St. Paul's Tomb

via National Geographic.

St. Paul of Tarsis, the principal founder of the Christian religion after the death of Christ, has had his tomb in Vatican City partially uncovered for viewing by religious pilgrims.

"For now we didn't open the sarcophagus to study the contents. Our aim was to unearth the coffin venerated as St. Paul's tomb, not to authenticate the remains," said Giorgio Filippi, the archaeologist of the Vatican Museum, who directed the excavations. "The sarcophagus was buried beneath the main altar, under a marble tombstone bearing the Latin words "Paulo Apostolo Mart.," meaning "Apostle Paul, Martyr."

Paul's tomb was first first honored with a basillica in 320 AD by the Emperor Constantine, expanded by Theodosius in 390 AD, who also entombed the saint's remains in the sarcophagus discovered. The sarcophagus was buried and marked by a marble tombstone after an earthquake in 433 AD. A fire in 1823 burned the ancient basillica down and the modern building was erected in its place with the tomb buried under the Papal altar. Pilgrims visiting in 2000 were disappointed that they could not see the saint's tomb, leading to the decision to excavate. The sarcophagus can be viewed through a hole in the Papal altar about 2 ft wide and 3 ft deep.