Ruins of Peter’s home in Capernaum on Lake Galilee in Israel

     He was born in 3 AD in the fishing village of Bethsaida (“beth-say’-duh”) on the north end of Lake Galilee in Israel’s northern province of Galilee.

     In the Hebrew language, the word Bethsaida means “house of Fishing,” and Peter and his younger brother, Andrew, were commercial fishermen.  They had a partnership and a fleet of boats with another pair of brothers from Bethsaida named James and John – and the four of them, together with another professional fisherman from Bethsaida named Philip, were recruited by Jesus as the first five of the original twelve disciples in His ministry.

     (It’s interesting that, since Jesus’s first five disciples were all fishermen, Christianity’s earliest known symbols were the “anchor,” the “fish,” and the “fishing boat.”  See the Symbols photo gallery for more about original Christian symbols.)

     Peter was a big, loud, and impetuous man.  He wore a sword at times, and had the most flamboyant personality of the twelve original disciples.  Although he could read and write (the New Testament contains two of his letters), he didn’t have an extensive formal education.  He was married, and probably had several children.  Later in life, his wife traveled with him on his journeys to teach and encourage other Christians worldwide.

     Peter’s parents died young, so he and his younger brother, Andrew, left Bethsaida and moved six miles southwest on Lake Galilee to the busy town of Capernaum (“cuh-purr’-knee-umm”).  And it was there that Peter was introduced to Jesus.  It was there that Jesus said to Peter, Andrew, and the others, “Follow Me, and I’ll make you fishers of men and women.”

     Later, Jesus moved into Peter’s home in Capernaum as a house guest (see the photos of the ruins of Peter’s house above and below in this article), and Jesus lived there, doing miracles, until He and His band of disciples relocated to Jerusalem, where he was crucified and where Christianity was founded.

     After the disciples moved to Jerusalem, Peter was with Jesus at Gethsemane (“geth-sim’-uh-knee”) on the Mt. of Olives the night Jesus was arrested.  And later in Jerusalem, it was Peter who stood up on the morning of the Festival of Pentecost (“pin’-tea-cost”) – the birthday of Christianity – and explained to the crowd that the Holy Spirit had founded a new Spiritual movement that morning that was going to change the world.

     In summary, after Jesus was arrested, tortured, crucified, buried, resurrected, and had returned to heaven, the apostle Peter stayed on in Jerusalem as one of its elders, and he lived there for the next 25 years.  Then, at about the age of 55, Peter and his wife began traveling to teach and encourage Christians in other cities.  They worked in Antioch, Turkey, and in Corinth, Greece.  And then, in about 62 AD, they traveled to Rome to encourage the apostle Paul.  Paul was living in Rome under house arrest at the time, and was teaching the large Christian community in Rome.  So Peter stayed in Rome to help teach and encourage the Christians there.

     And then tragedy struck.  On July 18, 64 AD the Great Fire of Rome broke out, and it burned for six days and six nights.  The fire was accidental.  But it destroyed half the city and left 200,000 citizens homeless, hungry, and angry.  The emperor at that time was the infamous Nero (“near’-row”), and his political enemies blamed him for the fire and began arousing the frustrated people against him.

     To save himself, Nero spread the counter-lie that it had been the Christians of Rome who had started the fire.  (Why they would do that, no one ever said.)  And this triggered the first great persecution of Christians in history.  The persecution started in October, 64 AD and it lasted until June, 68 AD.  During these four years of terror, thousands of innocent Christians were arrested and executed in the most horrible ways imaginable.

     Like many of the city’s Christians, Peter at first tried to flee the chaos.  He started walking south on the Appian Way, Rome’s famous highway, hoping to reach a southern seaport and catch a ship for Israel.  But God had other plans for him.  And near one of the mileposts on the Appian Way, Peter saw a vision of Jesus.

     In this vision, Jesus seemed to be saying to Peter that he must return to the city and face his destiny.  So Peter turned around and returned to Rome.  Soon he was arrested, put in chains, and thrown in a death cell.

     Then on October 13, 64 AD, Peter was crucified upside down near the tall Egyptian obelisk (“ob’-uh-lisk”) in the center of a racetrack called “Nero’s Circus” on the west side of the Tiber River.  After Peter was dead, soldiers cut him down with an ax (leaving his feet on the cross) and buried him in an unmarked grave in a nearby cemetery on Vatican Hill.

     Peter’s grave soon became a pilgrimage site for Christians, and to identify and protect it, stones and ornaments were added to it over the years.  However, Peter’s name was never put on the grave, and its location remained a secret to everyone except a few local Christians.

     Then in the Fourth Century, the Roman emperor Constantine built a basilica (“buh-sill’-uh-cuh”) over Peter’s grave to protect it.  This basilica was rebuilt and expanded several times over the centuries, until today it’s known as St. Peter’s Basilica in St. Peter’s Square in Rome.  The basilica stands near where Peter was crucified, and the giant Egyptian obelisk near which Peter died stands in the middle of St. Peter’s Square today.

     Peter’s bones are still in his original grave, 30 feet beneath the floor of the basilica, and the existence of his grave is unknown to most people today.  Peter’s skeleton has been scientifically identified, and it has no feet.  Peter’s grave can be visited today by special appointment from the local authorities.

      Following is a photo gallery of some of the places where Peter walked, taught, and worked.  They include pictures of some of the physical objects mentioned in the record of his life.  Click the photos to enlarge them and to see the captions.