San Clemente

The many layers of this fascinating church reveal the changing ideals of Rome in various eras (see San Clemente).

Catacombs

The burial tunnels of Rome’s early Christians are like a honey-comb beneath the consular roads out of Rome, especially along Via Appia Antica. Grave niches stacked like shelving along dark corridors are carved into the tufa, with some precious remnants of fresco and engraved marble slabs (see Beyond the City Walls).

Vatican Grottoes

The famous Red Wall behind which Peter was supposedly buried was discovered under the Vatican in the 1940s (see Crypt).

Nero’s Golden House

Like most of “underground Rome”, Nero’s fabulous and vast palace was not originally buried. But when Renaissance worthies such as Raphael chopped holes in the roof and lowered themselves into the sumptuously decorated rooms on ropes, they called the spaces “grottoes”, and named the intricate frescoed designs of foliage and fantastical creatures “grotesques” (see Nero’s Golden House).

Mamertine Prison

This was Rome’s ancient central lockdown (built 7th–6th century BC). Among its celebrity inmates were Vercingetorix, a rebel Celtic chieftain, styled the last king of Gaul, who was brought to Rome in chains, and St Peter, who left an impression of his face where the guards reportedly slammed him against the stairwell wall. Downstairs is also the alleged column to which St Peter was chained.

• Via S Pietro in Carcere/Via Tulliano

• Open 9am–12:30pm, 2–5pm (winter), 9am–12:30pm, 2:30–7pm (summer) daily

• Donation

Crypta Balbi

A jumble of excavations from all eras, including a piece of 13 BC crypta (porticoed courtyard) attached to a destroyed theatre. The museum’s didactic panels, which are an excellent introduction to Rome’s layer effect, plus the medieval frescoes are more interesting than the rather plain excavations underneath.

• Via delle Botteghe Oscure 31

• Open 9am– 7:45pm Tue–Sun

• Adm

Casa di SS Giovanni e Paolo (Celian)

This house under an ancient church belonged to two Constantinian officials, martyred in AD 362. There is also a series of buildings, including a frescoed nymphaeum, dating from the 1st to 4th centuries.

• Clivio di Scauro/ Piazza SS Giovanni e Paolo

• 06 7045 4544

• Open 10am–1pm, 3–6pm Thu–Mon

• Adm

• DA

Museo Barracco

The museum’s basement dates from the 4th century AD: walls, flooring, column stumps, a bit of cornice and sculpted relief, a marble basin and a large double pestle for hand-grinding grains can be seen (see Museo Barracco).

Pompey’s Theatre

Pompey’s 61–55 BC theatre is still evident in the curve of medieval buildings on Largo del Pollaro. Its fabric is visible only in the basements, including the downstairs rooms of the da Pancrazio restaurant installed in the ancient travertine corridors.

• Piazza del Biscione 92

• Open 12:30–2:30pm, 7:30–11pm Thu–Tue

• Free

Mithraeum under San Stefano Rotondo

Under this church lies a 2nd-century AD shrine to Mithraism, a popular religion among Rome’s soldiers and lower classes while Christianity was gaining with patricians (see Santo Stefano Rotondo).

• Via di S Stefano Rotondo

• 06 3996 7700

• Book in adv

• Adm

Roman Forum from Campidoglio

Walk around the right side of Palazzo Senatorio for a postcard panorama – floodlit at night.

Il Vittoriano

Climb the “Wedding Cake” for vistas across the Imperial Fora (see Il Vittoriano).

Gianicolo

The Eternal City is laid out at your feet from a lover’s lane perch across the Tiber (see Gianicolo).

The Spanish Steps

Views spill down the steps to the tourist-filled piazza (see The Spanish Steps and Piazza di Spagna).

Musei Capitolini Café

A bird’s-eye sweep over the archaeological park at Rome’s heart can be seen from here (see Musei Capitolini).

St Peter’s Dome

St Peter’s colonnade and Castel Sant’Angelo can be seen from Michelangelo’s dome (see Statue of St Peter).

Knights of Malta Keyhole

St Peter’s Dome is perfectly framed through a gate key-hole in this garden (see Piazza of the Knights of Malta).

Castel Sant’Angelo Ramparts

Lazy Tiber River vistas with the Ponte Sant’Angelo directly underneath (see Castel Sant’Angelo).

Pincio

Valadier carefully designed this view from his gardens, across Piazza del Popolo to St Peter’s.

Villa Mellini

A different panorama, near Rome’s observatory above Piazzale Clodio, taking in the city and hills beyond from the northwest.