Did you know that there is a whole world beneath the modern city of Rome? In fact, the modern city was literally built on top of the ancient one. Rome underground has so many hidden gems to discover. Especially during rainy days or to escape the heat of the Roman summer.
If you’re here it’s because you are ready to explore the city right at the heart of it, going beyond the main tourist attractions. This is a list of our favorite hidden gems you cannot miss underground Rome!
Things to see Underground Rome
1) Stadium of Domitian
There’s no better place to start than the Stadium of Domitian, which is underground the most famous piazza in Rome, Piazza Navona!
The Stadium of Domitian used to be an ancient Roman stadium where the sports imported from the Greek Olympics were taking place. Javelin throw, foot run, pankration, discus throw, long jump. However in Ancient Rome these sports were not as popular as the chariot races of the Circus Maximus and the gladiator fights of the Colosseum, where more action and blood was included. Tastes of the time!
But this was surely a grandiose building, where up to 30000 Romans of the time gathered to support their favorite athletes and collecting memories of these special events. Like we do today in our modern stadiums.
Check out our Historic Center: behind the scenes tour with Underground Piazza Navona, where we take you to the Stadium of Domitian and tell you everything about it.
2) Domus Aurea of Nero
Among all the archaeological sites, this is one of the most impressive. The Domus Aurea of Nero was a massive luxury villa that the emperor Nero built for himself after the great fire of Rome on the year 64AD. This villa was so extensive that it covered three hills of the city.
But Nero did not live here for long. Shortly after he died, the following emperors of the Flavian dynasty, buried the villa of Nero and built a public thermal bath on top of it. Those were the Baths of Titus, and they no longer exists if not for very small portions. But the Domus Aurea of Nero, being underground, survived over thousands of years.
When visiting you will find incredibly tall ceilings entirely covered with colorful frescoes. During the visit you will also get to wear VR glasses that show you what the place looked like originally.
Info on how to visit here: https://ticketing.colosseo.it/en/eventi/domus-aurea/
3) Basilica of San Clemente
Hidden gem 400m from the Colosseum! 🤩 This place is such a super “lasagna” of history!
In the basilica of San Clemente you can find: ancient Roman buildings, medieval buildings and the basilica that we see today. Here’s the layers:
Layer n.1: the basilica that we see today, on the modern ground level. This was built in the 12th century.
Layer n.2: below the modern basilica, we find the previous basilica! This was built in the 4th century. It was badly damaged by a barbaric invasion in 1084. It remained abandoned and filled with ground to support the new basilica on top.
Here you can also find the first written proof of swearword in vulgar language (the precursor of Italian language)!! 😜
Layer n.3: ancient Roman ruins! Here there are ruins of various buildings, among them: the State mint, a deposit for the show decorations of the Colosseum, private houses and a Mithreum (the temple of the Mithraic mystery cult).
📍Via Labicana, 95
Read also: Underground Rome: San Clemente basilica
4) Vicus Caprarius
This is a mind blowing tour of the underground layer of Rome! We are few steps away to the Trevi fountain and here you’ll discover where all of the water of the most famous fountain of Rome comes from!
In fact, this is where the water tank of the Aqua Virgo is, one of the most ancient Roman Aqueducts. Agrippa built this aqueduct. He was the right-hand man of the emperor Augustus, and he built this aqueduct in 19BC to provide water to his Thermal Baths. The thermal baths of Agrippa were the first public thermal baths of Rome!
It is amazing to imagine that the aqueduct feeding the first thermal baths of Rome, today provide water to some of the most beautiful fountains of the city: Trevi fountain, Barcaccia fountain in Spanish Steps, the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona and more. Rome once again proves us that it is not just a beautiful city on the surface, but also underground!
We follow the route of this ancient aqueduct from Spanish steps to Trevi fountain and the underground site during our “Underground the Trevi Fountain” guided tour (one of our best-selling tours!).
📍Vicolo del Puttarello, 25
5) Crypt of Saint Cecilia in Trastevere
This is a place most people miss because the outside doesn’t anticipate what you can find inside. The basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is dedicated to one of the most famous Roman saints. And it is located right where her dramatic story took place.
The basilica itself is stunning, with its byzantine mosaics and its calm atmosphere. But once you’re inside you’ll notice some metal grids on the floor, revealing a whole world beneath the church.
The nuns of the convent still guard today the underground crypt of Saint Cecilia, where you can find the ruins of her ancient Roman apartment building, the thermal bath where they tried to kill her the first time and her tomb.
We take our guests here during the Hidden gems of Trastevere tour with Tiber Island and Jewish Ghetto and the reaction is always the same: “wow – I would never have thought this was here!”.
6) Roman Catacombs
The Catacombs have always been one of the most fascinating places to explore underground Rome. These were underground cemeteries dug in the natural tufa stone, with a complex network of tunnels, usually organized on multiple levels. On the side of the tunnels there were niches of different sizes and shapes for the burial of the bodies.
The biggest catacomb of Rome is San Callisto with over 20 km/12 miles of tunnels. There are over 60 catacombs in Rome, however you can visit about 6-7 of them.
Some of our favorites are: the Catacombs of San Sebastiano on the Appian Way (for the incredible mausoleums) and the catacombs of Santi Marcellino and Pietro (for the vivid frescoes that you can still see). The catacombs of San Sebastian are a great option if you also want to see the ancient Appian Way, in fact we combine those two marvels in our Rome Oldest Catacombs tour with
Best of the Appian Way.
7) San Crisogono underground
This underground site is in the Trastevere neighborhood in Rome. Not only this is one of the most ancient churches of Rome, but also a super lasagna of history! The deepest layer is 8 meters below the ground level. This is where you can find the ancient basilica from the 4th century, frescoes with such vivid colors and ancient decorations. The space you can explore below this church is massive.
📍Piazza Sidney Sonnino
Check out these Things to do in the Trastevere neighborhood
8) Underground San Lorenzo in Lucina
Nearby via del Corso there is the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina. You can translate this name as Saint Lawrence in Lucina. The name “Lucina” belongs to the ancient Roman lady who hosted masses in her house. In fact, before Christians could legally build churches, the religious ceremonies were taking place in private houses. Some Christians that made those houses available to the community and Lucina was one of them. Later, when building churches became legal, churches were built on top of those ancient Roman houses. That is one of the reasons why underground some churches in Rome you can find ancient houses. The space to explore underground this church is huge.
📍Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina
Want to experience more of Rome underground?
Take a look at our small-group underground tours. On these tours you discover the hidden layers of Rome beneath famous sights, always in intimate groups of no more than 12 people.
Our tours are not packed, not rushed, and not stuck in tourist spots — because this is how we’d show Rome to a close friend. You can learn more about how our Rome tours work, the best Rome tours or browse all our small-group tours to see the experiences currently available.
