Saint Peter's tomb
Encyclopedia
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
that includes several graves and a structure said by Vatican authorities to have been built to memorialize the location of St. Peter's grave. St. Peter's tomb is near the west end of a complex of mausoleums that date between about AD 130 and AD 300. The complex was partially torn down and filled with earth to provide a foundation for the building of the first St. Peter's Basilica
Old Saint Peter's Basilica
Old Saint Peter's Basilica was the building that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, on the spot where the Basilica of Saint Peter stands today in Rome. Construction of the Basilica, built over the historical site of the Circus of Nero, began during the reign of emperor Constantine I...
during the reign of Constantine I
Constantine I
Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...
in about AD 330. Though many bones have been found at the site of the 2nd-century shrine, as the result of two campaigns of archaeological excavation, Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
stated in December 1950 that none could be confirmed to be Saint Peter's with absolute certainty. However, following the discovery of further bones and an inscription, on June 26, 1968 Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
announced that the relics of St. Peter had been identified.
The grave that is claimed by the Church to be that of St. Peter lies at the foot of the aedicula
Aedicula
In religion in ancient Rome, an aedicula is a small shrine. The word aedicula is the diminutive of the Latin aedes, a temple building or house....
beneath the floor. The remains of four individuals and several farm animals were found in this grave.[3] In 1953, after the initial archeological efforts had been completed, another set of bones were found that were said to have been removed without the archeologists' knowledge from a niche (loculus
Loculus (architecture)
Loculus is a Latin word literally meaning little place and was used in a number of senses. In architecture it is a recess large enough to receive a human corpse. Usually found in either a catacomb, hypogeum, mausoleum or other place of entombment. Loculus can also refer to an alternative name for...
) in the north side of a wall (the graffiti wall) that abuts the red wall on the right of the aedicula. Subsequent testing indicated that these were the bones of a 60-70 year old man. Margherita Guarducci
Margherita Guarducci
Margherita Guarducci was an Italian archaeologist, classical scholar and epigrapher. She was a major figure in several crucial moments of the 20th century academic community. A student of Federico Halbherr, she edited his works after his death...
argued that these were the remains of St. Peter and that they had been moved into a niche in the graffiti wall from the grave under the aedicula "at the time of Constantine, after the peace of the church
Peace of the Church
Peace of the Church is a designation usually applied to the condition of the Church after the publication of the Edict of Milan in 313 by the two Augusti, Western Roman Emperor Constantine I and his eastern colleague Licinius, an edict of toleration by which the Christians were accorded complete...
" (313).
Death of Peter at Vatican Hill
St. Peter's martyrdom is traditionally depicted in religious iconography as crucifixion with his head pointed downwardCross of St. Peter
The Cross of St. Peter or Petrine Cross is an inverted Latin cross traditionally used as a Christian symbol, but in recent times also used widely as an anti-Christ symbol .-In Christianity:The origin of this symbol comes from the Catholic tradition that Simon Peter was crucified upside...
. The historian Eusebius, a contemporary of Constantine, wrote that St. Peter "came to Rome, and was crucified with his head downwards," though he attributes this information to the much earlier theologian Origen
Origen
Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
, who died c. 254.
Peter's place and manner of death are also mentioned by Tertullian
Tertullian
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
(c. 160-220) in Scorpiace, where the death is said to take place during the Christian persecutions by Nero. Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
(56-117) describes the persecution of Christians in his Annals, though he does not specifically mention Peter. "They were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt." Furthermore, Tertullian says these events took place in the imperial gardens near the Circus of Nero. No other area would have been available for public persecutions after the Great Fire of Rome
Great Fire of Rome
The Great Fire of Rome was an urban fire that occurred beginning July 19, AD 64.-Background:According to Tacitus, the fire spread quickly and burned for six days. Only four of the fourteen districts of Rome escaped the fire; three districts were completely destroyed and the other seven suffered...
destroyed the Circus Maximus and most of the rest of the city in the year 64.
This account is supported by other sources. In The Passion of Peter and Paul, dating to the fifth century, the crucifixion of Peter is recounted. Then it adds, "Holy men ... took down his body secretly and put it under the terebinth tree near the Naumachia, in the place which is called the Vatican." The place called Naumachia
Naumachia
The naumachia in the Ancient Roman world referred to both the re-enactment of naval battles and the basin in which this took place....
would be an artificial lake within the Circus of Nero where naval battles were reenacted for an audience. The place called Vatican was at the time a hill next to the complex and also next to the Tiber River, featuring a cemetery of both Christian and pagan tombs.
