Underneath the magnificence of the largest church in the world, St. Peter’s Basilica, is a simple yet powerful burial site. Embark a virtual tour to the Tomb of Peter with your virtual guide.
Anchored on the grave of the apostle, the first St. Peter’s Basilica incorporated the original shrine into the altar floor. However, twelve hundred years later, when the first basilica was replaced, the details of Peter’s burial had been forgotten. The Vatican had long held the tradition that Peter was buried under the basilica, but even as late as the 1930s, they did not really have any proof. Then, in 1939, workers renovating the grottoes beneath St. Peter’s, the traditional burial area of the popes, made a stunning find. Just below the floor level, they discovered an ancient Roman grave. It soon became clear that there wasn’t just one grave, but an entire city of the dead. After many months of digging, the excavators came to a section of older graves, near the area underneath the high altar. Directly beneath the altar, they found a large burial site and a wall painted red. In a niche connected to that wall, they found the bones of a man. More than 20 years later, in 1968, Pope Paul VI announced that those bones belonged to St. Peter.
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