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e donate create account log in personal tools donate create account log in contents move to sidebar hide top 1 origins of the necropolis toggle origins of the necropolis subsection 1 1 caligula s circus 1 2 construction of old st peter s 2 excavations toggle excavations subsection 2 1 20th century 2 2 21st century 2 3 st peter s grave field p 3 guided tours 4 see also 5 references 6 bibliography 7 external links toggle the table of contents vatican necropolis 13 languages deutsch ελληνικά esperanto español français bahasa indonesia italiano മലയാളം nederlands norsk bokmål português svenska اردو edit links article talk english read edit view history tools tools move to sidebar hide actions read edit view history general what links here related changes upload file permanent link page information cite this page get shortened url switch to legacy parser print export download as pdf printable version in other projects wikimedia commons wikidata item appearance move to sidebar hide coordinates 41 54 08 n 12 27 12 e 41 902301 n 12 453293 e 41 902301 12 453293 from wikipedia the free encyclopedia part of vatican city vatican necropolis an ancient roman tomb near the supposed tomb of st peter click on the map for a fullscreen view general information location vatican city coordinates 41 54 08 n 12 27 12 e 41 902301 n 12 453293 e 41 902301 12 453293 the vatican necropolis is a necropolis that lies underneath vatican city containing tombs dating from the first to fourth century ad 1 at depths varying between 5 and 12 metres 16 and 39 ft below saint peter s basilica the vatican sponsored archaeological excavations also known by their italian name scavi under saint peter s in the years 1940 1949 which revealed parts of a necropolis dating to the roman empire 2 it is the home to the tomb of the julii which has been dated to the third or fourth century the necropolis was not originally one of the catacombs of rome but an open air cemetery with tombs and mausolea the vatican necropolis is not to be confused with the vatican grottoes the latter of which resulted from the construction of st peter s church and is located on the ground level of the old constantinian basilica origins of the necropolis edit the vatican necropolis was originally a burial ground built on the southern slope of vatican hill adjacent to the circus of caligula in accordance with the roman law it was forbidden to bury the dead within the city walls for this reason burial grounds sprang up along the roads outside of the city cemeteries one of these streets the via cornelia ran north along vatican hill 3 caligula s circus edit at the top of the circus that caligula built is an egyptian obelisk that had been placed there in ancient times in 1586 it was moved from its original place by domenico fontana on the orders of pope sixtus v when st peter s square was added 4 the original location was just in front of the present day excavation office ufficio scavi of the fabbrica di san pietro and is marked by a plaque in the ground 4 construction of old st peter s edit according to tradition the apostle peter was martyred in the year 64 or 67 during the reign of emperor nero peter is said to be buried in the necropolis because of its proximity to the circus of nero where he was martyred after the edict of milan the emperor constantine the great began construction of the first st peter s church also known as old st peter s basilica at this time the roman necropolis was still in use this is known because a coin was found inside an urn dating from 318 ad 5 during this time the necropolis was protected by law and was untouchable however emperor constantine decided to build a basilica which would be located just above the supposed grave of the apostle peter to obtain the necessary amount of flat area for the planned construction emperor constantine excavated part of the necropolis of vatican hill 6 this caused the necropolis to be filled with soil and building debris with the exception of st peter s tomb which was preserved 6 excavations edit 20th century edit the first modern excavations of the necropolis occurred from 1940 to 1949 during the pontificate of pope pius xii the purpose of these excavations was to locate the grave of st peter which for centuries had been assumed to be beneath st peter s basilica a series of mausoleums were unearthed during the excavations the mausoleums were initially labeled with the greek alphabet letters φ phi χ chi and ψ psi later latin letters were used mausoleum m had already been described in 1574 and mausoleum o was discovered when it was unearthed during the construction of the foundation for the statue of pope pius vi mausoleums r and s were discovered when the southern part of the foundation for the canopy of gian lorenzo bernini was created 7 mausoleum a is the first structure to be built on the site in later years in rapid succession the mausoleums b c d and e were built next to each other mausoleum