Mamertine Prison

Located below the 16th century church of San Giuseppe dei Falegnami is a dark dungeon called Mamertine Prison (which was originally called Tullianum), which according to Christian legend, was the place wherein St Peter and St Paul were imprisoned. The legend goes on to say that they caused a spring to bubble up into the cell and that they used that water to baptize two prison guards. The prison was in an old cistern and had access to the main city sewer (the Cloaca Maxima). The lower cell was used for execution and corpses of the people who were executed were thrown into the sewer. Inmates received no food and often died of starvation. There is no certainty as to when the prison went out of service, but there is evidence that the site had been used for Christian worship since Medieval times.