Under St. Peter's

Ciao everyone, happy Monday to you all.

Today's excitement comes not from a popular tourist destination--although if it was to be opened to the public, I'm sure it would be--but instead, from a place where only 75 people (guide included) are allowed to enter every day: the ancient necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City.

Cool, right?

Yes, in fact. Very cool.

No pictures were allowed, but Bert and I rumbled over to the Vatican this morning and waited at the Obelisk for our professor and our class. After everyone arrived, we got all our bags checked and went through a bunch of metal detectors, eventually leading to a coat-check room for all of our bags. We stowed them, split into two groups of about 12 and were whisked over the main steps of the Basilica to the left side entrance, one guarded by 3 Swiss guards in full regalia. We were deposed, if you will, and after several documents proving we could go, the guards took us through the gate and back to the more private area of the Vatican--very cool.

Our guide was a heavily-accented German woman (which was excellent, since having just returned from Germany, I still had the ear for it and it wasn't a problem), who was a little overbearing and a little know-it-all-ish, but she meant well I think. German is a tough language to translate directly from to English and sound friendly, I guess.

Anyway, we were escorted through several coded and guarded glass doors, each with a timer on them to keep you in / out / whatever suits the purpose. We all squeezed into the separate hallways and got through the doors to a steep decline, but not before one more Mission: Impossible style entryways. Stooping over, we entered into the high-ceiling area, almost like a street, lined with several mausoleums and tombs of ancient Roman pagans and rich families, all still richly decorated and mosaic designed. All of this, however, had been filled in to make the original St. Peter's in 320, and this really irritated the rich Roman families, as you could well imagine. The dirt crushed some of the floors in a bit, but richly preserved the walls and decorations of the tombs, which for the most part were from the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Whoa.

We were able to look into several, all the while being told about those who lived there, etc, and we turned up another ramp uphill (St. Peter's is built into the side of an old hill of Rome, and to make the Basilica, they had to fill in the hillside, which is why the tombs were filled with dirt, to make it level. When you go uphill, you're going towards Peter's grave) and the tombs began to have hidden Christian meanings and markers, in Greek or with stories that were ambiguously detailed on the walls, but to the modern eye can be discerned quite easily as Christian. They wanted to be close to Peter's burial site, and it was cool to see the transition and the early paintings, all of which were near 2000 years old.

We headed up a little more, and we got to this oddly walled room, after passing through some more of the hermetically sealed doors, of course, and there marked one of the two walls--the left one--of the supposed tomb of St. Peter. The bones discovered there, however, were of 2nd and 3rd century remains, and Peter died in 64 A.D; plus, all of the remains were of various under-40 men and women, and Peter was in his 60s on death.

But from there we went upstairs through a chapel of the new St. Peters, underneath the current Basilica, but still there nonetheless. We went over a passageway and onto the right side of Peter's tomb, and there was some Latin graffiti, which took years to decipher, but eventually was found to mark St. Peter's tomb in obscure fashion. They looked in a niche and found remains of a 60-70 year old male with no feet. The Vatican declared unequivocally that this was Peter, as 60-70 year old people were very rare in that time, the bones dated back to the 1st century, and Peter was crucified upside down, as he didn't consider himself worthy to be martyred like Christ was. The easiest way to get someone off a cross? Chop their feet off, explaining the lack of feet.

St. Peter's Basilica's legitimacy is unique as the head of the Catholic Church, as Peter was the rock on which Jesus said to build his church: Peter was the first Pope, or the head of the church, and the most important church is actually built on St. Peter's remains, so it's a double-meaning. Cool in a way. Anyway, they had to put the bones back to be legitimate, but they're encased in plexiglass to keep them sealed. I reached out my hand and was within 10 feet of St. Peter's bones, which is crazy to think about. Hugely historically significant, in the Bible, man, it was a moving experience.

From there, we went out up into the other chapel and around a circular path, eventually getting to John Paul II's tomb, and that was also really cool. People were kneeling, praying, and crying looking at his grave, and it was pretty amazing to think about how much he impacted the world in his time as pope. I mean, people LOVED that man everywhere, but especially in Rome. He's like a rock star.

We exited that area, and the exit comes out RIGHT next to the alter at St. Peter's. Crazy design, touche Catholic Church. I was still kind of in awe about the whole thing, I mean, things like that just can't be seen every day, and it's one of the more memorable moments I've had since I arrived in Rome. I mean, today I was as close to the remains of St. Peter as almost anyone alive, and within mere feet, no less. Pretty cool. I mean, I'm not Catholic, but I can still appreciate the significance.

The rest of today has gone off without a hitch. I'm off in a few minutes to go see where Galileo was tried by the Church at a much later date than earlier, but still really historically important. I mean, anyone who read the Bible, you know Peter? I saw his bones today. Ok, more modern reference for some of you: Angels and Demons? I was there, underground, today, at the main source of action for the final scene. Whoa.

But that's about it. Hope your Monday is as cool as mine, and until next time,

Ciao.