The tomb of St. Peter under St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome

On February 22nd the Church celebrates “The Chair of Peter” which looks at the gift that Jesus gave us in St. Peter and his successors. Symbolically “The Chair of Peter” represents the position of authority and leadership and pasturing that comes to us from the Pope. Physically there is a wooden chair that has been encased in a Bronze sculpture in 1666 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini that is believed to be the chair that St. Peter sat in. It is in the apse of St Peter’s in Rome behind the main altar. It is quite visible and readily seen. What you can’t easily see is the treasure that is buried directly underneath the main altar of St. Peter’s. There you will find the actual bones of St. Peter himself.
The only way you can really see these bones is by going on a SCAVI tour underneath St. Peter’s. I was fortunate to be able to go on the tour on one of my trips to Rome. The tour is absolutely fabulous. It takes you below the present St. Peter’s and below the original St. Peter’s built by the Emperor Constantine in 326. On this tour you go through an ancient Roman Necropolis (city of the dead) and finally to the actual tomb of St. Peter (and early monuments built there in the first and second centuries). Most people do not know that the original St. Peter’s was built on top of a Roman Necropolis and then the present St. Peter’s was built on top of the foundations of the original one. Excavations and archeological digs during the 1900’s uncovered the Necropolis and the tomb of St. Peter.
St. Peter was martyred in Caligula’s Circle in 64ad in Rome. His body was buried nearby on Vatican Hill and early Christians venerated the site by building small memorials and a place to celebrate the Eucharist. It was fairly easy for them to hide this (the Roman’s persecuted the Christians for 2 to 3 centuries) because it was small and within a Roman Necropolis. The Necropolis consisted of above ground Mausoleum’ separated by streets and alleys. The Mausoleum’s were large enough to allow the Romans to put their loved one’s remains (after being cremated) in jars on shelves in the room. The relatives would often gather in the room to honor the dead. The early Christians would not allow cremation and always buried their loved ones in the ground. St. Peter was buried in a tomb underground. The monuments were built above that.
When the Emperor Constantine became a Christian he ordered the Roman Necropolis to be filled in with dirt and a Christian Basilica be built there so that the main altar was directly over the venerated grave of St. Peter. This was the original St. Peter’s Basilica built beginning in 326. Several modifications were made to the basilica between the 7th and 12th centuries but all of these modifications kept the main altar directly over the grave of St. Peter. The present day St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest church in the world, was begun on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626. It is the work of the best of the Renaissance artists. After taking down the original St. Peter’s, but leaving its floor and some foundations and columns, it was built on top and past the original size of the first St. Peter’s. It too was made to have the main altar stand over the very grave of St. Peter.
When starting on the SCAVI tour you go to the lower St. Peter’s and see some of the floor and columns of the original St. Peter’s. You then go under the floor of the church built in 326 in to excavations of the Roman Necropolis. It is amazing to see these streets and alleys and Mausoleums in such great conditions after more than 1600 years. You can even see rain marks in the original soil streets. When Constantine had the Necropolis filled in with dirt, it protected these. We walked in to several of the ancient Roman Mausoleums and saw paintings inside and the shelves where the remains of the Romans were. You could almost picture the families gathering inside (sometimes even sharing a meal there) in honoring their dead. We then proceeded to the place of the tomb of St. Peter. On the way we saw many graves of early Popes and Cardinals who wanted to be buried near St. Peter. There is a small early chapel there and the monuments built in the first centuries. When you come to the place of the burial of St. Peter there is a wall there with ancient Graffiti written by an early Christian that says, “Peter is Here”.
Because there was a time when the Basilica was under attack, the Church leaders took the bones of St. Peter out of his original grave and placed them inside a nearby wall. This was done to protect the bones so they would not be taken. On the tour itself you can see the bones inside a Plexiglas case that our tour guide told us was made especially for them by the US Army (I haven’t been able to verify that). For me, visiting the tomb of St. Peter and seeing his bones was a very emotional and spiritual high. I hope you get a chance to experience that too. These are the bones of the man that Jesus chose to head His Church.
I would highly recommend you do the SCAVI tour if you go to Rome. Tickets are limited and you must contact the Vatican office for them. If you would like to take a virtual tour of the Necropolis and the Tomb of St. Peter, click here: SCAVI tour and on the top right click EN, unless your Italian is good.