Home > Rome City Pass > All attractions > Case Romane del Celio – the underground of the Basilica of St John and St Paul

Discover the catacombs from the 3rd century AD and the Middle Ages

Highlights

  • Free and priority entry to the city’s most popular attractions, museums and guided tours with the Rome City Pass – one ticket, everything included! 
  • The entrance ticket for the Case del Celio is included in your Rome City Pass 
  • No advance booking is required for this attraction – your City Pass is your admission ticket 
  • More than 4 centuries of history in one place 
  • Discover a place where the transition to Christianity has left its mark 
  • Discover ancient frescoes and remains of ancient households 

A fascinating insight into antiquity: an underground section of a residential building from the 3rd century AD

What awaits you on site

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The archaeological complex of the Roman houses of Caelian, under the Basilica of Saints John and Paul in Rome, is a historically fascinating place. According to tradition, this is where the saints were buried after their martyrdom. The area, which was discovered in 1887 by Father Germano of St Stanislaus, the rector of the basilica, consists of more than 20 underground rooms on different levels, some of which are painted with frescoes from the third century AD and the Middle Ages. 

Admire the original decoration from the Roman Empire

The exceptional state of preservation of the rooms decorated with frescoes, the high artistic value and the religious interest make the Roman houses of Celio a fundamental stage in the exploration of ancient Rome. The spacious interiors, originally shops and storerooms of a multi-storey residential building (insula), were transformed into an elegant domus in the 3rd century AD. Here you can admire some of the most beautiful frescoes of late antiquity.

From December 20, 2025, until March 22, 2026, the Case Romane del Celio will host the exhibition Apparizioni by Claudio Palmieri, curated by Romina Guidelli. 

The Apparizioni exhibition aims to highlight how Palmieri's solid technical knowledge allows him to move easily from painting to sculpture, through the use of diverse materials, belonging to both more traditional and radically innovative languages. A selection of 20 sculptures has been chosen for the Case Romane del Celio, spanning the master's different artistic periods and presenting his concept of matter, understood as the encounter and combination of a plurality of materials: a physical and central node from which form unfolds, giving life to the encounter between idea, instinct, and emotion in infinite possibilities of events. 

How to get there

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Address:
Via del Clivo di Scauro, 00184 Rome, Italy

Good to know

  • Opening hours
    Monday to Sunday and holidays 10:00-16:00 (the ticket office closes one hour earlier)
  • Closing days: 1st January, 25th December
  • Opening times are subject to change (depending on the season). For up-to-date information, please check the official website of the Case Romane del Celio

The entrance ticket for the Case del Celio is included in your Rome City Pass


 

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