Our final day started with a very special tour for my dad and me: the Necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica, the capstone of which is to see relics relating to Saint Peter, himself. When we first planned our trip, I had no idea such a tour existed. Luckily my well connected Catholic neighbor, Lori, told me it was a must do and I researched the ticket request process. Unfortunately there was a minimum age of 15 years old to attend, so William could not join us and John stayed back to tour with him elsewhere.
We encountered a very peaceful morning at St. Peter's Square before the tour. The public wasn't out and about just yet, nor were the streets crowded on our walk over. No pictures were allowed in the Necropolis, so I just took some general "behind the security gate" building shots.
The Necropolis is two or more levels below the current floor. During our 90 minute tour in the humid underground we learned how Vatican City was originally marsh land outside the gates of Rome so was used as burial ground - both pagan and Christian funerals - and how the pope building the original basilica used pagan burial vaults as the foundation for the church. It was fascinating to see the cut-away in the excavations of all of the layers of tombs and building materials and to smell the dirt and clay. Directly under the current altar (several stories down) is the earthen grave of St. Peter. I was impressed by the entire tour and though the chapels outside the area where we peaked back to see St. Peter's grave were stunning with their elaborate walls and ceilings. As I was looking up through an air vent of sorts, I realized there were people walking above us. Some stopped and looked down, and I realized they were inside of the current church.
Above part of the Necropolis is the Grotto where many popes are buried. We had to walk through it on our way back out to the current elevation. I took this photo before seeing the no pictures sign. Tour groups were allowed in the Grotto so it felt less sacred (which is a horrible thing to say surrounded by all the burial vaults) than our trip through holy ground in the Necropolis.
Back inside of St. Peter's, we examined what we had seen the night before with a new eye. And I was especially keen to go near the altar (which has been blocked off for a service the night before) and look down to see the chapels where we had just been. Knowing what I was looking for, I could see bits of the wall and floor, but even had I walked past them prior to the tour, I would not have noticed.
Back outside I took one last look at that amazing place - realizing I probably won't be back anytime soon. There are just too many other places I want to visit before returning to Rome. Our walk took us past another gelato shop (of course it did!) and then Hadrian's Tomb before checking in on the rest of the family back at the hotel. Mom was getting ready to meet us for lunch, and my guys were out exploring. So Dad and I made the short walk to the Pantheon to check one more spot off our list. While there we met up with John and William before heading to lunch. I tried to get that same pizza again at a different place but it was missing the hard-boiled egg and had black instead of green olives. So not the same at all!
