Forget the Colosseum. If you want to see a real slice of Rome's history, you'll need to head undergroound says Katie Parla

Most visitors to Rome spend their entire time above ground - strolling through the Forum or past the Pantheon, taking a taxi from the train station to their hotel, or browsing the shops of the Via del Corso. At the very most, tourists might venture into the metro, a rather limited system with two measly lines that bypass most of the city’s historical centre.

But for visitors in-the-know, it is below ground that one truly gets a sense of how grand and sophisticated the ancient city was. Perhaps the best known subterranean site is San Clemente near the Colosseum; a 12th century church on modern ground level rises above a 4th century basilica which sits atop a 1st century warehouse and 2nd century Mithraic sanctuary. A short walk uphill are the Case Romane del Celio, two Roman dwellings that were joined and transformed into a grand villa in the 4th century and redecorated accordingly. These structures were hidden beneath the Basilica di San Giovanni e Paolo on the Caelian Hill, acting as foundations for the medieval church. A stone’s throw from the Trevi Fountain is the Citta’ dell’Acqua, aka the Vicus Caprarius. Discovered during the expansion of a small cinema, the archaeological site consists of part of Rome’s ancient water system, a 1st century city block and the remains of medieval houses. Few visitors to Rome make it here; most trudge by on their way to the Trevi Fountain or stop at Harry’s Bar in the building above for a cocktail or a steak, without the faintest idea that they are perched 30 feet above Rome’s 1st century city level.

One of the more visible examples of Rome’s urban stratification is found at the northern end of Piazza Navona. Leave the piazza by passing the Al Sogna toystore, then make a quick left at the café. 20 feet below the iron boundary lay the remains of the stadium built in the 1st century by the Emperor Domitian. The limestone arches you see are the very ones that admitted spectators to chariot racing and gladiatorial events from the 1st through 5th centuries. The rest of the site, including additional arcades and the area on original ground level are closed to the public and can only be visited by special arrangement.



Several other underground archaeological attractions are found just across the Tiber River from Rome’s historic center in the Trastevere neighborhood. In antiquity, this was the zone where many foreigners lived and where gods not officially recognized by the Roman Senate were venerated. Some of the earliest places of Christian worship in Rome were founded here and today. New (by Roman standards) basilicas sit atop their more ancient predecessors. San Crisogono is a prime example of this phenomenon: beneath the 12th century basilica (revamped by Cardinal Scipione Borghese in the 17th century) is the paleo-Christian basilica dating to the Roman Empire. Among the ruins are fragments of sculptures and inscriptions from the layers predating the Christian site.

So, for a glimpse into ancient Rome’s daily life (without the crowds of the Colosseum, Pantheon, or Vatican) head underground. It is there, hidden away, that the complexity of the Empire’s capital reveals itself most clearly.