Christian Rome and Underground: Half Day Semi-Private Tour
Description
Half day walking tour in a small group of Christian Rome to discover the underground treasures in some of the most sensational churches. The tour starts in the Lateran area, visit of St. John Lateran Basilica, the oldest of the four Papal Basilicas, considered “The Church of Rome”, the mother of all churches The Cathedral, the place where the Bishop has the seat. Then the tour continues with the visit of St. Clement’s Basilica, the only church in Rome to be built on 3 different levels, from the 1st to the 12th century and the underground floors can be explored, including the altar of Mithras from the 1st century. The visit ends with St. Peter’s in Chains Basilica, called like that for the chains that, according to the tradition, Helene Constantine’s mother brought in Rome and for a miracle where joined to the other St. Peter’s chain in Rome. The church, is famous also for the statue of Moses, created by Michelangelo the tomb of the Pope Julius II.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meeting point tour
The Papal Archbasilica, the major archpriestal cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in the Lateran, better known as the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, is, by definition, the "mother of all the churches in the world", and represents the ideal among pagan era and Christian era. The Basilica, which stands near Mount Celio, was built on the same site as the basilica built by Constantine, around 314, on land already owned by the noble Lateran family, from which the whole area takes its name. In his Annals, Tacitus recounts that the houses and lands owned by the Laterans were confiscated from them by the Emperor Nero after the conspiracy of the "Pisos": the consul Plautius Lateran conspired, failing, against the emperor Nero who condemned him to death and he deprived him of goods and land, in favor of the Imperial Exchequer.
On the slopes of the Celio, there is one of the most impressive monuments, rich in history, art and spirituality of Rome: the monastery of the Santi Quattro Coronati. Founded in the mid-5th century AD. on the remains of a Roman domus, it is one of the most important basilicas of Carolingian Rome. After so many centuries, its charm remains unchanged, so much so that the impression you get when you cross its threshold is that of immersing yourself in an ancient atmosphere suspended in time, far from the chaos and frenetic rhythms of the modern city. The church, which takes its name from the tradition of the martyrdom of four Roman soldiers and five stonecutters, was completely rebuilt following the fire that devastated the city in 1084. At the beginning of the thirteenth century, the building with the monks' cells, the splendid cloister and the luxurious fortified cardinal's palace were added to the original complex, the entrance of which is dominated by the massive Torre Maggiore.
The Basilica of San Clemente in Laterano is one of the most interesting and ancient basilicas in Rome, built before 385 and dedicated to San Clemente, the third pope after Saint Peter. It consists of two superimposed churches, built on top of Roman buildings from the Republican age and on the remains of a temple of the god Mithras. On the left side of the facade is the bell tower, built between the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century. The lower basilica preserves several frescoes, including the representation of the "Legend of Sisinno", some fragments of the relics of Saint Cyril, evangelizer and inventor together with his brother Methodius, of the Glagolitic alphabet, from which the Cyrillic one was derived. Going down to an even lower level, there are Roman buildings from the imperial age and a Mithraeum of which a marble altar is preserved with the representation of the killing of the bull by Mithras.
San Pietro in bonds was founded in the 5th century by the Empress Eudoxia, to guard the precious relic: the chain with which St. Peter, a prisoner in Jerusalem, had been tied, and which today is preserved under the high altar, and is displayed to the faithful on August 1st of each year. Rebuilt in the 8th century, further interventions on the façade and portico were made in the 1500s, while the interior was modified in the 18th century. In front of the church stands a portico with five arches supported by octagonal pillars which bear the coat of arms of Pope Julius II in the capitals. The interior of the basilica-shaped church is divided into three naves, separated by 20 Doric columns of Greek marble. The Basilica is above all famous because, since 1545, it has hosted one of the masterpieces of Renaissance art: Michelangelo Buonarroti's Moses, the colossal statue, sculpted in 1513, to decorate the funerary monument of Julius II.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- This tour is intended as a walk which enters underground areas and places of worship: Should anyone feel uncomfortable in underground spaces, the guide can deal with it; those people will comfortably sit in the top church, while the rest of the group will visit the underground. It is advisable to wear confortable shoes such as sport trainers and to respect the churches dress code: trousers should touch the knee and shoulders should be covered; tourists may consider bringing a scarf to wear at necessity.
- A dress code is required to enter places of worship and selected museums. No shorts or sleeveless tops allowed. Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women
- Provide the Correct address of your accommodation , hotel, B&B
- Provide the correct phone number with international country code
- check that you provide all the details to the agency
- Without this information we can not guarantee the correct service
- Emergency number also operational via whatsapp
- One day before please call to confirm the pick up
Reviews(9)
Fabio was our guide and he was extremely knowledgeable and personable. The churches we saw were beautiful and had centuries of history to learn about. All of them played pivotal roles in the history of Christianity.
