The Vatican Grottoes, the popes' floor beneath St Peter's

Under the floor of St Peter’s there’s a whole level that plenty of visitors skip without realising. It costs nothing, needs no booking and takes about twenty minutes, and it holds the tombs of twentieth-century popes. For me it’s the natural way to finish the basilica, as long as you’re clear about what it is and what it isn’t, because this is where the Grottoes and Peter’s tomb most often get mixed up.

What are the Vatican Grottoes?

They’re the space beneath the floor of the basilica you walk on. The Fabbrica di San Pietro explains that the vaulting went up between 1590 and 1591 for a very practical reason, to carry the floor of the Renaissance basilica. Soon after, in 1592, came the Clementine Crypt, and between 1616 and 1617 Paul V added corridors and chapels.

The twentieth century added its own layer. Chapels dedicated to different countries opened, the Irish in 1954, the Polish in 1958 and 1982, the Lithuanian in 1970, the Patrons of Europe in 1981 and the Mexican in 1992, along with the oratory holding the tomb of Pius XII, from 1958. And in 1979 the central arch was opened, giving a view of the front of the Confessio, which for me is the best thing down here.

Below all of this, 3 to 11 metres under the nave, lies the Roman necropolis with Peter’s tomb. The Grottoes are the middle floor, and it pays not to confuse the two.

Opening hours, price and three rules

They open daily between 09:00 and 18:00 and cost nothing, just like St Peter’s Basilica above them. The official website adds two rules that shape the visit. You can’t request a guided tour and you can’t take photos.

The third rule is about clothing. The Grottoes are visited as part of the basilica, so I’d dress to its standard, which means covered shoulders for everyone and, on top of that, long trousers for men and trousers or a knee-covering skirt for women. There’s more detail in the Vatican dress code.

With no guide and no photos, it’s a short, quiet visit. I’d allow about twenty minutes, enough to walk through calmly without stopping at every slab.

Which tombs you’ll see, and which I can’t confirm

The Fabbrica di San Pietro estimates that around 91 popes rest between the basilica and the Grottoes, but it doesn’t publish a list split by level. With an official source I can confirm two tombs in the Grottoes.

The first is Benedict XVI, buried here on 5 January 2023 in the tomb John Paul II occupied between 2005 and 2011. The second is Pius XII, in his 1958 oratory. I like that he’s here, because he was the one who ordered the excavations that brought the necropolis below to light.

Plenty of guides place other twentieth-century popes in the Grottoes, but I haven’t found an official list to back it up, so I won’t name them as if I knew. And one pope isn’t here at all. Pope Francis was buried on 26 April 2025 in Santa Maria Maggiore, outside the Vatican, the first in over a hundred years to be buried anywhere else. I go through where each recent pope lies in where the popes are buried.

Where you come out, and why I’d leave them till last

The Grottoes have two exits of their own, which the official website places at Largo Braschi to the south and Largo di San Gregorio l’Illuminatore to the north. The official information I’ve read doesn’t pin down the way in, so if you can’t see it signposted, ask the basilica staff.

What is documented is that worshippers have their own access, the Percorso Oranti. Its route begins in Via di Porta Angelica, follows yellow signs and goes in through the Grottoes. Everyone else goes through the same security check as for the basilica, in the colonnade on your right as you face the façade.

With exits of their own, my order is simple. First the nave and, if it’s on your list, the dome of St Peter’s, which closes at 18:00 like the Grottoes while summer hours last. Then the Grottoes as the last step before you’re back on the street. Every closing time of the day is in Vatican opening hours.

Grottoes or necropolis? Two very different visits

This is the mix-up that comes up most. The Grottoes are free, unbooked and open to everyone. The Vatican necropolis costs €20, or €14 for ages 10 to 17, is guided only in groups of 12, doesn’t admit under-10s and needs booking well ahead, because the office assigns your slot.

The real difference is what you see. In the Grottoes, papal tombs and chapels. In the necropolis, a street of Roman tombs buried when Constantine filled in the hillside and, at the end, Peter’s tomb with the red wall and its graffiti. If you can only do one, the Grottoes are the free choice and the necropolis is the one I’d pay for. If you can’t get a place, the central arch in the Grottoes is as close to the apostle as you’ll come.

Fitting them into your day

Opening at 09:00, the Grottoes run two hours behind the basilica, so they’re no use for an early start. I’d put them mid-afternoon after the dome, or at the end of St Peter’s if you’re coming from the museums. If you’re building a day that costs nothing, with the basilica, the square and the Angelus, there are more ideas in the Vatican for free or on the cheap.

If it’s catacombs you’re after, I tell you where they are in Vatican catacombs.