Vatican necropolis

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The Vatican Necropolis is a necropolis in Vatican City just below the Vatican Grottoes of St. Peter's Basilica . It was a Roman burial place and has only been accessible again since the excavations in the 1950s. In it is the presumed tomb of the apostle Peter .

history

Creation of the necropolis

Cross-sectional profile below St. Peter's Basilica

The Vatican Necropolis was originally a burial site next to a circus built by Emperor Caligula on the southern slope of the Vatican Hill . According to Roman law, it was forbidden to bury the deceased within the city walls. For this reason, the necropolises were built along the streets outside the city. One of these streets, Via Cornelia , ran north along the Vatican Hill. An Egyptian obelisk originally stood on the spine of the circus built by Emperor Caligula . This was since the ancient times until 1586 in its original place and was followed by Domenico Fontana by order of Pope Sixtus V 'on the St. Peter's Square added. The original location, directly in front of today's Excavation Office (SCAVI) of Fabbrica di San Pietro , is marked by a plaque in the ground.

Construction of Alt St. Peter

Plan and location of the necropolis in relation to St. Peter's Basilica

According to tradition, to the Apostle Peter in the year 64 or 67 under Emperor Nero , the martyrdom suffered and been buried in the necropolis. After the Constantinian Revolution and the Edict of Tolerance of Milan , Emperor Constantine I began building the first St. Peter's Church in 324 (also called Old St. Peter or Constantine Basilica ). At that time the Roman necropolis was still in use. This is proven by the discovery of a coin in an urn from the year 318. During this time the necropolises were under special legal protection and were inviolable. Nevertheless, Emperor Constantine I decided to build a basilica that was located exactly above the presumed tomb of the apostle Peter. In order to obtain a correspondingly large area for the planned construction, Emperor Constantine I ordered parts of the buildings of the necropolis and parts of the Vatican Hill to be demolished. With the exception of the tomb of St. Peter, the necropolis was filled with the material removed from the Vatican Hill. As a result of this measure, the necropolis was only exposed to daylight for around two to three centuries in its almost 2000-year history and has no longer been accessible since the construction of Alt St. Peter. The skull relic could already have been removed from the grave at this point in time. At an unknown time, it was transferred to the capella sancti Laurentii in the Lateran and by Urban V in 1367 to the Lateran basilica .

Excavations

The first excavations of the necropolis took place under the pontificate of Pius XII. between 1940 and 1949. The aim of these excavations was to find Peter's tomb below St. Peter's Basilica. In the course of the research, a number of mausoleums were excavated. The mausoleums found were numbered in the initial phase of the excavations with the Greek alphabet with Φ (Phi), Χ (Chi) and Ψ (Psi). Later, Latin letters were used to denote this. However, some of these mausoleums were already known in the Middle Ages and were sometimes opened. The mausoleum M was already described in 1574, the mausoleum O was in the course of the establishment of the foundation for the statue of Pope Pius VI. open. Mausoleums R and S were discovered when the southern part of the foundation for the canopy was created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini .

Location of the mausoleums in the Vatican Necropolis with the chronological order of the buildings

First the mausoleum A was built. Later on, mausoleums B, C, D and E were built next to each other in rapid succession. The mausoleum G very likely falls at the same time as mausoleum B, while the mausoleum F was probably built during the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161). These seven mausoleums were erected in a row as free-standing buildings with different heights and form a 32-meter-long street. Mausoleum O was built during the reign of Emperor Hadrian . Later on, the space between mausoleums G to O was filled with additional buildings. All buildings are lined up in a straight line along a path. Only Mausoleum H, from the second half of the 2nd century, is an exception here and breaks through the path due to a front atrium . At that time the circus was no longer in use. As a result, it was no longer an obstacle to the expansion of the necropolis towards the south. At that time, the circus was already overbuilt with various graves. A grave from the same period as the construction of Mausoleum H was found near the foundation of the obelisk. When the circus was finally canceled, a further row of mausoleums was created, namely the mausoleums Z, Phi, Chi and Psi. The mausoleums erected between the end of the 2nd century and the middle of the 3rd century were also free-standing buildings. All buildings with the exception of Mausoleum R1 had their entrance to the south, in the direction of the Circus and Via Cornelia .

