The body of St. Peter



Church in Rome

in the First Century 

George Edmundson(1849-1930)

"The body of St. Peter then was buried in a small cemetery on the Vatican hill close to the place where he was crucified. Over this tomb Anencletus erected his memoria, and in the immediate vicinity the first twelve bishops of Rome, with the exception of Clement and Alexander, were according to the ‘Liber Pontificalis’ laid to rest—in each case the phrase recurs ‘sepultus est iuxta corpus beati Petri in Vaticanum.’ In time the entire space available was filled up. Zephyrinus was the first to be buried in 217 A.D. on the Appian Way, and his successor Calixtus created the crypt in the great subterranean cemetery called after his name, where he himself and a number of his successors were interred".