Taking center stage in this particular tour of course is the vast crypt that stretches out under the very floor of St. Peter’s Basilica, where around 100 popes are interred, including the most recently deceased, St John Paul II. Visitors often find this sacrosanct place curiously peaceful and conducive to contemplation, despite the thousands of voices granulating the air daily up above in the Basilica and Museums.

The current basilica was constructed between 1506 and 1626 (designed in part by the great Michelangelo), but during the rudimentary demolition of the old basilica, which had stood since the Roman Empire embraced Christianity in the fourth century, around 150 tombs are said to have been destroyed.