For the first time, the Vatican is allowing the public to enter a necropolis. On November 17, it opened a gate along its walls to enter the Via Triumphalis Necropolis, an ancient Roman burial ground that lies beneath Vatican City. It is replete with marble sarcophagi, open burial graves, and Roman mosaics and frescoes.

The tombs date between the 1st century CE and the 4th century CE. They contain the remains of “slaves, freedmen, artisans of the city of Rome,” Leonardo Di Blasi, an expert from the Vatican Museums, told Euro News. Some were even identified as the imperial property of the Emperor Nero.