Visit to the Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano

Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano

Saturday afternoon my friend Martha called me and asked if I wanted to go visit a church she wanted to see. I said sure so we took a bus and then the metro to the Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano. It was a lovely day and the church seemed to be away from the tourist area. No pictures were allowed in the church. The history of the church is fascinating. It is dedicated to Pope Clement I. Archaeologically speaking, the structure is a three-tiered complex of buildings: (1) the present basilica built just before the year 1100 during the height of the Middle Ages; (2) beneath the present basilica is a 4th-century basilica that had been converted out of the home of a Roman nobleman, part of which had in the 1st century briefly served as an early church, and the basement of which had in the 2nd century briefly served as a mithraeum, a sanctuary of the cult of Mithras,; (3) the home of the Roman nobleman had been built on the foundations of republican era villa and warehouse that had been destroyed in the Great Fire of 64 AD. We just kept going deeper into the underground. There was a fresh spring that ran through the lowest level. 

When we walked out of the church we realized that we were very close to the Colosseum.  We decided to take the bus out to the Appian Way and explore a bit. It turned out to be a fun afternoon and evening topped off by eating a a small cafe in an area called Prati.- Nancy