Discovering Underground Rome: The Hidden History of the Eternal City

The millennia-old story that is Rome began far below the present settlement. It’s a city built in layer upon layer, on the dust and detritus that contains the remnants of ancient times – a subterranean architectural pageant frozen in time. Venture into Rome’s underground city and you’ll encounter a once-forgotten world of secret passages and chambers, miles of labyrinthine catacombs and mysterious crypts, forming part of a legend that transcends the centuries to connect the present Eternal City with its rich and colourful past.

Rome has had a long and eventful life. Over the centuries, great floods, fires and earthquakes all played their part in forming the many strata of the city, while wars, religious persecution and simple evolution added their contribution to its half-hidden skeleton. Today, you can witness the Rome of 2,000 years ago in scores of locations below magnificent private houses and even underneath the Vatican City; some can be seen by special permission only, while a handful of catacombs are open to visitors on a regular basis.

Despite persecution, Imperial Rome’s fledgling Christians quietly established themselves in the city from the 1st century AD onwards, and many believers were illegally interred underground in secret on Christian-owned land. So far, more than 60 burial catacombs have been discovered, with only four open to the public. Of these, we suggest starting your underground exploration of Rome at the Catacombs of St Sebastian, found below the Basilica of St Sebastian Outside the Walls on the Appian Way.

Sitting among relics of bath houses and grand villas, the basilica was given a baroque facelift in the 16th century and inside you’ll find two stunning art treasures: a Giorgetti sculpture of the Christian martyr Sebastian and an exquisite marble bust of Jesus by Bernini. What lies beneath this church, however, reveals the very beginning of Christianity in Rome. It was during renovation that three levels of catacombs were rediscovered. Dug out of soft tufa rock and dating back to the 1st century, they extend 12km below the surface of Rome. Tours take in carefully preserved mausoleums and a pagan necropolis on the almost-complete second layer of Rome’s underground tunnels, all lined with stone tombs and adorned with fading frescoes and stucco work. 

• Via Appia Antica 136. Open Tue-Sun 9:15am-5:15pm (last entrance 4:45pm; closed for most of December). Metro Line B to Circo Massimo, walk to Terme Caracalla and then bus 118 for 11 stops. Tickets €10 for guided tours only; book in advance. The catacomb tours are not wheelchair accessible.

Hidden away in the gardens of an estate once belonging to Flavia Domitilla, a 2nd-century heiress related to Emperor Domitian, these catacombs stretch for 17km underground and are unique in Rome, being the only ancient site to incorporate a semi-subterranean basilica, a simple stone construction dedicated to Christian martyrs where you can worship to this day. Historians reckon that around 150,000 souls were buried in four layers diving an unbelievable 30m into the ground; the network of winding, narrow tunnels is lined with cubicles, each once containing a coffin. The walls and ceilings themselves are richly decorated with ancient inscriptions and fragments of biblical murals alive with Christian symbols, including fish and doves – keep an eye out for the ethereal Last Supper fresco, portraying Jesus centrestage as he preaches to his disciples.

• Via delle Sette Chiese. Metro Line B to Colosseum, then bus 81 or 673 to Via delle Sette Chiese. Open Wed-Mon 9am-12pm, 2pm-5pm for guided tours only; tickets €10 and book ahead of time. The catacombs are not wheelchair accessible; we recommend the immersive VR tour instead.

The church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini stands incongruously among the high-end boutiques and jewellery stores of city-centre Via Veneto. Little indicates that beneath this light-flooded baroque beauty skulks a macabre secret – an ossuary. If you're of a nervous disposition, please look away now… for its enigmatic and strangely fascinating crypt contains four tiny chapels gruesomely swathed floor to ceiling with the mummified remains of around 4,000 people. Alongside full skeletons dressed in the brown robes of Capuchin friars, bones cover the ceilings in swirling patterns and skulls pile high against the walls to represent altars and tombs. After seeing all that, you may want to catch your breath in front of Caravaggio’s sublime St Francis in Meditation, the centrepiece of the complex’s bijou museum. 

