Scavi Special

Welcome to Vatican insider on a special weekend – special for me as I’m spending it in Castelgandolfo where, among other things, I intend to be at the Angelus on Sunday with Pope Leo who will be spending his last full day of vacation in the Apostolic Palace. He returns to Rome on Monday, July 27.

For the past several weeks, as you know, in the interview segment of VI, I’ve been offering specials on the history of the Apostolic palace in Castelgandolfo as well as the very celebrated Vatican observatory, although the observatory officially in use now is on mount Graham in Tucson, Arizona.

This weekend, especially for those of you currently visiting Rome or who will be here in coming months, I offer another special I’ve prepared on the scavi, the excavations in the Vatican that bring you to the tomb of Saint Peter which, as it happens, in a magnificent architectural calculation, is directly under the center of the papal altar in Saint Peter’s Basilica which, if one were to drop a plumb line, is directly under the very center of the basilica’s dome!