Basilica di San Clemente
Basilica di San Clemente is one of the narrated stops on the self-guided Rome audio walking tour in Gingerguide. Plan about ~60 min here. Press play at the spot for its two to three minute story, or ask the AI guide anything about it.
- Type religious
- Suggested visit ~60 min
- Rome Rome guide
About Basilica di San Clemente
Rome's most remarkable layered church, three buildings stacked on top of each other: a 12th-century basilica, a 4th-century church beneath, and a 1st-century Roman house at the bottom.
The Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano is one of Rome's most extraordinary monuments, a perfect illustration of how new Rome is built on old Rome, which was built on even older Rome. What appears from the street to be a standard medieval Roman basilica is in fact three distinct structures built on top of each other over 1,800 years.
The uppermost level is a beautiful 12th-century basilica rebuilt after the Normans sacked Rome in 1084. It contains superb medieval mosaics in the apse, the Triumph of the Cross, with an extraordinary Tree of Life, and Masolino da Panicale's Renaissance frescoes in the Chapel of St Catherine (c.1428).
Descend to the lower level and you enter a 4th-century church built immediately after Constantine's Edict of Milan permitted open Christian worship, one of the original titular churches of Rome, decorated with fragmentary medieval frescoes including a remarkable cycle of the life of St Alexis and the Legend of St Clement.
Descend further and you reach Roman foundations of the 1st century AD: a Mithraic temple (a mystery religion that was Christianity's major rival in Rome), and the basement of a Roman insula (apartment building) or possibly a mint. The sound of underground water flowing in an ancient Roman drain can still be heard.
Did you know? San Clemente contains what is believed to be the first speech bubble in Western art, a 10th-century fresco caption reading 'Fili de le pute, traite!' ('Sons of bitches, pull!') in early Italian vernacular.
How long should you spend at Basilica di San Clemente?
Plan about ~60 min at Basilica di San Clemente. That is enough to take it in and hear its narrated story; stay longer if it grabs you. The tour is self-guided, so there is no rush.
Is Basilica di San Clemente worth visiting?
Basilica di San Clemente is one of the 47 sights the Gingerguide team researched and narrated in Rome, so it earns a place on a self-guided walk. Its story explains why it matters, and you can ask the AI guide anything the story leaves open.
Nearby stops in Rome
Hear the story of Basilica di San Clemente
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