• Via Veneto, 27. Metro Line A to Barberini. Open daily 9:30am–1:30pm and 2:30pm–6:30pm (last entrance at 5:30pm). Tickets €10 for guided underground tours only; book at least two weeks in advance. The crypt can be accessed by wheelchairs.

Rome’s most famous – and infamous – building is undoubtedly the Colosseum, an electrifying sight soaring above the ancient Forum and Circo Massimo. What’s less known is that this landmark edifice had a whole other life secreted underground, for it was there that wild animals – archaeologists have uncovered the bones of tigers, giraffes and bears – and thousands of gladiators were kept in claustrophobic cages and airless cells before their fights. Known as the Hypogeum, this subterranean maze of passageways connects two major thoroughfares and also includes the school where gladiators trained and lived in captivity. A guided tour provides a shockingly realistic perspective on the vile spectacles held at the Colosseum in the name of popular entertainment – it’s all too easy to imagine the chaos, din and terror that emanated from these ancient walls. 

• Piazza del Colosseo 1. Metro Line B to Colosseum. Opening times vary throughout the year but are roughly winter 8:30am–3:30pm; summer 8:30am–6pm. Tickets for guided tours €24; they must be booked in advance. While a Hypogeum visit is not suitable for people with mobility issues, the main body of the Colosseum is wheelchair-friendly throughout.

Just a few blocks away from the Colosseum, this church is a true Roman layer cake where archaeological digs have uncovered a time capsule with not one but two underground churches. Worship at this spot began in the 1st century with a pagan temple, upon which a Christian church was built 300 years later. This in turn was superseded by the 12th-century basilica that we see today – and the difference between Roman and current ground levels is a whopping 18m. The unique experience that is a tour of this neatly packaged history lesson kicks off in the fabulously ornate medieval basilica embellished with glittering mosaics, elaborate marble pavements and a gilded ceiling added in baroque times. 

From there, you can time travel back to early Christian times in a simple brick church, today augmented only with a series of frescoes from Byzantine to medieval. A stone staircase then takes you further underground to the Mithraic temple, home of a stone altar featuring carvings of a bull being slain. The story doesn’t quite finish there, however, as another secret of underground Rome comes to light – access to an ancient aquifer and a vast building thought to be the former imperial mint. 

• Piazza di San Clemente. Metro Line B to Colosseum. Open Mon–Sat 9am–12:30pm, 2pm–6pm (last entrance 5:30pm); Sun 12pm–6pm (last entrance 5:30pm). Tickets €10 and it’s guided tours only; they must be booked in advance. The excavations are not wheelchair-friendly but the basilica is fully accessible. 

1. While exploring Rome underground independently might seem like a unique adventure, all of the breathtaking sights above are only open for guided tours, which means you’ll benefit from the personal knowledge and expertise of a professional guide.
2. Be sure to book your tour in the right language; most are in Italian or English but other European languages are usually available too. 
3. If you’re travelling as a family, there are generally ticket concessions for students or teens aged under 16.
4. These venues are all very popular with sightseers, so if you don’t like crowds book your tour for the early morning or towards the end of the afternoon. 
5. Wear sturdy and comfortable shoes for walking through narrow passages, up steps and over uneven surfaces. The temperature underground also sits around a cool 15-17°C, so we recommend that you take a jersey or light jacket to keep warm.
6. When you’re visiting sacred underground Rome sites like the Catacombs of Domitilla, the Crypt of the Capuchins or Basilica di San Clemente, dress respectfully or you will be refused entrance. Please cover knees and shoulders – and this applies to everyone!

We trust you’ve enjoyed our recommendations for venturing into underground Rome. Hopefully your subsurface explorations will help you unravel the multilayered tapestry that is the history of the Eternal City. To learn more of its secrets, check out our article on hidden gems in Rome.