Week 5 Class225

We travelled to St. Peter's grave. We met our tour guide in the South Annexe of the Old Gottoes and passed through several rooms containing 14th and 15th century tomb slabs, transennae, architectural fragments and sarcophagi, according to Blue Guide: Rome.Then, we headed down the stairs to the necropolis. There are many rooms there that preserved loved ones of Roman families; some of them were not of aristocratic origin.

It is directly below the the altar of the present church (the New Vatican). Supposedly, Constantine built his basilica directly over the site because he new that St. Peter's grave was located there. According to the Blue Guide: Rome, in an shocking revelation after his battle with Maxentius, "Constantine announced that his victory over Maxentius was a sign ofthe favour of the Christian Gods" (16). His decision to build over the grave proved to be very difficult because of the incline of the hill. So, why did Constantine select this particular spot? There are two possible answers: 1) It is the spot where St. Peter is buried and 2) it is possible that it is also the site of an imperial estate; similar to the two earliest Basilicas built by Constantine, San Giovanni in Laterano and Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.

Archeologists believe that Constanine knew St. Peter's grave is located in this spot is because he left a the grafitti wall in place to everyone's surprise. While on the trip, we were able to see the excavated bones of St Peter. According to the guide, every bone was in place except those of the feet, and this is because the feet were amputated to take the body off the Cross.

St. Peter requested to be crucified upside down because he did not feel that he should be crucified in the same manner as Christ. Glimpsing the bones of St. Peter started an emotion that continued to the end of the tour and visitin the tomb of Pope John Paul II. To my surprise, this trip proved to be very emotional for me.