Basilica of San Clemente
Layered Roman basilica housing a fourth-century church and ancient Mithraic temple underground.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Basilica of San Clemente in Rome follows Irish Dominican friar Joseph Mullooly, who in 1857 acted on a hunch and began digging beneath the church he served. It traces the buried fourth-century basilica he found first, with frescoed walls and the tomb of Saint Cyril, missionary to the Slavs, before reaching a Roman-era structure sealed even further down. That deepest chamber was built for a mystery cult devoted to the god Mithras, centuries before Christianity arrived on this spot.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere
Gilded medieval basilica on a Christian worship site dating back to the early third century.
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
Early Christian basilica sheltering a famous marble effigy and a ninth-century golden apse mosaic.
Catacombs of Saint Sebastian
Underground Christian burial complex where the word catacomb was born, with ancient prayer graffiti.
Catacombe di San Callisto
Vast early Christian necropolis with papal crypts and martyr tombs across five underground levels.
Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano
Fourth-century papal cathedral bearing the title mother and head of all churches in the world.
Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
Papal basilica on Saint Paul's burial site, rebuilt following a catastrophic fire in 1823.