The driver was 20 minutes late. The driver then drove a UK couple around the city for 45 minutes. We were finally dropped off in a dark parking lot and met by the guide. The tour was supposed to start at the Basilica of Saint John the Lateran instead we both handicapped were supposed to walk the streets of Rome with some guide. In the dark we feared we would be mugged. The guide was kind enough to call a taxi who charged us double the normal rate. If you are handicapped or physically challenged do not use Viator
Dear customer, we are sorry for the inconvenience but you have not provided the indications of your handicap. this is necessary to organize a tour for people with disabilities. the driver is not responsible for the traffic he may find on the route. Not informing the organization of your problem is your responsibility and not the fault of the operator or Viator. in the indications we have indicated that this tour is a walking tour and is carried out on foot. We advise you to read carefully before booking a service and check if they have service for the handicapped.
This tour was so amazing with an excellent guide. To touch and see the very doors that Julius Caesar would have walked through at the entrance to the Senate (so we are told) was very special. Also the historic Catacombes and Basilicas were spectacular and should be on any person's interest in ancient Rome must see list.
Dear customer , thanks for sharing with us your experience. Rome is a open museum and we are happy to know that you enjoyed our best regadrs Patricia
Our tour guide, Mohammed, was amazing! He made the ancient churches come alive. His knowledge and insights made this one of our best and most fascinating tours.ever.
Dear customer , thanks so much for this beautiful words . your feedback is very important to us . happy that you enjoyed our best regards Patricia
Our tour guide was very knowledgeable & spoke very good English. We had a great tour of 4 churches even though one was closed unexpectedly. Our guide found another church for us to visit in replacement which was very good of her. She allowed us time to ask questions & take photographs. We really enjoyed the church where we were able to go down to excavated levels to see former churches. i would highly recoomend this tour.
Dear customer , thanks so much for this beautiful words . your feedback is very important to us . happy that you enjoyed our best regards Patricia
<p>The tour was good and really informative. However we felt that the experience was marred as our guide appeared 45mins late.</p>
<p>My mom and I had a wonderful three-hour walking tour on a Monday afternoon in late March lovely time to visit Rome, beautiful weather and a little less crowded. This was our third visit to Rome so we wanted to see a few places outside the typical tourist circuit in addition to returning to some old favorites, of course, so this tour of San Giovanni in Laterano the official Church of Rome and seat of the Bishop of Rome, i.e., the Pope, and apparently the oldest basilica, founded by Constantine, San Clemente, and San Pietro in Vincoli St. Peter in Chains fit the bill perfectly.<br/> I love that this tour included hotel pick up and return, and our driver was amazing, getting us from our hotel just north of the Spanish Steps to San Giovanni south of the Colosseum as quickly as possible in spite of jammed city center streets due to the arrival of a visiting African head of state's motorcade! Our guide Maria was waiting for us outside San Giovanni, where we began a lovely three hour tour. Maria is a very warm and sweet person, low key yet engaging, and an extremely knowledgeable guide. My mom and I already knew a lot about Roman history and architecture yet she gave us lots of knew and fascinating information, sharing lots of anecdotes about the religious and artistic history of what we were seeing.<br/> San Giovanni is enormous and extremely impressive, almost overwhelming in its size and artistic content, and not at all crowded: highly recommend it if you can get out there. Maria then took us across the street to visit the famous Holy Staircase reportedly walked on by Jesus as he entered Pontius Pilate's palace in Jerusalem, at the top of which you can see the Holy of Holies, the medieval popes' private chapel and the only remaining portion of the original Lateran Palace, home of the popes prior to their move to Avignon and then the Vatican. Striking to see the faithful still ascending the Holy Stairs on their knees. Afterwards we walked around the side of San Giovanni's through a square with the largest and oldest of Rome's many Egyptian obelisks and visited the cathedral's baptistery, dating from the early Middle Ages and a real gem. Again, very few other tourists, and loaded with fascinating history. We then walked to the nearby church of San Clemente, a fascinating lasagna to borrow Maria's term! of Roman history, with the new 12th century basilica on top of the original 4th or 5th ce. church on top of a 1st century Temple to Mithras and various Roman dwellings and what is thought to be the Roman Mint. An unbelievable experience! Maria guided us deftly through all three levels the two lower ones are dark and there are lots of steps to descend, and then ascend, but my mom, who is a senior citizen, was fine because Maria didn't move us through too quickly. After San Clemente we got some unexpected treats: she walked us by the spot where the Pope Joan of legend supposedly gave birth in a procession and was killed by the witnesses, approached the Colosseum from the south and saw the remains of the main gladiator training center, and ended up at St. Peter's in Chains for a visit to Michelangelo's incredible Moses! Because we were a little late getting to the last stop due to the aforementioned traffic issues, Maria ran up to the guard at San Pietro in Vincoli as he was getting ready to close the gates it closes at 6 pm in winter and persuaded him to let us in for a visit! As in the other sites, Maria offered us many fascinating details about the history and art, and we now finally know the real story behind the horns on the top of Moses' head! When we exited the church our driver was waiting for us in an adjacent parking area, and he whisked us back to our hotel in no time at all this time with no traffic issues!.<br/> In short, this tour by the local operator Welcome Italy was even more than we'd hoped it would be and Maria was a delightful tour guide and companion for the final afternoon of our week in Rome. Highly recommended! Grazie mille, Maria!</p>
