Dive into the shadowy depths of the Vatican in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, where ten elusive Ancient Relics await discovery beneath the Apostolic Library and throughout the Lower Necropolis. Unlocking these mysterious artifacts is key to unraveling the secrets of an ancient civilization and progressing through the gripping “Riddles of the Ancients” questline. Prepare for a thrilling hunt across hidden passages, secret chambers, and treacherous puzzles as you collect each relic to ultimately open the game’s Secret Vault.
You’ll pass by most of the Ancient Relics as part of the main story in the Vatican and almost all of them are underground. You won’t be able to reach all of them right away. You’ll have to progress the main story – “The Stolen Cat Mummy” – a bit to collect them all.
Our Indiana Jones and the Great Circle guide will show you where to find all Ancient Relics in the Vatican.
Ancient Relic 1 location
The first Ancient Relic in Vatican City is located early in the game, beneath the Apostolic Library. After meeting Father Antonio, use the Giant’s Pendant to open a hidden passage in the library’s Conservation Workshop. Progress through the short underground area, dive underwater to bypass a locked gate, and you will find the Ancient Relic resting on a table nearby. Collecting this relic initiates the Riddles of the Ancients quest in the Vatican.
You can find this Ancient Relic shortly after you begin your exploration of the Vatican. Use the Giant’s Pendant to open the secret passage in the Library’s Conservation Workshop. Downstairs, you and Father Antonio will discover a room with notes about the Strange Inscriptions.
On your way out, check the table closest to the (previously locked) door to find the first Ancient Relic.
Ancient Relic 2 location
In Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the second Ancient Relic in the Vatican is found beyond the Sacred Wounds area. To reach it, you must solve a series of puzzles to access a long-hidden ruin beneath the Tower of Nicholas V, which is part of the main quest “The Stolen Cat Mummy.” After solving the puzzle, proceed along the path into the Necropolis, use Indy’s whip to descend into a chasm, and walk forward a short distance to find the second Ancient Relic lying on the ground.
After solving the Sacred Wounds puzzle in the Underworld, you’ll explore the Warrior Giant’s Tomb – and then the fascists (literally) crash the party. You’ll find the next Ancient Relic early in your escape.
Follow the only path you have until you come to a whip point you have to descend from. Dropping all the way will make you fall into water – we’ll do this in a second. Instead, hold the left trigger and slide down along your whip as far as you can.
Ahead of you, there’s a small tunnel in the wall. Swing back and forth to build up some momentum and jump into that tunnel. You’ll find the Ancient Relic on the ground just a little way in.
Ancient Relic 3 location
In Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Ancient Relic 3 in the Vatican is located within the underground areas you explore during the main storyline. Specifically, it can be found while navigating through the Warrior Giant’s Tomb section, which is part of the Vatican’s subterranean network. Access to this relic, like others in the Vatican, becomes available as you progress through the chapter titled “The Stolen Cat Mummy.” Players will need to explore carefully and may need to return later if they miss it initially, as none of the relics are permanently missable.
Turn around from Ancient Relic 2 and drop into the water below you. You’ll have to do a lot of swimming for this part. Once you climb out, you’ll start running into Blackshirts again – that’s where you’ll find Ancient Relic 3.
Right when you start hearing them, you’ll enter a room with a fallen pillar. Look on the right side for a gap to pass through. Take out both of the fascists patrolling there – you need their (lit) torches for this.
On the right side of where you took out the fascists, there’s another gap in the wall. This one is raining down water, though, and will extinguish your torch. Instead, follow the wall to the left.
Go through the door at the end or the room, and then take the next two rights. You’ll come to a wall with a hole in it. Hold the left trigger and then hit the right trigger to throw your (lit) torch through the hole.
Backtrack to the first gap in the wall and pass through – your torch will be waiting for you. Use it to burn down the wooden barrier at the back of the room.
You’ll find the next Ancient Relic on the altar(?) ahead of you.
Ancient Relic 4 location
In Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the Ancient Relic 4 in the Ancient Caves area is located underneath a broken bridge in the center of a large room. To reach it, players need to platform down below the bridge. This relic is part of a puzzle that requires multiple Ancient Relics to open a door; twisting the relic right raises circles in all cardinal directions, while twisting left raises circles one space away in every direction. Collecting and using a total of four relics, including this one, is necessary to complete the puzzle and progress further in the game.
A bit later during your escape from underground, you’ll be on the second floor of a large room and find a chandelier you can swing across on. Whip your way across and take out the Blackshirts waiting on the other side. Take a right to head to the southwest corner.
You’ll have to take out a beefy fascist in the next room. Check the floor for an antique bust you can pick up.
Carry it to the pedestal on the lower level behind where the fascist was. Interact with the pedestal to place the antique bust on it. That will open a gate to the left with the next Ancient Relic behind it.
Ancient Relic 5 location
In Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Ancient Relic 5 in the Vatican is located in the Lower Necropolis area. After obtaining the previous relic, move an Antique Bust back onto its original pedestal to open a new door. Proceed through this door, pass beneath a collapsed column, and look up to find a whip hook spot on the rafters. Climb up the rafters using the whip hooks, then jump into the next room. Inside this small open chamber with a skeleton, you will find Ancient Relic 5.
Once you have Ancient Relic 4, grab the Antique Bust, and carry it over to the left. You’ll find another pedestal that opens a way out.
Head through and follow the path until you reach a dead end that you have to whip-climb out of. Whip up to the first level. Instead of going through the passage there (which is, technically, a way out), turn around and whip up to the second point above you.
