This book wants to invite the reader to take a "journey" through time to rediscover a place of great charm, which takes us back to a distant past in time, but close to us due to various customs that we still repeat today after many centuries. In this place which remained inaccessible and inviolate for sixteen centuries under the floor of the Constantinian basilica and under the mighty Renaissance structures, the roots of the Roman Church are also rediscovered. Here we return to the dawn of Christianity in the West: it is on the humble tomb of Peter that the majestic basilica stands, as a treasure chest that guards it and as a house that brings together all believers. An introduction to the history of the ancient Vatican is followed by a visit itinerary in the necropolis up to the tomb of St. Peter. The illustrative apparatus consists of over six hundred images and the entire volume is accompanied by numerous textual insights on iconography, myths and various aspects of daily life in ancient Rome.