Castel Sant'Angelo

The Castel Sant'Angelo is a building in Rome, one with a long and chequered past.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was built on the right bank of the Tiber, between 135 and 139, by Roman Emperor Hadrian, as a mausoleum for himself and his family. In its original form, the mausoleum was built as a cylinder, with a garden top and the golden quadriga of the emperor. In the following centuries, the mausoleum was converted into a military fortress, and included in the Aurelian Walls. The popes fortified the mausoleum, which became a castle, since the 14th century; Pope Nicholas III connected the castle to St. Peter's Basilica by a covered fortified corridor called the Passetto di Borgo. The fortress was the refuge of Pope Clement VII from the siege of Charles V Landsknecht during the Sack of Rome (1527), in which Benvenuto Cellini was a participant.

Related Topics:
Tiber - 135 - 139 - Roman Emperor - Hadrian - Mausoleum - Aurelian Walls - 14th century - Pope Nicholas III - St. Peter's Basilica - Pope Clement VII - Charles V - Landsknecht - Sack of Rome (1527) - Benvenuto Cellini

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sant'Angelo also served as a prison for the Popes. One of its prisoners was Giordano Bruno, who had been imprisoned here for 6 years, and the prison was also the set of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca.

Related Topics:
Giordano Bruno - Giacomo Puccini - Tosca

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An 18th-century bronze statue of an angel sheathing a sword surmounts the tomb, in reference to an old tradition that during the plague of 590 an angel appeared on the top of the mausoleum, sheathing his sword as a sign of the end of the plague. This event gave the name to the castle.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Now the castle is a museum, Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant'Angelo.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~