Three churches one on top of the other and a mithraeum underground
Near the Colosseum, the Basilica of San Clemente is a journey through the layers of Roman history. The church you enter, built in the twelfth century, has a magnificent gold apse mosaic of the Triumph of the Cross, with a vine whose branches shelter animals, people and saints, and a chapel frescoed by Masolino.
Going down a staircase, you reach a fourth century basilica, buried when the new church was built, with early medieval frescoes, including one of the first examples of written Italian, in a comic scene. Further down still, you find first century Roman buildings and a Mithraeum, a temple of the god Mithras with an altar showing him killing the bull, while the sound of an underground stream still runs through the darkness.
Tip: the visit to the underground levels requires a small ticket; it takes about forty-five minutes and is a perfect break from the heat in summer.
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