the jewels of Campo Verano, Basilica San Lorenzo and the Romantic Protestant Cemetery. We first visit Rome’s Protestant Cemetery next to the stunning spectacle of Rome’s last standing 2000 year-old pyramid. Roman Law in the 19th century prohibited atheists and non-Catholics from being buried with Roman Catholics and so a separate graveyard on the edge of the city was built to accommodate them.  We will visit the graves of 19th century Romantic poets including Keats, Shelly and the German poet Goethe along with many other  writers and visitors who found their last resting place in Rome.

Next, Campo Verano gives us a glimpse into the beauty of Italian funerary statues as well as the resting places of some of Italy’s most famous people in the last 2 centuries. Learn how Campo Verano was targeted for the 19th July bombing of 1943 and how this tragedy affected the nearby neighborhood of San Lorenzo. At the Ancient Basilica of San Lorenzo we enter the church where the bodies of several Popes, and the martyred deacons Saint Lawrence and St. Stephen are buried. Leave behind the eerie feeling most cemeteries give, and bask in the beauty of these lesser-known sites in Rome