Pius XII then began the excavations under St. Peter's Basilica, in order to fulfill the last will of his predecessor.

With that single gesture, he also showed confidence in both archaeological science and the countless generations of Christians who had considered the Basilica as, indeed, the burial place of the Apostle.

After the excavations, which were followed by exhaustive historical, archaeological and architectural studies, Pius XII ended the jubilee of 1950 exclaiming: "The final conclusion of the works and studies carried out in the Basilica is a very clear ‘yes': the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles has been found."

From the Circus of Nero to St. Peter's Basilica
After the fire of Rome in 64, Emperor Nero started a new Christian persecution, during which — according to tradition — St. Peter was crucified upside down, in the circus (an oval ground used for racing and other public spectacles) located in the Vatican Hill.

The body of the saint was then put to rest in a tomb under a small roof tile, in the pagan necropolis on the very same hill.

Quickly, as the necropolis stretched to the banks of the Tiber, St. Peter's burial place began to attract pilgrims, even if discreetly at first.

In the 4th century, Emperor Constantine allowed the development of Christian worship and decided to build a basilica in honor of St. Peter, its altar being aligned with the tomb of the apostle.

Above the original tomb, Constantine had a monument built, three meters high, in marble and porphyry, of which a column and a section of wall are still preserved.

When the present majestic basilica was built, the papal altar was then placed on top of the tomb of St. Peter. Continue reading

Sources

• Aleteia
• Image: Gidget Goes to Rome

It's a difficult question for me to answer—the places I would list would either be the obvious ones you'll find on most tourist lists (the four major basilicas, the Vatican Museums, the Flavian Amphitheater) or places that I would want to take you myself, so I could show you what you needed to see.

Actually, any place I tell you to go in Rome I would want to take you myself, because it's too easy to miss something (table of the Last Supper, anyone? How many people miss that in the Basilica of John Lateran?) or because you'll probably have some silly guide who tells you something absurd, like that no martyrs died in the Colosseum.

There is one place, however, I would always recommend to someone visiting the Rome—something that often escapes the tourist lists, and a place where most of the guides are pretty legit (I've only had one bad one, and that was almost ten years ago).

The Scavi.

The Scavi refers to the excavations under St. Peter's Basilica. Only about 200 people get to go down there each day, so I recommend emailing the office a few months in advance and then praying like crazy.

While I can't go into every detail about the Scavi, I highly recommend John Walsh's book The Bones of Peter, which is the definitive book on the gripping story surrounding the excavations. George Weigel also dedicated a chapter in his book Letters to a Young Catholic to a portion of the story (reprinted here: The Scavi of St. Peter's and the Grittiness of Catholicism). Continue reading

• Joannie Watson is presently the Director of Adult Formation for the Diocese of Nashville.