January 31, 2023 / 6:31 am
On a day like in the year 1949, 74 years ago, Pope Pius XII announced to the world the discovery of the tomb of Saint Peter in the Vatican caves.
In his radio message, the Pontiff said: “The essential question is this: Has the tomb of Saint Peter really been found? To this question, the final conclusion of the works and studies responds with a very clear ‘yes’. The tomb of the Prince of the Apostles has been found”.
Christian archeology expert Olof Brandt described this event as “one of the most intriguing archeological mysteries of the 20th century.”
The tomb of the first Pope of the Church was found during excavations to build the tomb of Pope Pius XI, died in 1939.
To put an end to the debate on the existence or not of the remains of Saint Peter in the Vatican, Pope Pius XII promoted a large archaeological excavation in the basement of the Basilica in 1940, which was concluded by Pope Paul VI.
During these works in the Vatican caves, the archaeologists found a Roman necropolis. In addition, just below the altar of the Basilica, they found a monument intended to commemorate the Apostle Saint Peter.
However, the tomb was empty and the remains of Saint Peter were not found. Although the funerary monument had various Christian graffiti, which indicated that had belonged to an important Christian martyr. The inscription “Peter Eni” (Here is Pedro), indicated his identity.
It is on top of this monument that, in a structure from the Constantinian Basilica, an urn was found with a series of skeletal remains wrapped in a purple cloth, the color of Roman emperors but also of Christian martyrs. The bones, as a result of the cloth that wrapped them, were dyed red.
Subsequent investigation of the remains revealed that, although it is impossible to attribute these remains to a specific person with complete certainty, it could be certified that they belonged to a man who lived in the first century of Christianity and with similar physical characteristics to those attributed to San Pedro.