Rome · Colosseo & Forum

Case Romane del Celio

Case Romane del Celio preserves an entire block of Roman houses beneath the Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, dating from the 2nd to 4th centuries AD.

About Case Romane del Celio

Case Romane del Celio preserves an entire block of Roman houses beneath the Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, dating from the 2nd to 4th centuries AD. You will descend into over 20 rooms across multiple levels, including private apartments, shops, a nymphaeum with original frescoes, and even Christian frescoes from when the space was secretly used for worship. The preserved paintwork features genuine reds and blues that resemble colours applied yesterday rather than 1,700 years ago.

The visit feels like exploring a wealthy Roman's basement that time has forgotten. You follow a set route through narrow corridors and chambers, with excellent lighting that brings out details in the frescoes and mosaics. The temperature drops noticeably underground (around 15°C year-round), and the silence creates an almost sacred atmosphere. Audio guides in multiple languages explain each room's function, from the confessio where early Christians may have been martyred to elegant dining rooms with intact decorative schemes.

At €8 for adults, this delivers far better value than the Colosseum's underground tour. Most visitors rush through in 45 minutes, but you can easily spend 90 minutes here if you're interested in Roman domestic life. Skip the overpriced bookshop upstairs, but don't miss room 17 with its perfectly preserved ceiling frescoes. The site gets busy around 11am when tour groups arrive, so aim for opening time or late afternoon.

Get Tickets→via GetYourGuide · prices may vary

Book ahead

Skip the Queue

Live availability and skip-the-line options from our booking partners.

Search on Viator →Search on GetYourGuide →

Booking powered by our partners. DAIZ may earn a commission.

The place

Getting there

Address

Clivo di Scauro, 00184 Roma RM, Italy

Neighborhood

Colosseo & Forum →

Nearest Metro

Colosseo (Line B)

View on Google Maps →

Good to know

Tips, answered

Enter through the small door on Clivo di Scauro (not the main basilica entrance) and arrive right at 10am opening to avoid the 11am tour group rush

Most visitors miss the subtle Christian symbols painted over pagan frescoes in rooms 8 and 13, look for the chi-rho symbols and fish imagery

Room 17 has the best preserved ceiling frescoes, spend extra time here and use your phone's flashlight to illuminate the upper corners where the colors are most vivid

Plan for about 1h 15m.

Case Romane del Celio is in the Colosseo & Forum neighborhood of Rome. The address is Clivo di Scauro, 00184 Roma RM, Italy. The area is well-served by metro.

This works well at any time of day, though mornings tend to be quieter. Weekdays are less crowded than weekends.

Around the corner

Nearby in Colosseo & Forum

Explore all →

Landmark

Colosseum

Fifty thousand spectators, four storeys of arches, and an engineering system so advanced they could flood the arena floor for mock naval battles. The Colosseum doesn't need a sales pitch - but standing inside it, on the edge of what was once the arena floor, looking down into the exposed tunnels where gladiators and wild animals waited to be lifted into the fight, is a different experience from any photo. The scale is the thing. Your brain can't quite reconcile that this was built in 80 AD. The €18 combined ticket covers the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill for two consecutive days - which is the smart way to do it. Use day one for the Colosseum, day two for the Forum and Palatine. Book online at least a week ahead; walk-up tickets exist but the queue can stretch to two hours in peak season, and the guys in gladiator costumes outside charging €10 for a photo are just the start of the annoyances if you arrive unprepared. The €24 underground tour adds the arena floor and the hypogeum - the network of tunnels, lifts, and trap doors beneath the surface. If you can get a slot (they sell out fast), it's worth every cent. Walking through the corridors where animals were kept before being hoisted into the arena on mechanical elevators is genuinely chilling. The standard ticket gets you the first two levels; the third level opened a few years back and has the best panoramic views of the interior, plus you can see the Forum from above. Timing is everything. Gates open at 9 AM and by 10:30 the tour groups arrive in waves. Enter from the Via dei Fori Imperiali side entrance (shorter line than the main Piazza del Colosseo entrance). Go straight to the third level for photos while the light is good, then work your way down. Late afternoon after 3 PM is the other sweet spot - the crowds thin and the golden hour light through the arches makes the travertine glow. Bring water. There's almost no shade inside.

1.5-2 hoursExplore

Landmark

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum is where 2,000 years of civilization collapsed into rubble, then got excavated into something extraordinary. You're walking through the actual center of the Roman Empire - the Senate House where Caesar was murdered, the Temple of the Vestal Virgins where sacred flames burned for centuries, and the Arch of Titus celebrating the conquest of Jerusalem. The Via Sacra still runs right through the middle, the same marble road where triumphant generals paraded their conquered enemies. It starts overwhelming - just endless broken columns and foundation stones scattered across a massive excavated pit. But once you get oriented (seriously, get that audio guide), individual buildings snap into focus. You'll recognize the three towering columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, walk through the perfectly preserved Arch of Septimius Severus, and stand in the circular Temple of Vesta. The scale hits you gradually - this "ruined field" was once packed with 100,000+ Romans doing business, worshipping, and watching political drama unfold. Most visitors rush through in 45 minutes and see nothing but old stones. Give it the full 90 minutes minimum and you'll understand why Rome ruled the world. The €18 Colosseum combo ticket covers three days, so you can return. Skip the overcrowded center during peak hours - the eastern end near the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina is just as impressive with half the crowds.

