The mausoleum lies a few hundred feet away from the burial place of the Apostle Peter, revered by Catholics as the founder of the Catholic Church and first Pope.

 

The reopening was announced during a news conference at the offices of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, which has been in charge of the running and upkeep of St. Peter's Basilica for over 500 years.

 

We've had two important restoration campaigns, an important one between 1998 and 1999 in the western part of the necropolis. That is the area corresponding to St. Peter's tomb, which contains some of the most ancient and beautiful mausoleums restored, as you will see. And then, between 1999 and 2000, another campaign of restoration in the central area of the excavation, and it is in the area of the Valeri Mausoleum, which was restored only during the past year, 2007.

 

The mausoleum consisting of several rooms is noted for the stucco detail work on its walls, a popular art form at the time of its construction in the second century AD. And for the bas-relief sculptures which adorn the tombs. The tomb tells the history of the Valeri family, especially through the bas-relief sculptures of patriarch Caius Valerius Herma's two children, a boy and a girl who died during childhood. Emperor Constantine, a convert to Christianity, had the pagan burial grounds covered up in the fourth century, so the basilica could be built above St. Peter's tomb.