The Valeri Mausoleum, the largest and most luxurious of 22 pagan tombs buried under St. Peter's Basilica[1] in Vatican City, was reopened on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
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.
Notes:
[1] The Basilica of Saint Peter (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri), officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City in Rome. It occupies a "unique position" as one of the holiest sites and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom". In Catholic tradition, it is the burial site of its namesake Saint Peter, who was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and, according to tradition, was the first Bishop of Antioch, and later first Bishop of Rome and therefore first in the line of the papal succession. While St. Peter's is the most famous of Rome's many churches, it is not the first in rank, an honour held by the Pope's cathedral church, the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
Vocabulary Mix:
apostle: any of the twelve men sent out by Christ to spread his teaching
necropolis: cemetery, esp a large ancient one
stucco: plaster or cement used for covering or decorating walls or ceilings
bas-relief: form of sculpture or carving in which a figure or design projects only slightly from its background
patriarch: male head of a family |