Vatican opens up necropolis where Saint Paul was buried

Cath News ^ | February 26, 2016

[NYer]

To mark the Jubilee of Mercy, some significant but little known monuments are opening up all over Rome.

One of those sites is the cemetery where Saint Paul was buried after his martyrdom, about four miles from the Vatican. The necropolis was discovered through excavations between 1917 and 1918. It's one of the greatest records of Roman life in the first few centuries after Jesus Christ.

CRISTINA CARTA

Archaeologist

"The type of tombs show us that they belonged to people from the middle and lower class. Every niche had a cost. To overlook the street was most expensive because of its visibility. It was a way of showing the social class of the deceased, his social status.”

Some tombs even have preserved frescoes. Thanks to the inscriptions, one can know the identity of the dead. There are young people and old, along with free people and well-known former slaves who were set free by their owners. The richness of the tombs also offers hints as to how some of them were able to make their fortunes.

Saint Paul was interred here, in the area between Rome and Ostia, the world capital's ancient port.

CRISTINA CARTA

Archaeologist

"The grave was here, where this vast necropolis already existed. Every necropolis was built outside the city walls. That's what Roman law said at the time, banning burial or cremation inside the city.”

As was the case with Saint Peter, the tomb of Saint Paul became a pilgrimage center, so they built a basilica over his tomb, Saint Paul Outside the Walls. Popes typically visit the site every January 25th to mark the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. It's the same place that Pope John XXIII announced the Second Vatican Council.

The spectacular necropolis can be visited for the next few months. Reservations are required, as is four Euros per person for entry.

Watch the Video

[NYer]

Catholic ping!

[miss marmelstein]

Very cool. Rome is just not about eating and shopping! It’s the start of Christian history!

[mumblypeg]

Waaaahhh! I wanna go!

[Don Corleone]

One of those sites is the cemetery where Saint Paul was buried after his martyrdom, about four miles from the Vatican.

He was martyred about four miles from the Vatican? Who knew? Maybe it was just in the translation.

[mrobisr]

LOL, only in the view of the RCC. The rest of us that use the Holy Bible for worship read that Christanity stated and will end in Israel. You know Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem.

[stevem]

My wife and I found there is much to see in Rome in a reasonably small area. We were only in the neighborhood for about 8 days and one of those we spent in Pompeii.

I was also in Rome a couple times in my short Navy career.

I and we barely scratched the surface regarding all the things there are to see there.

[Verginius Rufus]

I thought a sarcophagus in the church of St. Paul's Outside the Walls was believed to contain the remains of St. Paul.

January 25 was traditionally the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, which predates the Week for Christian Unity. That must have been timed to end on Jan. 25 for that reason.

[Verginius Rufus]

Ostia, the ancient port of Rome, can be reached easily by public transportation from Rome. When I went there were a lot of people on the train headed for the beach, but the stop for Ancient Ostia is about a mile before that--the site is an easy walk from the train stop. When I went it was not crowded at all, only a handful of other people there--it has a great collection of well-preserved buildings, like Pompeii without the crowds. Ostia is where St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, died.

Another easily-overlooked thing to visit in Rome is the Villa Giulia Museum which includes a lot of fine Etruscan art.

[Popman]

(Rome) ...It’s the start of Christian history!

Just a suggestion....

You might want to read the Book of Acts...Acts 1:4

[stevem]

Villa Giulia Museum

We saw this...I think. I just looked at a photo of the building and asked my wife. She said we were there. It was 15 years ago and has become a kaleidoscope of things that double expose one another in memory.

My brother encouraged us to get to Ostia. Sadly, we just ran out of time.

[cloudmountain]

Very cool. Rome is just not about eating and shopping! It’s the start of Christian history!

On the floor below St. Peter's is where St. Peter's remains are. The street level WAS considerably lower than it is today.
Anyway, there is a simple metal box (not large). All it says is:

Here lies Peter.

SO simple. I think it's just what he might have wanted.

================================

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Peter%27s_tomb

Saint Peter's tomb is a site under St. Peter's Basilica 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 during the reign of Constantine I 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 stated in December 1950 that none could be confirmed to be Saint Peter's with absolute certainty.

Following the discovery of bones that had been transferred from a second tomb under the monument, on June 26, 1968, Pope Paul VI claimed that the relics of St. Peter had been identified.

The grave claimed by the Church to be that of St. Peter lies at the foot of the aedicula beneath the floor. The remains of four individuals and several farm animals were found in this grave.
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) 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 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" (313).

===================================

*****Mind you, this isn't written in the Bible, so many Protestants simply may not choose to believe it.

[miss marmelstein]

I’ve been lucky enough to have visited the Vatican about three times in my life. I have not visited many catacombs because people tell me they are claustrophobic. I did visit Nero’s excavated palace near the Forum. Unbelievably, it had graffiti from the painter Raphael who had managed to get himself into it!

What a city, what a history.

[cloudmountain]

I’ve been lucky enough to have visited the Vatican about three times in my life. I have not visited many catacombs because people tell me they are claustrophobic. I did visit Nero’s excavated palace near the Forum. Unbelievably, it had graffiti from the painter Raphael who had managed to get himself into it!
What a city, what a history.

When my husband and I lived in the middle east for five years our FAVORITE go-to places were Rome, Athens and London. Every place else took YEARS of flying to get to.

ROME...the eternal city. That HAS to be my favorite.

[cloudmountain]

So WHEN is your next sojourn to the eternal city? :o)

[miss marmelstein]

Oh, not for a while, if ever. I’m planning another trip to England to visit the places of my favorite king (check out my tagline!)

[cloudmountain]

Lol. LOVE your bio.
You KNOW tough audiences. You had LUNCH with tough audiences! :o)

John Wayne converted to Catholicism when he was close to death...at the bequest of his wife, Pilar.

[miss marmelstein]

Oh, I idolize the Duke. I was once known as the total go-to gal on the Duke here at FR. Those times have gone.

You’re one of my favorite posters, cloudie! I always enjoy your perspective on the mid east because you actually lived there.