Due to the fact that in its millenary life Rome was often destroyed and rebuilt in the same place, we can say that the modern Rome is built on top of the ancient one.
Everywhere we walk in the city put our feet above the remains of previous human activities: mosaic floors, fresco paintings, statues, columns, inscriptions, tombs. We don’t see them, but they are there, buried beneath the sediment of the time.
Below I listed a few archeological sites, excavated last century, which show very well evidence of the hidden growth of the city. You can pick two or three of them and do an incredible journey back in time through the centuries!
The S. Clemens’ basilica, a church upon a church upon pagan buildings;
The Catacomb of S. Sebastian, where you can see the switchover from a pagan necropolis to a christian cemetery;
The Catacomb of S. Callisto, the first official christian cemetery where a few of the early popes were buried;
The Crypt of the Capuchin Friars, known for its decorations made from the bones of more than 3,700 deceased;
The Roman houses, stage of martyrdom of two saints and for that foundation of the church of SS Giovanni e Paolo;
The Vicus Caprarius, an underground lagoon where is possible to touch Rome’s millennial stratification;
The Domus Aurea, a small gorgeous sample of the residence of the emperor Nero.