Sometimes you go somewhere and you find something completely unexpected, as is the case with the Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City.

One of the most fabulous countries in the world, full of history and culture, Mexico has such a rich history, that it even includes a Habsburg Prince and a Mexican Indian revolutionary in the 19^th century.

Today the Chapultepec Castle can be visited and is the site of the National Museum of History.

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Have you seen people at the airports or taking a bus, dragging around several huge pieces of luggage, all stressed out, yelling and annoyed?

I find that a lot of people are a bit lost when it comes to choosing their luggage. I’ve seen that in my family, actually. Have you?

When you’re on vacation for a short period of time, say up to a month, you can manage with very little stuff and focus more on the experience.

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So here’s my final post of this three-part series about the Vatican Necropolis under Saint Peter’s Basilica and the Tomb of Saint Peter.

In the first article we covered some generalities and the historical background for Saint Peter’s Basilica.

In the second article we went one by one through the mausoleums in the Vatican Necropolis tour, explaining each major highlight.

Today we finally reach St Peter’s Tomb!

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In my first article in this series I covered the generalities and historic background of the Vatican Necropolis. Go back and read it if you haven’t!

In this second post I’ll cover the mausoleums in the underground tour under Saint Peter’s Basilica, one by one with the its highlights.

I hope this compendium will bring us closer to the people who built these tombs, the care they poured into these family spaces commissioning the decoration and the architecture, the dedication and the sentiment in making these the best place possible for their dead.

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I am not proud to say that I used to assume that Saint Peter’s Basilica was just the biggest church in Christendom, the pilgrimage and gathering place of all Catholics in the world.

What I didn’t know is that not only it is actually one of the most incredible examples of Late Renaissance and Baroque art anywhere, but it is also a place that holds an unexpected secret…

Underneath it you can find The Vatican Necropolis, a first century necropolis (city of the dead), basically a roman cemetery where the actual Tomb of Saint Peter is believed to remain, still today.

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