San Clemente presents three distinct centuries stacked vertically:
12th-Century Upper Basilica. Features a magnificent mosaic apse of the Triumph of the Cross sprouting life-giving vines.
4th-Century Lower Basilica. Buried early Christian basilica containing 5th-century frescoes.
1st-Century Roman House & Mithraeum. At the deepest subterranean level lies an intact 1st-century Mithraic cave containing stone banquet benches and a marble altar depicting Mithras slaying the cosmic bull (Tauroctony).
Each carries its full hermetic decipherment and an observational protocol — where to stand, when, and what to watch for — in the Rome field codex.
Or read the complete Florence codex free first.