1.5-2 hoursExplore

Museum

Domus Aurea

Nero's Golden Palace was ancient Rome's most extravagant residence, covering 300 acres with a 35-meter bronze statue of the emperor at its entrance. After Nero's death, successive emperors buried it under baths and parks. Today you're visiting the underground remains, featuring some of Rome's finest surviving frescoes and the world's first dome. The VR experience reconstructs entire rooms in detailed accuracy, showing how the dining halls rotated and gardens cascaded through courtyards. You'll walk through dimly lit corridors wearing VR headsets that transform bare walls into gilded chambers with marble columns and painted ceilings. The contrast is quite striking - one moment you're looking at crumbling brickwork, the next you're seeing golden decorations and intricate mythological scenes exactly as Romans would have. The audio guide explains Nero's engineering innovations, including the rotating dining room and sophisticated heating systems. Groups are limited to 25 people, so you won't feel rushed. Most guides don't mention that standard tours (€16) skip the best preserved frescoes in the Room of the Golden Vault. The VR weekend tours cost €22 but include access to restricted areas and much better reconstruction technology. Book directly on the official website, as third-party sites charge extra fees. The temperature remains around 15°C year-round, so bring layers even in summer.

1.5-2 hoursExplore

Park & Garden

Parco del Celio

Parco del Celio spreads across the Caelian Hill with massive chunks of the Temple of Claudius scattered like ancient Lego blocks among umbrella pines and open grass. You'll find genuine Roman families here, not tour groups, walking their dogs past 2,000 year old walls. The park feels like a neighborhood secret where kids play football next to imperial ruins and elderly Romans read newspapers on benches facing the Palatine Hill. The atmosphere is wonderfully ordinary, Romans using their ancient city as a backyard. You'll hear Italian conversations echoing off temple walls while joggers weave between archaeological remnants. The central area opens onto perfect picnic spots with views toward the Colosseum, though the ruins themselves are more impressive than any vista. Dogs run free in certain sections, and the sound of children playing mingles with birdsong from the pines overhead. Most guidebooks barely mention this place, which keeps it refreshingly authentic. The temple ruins are fenced but still dramatic, these aren't Disney reconstructions but real weathered stones you can touch. Skip the small playground unless you have kids, focus on the western section where the largest temple blocks sit. Entry is completely free, unlike every other archaeological site in Rome, making this perfect for budget travelers or anyone suffering from monument fatigue.

45 minutes - 1 hourExplore

Landmark

Terme di Caracalla

The Terme di Caracalla are Rome's best-preserved ancient baths, built by Emperor Caracalla in 216 AD to accommodate 1,600 Romans daily. You'll walk through massive caldarium (hot bath) halls with 40-meter-high vaulted ceilings, see the original black and white floor mosaics in the tepidarium (warm room), and explore underground tunnels where slaves stoked furnaces for the hypocaust heating system. The sheer scale dwarfs you - these weren't just baths but a social complex with libraries, shops, and exercise areas. You enter through the modern glass pavilion and follow a logical circuit through the main bathing sequence. The audio guide (€6) brings the ruins to life, explaining how Romans progressed from cold to hot pools while socializing and conducting business. The highlight is standing in the massive central hall where sunlight streams through ancient windows, imagining the marble-clad walls and bronze fittings that once gleamed here. Most guides oversell the mosaics - they're impressive but limited to a few rooms and underground areas. Skip the virtual reality experience (€5 extra) unless you're traveling with kids who need the visual aid. The standard €10 ticket is plenty, and you can easily see everything in 90 minutes. Come early morning when tour groups haven't arrived and the lighting hits the brick walls perfectly.

1.5 hoursExplore

Landmark

Bocca della Verità

The Bocca della Verità is a 1st-century marble drain cover depicting a bearded face, now sitting in the portico of Santa Maria in Cosmedin church. According to medieval legend, if you put your hand in its mouth and tell a lie, it'll bite your hand off - complete nonsense, but tourists queue for hours to stick their hands inside for photos. The church itself is far more interesting: it's got one of Rome's finest 12th-century Cosmatesque marble floors and houses what's claimed to be St. Valentine's skull in a side chapel. You'll find a constant stream of tourists posing dramatically with their hands in the stone mouth while guides spin tales about medieval lie detectors. The atmosphere is pure tourist theater - people hamming it up for Instagram while ignoring the genuinely beautiful medieval church surrounding them. The portico stays busy from mid-morning through sunset, with groups cycling through every few minutes for their obligatory shots. Most guides don't mention that the official €2 photo queue is completely unnecessary - you can walk straight into the church for free and see the mask from inside the portico without waiting. The church's Cosmatesque floor and ancient columns are genuinely spectacular and completely overlooked by 90% of visitors. Skip the photo if you're pressed for time, but don't miss the church interior - it's one of Rome's most authentic medieval spaces.

30 minutesExplore

From the blog

View all →

BUDGET

Rome Travel Pass Reddit Reviews: Which Pass Actually Saves Money in 2026

Reddit travelers share which Rome passes actually deliver value. We break down the real costs, honest reviews, and math behind Roma Pass, Omnia Card, and transport options.

11 min readRead

FIRST TIMER

Rome Travel Guide According to Reddit: What Locals and Travelers Actually Recommend

Skip the touristy advice. Here's what Reddit users who actually live in or frequently visit Rome say you should really do, eat, and avoid in 2026.

8 min readRead

Ready for Rome?

Let DAIZ plan your Rome days

Tell us how long you've got and what you're into. We'll build a day-by-day plan, with the bookable bits ready to lock in.

Plan my Rome tripFree · no signup to start