Descend into the chill of Rome’s mysterious underworld on the city’s longest running crypts and catacombs tour. Travelling in an air-conditioned coach, you’ll skip the line into three of the city’s strangest discoveries.
About this activity
- Free cancellation
- Cancel up to 24 hours in advance to receive a full refund
- Mobile ticketing
- Use your phone or print your voucher
- Duration 3.5 hours
- Check availability to see starting times.
- Skip the ticket line
- Instant confirmation
- Live tour guide
- English
Experience
Highlights
- Visit the eerie Capuchin Crypt, decorated with the bones of 4,000 Capuchin Monks
- See a painting by Caravaggio and relics from the life of St. Francis at the Capuchin Museum
- Explore 12th-century San Clemente Basilica, built over a 4th-century basilica
- Enjoy a stress-free experience with skip-the-line entry at all three sites, and transfer between them in air-conditioned luxury
Full description
Beneath the sun-baked streets of Rome lie cool, shadowed spaces that hide layer upon layer of history. Beat the heat with air-conditioned travel and Skip-the-Line access directly down into three different, but equally fascinating archaeological finds.
First, you’ll visit the hallowed catacombs where, beneath their persecutors’ feet, early Christians practiced their forbidden faith. Almost 2,000 years ago, this network of secret tunnels doubled as a place of worship and burial ground. As you explore tombs carved out of solid rock, your guide – a local, expert English-speaker – will relate the fascinating history of this sacred spot.
From here, the coach will whisk you within sight of the Colosseum, to the Basilica of San Clemente. To descend below this structure is to move backwards through time. You’ll travel through the remains of 12th and 4th century basilicas, a 2nd century cult temple and ruins dating as far back as AD 64, when Emperor Nero watched the city burn. Incredibly, the ruins include an aqueduct that still works, after lying buried for centuries.
Your final destination is the Capuchin Crypt. Capuchin monks used the bones of nearly 4,000 of their brothers to decorate this sombre space in intricate floor-to-ceiling designs, lending it the macabre nickname of "the Bone Chapel". Your guide will tell you the theories, but it’s up to you to draw your own conclusions about the meaning of the crypt’s robed skeletons and vertebrae chandeliers.
Open your eyes to the city’s hidden side – and you’ll never see Rome the same way again.
Includes
- Tour as per description
- English-speaking tour guide
- Small groups of 22 people or less
- Admission to the Capuchin Crypt and Museum
- Admission to the Catacombs
- Admission to the church and underground area of Basilica San Clemente
- All transfers by air-conditioned coach
- Hotel pick-up and drop off
- Gratuities
Not suitable for
- People with mobility impairments
- Wheelchair users
Select participants and date
Participants
Date
Prepare for the activity
Meeting point
Meeting time: 14:15 Departure time: 14:30 Meet in the center of Piazza Barberini, by the large Triton fountain. Piazza Barberini is located at the metro stop Barberini on metro line A (red line).
Open in Google Maps ⟶Important information
What to bring
- Comfortable shoes
Not allowed
- Shorts
- Baby strollers
- Short skirts
- Sleeveless shirts
Know before you go
- Please note the following:
- It is the responsibility of all visitors to be at the meeting point 15 minutes before departure. Guests arriving after departure cannot be accommodated and missed tours or tickets cannot be refunded.
- This tour involves a fair amount of walking, hills, and stairs; comfortable shoes are recommended.
- Regrettably, guests with wheelchairs or any impairments requiring special assistance cannot be accommodated. Strollers or baby carriages must be left at home.
- Entry into churches requires that you follow a strict dress code. Knees and shoulders must be covered for both men and women. The tour operator cannot be held responsible for refused entry due to improper dress.
