Vatican Grottoes: What They Are and Which Popes Lie There

The Vatican Grottoes are the underground level beneath the central nave of St Peter’s Basilica, about 3 meters below today’s floor, where many popes are buried. They correspond to the ground floor of Constantine’s old basilica. They run from the high altar to roughly halfway down the nave. The basilica’s official website lists them among the places open to visitors, along with the dome, the Treasury Museum and the necropolis.

What are the Vatican Grottoes?

Although they are called “grottoes”, they are not caves. When the current basilica was built, between 1506 and 1626, its floor ended up higher than that of Constantine’s church. The gap between the two levels is what we now call the Vatican Grottoes.

That is why they do not run the full length of the current basilica. Constantine’s was smaller, and the Grottoes only cover the part that coincided with it. Besides the tombs, they are full of works of art from the old basilica.

The old grottoes and the new grottoes

The Grottoes are divided into two areas:

• Old grottoes. They have the shape of a church with three naves, with niches, corridors and chapels holding the tombs of popes.
• New grottoes. They form the semicircular apse, with chapels and funerary monuments. They lie directly under the papal altar and Michelangelo’s dome, and therefore under Bernini’s baldachin.

Further down still, in the necropolis, is the tomb of the apostle Peter. You cannot go down to it from the Grottoes; for that you need the Vatican Necropolis visit.

Which tombs are in the Vatican Grottoes?

Being buried near Peter’s tomb was the wish of many popes, kings and queens. These are the tombs Wikipedia mentions:

Who	What they were	Note
Gregory V	Pope	German pope, among the oldest burials
Otto II	Emperor	One of the oldest burials
Adrian IV	Pope	The only English pope in history
Boniface VIII	Pope	Proclaimed the first Holy Year, in 1300; his tomb has a sculpture by Arnolfo di Cambio
Pius VI	Pope	His body lies in an early Christian sarcophagus
Christina of Sweden	Queen	Buried in the Grottoes
James III and his sons	King	Among the kings buried there
Benedict XV	Pope	20th century
Pius XI	Pope	Asked to be buried “as close as possible to Peter”
Pius XII	Pope	Ordered the 1940 excavations
Paul VI	Pope	20th century
John Paul I	Pope	His pontificate lasted 33 days, in 1978
Benedict XVI	Pope	Died in 2022

People who were not popes also rest there, such as Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val, a close aide of Pius X, and Cardinal Josef Beran.

Who is not there. Not every recent pope chose the Grottoes. Pius IX is in San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, Leo XIII in St John Lateran and Francis in St Mary Major. John XXIII and John Paul II were in the Grottoes, but after their beatifications (in 2000 and 2011) their bodies were moved up into the basilica for veneration.

Grottoes, necropolis and the tomb of St Peter

The three levels are stacked one on top of the other:

1. The current basilica, with the papal altar and the baldachin.
2. The Grottoes, about 3 meters lower, with the papal tombs.
3. The necropolis, 5 to 12 meters below the basilica, with the Roman mausoleums and Peter’s tomb.

The excavations searching for Peter’s tomb began in 1940 under the Grottoes and were carried out in secret for ten years, even in the middle of World War II. Pius XII announced the discovery of the tomb on the radio in the Holy Year of 1950.

How do you get into the Vatican Grottoes?

The Grottoes are under the basilica, so your visit starts the same way as a visit to St Peter’s Basilica:

• Security check. You enter through the Italian police checks in the right-hand colonnade of St Peter’s Square.
• Basilica hours. From 26 October 2026 to 28 March 2027 it is open every day from 7:00 to 19:00. On Wednesday mornings it usually closes for the Pope’s general audience, and it can close without notice for ceremonies.
• Price. Entry to the basilica is free. The official website does not publish a separate price for the Grottoes on the pages we checked.
• Clothing. Long pants or pants below the knee, skirts below the knee and shoulders covered, for everyone. No caps. We sum it up in Vatican dress code.
• Bags. The basilica has no cloakroom: bring only a small backpack.
• Behavior. These are tombs in a place of worship. Eating, phone calls and smoking are not allowed, and the basilica asks you not to take photos.

Visiting with a guide

Without a guide it is easy to walk past important tombs. If you want to know who lies in each chapel, the guided tour of St Peter’s Basilica with the dome and grottoes includes a full walk past the papal tombs. It costs from $33 (partner price converted from euros at 1 EUR = 1.115 USD, ECB, 27 Oct 2026), lasts 1.5 to 2.5 hours, has guides in eleven languages, Spanish among them, and is rated 4.8 out of 5 in 6,363 reviews of this tour on GetYourGuide. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

In the 10 most recent reviews of this tour, all 10 talk about the guide, almost always by name. Only one reports a problem: a schedule change forced them to take the tour in English. If your time is tight, confirm the time when you book.