Hidden Rome & Bone Crypts

With your Fun and Witty English Mother-Tongue guide, we will take you off the beaten path and bring ancient Roman society to life, telling the stories behind the art and architecture. Showing you the hidden masterpieces that you absolutely have to see before you leave Rome.

We will visit the Capuchin Crypts. Six Crypts decorated with the Bones of almost 4000 monks. Art and symbols of Christianity made from Human Bones. You will see works by Caravaggio and learn the intricacies of religious burial rites as we try to grasp that universal question.

Next we will walk past the Colosseum and the Ludus Magnus where the Gladiators trained before going 4 levels underground to the Basilica of S. Clemente – a 12th-century Basilica built on top of a 4th-century Basilica, built on top of a 2nd-century Temple of Mithras, on top of a 1st-century Roman Apartment block.
Starting with the 12th-century Basilica, we will learn about the relics of the 4th Pope. Continuing down to the 4th-century Basilica, where you will discover the early formation of the Christian Church and admire the frescoes and symbols within. See the earliest written vernacular Italian in the world. Moving down to a 2nd-century Mithra temple and seeing a 1st-century apartment block with its fountain that has been running for over 2000 years.