Underground Rome
An independent field guide to the archaeological sites, hidden spaces and forgotten layers beneath Rome. From Roman buildings buried below churches to ancient infrastructure surviving beneath the modern city.
Rome · Below Street Level
Rome was not replaced. It was built over.
Beneath today's streets survives a fragmented second city. Roman houses became foundations. Ancient roads disappeared beneath later buildings. Places of worship were transformed, buried and rediscovered. Water systems and monumental structures remained below the city that continued to grow above them.
Underground Rome documents those layers one place at a time: what survives, why it matters, what can still be seen and, where possible, how to visit it.
Underground Rome is more than catacombs.
The underground city includes almost every chapter of Rome's history. This project follows the physical traces left beneath the streets rather than a single monument, period or type of site.
We're mapping the city beneath Rome.
Underground Rome is a growing field guide. New places, photographs and research are added as the archive expands — from well-known archaeological sites to spaces that are rarely noticed from the city above.
Sacred Spaces
Roman Houses
Ancient / Modern
The archive will expand gradually as new field guides are researched and published.
Reading is only the beginning.
For travellers who want to go beyond the field guide, Rome Private Experience creates private journeys through Rome's archaeological layers, combining expert guides, carefully designed itineraries and unusual or limited-access places where availability allows.
The city you know is only the top layer.
Start below the surface.