page_title: Saint Peter
section_title: Burial
hierarchical_section_title: Saint Peter / Connection to Rome / Death and burial / Burial
caption_attribution_description: English: St. Peter's Basilica, believed to be the burial site of St. Peter, seen from the River Tiber. The iconic dome dominates the skyline of Rome. St. Peter's Basilica from the River Tiber. The iconic dome dominates the skyline of Rome. Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. Christianity became the dominant religion of Western Civilization when the Roman Empire converted to Christianity. St. Peter's Basilica, believed to be the burial site of St. Peter, seen from the River Tiber. Saint Peter's Basilica. Magyar: Vatikánváros látképe. Italiano: Veduta del Vaticano dal Tevere. 한국어: 테베레 강 방향의 성 베드로 대성전. 로마의 지평선을 압도하는 전통적인 돔 양식이다. Kiswahili: Vatikani ikitazamwa kutoka mto Tiber. 中文: 从台伯河遥望梵蒂冈.
context_page_description: Saint Peter also known as Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, Cephas, or Peter the Apostle, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, and one of the first leaders of the early Church.
  According to Christian tradition, Peter was crucified in Rome under Emperor Nero. He is traditionally counted as the first bishop of Rome‍—‌or pope‍—‌and also by Eastern Christian tradition as the first patriarch of Antioch. The ancient Christian churches all venerate Peter as a major saint and as the founder of the Church of Antioch and the Diocese of Rome, but differ in their attitudes regarding the authority of his successors. According to Catholic teaching, in Matthew 16 Jesus promised Peter a special position in the Church.
  In the Acts of the Apostles, New Testament authorship is foreseen from Peter the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews and John the writer of the book of Revelation: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus".
  The Gospel of Mark was traditionally thought to show the influence of Peter's preaching and eyewitness memories.
context_section_description: Catholic tradition holds that Peter's inverted crucifixion occurred in the gardens of Nero, with the burial in Saint Peter's tomb nearby.
  Caius in his Disputation Against Proclus (A.D. 198), preserved in part by Eusebius, relates this of the places in which the remains of the apostles Peter and Paul were deposited: "I can point out the trophies of the apostles. For if you are willing to go to the Vatican or to the Ostian Way, you will find the trophies of those who founded this Church."
  According to Jerome, in his work De Viris Illustribus (A.D. 392), "Peter was buried at Rome in the Vatican near the triumphal way where he is venerated by the whole world."
  In the early 4th century, the Emperor Constantine I decided to honour Peter with a large basilica. Because the precise location of Peter's burial was so firmly fixed in the belief of the Christians of Rome, the church to house the basilica had to be erected on a site that was not convenient to construction. The slope of the Vatican Hill had to be excavated, even though the church could much more easily have been built on level ground only slightly to the south. There were also moral and legal issues, such as demolishing a cemetery to make room for the building. The focal point of the Basilica, both in its original form and in its later complete reconstruction, is the altar located over what is said to be the point of Peter's burial.
caption: St. Peter's Basilica, believed to be the burial site of St. Peter, seen from the River Tiber
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