I knelt last month inside the Mamertine prison, the dungeon in the heart of Rome believed to be the spot where the apostles Peter and Paul were imprisoned before they were executed almost two millennia ago.

Usually, the dark, dank prison dating from the fourth century B.C. is filled with pilgrims snapping photos.

But I was lucky. I was alone.

I had arrived at the prison adjacent to the Roman Forum when it was just reopening for afternoon visitors. Only a young couple from England and I were waiting to enter.

After the couple left, I made my way down spiraling steps to the darkened cell. It reminded me of a larger version of my family's storm cellar in North Texas' tornado belt.

But this was no Texas storm cellar. It has been a place of pilgrimage since the early days of Christianity. I knelt at the small altar , and the spirits of vanished martyrs seemed to wash over me. This may have been where Peter and Paul prayed almost 2,000 years ago.

It was a place of peace, below the noise and frenzy of the streets of Rome.

The Carcero Mamertino really is two cells underneath the Church of St. Joseph of the Carpenters, according to "Rome: The Eternal City," by Loretta Santini.

One cell is the true Mamertine prison where famous historical personages were executed. The second cell -- which I visited -- was called the Tullianum because it was built by the Roman Servius Tilius. Now both cells are known as the Mamertine.

Church tradition says Peter performed a miracle by causing water to gush from a cell wall to quench the thirst of prisoners and also to baptize converts, including two jailers. A small spring is next to the altar.

While imprisoned there, Paul is believed to have written some of his most impassioned letters to the early Christian church.

Unafraid of dying, he sent a message from his prison cell: "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith."

Paul's adventures included shipwrecks, imprisonment and taunts from crowds as he traveled to Athens, Jerusalem, Corinth, Ephesus, Cyprus and many other parts of the Roman world to spread the faith.

Rome is truly a place of pilgrimage, though to many Christians it ranks behind Jerusalem, Bethlehem and other spots in Israel, where Jesus walked in the flesh. But Rome is a Holy Land, too.

And it outdoes Jerusalem in its masterpieces of religious art.

An unforgettable experience for me and about 70 other lucky visitors was a private tour of the Sistine Chapel inside the Vatican. We were amazed by Michelangelo's recently restored paintings on the ceiling and walls of the chapel. And we were stunned into silence when we were ushered into the Cappella Paolina, a room near the Sistine not always seen by visitors.

Dominating the Paulinian Chapel are two of Michelangelo's last frescoes -- the "Conversion of St. Paul" and the "Crucifixion of St. Peter."

Perhaps the most striking of the two works is the artist's depiction of St. Peter being crucified upside down. Even though nails are being driven into his feet, Peter glares defiantly at his executioners.

Michelangelo's painting of Paul's conversion shows him being struck blind by a dazzling light coming from heaven.

Words from Paul are displayed in Latin high on the chapel wall. The words, "Mihi Enim Zivre Christus Est, Et Mori Lucrum" were in a letter to the Philippian church and are another example of Paul's courage.

Perhaps written inside the dark Mamertine jail, Paul's words declare: "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

  By JIM JONES

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