Hadrian's mausoleum turned into a papal fortress
On the bank of the Tiber, at the end of the bridge decorated with Bernini's angels, rises the massive drum of Castel Sant'Angelo. It was built in 135 AD as the mausoleum of the emperor Hadrian and his family, then turned into a fortress, a papal residence and a prison. Its name comes from the vision of Pope Gregory the Great, who in 590 saw the Archangel Michael sheathing his sword on top of it, announcing the end of a plague.
A covered walkway, the Passetto di Borgo, links it to the Vatican: popes used it to escape in times of danger, as Clement VII did during the Sack of Rome in 1527. The visit climbs the spiral ramp of the Roman tomb to the papal apartments frescoed in the Renaissance and to the Terrace of the Angel, where the last act of Puccini's Tosca is set, with one of the finest views of St Peter's.
Tip: the Ponte Sant'Angelo with Bernini's angels is beautiful at night; the Passetto is open for visits only on certain days.
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