# Case Romane del Celio: The Buried Houses under Santi Giovanni e Paolo

Hours, tickets, and how to visit the Roman houses on the Clivo di Scauro, a short walk from the Colosseum

The church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo stands on the Caelian Hill, a few minutes’ walk from the Colosseum. Under the nave, and entered from the Clivo di Scauro, is a different Rome: a stack of rooms from Roman houses, with wall paintings, a small shop, and a later oratory, all left in place rather than stripped for a museum vitrine.

The visit is compact, ticketed, and easy to miss if you only look at the church facade. It is one of the clearer ways in the city to see how later buildings sit on top of earlier ones.

# Hours, tickets, and how long to allow

According to the official site, the Case Romane are open every day from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The ticket office closes an hour earlier, so last entry is at 3:00 p.m. The site is closed on 1 January, 25 December, and 29 September 2026. Check caseromanedelcelio.it before you go, especially around holidays.

The standard ticket is €8, with a €6 reduced rate for eligible visitors, including children aged 6 to 14 and groups of more than 12. A €2 booking fee applies if you reserve. Admission is free for children under 6 and for several other categories listed on the official page. You can usually buy on site; a reservation is useful for a group or a tight timetable.

Allow 45 to 60 minutes. The route is downstairs and through a sequence of rooms, not a long walk. Surfaces can be uneven, and the air is cooler than the street.

# What you are looking at

The houses were not a single palace. They are rooms from more than one building, used and altered over centuries, then sealed when the church went up above them. You move through domestic spaces, painted walls, and a later Christian oratory. The paintings are the reason to go slowly: garden scenes, figures, and decorative schemes that have survived because the rooms were buried rather than left open to the weather.

Labels explain the sequence, but the visit is easier if you accept that this is a palimpsest, not a reconstructed apartment. Some rooms feel close and low. Others open enough to show how the hill was terraced.

The church above, Santi Giovanni e Paolo, is a separate stop and is usually free. It is a working church, so dress and silence still apply there even if you have just come up from the ticketed rooms.

# Getting there and combining the visit

The entrance is on the Clivo di Scauro, the paved lane that climbs beside the church, not through the main church door unless signs say otherwise. From the Colosseum, walk toward the Caelian along Via Claudia or Via di San Giovanni in Laterano and then up; the walk is about ten minutes, with a short climb.

The same hill holds Santo Stefano Rotondo and, a little farther, Santi Quattro Coronati. The Case Romane pair naturally with a Colosseum morning or with a slower walk on the Celio, not with a tight Forum-and-lunch timetable on the other side of the valley.

If the same day includes time outside the amphitheatre, the Rome by Finzi Colosseum access guide is useful for crowds and light at street level. The guide to choosing between the Colosseum and the Roman Forum helps if you still have a second archaeological stop to pick. For a longer circuit that stays on this side of the hill, the walking-route guide is the practical planning page.

# Practical notes

• Dress: The underground rooms are cool even in summer. Bring a layer. If you also enter the church, cover shoulders and knees.
• Photography: Personal photos are often allowed without flash; follow the signs and staff. Tripods are out of place in these rooms.
• Access: There are stairs. If step-free access matters, contact the site before you go rather than assuming a lift.
• Time of day: Mid-morning, soon after opening, is calmer than the hour after a Colosseum exit wave.

# Frequently asked questions

Is this the same as the Colosseum underground? No. This is a separate site, with a separate ticket, under a church on the Caelian Hill.

Do you need a reservation? Not always for individual visitors, but last entry is early, at 3:00 p.m. A group should book.

Can you see it from the church without a ticket? You see the church. The houses are a ticketed route entered from the Clivo di Scauro.

Go while the ticket office is still open, give the paintings time, and treat the church above as a short, separate visit on the way back to the street.