DURATION: 2H

COST OF THE TICKET: € 2.50 (Crypt of the Church of S. Cecilia) | 3 € (Underground of the Church of S. Crisogono)

NOTES: Appropriate clothing is recommended for entering sacred places (shoulders and knees covered)

CONTACT: info@viandotravel.com

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Many know the Trastevere above ground but not everyone is aware of the hidden treasures in the underground area of this district. During antiquity, especially in the imperial period, this area was in fact an immense neighborhood and experienced a moment of great demographic expansion: with the economic well-being and thanks to the suburban character of the territory, which occurred in the imperial age, throughout the area gardens and villas were built, often residences of the emperors themselves. But also potters, workers of the leather and ivory factories, porters of the infinite warehouses and warehouses lived there.

In the early centuries of Christianity, in the Trastevere area, there were also some titulus (Latin term meaning “sign” or inscription, from the custom of affixing the name of the owner of a domus made available to the Christian community on the buildings). Our attention will fall in particular on this type of buildings, which constitute the starting point of the most important ancient remains of this area.

During the visit we’ll go to the discovery of an ancient paleochristian basilicas, present in the underground of the Basilica of S. Crisogono, in which the frescoes of the VIII century and rooms from the Roman era are still visible. The second stop of this tour will be in the basement of the Basilica of Santa Cecilia, which still retain a house from the Republican age, which was enlarged and renovated to include an insula from the same period. On the way we will finally reach the burial place of the martyr Cecilia.

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