Underground/Ancient Rome Tour

Our first stop on this full day of touring was at the church of San Clemente which is a modern church built on an old Renaissance era church which was once part of a medieval chapel. There are many layers of history in Rome and this church was a great example. It's interesting to note the different techniques used in each level of the church.

Our next stop was at the most impressive Caracalla baths, or Terme di Caracalla. This place was once a huge complex for the public to bathe, socialize, workout, etc. There were large courtyards, gardens and more in addition to the succession of baths of varying temperatures.

The size of the ruins is quite impressive in person. You can truly realize how extravagant and impressive these baths were in their prime.

a portion of the beautiful floor mosaic

So many arches!

I took a picture of this building in passing. I have no idea what it is, I just thought the facade with the statues watching over was cool.

Last stop for the day, after lunch, was Palazzo Valentini. This was another one of those places our guide said was "special" and we'd "just have to wait and see". She wasn't going to give away the secret. Well, by that time we were all pretty tired, so it had better be something good!

We learned that the palace was once a home of a wealthy Roman of status. When we walked down to the excavations downstairs, it was pretty dark and it took a moment before we all realize we were walking on top of the site! Some sort of plexiglass had been laid to form a walkway over all the ruins which were now lit up below our feet.

The coolest part of this place was the tour that went along with it. Holograms, music, and sequenced lighting accompanied the narration to effectively tell the story of the ancient home. Often when touring ancient sites it is very difficult to imagine what the place looked like in its prime. This tour made that very easy with its projections of an artist's rendition which was then removed to reveal the artifacts that remain. There is a part in this house that looks out on Trajan's column--a very famous column about a great emperor's conquests.

This tour was a very good end to the day and was most certainly a fun,educational and entertaining surprise!