximum of 6 people, and an expert guide. Discover how Rome was built in layers at the fascinating Basilica of St Clement, a medieval basilica with stunning gold Byzantine mosaics that were built on top of a 4th-century church, on top of a 2nd-century pagan temple to Mithras on top of a late 1st-century Roman house! Next adventure to the ancient Christian catacombs, a labyrinth of miles of tunnels for graves and burials, dug by and for the very first illegal Christians – an awe-inspiring experience!

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  • Learn the secrets of subterranean Rome with an expert guide
  • Discover the labyrinthine tunnels of the ancient Christian catacombs
  • Hear stories of the heroic saints and martyrs during Roman persecution
  • Visit the fascinating multi-layered Basilica San Clemente with a pagan temple
  • Travel between sites and back to the center of Rome in a comfortable taxi service
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Maximum six people per group Tickets & Reservations Expert guides Secure payment system Eco-friendly

Semi-Private tours and experiences are guaranteed six participants max.

Our prices always include tickets and reservations fees (no waiting in lines!).

Our tour guides and staff are selected experts and speak perfect English.

Easy to book and prepay your tours with our secure payment system.

Eco-sustainable tourism, designed to respect and support local culture, art and traditions.

Rome – the Eternal City, wasn’t built in a day! On this tour you will discover how Rome was actually built in layers, much of it being underground, over several hundred years. Due to the damage caused by wars, fires, floods, and other disasters, Rome was rebuilt upon itself time and again. 

Your tour begins at the fascinating Basilica San Clemente, where you’ll uncover the mysteries of subterranean Rome.  San Clemente is a medieval basilica with stunning gold mosaics – in itself a true treasure. But hidden below is another church, built on a pagan temple – built on a Roman house! You’ll see frescos that have survived since the 8th century and learn about the early church and the martyrs depicted on the walls. You’ll hear why so many churches in Rome were built on top of Pagan temples. You’ll learn all about the mysterious cult of Mithras in the eerie temple beneath, and see the surviving altarpiece of Mithras and the Bull. Your guide will walk you through the first-century Roman apartment and tell you all about a day in the life of an ancient Roman! 

Returning to the surface, you’ll head outside the ancient city walls to one of the largest catacomb complexes – the ancient burial grounds of the illegal, persecuted Christians in Rome. You’ll descend into this dark maze of galleries lined with hundreds of rectangular graves – now empty niches thanks to the Barbarian raids. You’ll learn all about the burial rituals and decode the secret messages in the frescos and carvings on the terracotta and marble gravestones. You’ll see the tiny oil lamps by which the gravediggers worked and see their pick axe marks and scrapes in the soil and tufa rock around you. A truly unique, fascinating, and awe-inspiring experience. 

Then you’ll return to the surface and be driven back to the city center to enjoy the hustle and bustle of daily life in modern Rome – with the knowledge that another three cities exist beneath your feet! 

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  • Expert English-speaking guide
  • Semi-private group of 6 people
  • St Clement Church visit & tickets
  • Ancient catacomb visit & tickets
  • Comfortable taxi transfer between sites
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There is no photography allowed in St Clement Church or in the Catacombs.

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LivTours’ group size of max 6 participants is and always has been based on sustainable travel, and we are proud to be at the forefront of change and innovation in the industry.  LivTours is committed to providing travelers with truly sustainable tours with the lowest possible environmental impact, all while supporting the local industries and people of each unique destination. To learn more about how you can actively support sustainable tourism  and how LivTours is contributing, click here.

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All LivTours Semi-Private Group Tours are capped at six guests per tour guide. Our commitment to maintaining this uniquely tiny group size can sometimes be a little tricky, mathematically speaking. For example, we want to ensure that traveling families and friends can tour together, so on rare occasions we may add one or two guests to avoid separating groups. On that same note, you may also find yourself on tour with less than six people! We thank you for your understanding and flexibility.

 

 

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  • Awesome Tour of San Clemente + Catacombs

    We wanted to see the catacombs during our stay in Rome, and this tour delivered. You start at San Clemente and literally descend down through the layers of historical periods, listening to your guide explain the story of each one. Afterwards, you hop in a van and drive out to the catacombs of Domitilla, including the underground basilica of Nereus and Achilleus. Our guide, Andy, did a great job leading us through and explaining the significance of wall features, tombs, and everything else we saw. Some of the tour was almost a science lesson - we learned about the building materials and how the force of the river changed the church and the city over the centuries. But we also learned a lot about early Christian society, their worship, burial practices and the cult of the martyrs. Andy was engaging and informative throughout for our group of mixed ages; he took delight in exploding some common myths people have about ancient Christians and Roman society. We were dropped off in Piazza Venezia, and Andy used the van drive back to answer further questions and give us tips for the rest of our trip. Bottom line, if you want a tour of the catacombs, grab this one and ask for Andy.

    - Christian George
  • An Unforgettable Experience

    The catacombs have been on my Rome bucket list for years, and this tour exceeded expectations. I loved starting at San Clemente and seeing how the city was literally built on top of itself. Our small group meant we could move at a relaxed pace and ask plenty of questions. A perfect, well-balanced tour.

    - Charlotte Vega
  • Fascinating Layers of History

    This tour was like peeling back the pages of a history book, one floor at a time. Standing in the Basilica of San Clemente and realizing there were centuries of structures beneath my feet was surreal. Our guide, Giulia, balanced historical detail with great storytelling, making it easy to imagine life in ancient Rome.

    - Andre Harris
  • Superb Catacomb Tour

    Our guide was Andy. He was fantastic and engaged both the adults and children in our group, ensuring that everyone had fun. He explained the history of Rome with exciting and historically relevant stories. The tour started at the Basilica of St. Clement, and evolved to include transportation to catacombs outside the historical city walls of Rome. We would take another tour with Andy. Excellent experience!

    - Matthew Soto-Arenall
  • Superb Catacomb Tour

    Our guide was Andy. He was fantastic and engaged both the adults and children in our group, ensuring that everyone had fun. He explained the history of Rome with exciting and historically relevant stories. The tour started at the Basilica of St. Clement, and evolved to include transportation to catacombs outside the historical city walls of Rome. We would take another tour with Andy. Excellent experience!

    - Matthew Soto-Arenall
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By selecting Choose Dates Later / Buy as Gift at booking, any tour can be purchased without fixed dates. This is the perfect option if you want to purchase your tour as a gift for a loved one, or if you are in the pre-planning phase of your vacation. After booking, you will receive a Travel Voucher Code and full instructions on how to schedule your tours when ready. Once your travel plans are confirmed, you can easily use the Travel Voucher Code on the LivTours website to formally schedule your tours. You can find out more here.

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