Clementine Chapel

The Clementine Chapel also known as La Clementina

is a particular enclosed Roman Catholic chapel located
within the underground necropolitan grottoes of Saint Peters Basilica in Vatican City. According to Catholic tradition, reinforced by the Vaticans interpretation of archaeological investigations in the 20th century, the area
is the actual site where Saint Peter the Apostle was invertedly crucied and his blood was shed to the ground,
and Saint Peters tomb was nearby.

conrmed the authenticity of the site on Christmas day,

1968 after painstaking research and archaeological excavation. The chapel itself is adjacent to the present niche
will houses and displays the bones of Saint Peter, thereby
the site correlating to the main present altar of St. Peters
Basilica today.
Cardinal Archpriest Angelo Comastri noted in his interview that the original niche where the chest was found is
not the Clementine chapel, but a separate underground
oor in the Vatican Necropolis approximately 40 feet
nearby the chapel itself, and is marked by Latin and Greek
gratis next to a small niche where the chest was originally discovered. The site is also untouched to this day
and is undergoing possible restoration. The Clementine Chapel supersedes the ancient underground grottoes
which is then above the Roman cemeteries underneath
where many early Christians were also buried.[3]

Open today for its pilgrims, the site is encased in the

gilded altar decorated with lapis lazuli is the original
pavonazzo marble chest which contained the bones believed to be Saint Peter. The chest no longer contains the
bones of Saint Peter, but it is still considered by Catholic
pilgrims to be the holiest part of the archeological basilica, formally excavated in the 1930s under the ponticate
of Pope Pius XII.

Similarly, the bones believed to be of Saint Peter are now

presently enshrined at the underground balcony below
Gian Lorenzo Bernini's canopy, and under Michelangelo
1 History
Buonarroti's dome. The present bones are not contained
in the original stone chest, and is not the same as the
The altar structure of the chapel was formally consecrated Clementine chapel, but is o limits to the touring pubin 1123 by Pope Callixtus II. The chapel is named in lic while the chapel itself remains open for touring.
honor of Pope Clement VIII, who used the chapel as his
oratory and donated funds to install various religious mosaics preserved today. It is one of the two main untouched 2 References
areas of the original St. Peters Basilica, along with the
chapel of the Niche of the Pallia.[1] A notable feature
[1] http://saintpetersbasilica.org/Grottoes/Clementine%
of the chapel are the ornate bronze sculptures located in
20Chapel/Clementine%20Chapel.htm
the chapel commemorating certain biblical scenes, along
[2] Vatican Cardinal Angelo Comastri (2011). Secret Access:
with its gilded cage in the central altar.
The Vatican [Citta del Vaticano] (Color, NTSC DVD)
(Video) (in English, Italian). Vatican City, Rome, Italy:
History Channel. Event occurs at 94 minutes. Retrieved
June 2, 2012. This is the holiest site in the Basilica, where
the Apostle Peter was crucied and his blood shed to the
ground.

According to a direct tour and interview granted to

History Channel by the Archpriest of the Basilica, Cardinal Angelo Comastri, the chapel is the holiest site in
the basilica, and the prime reason why the basilica was
constructed in the rst place. The area was once called
Vatican Hill in honor of the ancient Etruscan worship of
the pagan deity Vatica, the goddess of the dead, as the
area was once used as a Roman cemetery.[2]

[3] http://www.culturaltravelguide.com/
real-tomb-saint-peter-under-saint-peters-basilica

The chapel itself was formally commissioned in 1939

when Pope Pius XII sought the burial place for Pope
Pius XI. The workers appointed to excavate the burial
found the area marked with grati dating from the early
Apostolic Age, particularly a Greek inscription that reads
Petros Eni (English: Here is Peter). A small niche was
noted where the original purple and gold pouch containing the remains of a mid-60-year-old male is believed
to be the bones of Saint Peter. Pope Paul VI publicly
1

3 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

3.1

Text

Clementine Chapel Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clementine%20Chapel?oldid=582076226 Contributors: Woohookitty, Mandarax, SchuminWeb, Chris the speller, LadyofShalott, Johnbod, Mild Bill Hiccup, Yobot, AnomieBOT, LittleWink, QvisDevs and Anonymous: 3

3.2

Images

3.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0