g is very likely from the same time as mausoleum b while mausoleum f was probably created during the reign of emperor antoninus pius 138 161 ad these seven mausoleums were placed in a row built as standalone buildings with different heights and forming an approximately 32 metre 105 ft long road 8 in later times the gap was filled by mausoleums g and o and with other buildings in the reign of emperor hadrian 117 138 ad mausoleum o was built only mausoleum h from the second half of the 2nd century deviates from the straight row because of a pre existing atrium 8 by this time the circus was no longer in use thus it was no longer an obstacle to the spread of the necropolis to the south the circus at the time was already overbuilt with various tombs a grave from the same time as the construction of mausoleum h was found near the foundation of the obelisk when the circus was eventually razed to the already existing series of mausoleums was built another group namely the mausoleums z φ phi χ chi and ψ psi in the period from the end of the 2nd century to the middle of the 3rd century mausoleums were built along with various freestanding buildings 9 all buildings except mausoleum r1 had their entrance to the south in the direction of the circus and the via cornelia 10 the mausoleums had been used by many generations and shared by several families archaeologists found around 120 burials in mausoleum f and at least 170 in mausoleum h an approximate calculation of the number of body and urn burials in the 22 excavated tombs yielded a number of more than 1 000 funerals this large number is due to the high infant mortality and low life expectancy in the 2nd century the former owners of six mausoleums a c h l n and o have been identified from inscriptions above the entrance door mausoleum n is an example of a mausoleum that was used by different families at the same time the inscription reports that it is the mausoleum of marcus aebutius charito but that one half belongs to lucius volusius successus and volusia megiste who jointly purchased some of it 11 21st century edit more of the necropolis was unearthed in 2003 during construction of a car park 12 the site is now open to visitors 13 some tombs have undergone restorations such as the ten month project involving the valerii mausoleum 14 st peter s grave field p edit the field named p peter campus is the small area in which the suspected grave of the apostle peter is located peter was according to tradition buried here after his martyrdom in the circus of nero some 100 years after the death of peter a shrine was erected over his grave this shrine is adjacent to the so called red wall 15 immediately adjacent to the suspected tomb of peter other tombs were found the arrangement of the graves suggests that the place of peter s tomb was the site of some early veneration 16 the shrine also called the trophy of gaius is named for the theologian gaius of rome who lived in rome during the time of pope zephyrinus 198 217 ad consider this quote from eusebius of caesarea 17 18 19 i can show the tropaia of the apostles because if you want to go to the vatican or on the road to ostia you ll find the tropaia of those who founded this church the greek term used by gaius tropaion usually refers to a monument or a trophy of victory eusebius interpreted the quote 100 years later as an indication of honorific graves 20 on the right side of the trophy of gaius is attached at right angles the so called graffiti wall named after the large number of latin graffiti to be found there 21 during the excavations in the grave the mortal remains of the apostle peter were not found there were however in a marble lined hole of the graffiti wall some human bones the archaeologist margherita guarducci suggested that during the time of construction of the constantinian basilica the remains of the apostle peter were removed from his original grave and placed in the opening 21 the archaeologist pointed to inscriptions in the wall behind the pillar monument including the letters petr en i as the designation of peter relics other archaeological sites in rome also have similar graffiti suggesting that therein is a commemoration by christians to peter and paul as martyrs 22 on 26 june 1968 pope paul vi announced that following scientific study the relics of saint peter had been identified convincingly 23 guided tours edit tours of the excavations can be arranged with the excavations office in advance for conservation the number of visitors is limited the tour lasts about an hour 24 see also edit saint peter s tomb index of vatican city related articles references edit veltman chloe 2023 11 18 the vatican broadens public access to an ancient roman necropolis npr retrieved 2025 07 26 vatican necropolis below saint peter s basilica international catacomb society archived from the original on 2009 05 02 retrieved 2009 07 12 zander 2009 p 6 1 2 zander 2009 p 10 zander 2009 p 21 1 2 zander 2009 pp 21 22 zander 2009 p 24 1 2 zander 2009 p 