The guide prefaced her tour by telling us about why Saint Peter's was built at that location; I'll try to repeat her explanation as best I can. The site was used for many centuries as a necropolis (the word "cemetery" has only been used in Christian times; it has a similar connotation to "dormitory" -- as a resting place, with the implication of a resurrection or future life; from Websters.com:
Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English < Late Latin coemētērium < Greekkoimētḗrion a sleeping place, equivalent to koimē- (variant stem ofkoimân to put to sleep) + -tērion suffix of locality
), which literally means "city of the dead." The necropolis was much like a city, having small streets (paths, really) lined with crypts -- which resemble very small houses. Inside the crypts were frescoes, urns holding bones or ashes, sarcophagi, holes for providing food or drink to the dead or spirits, and steps up to the (flat) roofs so the living could enjoy a meal in the company of their dead ancestors.
Next to the necropolis could be found Nero's circus -- a place for horseracing and executions, in which was located the obelisk which today stands in the center of St. Peter's piazza.
And now we come to St. Peter's death. We don't have anything biblical about the death (not a big surprise given the time span covered in the Bible), but tradition (supported by contemporary writings to some degree) has it that he was martyred in Nero's circus: crucified upside down, in the year A.D. 64.
His friends requested his body for burial, and (in accordance with Jewish law) buried him simply, wrapped only in a linen cloth, in the cemetery next to the circus. Given what is known of crucifixions and the care of bodies at the time, it is very possible that his body was hewn from the crucifix, possibly leaving his feet in place. Sounds gory, but it's important later in this narrative.
The location of Peter's grave was maintained by oral tradition. In A.D. 161, some of the church members decided that the spot should be marked a bit better than by simply pointing it out to others. So a small monument was built (about 4 feet high or so). It was rather plain, with two (I think) columns and an unadorned pediment. There were no inscriptions for fear of desecration.
In about 316 or so, Constantine decided the time had come to build a church on Peter. Sort of tickles a ghoulish funny bone, but you get my point. Can you imagine? Building a church on sloping, poorly drained land that was covered, moreover, by a necropolis? If you think that the Roman citizens took this lying down, you have another think coming. After all, the crypts of their ancestors (which were to be revered, remember), would be filled in (best case) or completely razed (those on the upper level of the site). People were not happy and (in a time when land was readily available in the center of Rome) major restitutions had to be paid.
Eventually, however, Constantine prevailed, and the first basilica of St. Peter's was built, with the altar positioned above what was believed to be St. Peter's tomb (including the monument). Big problem, though: tourists in that day were no better from tourists in our day. They delighted in defacing ("Augustus was here!" and "RK + IL") not to mention chipping out souvenirs (can't you see the Roman moms tsk-tsking about a chunk of granite in their kids' rooms and just tossing it out because they didn't know where it came from?). Constantine's solution? Encase that monument. Taking plain marble (once again not inscribed), he built a simple box around the monument. At this point, the grave is starting to resemble those nesting Russian dolls. Or maybe the house that Jack built?
Being outside the city's walls, and known to house reliquaries and other items used in worship that were made of precious metals and gems, the basilica was extremely vulnerable to theft. It was raided several times, and it was decided to build a defensive wall around the basilica.
In the 15th century, the basilica was starting to tilt. Leaning tower of Peter, anyone? After much discussion, Pope Julius II decided that repair would not be possible and the (highly unpopular) decision to raze the building was taken. In the process, tombs were destroyed (previous popes, important nobles, etc.) and people were vexed. However, progress will have sway, and here we are today with the St. Peter's basilica ("new and improved!") that we know & love. Bramante designed the main part of the church (started in 1506); the work was later taken over and improved by Michelangelo practically at gunpoint by the pope -- he modified the design and structural methods, and his section is still level today. As usually happens, the project took longer than planned and was over budget. Under duress (notice a pattern here?), Maderno designed the facade, which only 400 years later is 7" out of plumb. In fact, the original design for towers on either side had to be ditched because of the instability of the local soil. As a matter of fact, the excavations will not extend any further towards the front of the basilica for fear of instability; the current fill must remain undisturbed (but I'm getting ahead of myself here).
