Tour of the Scavi of St. Peter's Basilica (The Vatican)

It was another rainy and cloudy day in Rome today, but it really didn't matter because we had another, and very different, tour of St. Peter's Basilica.  We were taken to the scavi, the underground excavations of the basilica, and to the actual site of the tomb of St. Peter where his bones are entombed.  The tomb is beneath the basilica and is part of the larger necropolis on which St. Peter's was constructed.  A necropolis is basically a cemetery.  The Roman necropolis under St. Peter's is filled with early Roman tombs.  The only part which has been excavated is the area of St. Peter's tomb which is directly beneath the main altar of the basilica.  No photos are allowed to be taken in the scavi, so the photos which are attached were taken from the side of the basilica which leads to a door of the basilica where the tour begins.