Climb up and head to the right. You’ll pass a photographable statue of Nike.
From there, head to the right to find a burial chamber. Step inside to find the next Ancient Relic.
Ancient Relic 6 location
Ancient Relic 6 in the Vatican City area of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle can be found below the Apostolic Palace near the excavation site. To reach it, players need to navigate through the underground sections accessed during the main storyline. This relic is part of the “Riddles of the Ancients” quest, which involves collecting all ten Vatican relics scattered mostly underground. The sixth relic is located in a passage you access by dropping down one level from the whip points you climbed earlier, then crawling through a low gap to find it in a hallway beyond.
Backtrack to the whip points you climbed up. Drop down one level and head through the passage you were supposed to the first time.
Go through the dogleg to the right and you’ll crawl through a low gap. The next Ancient Relic is in the hallway on the other side.
You’ll pass an empty pedestal on the left. Continue past it, and take the first left you can. Around the corner, you’ll find an antique bust on a pedestal.
To the right, you’ll find another antique bust on the floor. Grab that one and carry it back to the first (empty) pedestal. That will open a gate to the left.
Head through. Grab a heavy candlestick and smash down the fragile wall on your right. Pass through and grab the the antique bust off the pedestal that we saw earlier.
Carry it back to the new pedestal and place it. This will open another gate with the next Ancient Relic behind it.
Ancient Relic 7 location
Ancient Relic 7 in the Vatican is located in a corridor featuring metal gates and marble busts. To access it, you need to place one marble statue on a pedestal in a small room and another on a pedestal in the corridor, which will unlock a weakened wall. Behind this wall, you can use a two-handed melee weapon to break through and retrieve the relic. This location is part of the “Riddles of the Ancients” quest and is encountered as you progress through the Vatican area in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
Once you find the first four Strange Inscriptions for Father Antonio, you’ll pick up “The Secret of Giants” fieldwork. As you travel around the Vatican, snap photos of the remaining six inscriptions to complete it.
Once you do, return to Father Antonio’s office in the library and place the photos on his bulletin board. He’ll drop the next Ancient Relic on his desk for you.
Ancient Relic 8 location
Ancient Relic 8 in the Vatican City area of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is found behind a puzzle involving a wall with several holes that can be manipulated using other Ancient Relics. Located in a small chamber behind a waterfall at the northwest corner of the Vatican region, you need to insert and turn the relics in specific ways to pop out all the holes on the wall. Successfully solving this puzzle opens a stone door to reveal Ancient Relic 8.
After you solve the Fountain of Confession puzzle, you’ll head back to the Underworld and undertake the Trials of Augur.
After falling through a trapdoor, you’ll climb back up to meet Gina. Your first task is to jump across some pillars past some swinging blades.
You’ll come to a wide landing after the first pair of blades. Over on the left side, drop down to the (oily) water below you. The next Ancient Relic will be on a broken pillar right ahead of you.
You can climb back up the way you came down.
Ancient Relic 9 location
Ancient Relic 9 in the Vatican City area of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is located during the Gold Path Trial puzzle. When you enter this puzzle, look for a hole on the right wall and crouch through it. Inside, place the bust found nearby on a pedestal, which will open a gate revealing the Ancient Relic on the other side of the wall.
As you explore the Gold Dragon Path – the chamber with the four hanging pillars – you’ll pass by the next Ancient Relic.
Just before you reach the room with the pillars (you’ll be back through here on your way out), watch along your left for a small hole in the wall.
Duck through and grab the antique bust on your right. Place it on the pedestal on the left and you’ll hear a clunk.
Back in the main room, stick to the left wall to find the door you just opened. You’ll find the Ancient Relic on a shelf along the right wall.
Ancient Relic 10 location
In Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the 10th Ancient Relic in Vatican City is found after defeating the Giant boss and watching the cutscene where Voss obtains the Cat Mummy. To reach this relic, players must use the Giant’s Pendant to progress towards the airship. The relic itself is located on a shelf along the south wall in the room you enter after this progression. Collecting this final Vatican relic completes the “Riddles of the Ancients” quest for the Vatican area.
After you explore both the Silver Dragon Path and the Gold Dragon Path, you’ll reach the Secret Monastery. From there, you’ll continue through the Scriptorium and, eventually, reach the Treasury of Esoteric Artifacts.
When you enter, head to the locked door along the left wall. When you try it, Gina will come over and pick the lock for you.
What secrets do the Vatican relics reveal about ancient civilizations in Indiana Jones
The Vatican relics in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle reveal profound secrets about an ancient civilization whose purpose and origins remain initially mysterious. These artifacts, scattered throughout hidden and underground locations in the Vatican, are part of the “Riddles of the Ancients” questline and suggest a lost culture with advanced knowledge and symbolic significance. Collecting these relics gradually uncovers clues that tie into larger mysteries involving ancient giants and secret histories, ultimately unlocking a hidden vault and deeper understanding of this civilization’s enigmatic legacy.
What do the Vatican relics suggest about lost civilizations in Indiana Jones
The Vatican relics in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle suggest that the lost civilizations they originate from possessed advanced knowledge and complex symbolic systems, hinting at a hidden history intertwined with powerful ancient forces. These relics, discovered in secretive and often underground locations within the Vatican, reveal a civilization that left behind enigmatic artifacts tied to the “Riddles of the Ancients” questline. Their presence implies a deep connection to ancient giants and secret vaults, indicating that these lost civilizations had significant influence and mysteries that still impact the present day within the game’s narrative.
