Part of my study abroad trip to London and Rome in September is a series of blog posts about the things we see and do while on the trip. This is the fourth of seven required posts about Rome and is about a church: the Basilica of San Clemente.
I already wrote a long bit about visiting San Clemente back here, but it does remain stuck in my mind as one of the favorite places that I visited.
If I was to guide a tour of Rome, to choose two churches to take people to, I would probably pick both San Clemente and Santa Maria Maggiore, and for much of the same reasons. Both of them were beautiful architecturally, but on two very different scales. San Clemente is entirely unassuming from the outside, and remains modest in scale (for a church in Rome, that is) once you step inside. It is quiet, calm, and since it doesn’t allow cameras inside it is also not very touristy so you can sit in quiet and just experience being there. Santa Maria Maggiore was, to me, San Clemente writ large with far larger crowds and the sound of shutters clicking and people chattering all about.
Both churches also have ancient excavations you can tour beneath, with remains dating back to early Roman eras and intact artwork to be seen. Santa Maria Maggiore has a guided tour and allowed photos while San Clemente gave you a small map and let you see it at your own pace but photos were not allowed.
Without repeating myself too much, I went to see San Clemente right after leaving the Coliseum and found that San Clemente was the more enjoyable experience. No crowds, ancient Roman stonework to be seen, and the site is below the ground, in the cool and damp, so it really feels like an archeological site and not a theme park. Well worth the cost of admission, especially with my university ID getting me in for cheap.
Thanks for this photo! I hope to visit St. Clemente when next in Rome.