The church San Clemente (St. Clement) is a real architectural pearl, a unique place where visitors can see three continuous layers of the long Roman religious history. The first one is within an incomparable medieval church from the first quarter of 12th century. The layer under the first comprises the remains of an early Christian church, probably built at the end of the 4th century. The third layer, the deepest one, is from a 1st-century pagan temple related to one of the most popular pre-Christian cults in the Eternal City.
There are many interesting sights in the medieval church. The most attractive among them are the marble-enclosed choir area (schola cantorum) in the transept, the apse adorned by an impressive mosaic and the graceful marble baldacchino over the main altar. The beautiful 12th-century mosaic in the apse, over the alter, represents the Triumph of the Cross. Behind it you can see the marble monstrance dating back to the 14th century, a work by Arnolfo di Cambrio, as well as interesting frescoes of various saints. The chapel right next to the side entrance is covered by the frescoes depicting "The Life of St. Catherine", created in 15th century by the famous painter from Umbria who also worked in Florence - Masolino da Panicale. Using the steps you can go down to the remains of the older church built in honour of Saint Clement and destroyed by the Normans in 1084. It was excavated in 1857 and contains some interesting frescoes from the 5th and 6th centuries. Again taking the steps down you will reach deeper to the oldest part of the complex – several dwellings and passages, including the ruins of the pre-Christian Temple of God Mithra and a Roman street, a store and a patrician mansion, which are not entirely unearthed yet. It can be heard the murmur of the subterranean stream, flowing down to the main sewage of ancient Rome.
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