Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and across the river and built a towering tomb (c.
A.D.
139) well within view of the city. His
mausoleum was a huge cylinder (210 by 70 feet) topped by a cypress grove and crowned by
ahugestatueofHadrianhimselfridingachariot.Fornearlyahundredyears,Romanemper-
ors (from Hadrian to Caracalla, in
A.D.
217) were buried here.
In the year 590, the archangel Michael appeared above the mausoleum to Pope Gregory
the Great. Sheathing his sword, the angel signaled the end of a plague. The fortress that was
Hadrian's mausoleum eventually became a fortified palace, renamed for the “holy angel.”
Castel Sant'Angelo spent centuries of the Dark Ages as a fortress and prison, but was
eventually connected to the Vatican via an elevated corridor at the pope's request (1277).
Since Rome was repeatedly plundered by invaders, Castel Sant'Angelo was a handy place
of last refuge for threatened popes. In anticipation of long sieges, rooms were decorated
with papal splendor (you'll see paintings by Carlo Crivelli, Luca Signorelli, and Andrea
Mantegna). In 1527, during a sack of Rome by troops of Charles V of Spain, the pope lived
insidethecastleformonthswithhisentourageofhundreds(anunimaginableordeal,consid-
ering the food service at the top-floor bar).
VisitingtheCastle:
Touringtheplaceisastair-steppingworkout.Afteryouwalkaround
the entire base of the castle, take the small staircase down to the original Roman floor (fol-
lowing the route of Hadrian's funeral procession). In the atrium, study the model of the
mausoleum as it was in Roman times. Imagine being surrounded by a veneer of marble, and
the niche in the wall filled with a towering “welcome to my tomb” statue of Hadrian. From
here, a ramp leads to the right, spiraling 400 feet. While some of the fine original brickwork
and bits of mosaic survive, the marble veneer is long gone (notice the holes in the wall that
held it in place).
At the end of the ramp, a bridge crosses over the room where the ashes of the emperors
were kept. From here, the stairs continue out of the ancient section and into the medieval
structure (built atop the mausoleum) that housed the papal apartments. Don't miss the Sala
del Tesoro (Treasury), where the wealth of the Vatican was locked up in a huge chest. (
Do
miss the 58 rooms of the military museum.) From the pope's piggy bank, a narrow flight of
stairsleadstotherooftopandperhapsthefinestviewofRomeanywhere(pickoutlandmarks
as you stroll around). From the safety of this dramatic vantage point, the pope surveyed the
city in times of siege. Look down at the bend of the Tiber, which for 2,700 years has cradled
the Eternal City.
The bridge leading to Castel Sant'Angelo was built by Hadrian for quick and regal access
fromdowntowntohistomb.ThethreemiddlearchesareactuallyRomanoriginalsandafine
example of the empire's engineering expertise. The statues of angels (each bearing a symbol
ofthepassionofChrist—nail,sponge,shroud,andsoon)areBernini-designedandtextbook
