bone fragments st. peter discovered Rome
© Codice/Rai UnoThe bones were found in clay pots in the historic church of Santa Maria in Cappella
Bones attributed to St Peter have been found by chance in a church in Rome during routine restoration work, 2,000 years after the apostle's death.

The relics of the saint, who is regarded as the first Pope, were found in clay pots in the 1,000-year-old Church of Santa Maria in Cappella in the district of Trastevere, a medieval warren of cobbled lanes on the banks of the Tiber River.

The bones were discovered when a worker lifted up a large marble slab near the medieval altar of the church, which has been closed to the public for 35 years because of structural problems.

He came across two Roman-era pots with inscriptions on their lids indicating that inside were not only bone fragments from St Peter but also three early popes - Cornelius, Callixtus and Felix - as well as four early Christian martyrs.

Bones St. Peter discovered Roman church
© Codice/Rai UnoIt had long been hoped the bones would one day be found in the 1,000-year-old church
The workman immediately notified the deacon of the church, Massimiliano Floridi. "There were two clay pots which were inscribed with the names of early popes - Peter, Felix, Callixtus and Cornelius. I'm not an archaeologist but I understood immediately that they were very old," he told Rai Uno, an Italian television channel. "Looking at them, I felt very emotional."

It had been known for centuries that the relics might exist - they are recorded on a stone inscription in the church, which claimed they were kept alongside a fragment of a dress worn by the Blessed Virgin. But until now, the relics had never been found.
Bones St. Peter discovered Rome
© Codice/Rai UnoA stone inscription in the church records the fact that it guards the relics of St Peter and other early popes, as well as martyrs
The remains have been handed to the Vatican for further study. Without proper analysis, it is impossible to say whether they belong to St Peter. "We're waiting for a detailed study to be undertaken," said the deacon. "A DNA comparison between these bones and those kept by the Vatican would shed light on the issue."

A Vatican spokesman said it was too early to comment on the discovery.

It is not yet known how or why the relics came to be interred in the Church of Santa Maria in Cappella, which was consecrated in 1090.

One theory is that they were transferred there from the Vatican by Pope Urban II at a time of schism within the Catholic Church.
Bones St. Peter discovered Rome
© Codice/Rai UnoA stone inscription in the church records the fact that it guards the relics of St Peter and other early popes, as well as martyrs
While Urban was generally recognised as the legitimate pope, he faced a challenge from an anti-pope, Clement III, who had set up a rival power base in Rome, backed by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV. The church in Trastevere was closely linked to Pope Urban and may have been seen by him as a secure place in which to hide the bones.

Conventional wisdom has it that St Peter was crucified, upside down, in Rome in the first century AD.
Bones St. Peter discovered Rome
© Codice / Rai UnoThe name of St Peter is inscribed on the lid of the clay pot
His remains were interred in a tomb on the Vatican Hill, where the Emperor Constantine later built a church, which in the 16th century was replaced by the current imposing basilica.

During excavations under St Peter's Basilica that began after the Second World War, archaeologists discovered a funerary monument with a casket built in honour of Peter and an engraving in Greek that read "Petros eni", or "Peter is here".

St. Peter's Basilica
© GettyThe remains of St Peter are said to be buried beneath St Peter's Basilica
The remains were forensically examined in the 1960s, with experts concluding that they belonged to a man in his early sixties who lived in the first century AD. That was proof enough for Pope Paul VI, in 1968, to declare them the bones of St Peter.

During a Mass in 2013, Pope Francis publicly unveiled the bone fragments, reviving the debate over whether they really belong to the first pope. It was the first time the nine pieces of bone, encased in a box inside a bronze display case, had ever been exhibited in public.

Federico Lombardi, the then Vatican spokesman, said there was a "serious possibility" that the bones were from St Peter, "but we don't go beyond that".