Journey to the Center of the Earth

One of the most unique experiences of our Vatican trip was the Vatican Scavi, a chance to travel underground beneath the Vatican and learn about the history of the location. Our tour began in the crypt of St. Peter’s, located directly under the altar. Here we were told that St. Peter’s is the second church built at the location where St. Peter was martyred. After this introduction session, we descended down brick stairs, traveling underneath the crypt and into an ancient necropolis. A necropolis, or city of the dead, is a burial place where family mausoleums are placed next to each other and form an above-ground city. When the emperor Constantine decided to build the original St. Peter’s, he flattened the Vatican hill, and, in the process, covered this ancient necropolis in dirt, using the old mausoleum walls as supporting structures for his new church. Exploring the underground necropolis was like stepping into one of those “mummy” horror movies of the 1940s. With the damp, stuffy air all around us, we walked down a “street” of the necropolis and saw the 2000 year old family mausoleums, which are well preserved. Looking inside, we could see wall frescoes depicting Egyptian, Pagan, and early Christian gods. The sarcophaguses were still intact, and our tour guide read us the inscriptions on the coffins. As we left the necropolis, we traveled upward, where we saw the back wall from Constantine’s original St. Peter’s and the original underground chapel constructed at the tomb of St. Peter. This chapel, glittering in gold and elaborate artwork is well below the current papal altar of the new St. Peter’s. Taking a short walk, we saw the bones of St. Peter, before exiting through the crypt, where all the Popes are buried.

The Scavi Tour was almost an unreal experience, and I’m sure it will take time for me to understand exactly what I encountered. Standing in an underground city of the dead was not only surreal, but hauntingly beautiful. Here, buried under the current Vatican, lies an ancient Roman necropolis, and inside, lie the bodies of ancient Romans who will remain undisturbed for the rest of time. The most moving moment occurred when we were looking at the bones of St. Peter, and, suddenly, the sounds of an organ and choir, singing above in the current church, drifted down into the ancient chapel and the tomb of St. Peter. It was so inspirational to know that, some how, even “St. Peter” can hear the sounds of those who come to honor his death, some 2000 years later.