13 zander 2009 p 14 zander 2009 p 15 ae 2001 00523 arie sophie 10 march 2003 necropolis proves headache for vatican car park builders the guardian retrieved 2009 07 12 thavis john 11 october 2006 unearthed vatican city necropolis reveals slice of ancient roman life catholic news service archived from the original on 4 october 2012 retrieved 16 january 2013 vatican trumpets restoration of underground necropolis culturekiosque 1 june 2008 archived from the original on 18 november 2018 retrieved 16 january 2013 zander 2009 p 114 zander 2009 p 115 quoted by christfried böttrich peter fishing rock and functionary leipzig 2001 pp 228 et seq zander 2009 p 126 eusebius of caesarea church history ii 25 6 7 erich dinkler peter and paul in rome 1 2 zander 2009 pp 243 244 christfried böttrich peter fishing rock and functionary leipzig 2001 pp 232ff paul vi 26 june 1968 l autenticità delle reliquie di s pietro nel glorioso trofeo del vaticano libreria editrice vaticana archived from the original on 31 october 2020 visits to the tomb of saint peter and the necropolis under the vatican basilica excavations office fabbrica di san pietro archived from the original on 27 july 2014 retrieved 12 september 2021 bibliography edit dally ortwin zimmermann norbert 2024 studien zur vatikannekropole studientag aus anlass des 70 geburtstages von henner von hesberg studies on the vatican necropolis study day on the occasion of the 70th birthday of henner von hesberg wiesbaden harrassowitz isbn 978 3 447 12150 7 mielsch harald von hesberg henner 1986 1995 die heidnische nekropole unter st peter in rom the pagan necropolis below st peter s in rome 2 volumes rome l erma di bretschneider isbn 88 7062 604 0 volume 1 and isbn 88 7062 903 1 volume 2 in german steinby eva margareta 2003 la necropoli della via triumphalis il tratto sotto l autoparco vaticano the necropolis of the via triumphalis the section under the vatican car park rome quasar in italian zander pietro 2009 the necropolis under st peter s basilica in the vatican fabbrica di san pietro isbn 978 88 7369 081 8 external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to vatican necropolis virtual tour through the vatican necropolis margherita guarducci s summary on the necropolis excavations v t e vatican city articles index outline holy see properties pope leo xiv list of sovereigns vicar general for vatican city history history of the papacy prisoner in the vatican circus of nero old st peter s basilica papal tombs navicella leonine city cortile del belvedere santo stefano degli ungheresi lateran treaty borgo nuovo borgo vecchio piazza scossacavalli geography major basilica st peter s basilica chair of saint peter door of the dead monument to the royal stuarts st peter s baldachin saint longinus pietà vatican necropolis saint peter s tomb papal tombs tomb of the julii vatican grottoes apostolic palace redemptoris mater chapel borgia apartments clementine hall loggias papal apartments stufetta del cardinal bibbiena cappella paolina raphael rooms niccoline chapel sala ducale sala regia scala regia the vision of constantine sistine chapel altarpiece ceiling room of tears vatican museums historical paintings modern and contemporary art pio clementino chiaramonti gregoriano etrusco gregoriano egiziano pio cristiano ethnographic bramante staircase maps gregorian tower casina pio iv sant anna dei palafrenieri domus sanctae marthae holy spirit chapel gardens santa maria della pietà in camposanto dei teutonici collegio teutonico teutonic cemetery mater ecclesiae monastery sant egidio in borgo santi martino e sebastiano degli svizzeri paul vi audience hall the resurrection passetto di borgo san pellegrino in vaticano st peter s square via della conciliazione fountains porta san pellegrino ricciolo d italia saint john s tower santo stefano degli abissini vatican pharmacy vatican hill politics elections foreign relations vicar general law crime fundamental law lgbtq rights governance pope leo xiv cardinal secretary of state government roman curia apostolic camera commissions for vatican city state councils congregations dicasteries military corps of gendarmerie swiss guard see also corps of firefighters economy banking vatican euro coins communications va internet domain poste vaticane postage stamps and postal history homelessness secretariat for the economy tourism infrastructure transport heliport rail culture academy of sciences at telescope observatory architecture archives apostolic archive climate forest demographics languages library film list of films music sistine chapel choir philatelic and numismatic office public holidays sports media holy see press office vatican information service vatican media vatican news vatican radio vatican television center vatican news app vatican publishing house acta apostolicae sedis annuario pontificio l osservatore romano pope2you religion catholic church symbols anthem coat of arms flag vatican city portal catholic 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