Rome, Italy
Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano
A three-layered church in Rome where you descend from a medieval basilica through a fourth-century church to a first-century Roman street.
From the outside it looks like any number of Roman churches — a plain eighteenth-century facade on a side street near the Colosseum. Step inside and the twelfth-century upper church is already beautiful: a gold apse mosaic showing the cross as a living tree, vines spiraling out from it with birds and deer and harvest scenes, the whole thing bursting with life. But then you take the stairs down. Below the medieval church lies a fourth-century basilica, its frescoes faded but legible — you can make out scenes of St. Clement celebrating Mass. Go down again and you're standing in a first-century Roman building with a Mithraic temple in the back room, the stone altar still in place, water running somewhere behind the walls from an ancient underground stream. Three layers of belief on one plot of ground. You can hear the water but never see it. The whole experience takes about forty-five minutes and leaves you rearranged. Nothing in Rome makes the continuity of Christian faith more physical than this.
Diocese: Diocese of Rome
Style: Romanesque (upper church), Early Christian (lower levels)
What to See
Begin in the upper church and spend time with the apse mosaic — the Tree of Life cross is one of the most joyful images in all of Rome, with acanthus scrolls curling through scenes of everyday life. The Schola Cantorum in the nave preserves its medieval marble screens. Take the stairs down to the fourth-century church, where you can see frescoes of St. Clement's life and the earliest known written Italian in a painted inscription. The lowest level is dimmer and damper — the Mithraic temple has its stone dining benches and carved altar intact. Listen for the water.
Pilgrim Notes
San Clemente is a five-minute walk from the Colosseum, on Via Labicana heading toward the Lateran. The upper church is free; there is a small fee for the excavations below. It is run by Irish Dominicans, and Mass is celebrated daily in English and Italian. The lower levels can be cool and damp even in summer — a light layer helps. Allow at least an hour for the full visit. It's rarely as crowded as the major basilicas and offers a far more intimate experience.