Known as the Vatican Necropolis, this burial complex dates back to the earliest church on site from the first-century era of Emperor Constantine. In the 1940s, Pope Pius XI, who wanted to be buried as close to St. Peter's remains as he could, commissioned an archaeological investigation of the necropolis. According to Aleteia, tradition held that Peter was martyred around 64 A.D. and then interred in a pagan burial ground. The fourth-century Constantine, who was decidedly more accepting of Christianity, had a church built on the spot, with the altar of the basilica supposedly sitting right above Peter's burial itself.

The investigation produced quite a few results, showing that many people had the same idea as Pius XI and had themselves buried nearby. A small box of bones, reportedly found with high-class purple cloth in a small niche, was uncovered during that first excavation. Yet Life reports that, in 1950, Pius XII said that we couldn't be sure they were Peter's and not the bones of one of the many buried in the necropolis. But his successor, Paul VI, turned around and said that the remains were probably the apostle's.

But, if we can step away from the Peter controversy for a moment, the excavations have uncovered a rich history of both pagan and Christian burials in the Vatican Necropolis, some dating back more than a millennium. Some even boast impressive artworks, like intricate tile mosaics and elaborate carvings.

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