Tracing the original tombs
Dionysius of Corinth mentions the burial place of Peter as Rome when he wrote to the Church of Rome in the time of the Pope SoterPope Soter
Pope Saint Soter was the Bishop of Rome during the latter half of the 2nd Century with his pontificate, according to the Annuario Pontificio, beginning between 162 and 168 then ending between 170 and 177. Although his name is derived from the Greek word "σωτήρ" , meaning a "saviour" or...
(died 174), thanking the Romans for their financial help. "You have thus by such an admonition bound together the planting of Peter and of Paul at Rome and Corinth. For both of them planted and likewise taught us in our Corinth. And they taught together in like manner in Italy, and suffered martyrdom at the same time."
Catholic tradition holds that the bereaved Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s followed their usual custom in burying him as near as possible to the scene of his suffering. According to Catholic lore, he was laid in ground that belonged to Christian proprietors, by the side of a well-known road leading out of the city, the Via Cornelia
Via Cornelia
Via Cornelia is an ancient Roman Road that supposedly ran east west along the northern wall of the Circus of Nero on land now covered by the southern wall of St. Peter's Basilica. It is closely associated with the Via Aurelia and the Via Triumphalis...
(site of a known pagan and Christian cemetery) on the hill called Vaticanus. The actual tomb was an underground vault, approached from the road by a descending staircase, and the body reposed in a sarcophagus
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
of stone in the center of this vault.
The Book of Popes mentions that Pope Anacletus
Pope Anacletus
Pope Saint Anacletus , also called Pope Cletus, was the third Roman Pope Pope Saint Anacletus (very rarely written as Anencletus), also called Pope Cletus, was the third Roman Pope Pope Saint Anacletus (very rarely written as Anencletus), also called Pope Cletus, was the third Roman Pope (after St....
built a "sepulchral monument" over the underground tomb of St. Peter shortly after his death. This was a small chamber or oratory over the tomb, where three or four persons could kneel and pray over the grave. The pagan Roman Emporor, Julian the Apostate
Julian the Apostate
Julian "the Apostate" , commonly known as Julian, or also Julian the Philosopher, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363 and a noted philosopher and Greek writer....
, mentions in 363 A.D. in his work Three Books Against the Galileans that the tomb of St. Peter was a place of worship, albeit secretly.
There is evidence of the existence of the tomb (trophoea, i.e., trophies
Trophy
A trophy is a reward for a specific achievement, and serves as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics...
, as signs or memorials of victory) at the beginning of the 2nd century, in the words of the presbyter Caius
Caius (presbyter)
Caius, Presbyter of Rome was a Christian author who lived and wrote towards the beginning of the 3rd century. Only fragments of his works are known, which are given in the collection entitled The Ante-Nicene Fathers. However, the Muratorian fragment, an early attempt to establish the canon of the...
refuting the Montanist traditions of a certain Proclus: "But I can show the trophies of the Apostles. For if you will go to the Vatican, or to the Ostian way
Via Ostiensis
The Via Ostiensis was an important road in ancient Rome. It ran west 30 km from the city of Rome to its important sea port of Ostia Antica, from which it took its name. The road began near the Forum Boarium, ran between the Aventine and the Tiber River along its left bank, and left the...
, you will find the trophies of those who laid the foundations of this church."
These tombs were the objects of pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
during the ages of persecution, and it will be found recorded in certain Acts of the Martyrs
Acts of the Martyrs
Acts of the Martyrs are accounts of the suffering and death of a Christian martyr or group of martyrs. These accounts were collected and used in church liturgies from early times, as attested by Saint Augustine....
that they were seized while praying at the tombs of the Apostles.
During the reign of the Roman Emperor Valerian, Christian persecution was particularly severe. The remains of the dead, and particularly the Christian dead, had lost their usual protections under Roman law. The remains of Peter and Paul may have been removed temporarily from their original tombs in order to preserve them from desecration by the Romans. They may have been removed secretly by night and hidden in the Catacombs of S. Sebastiano in 258 AD, being returned to their original tombs in 260 when Valerian's reign ended.
Constantine's basilica
When the Church was once more at peace under Constantine the Great, Christians were able at last to build edifices suitable for the celebration of Divine Service. The resting places of the relics of the Apostles were naturally among the first to be selected as the sites of great basilicaBasilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
s. The emperor supplied the funds for these buildings, in his desire to honor the memories of the two Apostles.
