This is a list of non-extant papal tombs, which includes tombs not included on the

list of extant papal tombs A pope is the Bishop of Rome and the leader of the Catholic Church. Approximately 100 papal tombs are at least partially Existence, extant, representing less than half of the 264 deceased popes, from Saint Peter to John Paul II, Saint John Paul ...

. Information about these tombs is generally incomplete and uncertain. Chronologically, the main locations of destroyed or unknown papal tombs have been: the obscure tombs of the first two centuries of popes near Saint Peter, the repeated waves of

translations Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

from the

Catacombs of Rome The Catacombs of Rome ( it, Catacombe di Roma) are ancient catacombs, underground burial places in and around Rome, of which there are at least forty, some rediscovered only in recent decades. Though most famous for Christian burials, either ...

, the demolition of the papal tombs in Old St. Peter's Basilica, and the 1306 and 1361 fires in the

Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...

. Papal tombs have also been destroyed by other instances of fire, remodeling, and war (most recently,

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

). Others are unknown due to creative or geographically remote methods of

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

dom, or—in the case of Pope Clement I—both. Burial in churches outside the Aurelian Walls of Rome (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''fuori le Mura'')—in the basilicas of

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

or Lorenzo—have not generally survived.

Main locations

The main locations of destroyed or lost papal tombs include: * Saint Peter's tomb, around which the following popes were traditionally believed to have been buried:

Linus Linus, a male given name, is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Linos''. It's a common given name in Sweden. The origin of the name is unknown although the name appears in antiquity both as a musician who taught Apollo and as a son of Apollo who di ...

, Anacletus, Evaristus.

Telesphorus Telesphorus can refer to: * Telesphorus (general), 4th century BC general in ancient Greece * Pope Telesphorus (died c. 137), Catholic pope and Catholic and Orthodox saint * Telesphorus of Cosenza, a name assumed by a 14th century pseudo-prophet d ...

Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammati ...

Pius I Pope Pius I was the bishop of Rome from 140 to his death 154, according to the ''Annuario Pontificio''. His dates are listed as 142 or 146 to 157 or 161, respectively. He is considered to have opposed both the Valentinians and Gnostics during h ...

, Anicetus (later transferred to the

Catacomb of Callixtus The Catacomb(s) of Callixtus (also known as the Cemetery of Callixtus) is one of the Catacombs of Rome on the Appian Way, most notable for containing the Crypt of the Popes ( Italian: ''Cappella dei Papi''), which once contained the tombs of sev ...

), Victor I. Epigraphic evidence exists only for Linus, with the discovery of a burial slab marked "Linus" in 1615; however, the slab is broken such that it could have once read "Aquilinius" or "Anullinus". * The

, specifically the

, the Catacomb of Priscilla (and

San Silvestro in Capite The Basilica of Saint Sylvester the First, also known as ( it, San Silvestro in Capite, la, Sancti Silvestri in Capite), is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and titular church in Rome dedicated to Pope Sylvester I (d. AD 335). It is located on t ...

, built over the catacomb), the Catacomb of Balbina, the

Catacomb of Calepodius The Catacomb of Calepodius (also called the Cemetery of Calepodius) is one of the Catacombs of Rome, notable for containing the tombs of Pope Callixtus I (ironically, the creator of the Catacomb of Callixtus, which once contained the tombs of a do ...

, the Catacomb of Pontian, and the

Catacomb of Felicitas Felicitas of Rome (c. 101 – 165), also anglicized as is a saint numbered among the Christian martyrs. Apart from her name, the only thing known for certain about this martyr is that she was buried in the Cemetery of Maximus, on the Via Sala ...

, which were emptied by repeated translations by the ninth century * Papal tombs in Old St. Peter's Basilica, which once numbered over 100 papal tombs, nearly all of which were destroyed during the sixteenth/seventeenth century demolition *

, where over a dozen tombs were destroyed in two fires (1308 and 1361)Reardon, 2004, pp. 70–109.

Other destroyed or unknown tombs

1st century

2nd century

5th century

6th century

7th century

9th century

10th century

11th century

12th century

13th century

Notes

References

* Reardon, Wendy J. 2004. ''The Deaths of the Popes''. Macfarland & Company, Inc. {{Popes * Tombs, non-extant Papal Papal, non-extant