Visitors now can see Vatican City necropolis, tombs unearthed in 2003

Published: 2006-10-10

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The partly uncovered skeleton of a small child lies in the ground where it has been buried for some 2,000 years. Next to the right hand is an egg, thought to be a symbol of rebirth. The infant's burial place, touchingly simple, is one of more than 250 tombs discovered beneath Vatican City and now on display to visitors for the first time. The necropolis -- literally a "city of the dead" -- was unearthed in 2003 when the Vatican began digging foundations for a parking lot. The area containing the tombs was carefully excavated, with results that surprised the experts. "We discovered what might be called a small funerary Pompeii," said Giandomenico Spinola, who oversaw the archaeological work for the Vatican Museums. Spinola explained to reporters Oct. 9 that many of the tombs were preserved in a mudslide that occurred on the Vatican hill in ancient times. When the tombs were excavated, they still contained the decorations, ritual furnishings, mosaics and frescoes from 2,000 years ago, he said.

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