Excavations beneath St Peter's Basilica have uncovered part of the original church and what archaeologists believe is the Tomb of St Peter. Here, in 1942, the bones of an elderly, strongly built man were found in a box hidden behind a wall covered by pilgrims’ graffiti.
Visits are by guided tour only; to book, email the Ufficio Scavi ([email protected]) as far in advance as possible.
The Vatican has never definitively claimed that the bones belong to St Peter, but in 1968 Pope Paul VI, said they had been identified in a way that the Vatican considered 'convincing'. In 2013 Pope Francis publicly displayed the relics for the first time.