Reconstruction of the mausoleums Z - Psi

The mausoleums have been shared by one or more families for generations. There were around 120 burials in mausoleum F alone and at least 170 in mausoleum H alone. An approximate calculation of the number of body and urn burials in the 22 excavated mausoleums revealed a number of more than 1,000 burials. This large number is due to the high child mortality and low life expectancy in the 2nd century. The former owners of six mausoleums (A, C, H, L, N and O) can be identified from the inscriptions above the entrance door. Mausoleum N is an example that these were also used by different families at the same time. The inscription reports that Mausoleum N was built by Marcus Aebutius Charito , but half of it was acquired by Lucius Volusius Successus and Volusia Megiste .

Peter's tomb (field P)

Reconstruction of the area around the tomb of the apostle Peter (gray area = field P)

The name Feld P (Campus Petri) describes the small area in which the presumed grave of the Apostle Peter is located. According to tradition, Peter was buried here after his martyrdom in the circus under the reign of Emperor Nero . Around 100 years after Peter's death, an aedicule was built over his grave. This aedicula is directly adjacent to the so-called red wall . Some grave sites were found immediately around the presumed Peter's grave. The arrangement of the graves suggests that the site of St. Peter's grave was worshiped very early. The aedicula, also called "Tropaion des Gaius", is named after the presbyter and theologian Gaius of Rome, who lived in Rome at the time of Pope Zephyrinus (198-217) . From this the following has been handed down (in Eusebius of Caesarea , Church history II, 25,5-7):

“I can show the apostles' tropaia . Because if you want to go to the Vatican or on the road to Ostia , you will find the tropaia of those who founded this church. "

The Greek expression tropaion used by Gaius usually referred to a monument or victory mark. Only 100 years later, Eusebius interpreted the quote as a reference to graves. On the right side of the “Tropaion des Gaius” is the so-called graffiti wall , attached at right angles , named after the large number of Latin graffiti . The graffiti wall was built in the second half of the 3rd century. During the excavations, no mortal remains of the apostle were found in the presumed Peter's tomb. However, bones were found in the graffiti wall in an opening lined with marble. Archaeologist Margherita Guarducci suggested that during the construction of the Constantinian basilica, the remains of the Apostle Peter were removed from his original tomb and placed in this opening. The archaeologist interpreted inscriptions in the wall behind the pillar monument, including the letters PETR ... EN I , as a designation of Peter's relics . At other excavation sites in Rome, however, similar graffiti were found, which only show a memory of Christians of Peter and Paul as martyrs. The remains of the ancient aedicule and the graffiti wall are now hidden behind the baroque paneling of the pallia niche .

Grave M

Christ with the attributes of Sol Invictus: rearing horses, fluttering cloak and halo. Mosaic from the necropolis under St. Peter's Church in Rome, 3rd century AD

The chamber, which was built at the beginning of the third century AD and is only 1.63 m wide and 1.98 m long, is considered to be the only purely Christian grave in the necropolis. Peter discovers. According to the now lost epitaph, which was found and copied by Giacomo Grimaldi (1568 - 1623) in the garden of a private house, the grave of Iulia Palatina (a freedman) and her husband Maximus (a slave) was for their one year old, Nine months and twenty-seven days late son Julius Turpinus had been built.

