The Basilica of Saint Clement is a Latin Catholic minor basilica dedicated to Pope Clement I located in Rome, Italy. Archaeologically speaking, the structure is a three-tiered complex of buildings: (1) the present basilica built just before the year 1100 during the height of the Middle Ages; (2) beneath the present basilica is a 4th-century basilica that had been converted out of the home of a Roman nobleman, part of which had in the 1st century briefly served as an early church, and the basement of which had in the 2nd century briefly served as a mithraeum; (3) the home of the Roman nobleman had been built on the foundations of republican era villa and warehouse that had been destroyed in the Great Fire of AD 64.
Courtyard of the Basilica of Saint Clement
Plan of the church
Interior of the second basilica
Apse mosaic, San Clemente, c.1200, showing a common form of Byzantine arabesque motif of scrolled acanthus tendrils
Clement of Rome, also known as Pope Clement I, was the bishop of Rome in the late first century AD. He is listed by Irenaeus and Tertullian as the bishop of Rome, holding office from 88 AD to his death in 99 AD. He is considered to be the first Apostolic Father of the Church, one of the three chief ones together with Polycarp and Ignatius of Antioch.
c. 1000 portrayal at Saint Sophia's Cathedral, Kyiv
11th-century fresco in the Basilica of San Clemente, Rome: Saints Cyril and Methodius bring Saint Clement's relics to Rome
Clement of Rome
Saint Clement, by Tiepolo