I can't seem to find any info on the prison on the website that comes up. Do they have guides there? Audioguides? We were just going to to a quick visit after our Colosseum tour but wondering what to expect. Wondering how long to plan our visit for.
thanks
I was there 10 years ago when you paid a couple euros and wandered around for 5-10 min. Now it's evolved into a bit of a tourist trap for 10 Euro, but if you still want to see it, go ahead. You don't really need a "guide" (there's now an AV presentation) to see the underground cell where Peter and Paul were kept--the cell itself can be seen in 5 min.
It's talked about here at Tripadvisor:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187791-d592422-Reviews-Carcere_Mamertino-Rome_Lazio.html
We did it some years back. Really bad presentation. I wouldn't personally waste the euros unless that has improved. I picked up most of my historical info digging around before and after the fact.
Here's the deal: we did it strictly for the archeological value: it may originally been constructed as a cistern, and may had an 8th-century B.C. temple in the lowermost level. Around the 4th century BC to 4th century AD or so, it was used as a short-term prison for the almost-certainly condemned: long-term incarceration wasn't a practice in ancient Rome. Prisoners here faced a nasty death via any number of means. Some of the executed were throw off a since-demolished stairway nearby - the Gemonian Stairs - from Capitoline Hill, the bodies were left to decay before being tossed into the Tiber.
But no firm evidence has been found to prove or disprove the legend that either Sts. Peter or Paul were ever held here. That's said, I'll leave it up to you to whether it's something you want to include in your itinerary?
As you can imagine, there are Youtube videos that allow you to get an idea of what it would be like. Here's one (in Spanish): https://youtu.be/woXFen_qlsA
Wow 10 Euros! Was free when we went there in 2006!
We went last fall. There was no audio guide, and we didn't have a guided tour. We just walked in, paid the fee, and wandered around. Didn't book ahead - maybe that's changed in 9 months? Exhibit upstairs, multimedia presentation, and then down to the excavations. It's pretty small and won't take much time. Half an hour was more than enough. Less if you literally just go see the cells, more if you read every word on the upstairs exhibit.
