Capuchin Crypts and the Dark Centre, Group of Fifteen

The bones of more than 3,700 Capuchin friars were used as building material for five chapels under Via Veneto. Skulls set into wall patterns, vertebrae assembled into light fittings, whole rooms composed out of the order's own dead. The guide explains outside why the Capuchins did this and how the arrangements are meant to be read, because the symbolism is deliberate and it is not obvious. Inside, the venue requires its own audio guide, so that is what you listen to, with the guide alongside for the questions that come up while you are standing under someone's spine. Then the walk continues, which is where this differs from the crypt visits that end at the exit. It goes through the historic centre after the stories the monuments do not advertise: a haunting at the Trevi Fountain, a butcher's shop near the Pantheon whose trade fed the Sweeney Todd legend, a noblewoman in Piazza Navona, and a hand too beautiful to be buried with the rest of its owner. Groups are capped at fifteen so that the detail is audible. Dress code, enforced at the crypt: shoulders and knees covered, for everyone. Cover-ups are available at the door for a euro. Arrive ten minutes early.