Below the Back Corner

Rome: The Eternal City. The capital of Italy has long been respected and revered as the capital of one of the most powerful and ancient empires, along with housing Renaissance masterpieces and being the home of Christianity.

Large sites, such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon, showcase ancient Rome’s finest workmanship and celebrate the majesty of the Roman Empire. Modern-day Rome stands atop many eras of Roman history, and one small church tucked behind the Colosseum offers a more intimate and in-depth look at the layers from which Rome was built.
​
The Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano stands quiet and unimportant in a compact neighborhood. Built in the twelfth century, it stands small and inconsequential; just another of the many basilicas in Rome. But its worth lies far beyond the façade . . . and deep under the foundation.

Enter the ground level, and you see a typical basilica: an apse, crucifixes, pews, an altar, and small chapels dedicated to saints. But tucked in a back corner, sits an old and splintering entryway into another time and world. Open the door, and you stand atop a stone staircase, looking into darkness.

A cold air hits you, smelling of mildew and age. A small light illuminates the stairway, causing twisting shadows to fall around you. The door creaks shut and you descend the uneven staircase. Stone corridors break off from where you stand at the bottom of the staircase, and displays of crumbling frescoes, fragments of sculpture and columns, and ancient artifacts line the walls. You’ve reached the original Basilica of St. Clement, built in the fourth century. ​

---

Read More