In the second half of the third century the burial chamber was decorated with mosaics. On the western wall only the sparse remains of a representation of the good shepherd can be seen, the north wall shows a fisherman and the eastern wall Jonas when he is devoured by the whale. The mosaic on the ceiling depicts Christ with the attributes of Sol Invictus . All figures are surrounded by vine tendrils with leaves but no grapes.

guides

The Vatican Necropolis and Peter's Tomb can be visited on guided tours. A permit from Ufficio Scavi is required for the visit. Prior written or online registration is required for this. In order to preserve the archaeological excavations in the long term, the number of visitors is limited to 250 per day.

literature

  • Pietro Zander: The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . Ed .: Fabbrica di San Pietro. 2010, ISBN 978-88-7369-081-8 .
  • Géza Alföldy : The Obelisk on St. Peter's Square in Rome. A historical monument of antiquity . Heidelberg 1990, ISBN 3-533-04283-9 .
  • Margherita Guarducci : Here is Peter. The bones of the Prince of the Apostles in the Confessio of St. Peter. Josef Habbel, Regensburg 1967.
  • Engelbert Kirschbaum : The graves of the princes of the apostles , Frankfurt am Main 1957, 3rd edition Frankfurt am Mainz 1974 (with a supplementary chapter by Ernst Dassmann ).
  • Werner Eck : Inscriptions and grave structures in the necropolis under St. Peter . In: Géza Alföldy (ed.): From early Greece to the Roman Empire . Steiner, Heidelberg 1989, ISBN 3-515-05190-2 , pp. 55–90 (not evaluated).
  • Harald Mielsch , Henner von Hesberg : The pagan necropolis under St. Peter in Rome . 2 volumes (1986-1995). L'Erma di Bretschneider, Roma, ISBN 88-7062-903-1 (comprehensive publication of the necropolis).

Web links

Commons : Vatican Necropolis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Pietro Zander; Fabbrica di San Pietro (Ed.): The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . 2010, p. 6.
  2. ^ Pietro Zander; Fabbrica di San Pietro (Ed.): The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . 2010, p. 10.
  3. ↑ a b Pietro Zander; Fabbrica di San Pietro (Ed.): The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . 2010, p. 21.
  4. ^ Pietro Zander; Fabbrica di San Pietro (Ed.): The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . 2010, pp. 21, 22.
  5. ↑ a b c Pietro Zander; Fabbrica di San Pietro (Ed.): The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . 2010, p. 13.
  6. ^ Pietro Zander; Fabbrica di San Pietro (Ed.): The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . 2010, p. 24.
  7. ^ Pietro Zander; Fabbrica di San Pietro (Ed.): The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . 2010, p. 14.
  8. ^ Pietro Zander; Fabbrica di San Pietro (Ed.): The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . 2010, p. 15.
  9. ^ Pietro Zander; Fabbrica di San Pietro (Ed.): The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . 2010, p. 18.
  10. ↑ AE 2001, 523 .
  11. ^ Pietro Zander; Fabbrica di San Pietro (Ed.): The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . 2010, p. 114.
  12. ^ Pietro Zander; Fabbrica di San Pietro (Ed.): The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . 2010, p. 115.
  13. ↑ quoted from Christfried Böttrich: Petrus, Fischer, Fels and Functionär , Leipzig 2001, pp. 228–229.
  14. ^ Pietro Zander; Fabbrica di San Pietro (Ed.): The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . 2010, p. 126.
  15. ↑ Erich Dinkler : Peter and Paul in Rome. The literary and archaeological question about the tropaia ton apostolon , In: Gymnasium 87, 1980, pp. 1–37.
  16. ^ Pietro Zander; Fabbrica di San Pietro (Ed.): The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . 2010, p. 131.
  17. ^ Pietro Zander; Fabbrica di San Pietro (Ed.): The Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican . 2010, pp. 243, 244.
  18. ↑ Christfried Böttrich: Petrus, Fischer, Fels and Functionary , Leipzig 2001, p. 232 ff.
  19. ^ Pietro Zander: La Necropoli di San Pietro . 2014, p. 297-303 .
  20. ↑ The visit to the tomb of Peter and the necropolis under the Vatican basilica accessed on November 27, 2011

Coordinates: 41 ° 54 ′ 8.3 "  N , 12 ° 27 ′ 11.9"  E