Google Maps, Lasers Reveal Vatican Catacombs 84
Nerval's Lobster writes "The Vatican, while notoriously secretive about things buried in its vaults and archives, is being as public as the digital age allows it to be about the nearly completed restoration of catacombs early Christians used as secret churches as well as burial sites. Contractors, archaeologists and art experts spent the past five years restoring the Priscilla catacombs under the Vatican using lasers, among other techniques, to restore frescoes painted on the walls of the burial chambers. The Vatican unveiled the work Nov. 19 with a press conference in the Basilica of San Silvestro outside the burial tunnels, accompanied by a virtual tour of the Priscilla catacombs provided by Google Maps. The basilica is divided into an area for religious services and another that acts as a deposit for sculptures and artifacts dug up during excavations of the catacombs and other areas underneath the Vatican."
Re:About time... (Score:5, Informative)
Tom Hanks needs the cash, Da Vinci Code Part 2, coming up!
I guess you missed Angels and Demons [imdb.com] when it came out three years later?
Although, it should be noted that they changed the order of the plots for the film adaptations. The Da Vinci Code is originally the second book in the series after Angels and Demons.
Re:well .... (Score:5, Informative)
You should considered actually going to the Vatican then. Because as somebody who has been there, other than the cost of going to Rome, the entry price to the Vatican was $0. They don't charge to go there unless you want to pay 5 euros to take the elevator to the top of st. peters. You're not required to buy anything from their shops. But at no point on visiting, are you required to pay them anything to look around st. peters, look at the tombs of the popes, look at all the art, etc, etc, etc. So you'd hardly be lining their pockets.
The original need for secrecy... (Score:5, Informative)
Not under the vatican (Score:2, Informative)
The Priscllla Catacombs are off Via Salaria, near the big park that has Villa Ada in it. A good half hour walk, at least, from the Vatican. All of the catacombs are "outside the wall" in any case.
Perhaps they mean "under the control and supervision of the Vatican"?