celtgreeklatin The so-called Circus of #Nero or #Circus of #Caligula was a circus in ancient #Rome, located mostly in the present-day #Vatican City. It was first built under Caligula. The circus was also the site of St. Peter's #martyrdom. Old St. Peter's #Basilica was erected by Constantine over the site using some of the existing structure of the Circus of Nero. The basilica was sited so that its apse was centred on Peter's tomb (now beneath the high altar of the current St Peter's Basilica). Most of the ruins of the Circus survived until 1450, when they were finally destroyed (along with the Old St. Peter's Basilica) for the construction of the new St. Peter's Basilica. Source: Wikipedia 📷 José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro (CC BY-SA 4.0) #ancientrome #catholichistory #architecture #antiquity #archaeology