Castel Sant'Angelo

Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome: legend and myth

Castel Sant'Angelo is one of the most famous and visited buildings in the city of Rome. It is named after the statue of the Archangel Michael placed on its summit. Legend holds that during the plague of 590, the Pope had an apparition of the Angel who, atop the mausoleum, sheathed his sword, signifying that God's wrath had subsided, thus marking the end of the epidemic that had struck Rome. In memory of that apparition, the statue that gave the building its name was erected.

Description and history of Castel Sant'Angelo

Castel Sant’Angelo Sant'Angelo is one of the monuments in Rome with the most complex history. The building was built as the Mausoleum of Hadrian, one of the Roman emperors. After almost three centuries it was converted into a fortress and used as a stronghold by numerous Roman families. It was used as a refuge for the popes during wars and revolts, and was later adapted as a court and prison, until it was restored and used as a museum.

Towards the beginning of the construction of Castel Sant'Angelo: Hadrian's Mausoleum

The construction of Castel Sant'Angelo dates to 135 A.D. at the behest of Hadrian as a mausoleum to ensure a dignified burial for himself and his family. Hence the name Mausoleum of Hadrian, built in the Ager Vaticanus (“Vatican Field”), the plain on the right of the Tiber that stretched north of the Janiculum Hill, and which was to remain the tomb of successive emperors until 403 AD.

Discovering the interior of Castel Sant'Angelo: inside the building

The Castle has 7 floors characterised by courtyards, bastions, terraces, exhibition halls, loggias, and prisons. Entering inside the building it is possible to retrace over 2,000 years of history: from Hadrian's mausoleum conceived in Roman times to Renaissance stronghold to historical prison. From the Terrazza dell'Angelo (Terrace of the Angel) you can appreciate one of the most beautiful views of the city from above.

The Rooms of Castel Sant'Angelo

The visit to the Castle, which has become The National Museum of Sant’Angelo Castle in modern times, begins with the helicoidal and diametrical ramp leading to the Urn Room, the burial chamber for the imperial family. Transformed into a papal residence in which to take refuge in times of danger, in the 1400s it became the ideal place to store the Treasury and the Vatican Archives. It was in the 1500s that Raffaello da Montelupo created the statue of St. Michael the Archangel, which surmounted the highest terrace of the Castle and is now displayed in the Angel Courtyard, conceived as a space for representation and access to the private apartments.

The lighting of Castel Sant'Angelo

By night, after sunset, Castel Sant'Angelo can also be appreciated thanks to Acea's artistic lighting project. The technicians, with an intervention at high altitude with ropes, have inserted 220 new floodlights on the profile of the former Hadrian’s mausoleum, enhancing the beauty of the Castle. In addition, Acea restored part of the power lines and introduced a new remote-control technology that allows the operation of the floodlights to be managed remotely and the system to be remote-controlled in the event of a fault. The works covered the Hadrian’s mole area, Ponte Sant'Angelo - one of the first historical sites in Rome illuminated by Acea with LED lamps - the statues that surmount it, and about five hectares of parkland around the complex.

Interesting facts about Castel Sant'Angelo

The aura of mystery surrounding the Castle fascinated writer Dan Brown, who chose it as the setting for his novel 'Angels and Demons'. Castel Sant'Angelo, also known as Hadrian's Mole and Mausoleum of Hadrian, is also the setting for Giacomo Puccini's Tosca. In the opera, the painter Cavaradossi, sentenced to death, is shot in the courtyard of Castel Sant'Angelo and Tosca, his lover, kills herself by jumping from the castle terrace.

Of the 16 bridges over the Tiber illuminated by Acea, Ponte Sant'Angelo is among the most iconic because of its history: adorned with marble statues by Bernini, it once held the heads of condemned prisoners executed in the castle courtyard.

The history of the statue of the Angel

One of the curiosities about the Castle is certainly the statue of the Angel. The first version made of wood was soon ruined and replaced with one of marble, which was destroyed during a siege in 1379. The third version, also made of marble with bronze wings was incinerated by lightning in 1497 and replaced by a bronze one, which was removed and replaced by cannons protecting the city from the Landsknechts in 1527. In 1573, it was finally the turn of the bronze Angel that we can still admire today.

Castel Sant'Angelo and its prisons

The Castle was not only a mausoleum built at the behest of Hadrian and an elegant fortress, but also a prison. The so-called Prigioni Storiche (Historical Prisons), built by Alexander VI Borgia in 1400, housed illustrious personalities such as Giordano Bruno and Benvenuto Cellini, who escaped with a rope made of sheets from the top of the surrounding wall. Captured and locked up again in his cell, he drew a resurrected Christ with a rudimentary charcoal pencil, of which there seems to be some trace still today.

The Cagliostra, on the other hand, is the 'luxury' prison intended for high-ranking inmates such as the adventurer Giuseppe Balsamo, Count of Cagliostro.

The convicts were executed inside the Cortile delle Fucilazioni (Firing Courtyard), as was the case for the famous execution of Beatrice Cenci. One of those present in the crowded square was Caravaggio.

Passetto of Castel Sant'Angelo

Built by Pope Nicholas III Orsini, the Passetto di Borgo, or commonly known as Passetto of Castel Sant'Angelo, is a secret passage linking the Castle to the Vatican, which allowed many popes to take refuge in the fortress when enemy attacks threatened their safety.