Beneath St. Peter's

[9 March 2004]

After breakfast where we have learned to ask for cappuccino and espresso instead of “coffee” (read brown hot water) we're off for St. Peter's. More precisely, what is beneath St. Peter's. 

The tour of the necropolis takes a bit over an hour and our guide, Cornelia, is masterful in her explanation of both the history of the necropolis, the excavations which began in the late 1930s and took over a decade, and her discussion of the tomb of St. Peter and the current arguments for why the Vatican has concluded that they have indeed found the bones of the apostle.

We had no idea what to expect – I had first read about this in H. V. Morton’s A Traveler in Rome and knew that we would get a chance to see some amazing artifacts but were unable to appreciate the real significance until we actually got to see them.

In a nutshell, in the late 1930s Pope Pius XI announced that he wanted to be buried as close as possible to St. Peter’s whose tomb was traditionally thought to be directly below the existing High Altar in the present basilica. So excavations were undertaken downward to explore where might a suitable place be found for the pope to be interred following his death. It was soon discovered however, that in fact the present basilica rests on top of an ancient Roman burial ground and that there were literally scores of family mausoleums, many quite large, resting beneath the church. The excavations went on for more than ten years and an ancient Roman street was even opened as well. However, due to the danger of destabilizing the present church, all excavations were halted following the discovery of  St. Peter’s tomb.

After we left St. Peter’s we returned to our room to shed some clothes before since the day had turned warm. From our hotel we strolled to the Forum, the Coliseum and back home. But not before getting some cheese to have with our wine and tarrallini crackers on our balcony.

Dinner was at Al Armando di Pantheon, right around the corner from the Pantheon and a Gamberro Rosso recommendation. 

counting their change to buy tickets to the Vatican Necroplis