Scavi tour at St. Peter's (revisited)

Many reviews of the Scavi tour have been posted here, go here, http://tiny.cc/ucmk3, to browse the reviews from the past year.

I have taken the tour 3 times. Once with an Italian priest who gave a long and boring lecture on proper Catholic behavior and how marvelous it was to be a Caholic and therefore always at God's right hand. Took about an hour altho I might have gone to sleep during it. The second time was with an American priest, very young and very knowledgable about the history of the excavation and fun. Probably an hour and a half and I hardly knew the time had past.

Worth: As for what you see, the Roman crypts from the early centuries AD(CE) are interesting but not spectatcular. The information on the early church and Peters tomb, again, interesting, not spectatcular. However, if you are Catholic, devout Christian, or a history buff, the experience can be very moving and interesting and well worth the effort to get tickets and the hour or more it takes. Also figure that the exit is inside the crypt area (saving you a line) and on exit into St. Peters Square, you can usually head up what would be the exit to St. Peters and do the Cathedral, again avoiding a line.

Yes, I agree that mystery is always intriguing, but I would still be awed even if I knew for sure that I was near the tomb of someone who knew Jesus so intimately.

I suppose being a Catholic, it was very worth it for me to take the scavi tour. I found it incredibly moving. When we finally got to Peter's tomb, the guide said: "Jesus said `Peter you are the rock on which i build my church.'" Dramatic pause. Then she shone her laser pointer at the tomb and said, "this is the rock." I got chills! And yes, there was the bonus that we were able to see JP2's tomb without waiting on the line. As a pratical note, I got a wicked allergy attack when we went below ground: sneezing, coughing, etc... but I was the only one in the group so affected.

Thanks for your input. I just wish they knew for sure that it's Peter's tomb. I've heard that the pope says it's "a definite maybe."

"I just wish they knew for sure that it's Peter's tomb." Yes, I suppose that would be nice. Or, perhaps it's better that it remains a matter of faith, preserving some mystery? (What do you think?)

Very early graffiti were found at the tomb of Peter; they indicate it was a place of importance to Christians living not long after his death. And I believe there were era-appropriate coins also. The graffiti strike me as pretty convincing evidence. We certainly have no problem keeping track of important places that date from a generation or two before us - I see no reason to believe that a local early Christian community would not do the same.

Gwen, we thought the Scavi tour was fantastic! Our guide was a lovely young woman who was knowledgeable and engaging, and built a good case for this being Peter's tomb (definitely maybe). :) I am not Catholic (though a Christian) and I didn't go particularly for spiritual reasons, but found it both spiritual and really interesting. When we got home and people asked us about our trip, the Scavi tour was one of the first things we told them about. I would recommend going; at the least, you certainly wouldn't regret it.

Can one of you please post the link for Scavi tour website? I tried to goggle it but can't seem to find the legit site. Thanks

It is: [email protected]

Gwen, I have to thank you for your post. I did'nt know that it was possible to go to the Vatican's Necropolis and because of your post I learned about the Scavi tour at St Peters, sent my email requesting permission to go and We just got our confirmation for November. Me and my fiance are very excited about it. thanks so much!

Gaby, glad it workd out for you. I'm still waiting to hear if I can get in for late October, but I'm not too optimistic. Will have to plan ahead more on another trip to Rome.

Did you get a confirmation that they received it? I sent it by email and got a confirmation that they had received my email like 1 hr after. Then the next day I received confirmation that they had the availabilty and that we had 20 days to sent payment. We sent payment info via email right away and got my confirmation the next day. If you haven't received the first email (is an automatic message) you might want to send it again.

Hurray! By the grace of God I got into the scavi tour at the precise time that fits my schedule! I emailed the office again yesterday giving them an additional day of availability and today I got my confirmation for October 18. I'm so excited!

P.S. I just wanted to emphasize that it paid off to be persistent with the Scave office. I emailed three times, each time offering more dates of availability, and if I hadn't sent that third email I would not have been accepted on the tour.

maybe it's the dickens-lover in me who just love a dramatic story with lots of intricate elements working together to come to a conclusion, but I'm actually a non-practicing Jew and found the tour to be the most fascinating thing I did in 5 full days in Rome. Just amazing from a historical perspective and just because it's interesting to see really really old stuff. Just like walking the Colosseum and Forum and wherever else in Rome, the thought that this entire hill is buried underneath the current church and the whole drama behind the secrecy in which the excavations even took place, I think that's more than enough even without the religious ramifications to make it fascinating and worthwhile.