St. Peter's bones
Subtitle: how the relics of the first pope were lost and found-- and then lost and found again
By: Thomas J. Craughwell
Edition: Frist edition.
Publisher: Image; Image Books
Published: 2013
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 126
ISBN-13: 9780307985095; 9780307985101
Subjects: Christian antiquities; Antiquities; Relics; Tomb; Excavations (Archaeology); Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano
Other titles: Saint Peter's bones
Description: "In 1448 a team of architects and engineers brought Pope Nicholas V unhappy news: the 1100-year-old Basilica of St. Peter suffered from so many structural defects that it was beyond repair. The only solution was to pull down the old church--one of the most venerable churches in Christendom--and erect a new basilica on the site. Incredibly, one of the tombs the builders paved over was the resting place of St. Peter. Then in 1939, while working underground in the Vatican, one workman's shovel struck not dirt or rock but open air. The diggers shone a flashlight through the opening and saw a portion of an ancient Christian mausoleum. An archaeologist was summoned at once, and after inspecting what could be seen through the hole the diggers had made in the mausoleum's roof, he authorized a full-scale excavation. What lay beneath? The answer and the adventure await"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 123-126).
Table of contents: title: A note on the cult of relics; title: An elderly but powerful man; title: Searching for the name Peter; title: The catacombs; title: Papal prudence; title: Monsignor Kaas's : box of bones; title: Painful facts; title: Archeology isn't algebra; title: Epilogue; title: Appendix A : List of symbols; title: Appendix B : What about St. Paul's bones?