San Clemente

San Clemente, one of Rome's earliest and most magnificent churches, was constructed before 385 by early Christians on the site of a house containing a shrine of Mithras – now far below street level. A new basilica was built over the ruins of this church, which the Normans had destroyed in 1084, around the start of the 12th century.

With a porch at the entry, an atrium with a fountain, the nave where the congregation worshipped, and the high altar and apse, areas reserved for the clergy, the upper church reflects the traditional basilican structure. Keep an eye out for the historic columns and beautiful marble inlaid work on the floor, screens, Easter candlesticks, tabernacle, and bishop's throne. Masolino's early Renaissance frescoes in the small St. Catherine's Chapel at the west end of the north aisle, which were finished before 1431, are also noteworthy. These scenes from St. Catherine of Alexandria's life are significant because they show Rome's first use of perspective painting.