Down Into the Crypt of Santa Cecilia, Then the Wine

Most walks through Trastevere stay at street level. This one goes underneath. Santa Cecilia in Trastevere stands over the house where Cecilia is said to have lived, and the crypt below the church takes you down into what is left of it: Roman rooms, floors and brickwork under the altar of a working basilica. Above, under that altar, lies Maderno's statue of the saint, carved in 1600 and showing her lying on her side exactly as the sculptor said the body appeared when the tomb was opened. It is one of the strangest things in Rome and almost nobody queues for it. Before that, the walk takes in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere and the alleys either side, with the guide choosing the route rather than following a fixed one, so what you see depends on the day and on what you want. The walk ends with a wine tasting, with a selection of cheeses and cured meats, sitting down somewhere warm. The meeting point is on the square by the tower at Largo di Torre Argentina: fifteen minutes on foot from Piazza Venezia, fifteen from Trastevere, and half an hour from the Colosseum. The Pantheon, Campo de' Fiori and Piazza Venezia are all within a short walk of it.