Secluded beneath the grandeur and splendor of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City is a sanctuary far less visited, though perhaps even more moving, poignant and heartwarming. The Vatican Grottoes — known to some as la Iglesia bajo de una Iglesia — is the final resting place of 91 popes who shaped the history of the Church.

While the above basilica dazzles devoted pilgrims and visitors, tourists and the forever curious with stateliness, what makes the place even made more dramatic with sunrays streaming through the iconic dome and massive windows. Meanwhile, the grottoes below welcome the devotees who whisper of a more intimate narrative of faith and mortality.

We passed by one of the most sacred sites in Christendom: St. Peter’s Baldachin. A large Baroque canopy, it is intended to mark the place of Saint Peter’s tomb, which lies directly underneath, in a place known as the Vatican Necropolis. Generations of the faithful have paid their respects here, pausing in reverence at the very spot, which anchors the very beginnings of the Catholic Church.

We only soon found out that directly beneath the marble floor of the papal basilica is a vast network of vaults, constructed between 1590 and 1591.

We bore witness to low, stone chambers stretched in solemn silence, as they formed a long corridor lined with tombs on either side. Some are marked by elaborate sculptures, others with mini altars, while the rest were simple slabs engraved with a little more than just a name and milestone date.