Much of the Vatican Hill was leveled to provide a firm foundation for the first St. Peter's Basilica. The altar of the Basilica was planned to be located directly over the tomb. The matter was complicated by the upper chamber or memoria above the vault. This upper chamber had become endeared to the Romans during the ages of persecution, and they were unwilling that it should be destroyed. The memoria was turned into the Chapel of the Confession. Above that was the main floor of the Basilica, with the raised altar directly over the Chapel of the Confession. The reverence in which the place has always been held has resulted in these arrangements remaining almost unchanged to the present time.
The Book of Popes details certain the adornments that Constantine apparently added to St. Peter's tomb at this time. The sarcophagus itself is said to have been enclosed on all sides with bronze, measuring 5 feet in each dimension. On top of that was laid a gold cross weighing 150 pounds and featuring an inscription, which translates from latin as "Constantine Augustus and Helena Augusta This House Shining with Like Royal Splendor a Court Surrounds." However, any treasures that may have been present at the tomb are presumed to have been taken by the Saracens during their Sack of Rome in 846
Sack of Rome (846)
In 846 Arab raiders plundered the environs of Rome, including the Vatican, sacking Old St. Peter's and St. Paul's-Outside-the-Walls, but were prevented from entering the city itself by the Aurelian Wall...
.
The skull of St. Peter is claimed to reside in the Basilica of St. John Lateran
Basilica of St. John Lateran
The Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran , commonly known as St. John Lateran's Archbasilica and St. John Lateran's Basilica, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope...
since at least the ninth century, alongside the skull of St. Paul.
Modern excavation
Between 1939 and 1949, the Vatican-led archaeological team overseen by Monsignor Ludwig KaasLudwig Kaas
Ludwig Kaas was a German Roman Catholic priest and politician during the Weimar Republic.-Early career:Born in Trier, Kaas was ordained a priest in 1906 and studied history and Canon law in Trier and Rome. 1906 he completed a doctorate in theology and in 1909 he obtained a second doctorate in...
, who had overall authority over the project, had uncovered a complex of pagan mausoleums under the foundations of St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
(the so called Vatican Necropolis
Vatican Necropolis
The Vatican Necropolis, also known as the Scavi, lies under the Vatican City, at depths varying between 5 and 12 meters below the basilica. The Vatican sponsored archeological excavations under Saint Peter's in the years 1940 - 1949 which revealed parts of a necropolis dating to Imperial times...
), dating to the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Construction of Constantine's Old St. Peter's Basilica and of foundations for Bernini's Baldacchino destroyed most of the vaulting of these semi-subterranean burial chambers. Among them was the so-called "Tomb of the Julii
Tomb of the Julii
The popularly-named "Tomb of the Julii" survives in the Vatican Necropolis beneath St. Peter's Basilica, the so-called "Vatican grotto"...
" with mosaics that appeared to be Christian. No mausoleum had ever been built directly beneath the present high altar of St Peter's, which did however contain shallow burials, one dated by an impressed tile to the reign of Vespasian
Vespasian
Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
; subsequently they had been attended with care, as later burials clustered round but did not encroach upon the space. There was a small niched monument built into a wall ca. 160. The discoveries made the pages of Life magazine.
Bones transferred in 1942
In 1942, the Administrator of St. Peter's, Monsignor Ludwig Kaas, found remains in a second tomb in the monument. Being concerned that these presumed relics of a saint would not be accorded the respect they deserved, and having little understanding of correct archeological procedures, he secretly ordered these remains stored elsewhere for safe-keeping.After Kaas's death, Professor Margherita Guarducci
Margherita Guarducci
Margherita Guarducci was an Italian archaeologist, classical scholar and epigrapher. She was a major figure in several crucial moments of the 20th century academic community. A student of Federico Halbherr, she edited his works after his death...
discovered these relics by chance. She informed Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
of her belief that these remains were those of St. Peter. Bone testing revealed that the remains belonged to a man in his sixties. On June 26, 1968, Pope Paul VI announced that the relics of St. Peter had been discovered.
Possible ossuary of Peter in Jerusalem
In 1953, two Franciscan monks discovered hundreds of 1st century ossuaries stored in a cave on the Mount of OlivesMount of Olives
The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem with three peaks running from north to south. The highest, at-Tur, rises to 818 meters . It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes...
near Jerusalem. The archaeologists claimed to have discovered the earliest physical evidence of a Christian community in Jerusalem, including some very familiar Biblical names. The name inscribed on one ossuary read: "Shimon Bar Yonah" - Simon, the Son of Jonah, the original Biblical name of the Disciple Peter.