When the newly sited (but old, from the original basilica) altar was located, the actual site of St. Peter's body had to be taken on faith; it had been obscured somewhat by the intervening 1300 years (I hope no one's surprised at that...I can't keep track of most things for 2 days). Many elements from the original basilica were kept, including the large porphyry circle on which Charlemagne was crowned in the year 800.
In 1938, Pope Pius XI thought it would be nice to locate Peter's grave finally. However, it was to be done in secrecy, partly for fear of vandals and partly because it seemed like it would be more fun to say "Aha!" if they found it and not say anything if they didn't. Maybe like hunting for heffalumps? It certainly started with their digging a big pit. But not from above! It's rather difficult to conduct a discreet archaeological investigation if you start by removing the altar in St. Peter's basilica. Instead, they had to go in from the side (and actually from below the level they thought they needed), making the excavations that much more complicated.
If you noticed the timing, you have to figure that World War II interrupted the works somewhat. However, the archaeologists worked off and on, in the course of which they discovered some incredibly detailed (pagan) sarcophagi, intact crypts, and so on. One of the treasures was the earliest known Christian crypt. While disguised to include pagan symbols, the mosaics clearly show Jesus as the fisher of men, the grapevine ("I am the vine; you are the branches"), and other Christian references.
As we wound our way through the necropolis, we could appreciate how much work went into the excavations. At some point (towards the altar area of the basilica above), we had to deviate from the direct route, because the road of the necropolis converged (heightwise) with the crypts above, and there was no access. We wound our way around, and were then shown a hole that was identified during the excavations. It had originally held a simple burial (there was no room for a sarcophagus, coffin, or anything other than a body), and was in the right location. There aren't a whole lot of reasons to disinter people in this sort of place, so of course the speculation is that this was St. Peter's original burial location. Time to dig upwards!
Not wanting to disturb these finds, though, the archaeologists moved backwards before going up and back around. Do you know what they found? A marble box! And looking in one location slightly below the dirt level of the box, we could see little columns. From a small monument. If this sounds familiar, you've been paying attention! Feeling rather like sleuths, we followed our guide around the marble box, and found a plaster ... wall? Filler? It didn't look like much of anything, but it was definitely not part of the original marble box. It had been covered with graffiti, and it would have asked too much for the archaeologists not to dig in here, don't you think?
Whether or not you would have been able to exercise restraint, they were not. Behind this plasterwork, they found a wooden box. And in the box were some (168, to be precise) bone fragments, wrapped in purple and gold cloth. Drumroll please! This is highly significant because purple and gold cloth during the Roman period was only used either for royalty or by special permission of the emperor. So these bones were important. There's no record of any emperor's burial anywhere near this location after Constantine (when the box was built).
Of course, the bones were sent of post-haste in utmost secrecy to the expert of the day. He was able to determine that the bones had the following characteristics:
- Belonged to a 60-70 year old male, who was short but very muscular
- Were "old" (undated, but not recent at all)
- Had been initially buried in earth
- Did not include bones belonging to the feet
I think that's it. But still, awfully familiar, don't you think? Given all of this circumstantial evidence, the Pope decided that these were likely to be St. Peter's remains. Seven of the fragments were separated and are in a reliquary in the Pope's private chapel. The other fragments were packed in preservative material (nitrogen, maybe? the guide didn't specify), and sealed in a plastic box that was replaced where the original wooden box had been found.
Phew. That was a lot to write. And read, no doubt. I hope that those who stuck with me found it interesting!
If you know you will be in Rome, you can get a tour of the scavi. Disclaimer: you must write MONTHS in advance (I'm sure the bigger the group, the longer you have to wait). Flexibility in dates would probably help. There is a fee; at the time we went, the fee was 13 euros (about $17 U.S.).
Love,
Alexandra
What an incredibly interesting tour this must have been! Thank you for taking the trouble to post such a detailed entry!
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Mummy
Sorry to take so long about it, but there was a lot to remember -- really, really worthwhile visit!
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