Underground Rome

Of all the underground tourist attractions of Rome, the Catacombs are the most well-known. The various catacombs are made up of underground hallways, often of considerable length and on several levels. Contrary to what is commonly assumed, the catacombs were not used as hiding places, but were simply burial places where the Christians placed their dead relatives. There are only five catacombs that are open to tourists.

The Catacombs are of course not the only underground attractions of Rome. Unfortunately, many of the city’s underground ruins are exactly that, under ground. Almost every year one or other famous ruin is unearthed in Rome, often by chance, e.g. while working on a new metro line, as is the case nowadays. Even the Luperca,e, the cave where Romulus and Remus were suckled by the She-Wolf, was only discovered a couple of years ago.

Whole areas will probably never be dug up, however. The area to the south of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, towards the Colosseum, used to be Mecenate’s villa, but, after Rome became the capitol of Italy, population boomed and new constructions were built on top of the ancient ruins, thereby effectively hiding them forever.