The many layers of San Clemente

The Basilica of San Clemente is a minor basilica in Rome. It is dedicated to Pope Clement I who was the third pope and was believed to have been ordained by St. Peter himself. The unique aspect of this church is that it has three layers of structures that can be visited today. The church you enter into off the street, but still quite a few steps down, is from the 12th century. This church escaped the Baroque renovations of the 1600s and instead preserved its early history. 

Back in the 1860s a curious Dominican Irish priest who had some background in archeology decided to excavate underneath the present basilica. He discovered the ruins of the previous church of the 4th century. The priest found many elements still intact. For example, the ancient frescos, stone inscriptions and decorative pillars. But that’s not all. It was later discovered that another structure was underneath the 4th century church. It was determined that this structure had several different rooms and halls determined to be from the 1st century. Part of it was a home, another was a Mithraeum cult room, as well as a variety of warehouses where broken pieces of pottery were found. It was a remarkable discovery that began a huge excavation project that continues today.  

The best-preserved room of the 1st century portion is the Mithraeum, which was a place of the cult of Mithras, a Roman mystery cult that worshiped the god Mithras. These 1st century rooms were then filled in to build a church once Christianity arrived in Rome. The 4th century church built on top has the second largest collection of Early Medieval wall paintings (called frescos) in Rome dating from the 8th century through the 11th century. It was also discovered that the relics of St. Cyril were buried here. His relics have since been moved up to the upper church under the main altar. 

The second layer was then filled in to build the 12th century church, referred to now as the upper church. The upper church is famous for its brilliant apse mosaic called the Tree of Life which twinkles when the light streams on it because of the amount of gold used. It is meant to give the impression that our faith is alive. Visiting this church certainly gives that impression as you climb into the lower levels to gaze upon frescos that Catholics would have also gazed on as early as the 4th century or walk the different paths of the 1st century that the first Christians might have walked on. It is a Basilica not to be missed if you are visiting Rome. To visit the excavations, you need to reserve a date and time through their website.