While crowds gather before the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain, there’s a parallel Rome that jealously guards its most precious treasures. From our B&B Ad Maiora, in the quiet Prati neighborhood, you can easily reach places that not even many Romans know about: corners of history and beauty that will make you feel like an explorer in a city you think you know.
These aren’t the places you see in selfies or tourist guides. They are the secrets that Rome reveals only to those with the patience to seek, the curiosity to go beyond the obvious, the desire to discover stories that have been waiting centuries to be told.
The Necropolis of Via Triumphalis: Sleeping on an Ancient City of the Dead
Distance from the B&B: 800 meters on foot
The Secret: Beneath your feet, as you stroll towards the Vatican Museums
What you don’t know is that as you leisurely stroll towards the Vatican Museums, you’re literally walking on one of the best-preserved Roman necropolises in Europe. The Necropolis of Via Triumphalis, discovered by chance during construction of a parking lot in 2003, extends directly beneath the area where our neighborhood stands.
In the excavations, which can only be visited by reservation and in small groups, you can descend 8 meters deep and come face-to-face with tombs from the 2nd to 4th centuries AD. The frescoed walls tell stories of Roman families, merchants, and freedmen who chose this area for eternity. The polychrome mosaics, decorative stucco, and funerary inscriptions create an almost mystical atmosphere.
The magical moment: The guided tour at sunset, when artificial lights create dancing shadows on the faces painted two thousand years ago.
The Casina di Pio IV in the Vatican Gardens: The Popes’ Secret Retreat
Distance from the B&B: 1.2 km
The Secret: Access is only possible through special tours of the Vatican Gardens
Hidden in the heart of the Vatican Gardens, where no tourist is permitted, lies what is considered one of the most perfect Renaissance villas ever built. The Casina di Pio IV, designed by Pirro Ligorio in 1558, was the Pope’s private retreat when he wanted to escape the official life of the palace.
This small villa is a jewel of Mannerist architecture: two elegant buildings connected by an elliptical courtyard, with gently bubbling fountains and frescoes decorating every surface. Here, Pope Pius IV received artists, philosophers, and scientists in a more intimate and relaxed atmosphere. The rooms are small but perfect, every detail designed to create harmony and peace.
The detail that will surprise you: On the walls, you’ll find ancient maps showing Rome as it was 500 years ago, when the Vatican was surrounded by fields and vineyards.
The Passetto di Borgo: The Secret Escape of the Popes
Distance from the B&B: 15-minute walk
The Secret: Visitable only with special tours by reservation
Imagine Pope Clement VII fleeing in slippers and nightgown through an elevated corridor in 1527, during the Sack of Rome, while the Landsknechts devastated the city below. This corridor still exists: it’s the Passetto di Borgo, a secret 800-meter passageway connecting the Vatican to Castel Sant’Angelo.
Walking along this medieval corridor is like stepping into a Dan Brown novel, but a real one. The 3-meter-thick walls hid the Pope from his enemies, while the slits allowed him to observe the streets below. Along the way, you can see the frescoes that decorated the passageway and imagine the tension of those historic moments.
The most powerful emotion: Arriving at the panoramic terrace of Castel Sant’Angelo and realizing that from here the Popes could control all of Rome.
The Crypt of the Basilica of San Martino ai Monti: Underground Christianity
Distance from the B&B: 25 minutes by metro (Line A to Vittorio Emanuele)
The secret: Open only on Saturday mornings by request
Beneath the church of San Martino ai Monti, in the Monti district, lies one of the most moving sites of early Christian Rome. The crypt preserves the remains of the house of Pope Sylvester I (4th century), where the first Christians gathered secretly when the religion was still persecuted.
Descending into the crypt, you will find yourself in the rooms where Roman Christianity was born: tuff walls exuding history, faded frescoes recounting the first representations of Christ, an atmosphere of contemplation that will make you feel the strength of primitive faith. The reused Roman columns, the original floors, and the fragments of funerary inscriptions create a living museum of early Christianity.
The thrill of authenticity: You can touch the same walls that witnessed the birth of one of the most influential religions in history.
Villa Giulia: The museum Romans keep to themselves
Distance from the B&B: 20 minutes by metro (Line A to Flaminio)
The secret: One of Rome’s most beautiful museums, almost always deserted
While everyone rushes to the Capitoline Museums or Villa Borghese, Villa Giulia remains a well-kept secret. This national Etruscan museum, housed in the splendid Renaissance villa of Pope Julius III, preserves treasures that would put the most famous museums in the world to shame.
The Sarcophagus of the Spouses of Cerveteri will look you in the eye with an enigmatic smile, 2,500 years old. The Apollo of Veii, a masterpiece of Etruscan sculpture, seems ready to descend from its pedestal. But it’s the atmosphere of the villa itself that enchants: Renaissance courtyards where you can stroll in silence, frescoed loggias where you can sit and contemplate, secret gardens where time seems to have stood still.
The privilege of intimacy: Often you will be the only visitors, being able to admire thousand-year-old masterpieces in an almost religious silence.
The Catacombs of Priscilla: Christian Art That Changed the World
Distance from the B&B: 30 minutes (Metro A to Sant’Agnese/Annibaliano)
The Secret: The “Queen of the Catacombs” with unique frescoes
Deep in the bowels of Rome, beneath the Salario neighborhood, lies a labyrinth of tunnels housing some of the oldest and most precious Christian frescoes ever discovered. The Catacombs of Priscilla, known as the “Queen of the Catacombs,” preserve images that revolutionized Western art: the first depictions of the Madonna and Child, biblical scenes painted when Christianity was in its infancy.
Walking through these corridors carved into the tuff stone means retracing 500 years of Christian history. The Greek Chapel, with its 3rd-century frescoes, will show you how the first Christians imagined paradise. The Cubicolo della Velata preserves the portrait of a 4th-century woman, painted with a delicacy that still moves today.
The emotion you will never forget: The moment when, in the dim light of the catacombs, you realize you are looking at art that forever changed the way we represent the sacred.
The Nymphaeum of Via Livenza: a Roman villa in the heart of Prati
Distance from the B&B: 10-minute walk
The secret: Remains of an imperial villa hidden in a modern building
The most incredible secret is the one closest to home. On Via Livenza, just steps from our B&B, lies a Roman nymphaeum from the 2nd century AD, discovered by chance in the 1980s during the construction of a residential building. This space, likely part of a large suburban villa, preserves polychrome mosaics and masonry structures that will captivate you in the heart of the Prati neighborhood.
The nymphaeum, a room dedicated to the water nymphs, still features niches where fountains once spouted, remnants of wall decorations, and fragments of statues that once adorned the space. It can be visited by appointment only, calling the Superintendency, but the thrill of discovering two thousand years of history just steps from your bed is priceless.
The magic of the unexpected: Realizing that ancient Rome isn’t just in museums, but lives beneath your feet, even in the city’s most modern neighborhood.
Ad Maiora’s strategic location
From our B&B, you can easily reach all these hidden treasures. Its proximity to the Metro A line quickly connects you to the city center, while the tranquility of the Prati neighborhood offers the perfect retreat after a day of exploring.
The real Rome isn’t the one on postcards: it’s the one that reveals itself only to those who know how to look beyond appearances.