The 43 inscriptions discovered in the Dominus Flevit cemetery between May 1953 and June 1955 were published with photographs by P. B. Bagatti and J. T. Milik in 1958. The inscriptions on the ossuaries also included the names Jesus, Joseph, Judas, Mathew, Martha, Mary and Mariame - with the inscriptions of the latter two names being written in Greek.
Nearby papal tombs
Very little is known about the burial of Peter's immediate successors, prior to the period when popes are known with relative certainty to have been buried in the various Catacombs of RomeCatacombs of Rome
The Catacombs of Rome are ancient catacombs, underground burial places under or near Rome, Italy, of which there are at least forty, some discovered only in recent decades. Though most famous for Christian burials, either in separate catacombs or mixed together, they began in the 2nd century, much...
. Burial near Peter, on Vatican Hill, is attributed to: Pope Linus
Pope Linus
Pope Saint Linus was, according to several early sources, Bishop of the diocese of Rome after Saint Peter. This makes Linus the second Pope. According to other early sources Pope Clement I was the Pope after Peter...
, Pope Anacletus
Pope Anacletus
Pope Saint Anacletus , also called Pope Cletus, was the third Roman Pope Pope Saint Anacletus (very rarely written as Anencletus), also called Pope Cletus, was the third Roman Pope Pope Saint Anacletus (very rarely written as Anencletus), also called Pope Cletus, was the third Roman Pope (after St....
, Pope Evaristus
Pope Evaristus
Pope Saint Evaristus is accounted the fifth Pope, holding office from c. 99 to 107 AD or from 99 to 108. He was also known as Aristus....
. Pope Telesphorus
Pope Telesphorus
Pope Saint Telesphorus was Pope from 126 or 127 to 136 or 137 or 138, during the reigns of Roman Emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. He was Greek by birth....
, Pope Hyginus
Pope Hyginus
Pope Saint Hyginus was bishop of Rome from about 136 or 138 to about 140 or 142. Tradition holds that during his papacy he determined the various prerogatives of the clergy and defined the grades of the ecclesiastical hierarchy...
, Pope Pius I
Pope Pius I
Pope Saint Pius I was Bishop of Rome, according to the Annuario Pontificio, from 142 or 146 to 157 or 161, respectively. Others suggest that his pontificate was perhaps from 140 to 154.-Early life:...
, Pope Anicetus
Pope Anicetus
Pope Saint Anicetus was Pope of the Catholic Church from about 150 to about 167 . His name is Greek for unconquered...
(later transferred to the Catacomb of Callixtus
Catacomb of Callixtus
The Catacomb of Callixtus was one of the Catacombs of Rome on the Appian Way, most notable for containing the Crypt of the Popes , which contained the tombs of several popes from the 2nd to 4th centuries...
), Pope Victor I
Pope Victor I
Pope Saint Victor I was Pope from 189 to 199 .Pope Victor I was the first bishop of Rome born in the Roman Province of Africa: probably he was born in Leptis Magna . He was later canonized...
. Epigraphic evidence exists only for Linus, with the discovery of a burial slab marked "Linus" in 1615; however, the slab is broken such that it could have once read "Aquilinius" or "Anullinus".
With three exceptions, each pope prior to Anicetus, the first pope known to have been entombed in the Catacombs, is traditionally regarded as having been buried near Peter. A notable exception is Pope Clement I
Pope Clement I
Starting in the 3rd and 4th century, tradition has identified him as the Clement that Paul mentioned in Philippians as a fellow laborer in Christ.While in the mid-19th century it was customary to identify him as a freedman of Titus Flavius Clemens, who was consul with his cousin, the Emperor...
, who was traditionally regarded as having been martyred in the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
near Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
. Similarly, the original tombs of Pope Alexander I
Pope Alexander I
Pope Saint Alexander I was Bishop of Rome from about 106 to 115. The Holy See's Annuario Pontificio identifies him as a Roman who reigned from 108 or 109 to 116 or 119...
and Pope Sixtus I
Pope Sixtus I
Pope Saint Sixtus I was bishop of Rome from about 117 or 119 to 126 or 128 C.E., succeeding Pope Alexander I and succeeded by Pope Telesphorus. In the oldest documents, Xystus is the spelling used for the first three popes of that name....
are unknown, although there are several churches positing mutually contradictory claims of translation.
External links
- Margherita Guarducci, The Tomb of St. Peter Guarducci worked on the tomb
- The Bones of St Peter by John Evangelist Walsh The First Full Account of the Search for the Apostle's Body
- Map of the Vatican Necropolis- Interactive Map of the Tombs