St Angel Castle
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St Angel Castle
Fortress of Castel St. Angel together with the bridge leading to it (nowadays known as Porte Sant’Angelo) was originally built around 130 by architect Demetriano as a mausoleum. Later it became the main Pope Court jail.
The mausoleum was supposed to hold the tombs of Hadrian and his family, but it was finished just by his heir Antonio the Pious. Hadrian and Sabina (his wife) were buried in the mausoleum, as were succeeding emperors until Septimus Severus in 175. The monument had a square basement with 80 metres long side. The basement was 14 metres high and above it there was a cylindrical body with 64 metres in diameter, 21 metres high. On the top there was a heap of earth with the emperor’s statue on the top of it, the personification of God Sun, leading a quadriga.
In 271 the structure became the outpost of the Aurelian walls on the right shore of the Tiber River. However, it got its present name just in 590 according to a miraculous vision of Pope Gregorio Magno, who saw an angel on the top of the structure casing the sword what he thought was the gesture of the end of the plague in the area. This event was commemorated by the statue of angel on the top of the fortress. At first it was built of wood, later marble and bronze; the actual statue, the sixth one, is the work of the artist Verschaffelt and is dating back to 1753.
In 1277 the fortress became the ownership of the Church. It was transformed into jail and connection to the Vatican Buildings was created. It led through the fortified passageway of the “passeto”. Later the refuge for the Pope was created inside. From 1849 to 1870 the castle was occupied by French troops. Under the Italian Government it was used as barracks and as a prison until 1901, when the work of restoration was begun. In 1933-34 the castle was adapted for use as a museum (58 rooms) and the surrounding area was cleared.
Inside of the castle is accessible to the visitors nowadays thanks to relative National Museum of Castel Sant’Angelo. On the five floors there are rooms showing the Roman era as well as rooms with Renaissance frescoes and many cells.
The mausoleum was supposed to hold the tombs of Hadrian and his family, but it was finished just by his heir Antonio the Pious. Hadrian and Sabina (his wife) were buried in the mausoleum, as were succeeding emperors until Septimus Severus in 175. The monument had a square basement with 80 metres long side. The basement was 14 metres high and above it there was a cylindrical body with 64 metres in diameter, 21 metres high. On the top there was a heap of earth with the emperor’s statue on the top of it, the personification of God Sun, leading a quadriga.
In 271 the structure became the outpost of the Aurelian walls on the right shore of the Tiber River. However, it got its present name just in 590 according to a miraculous vision of Pope Gregorio Magno, who saw an angel on the top of the structure casing the sword what he thought was the gesture of the end of the plague in the area. This event was commemorated by the statue of angel on the top of the fortress. At first it was built of wood, later marble and bronze; the actual statue, the sixth one, is the work of the artist Verschaffelt and is dating back to 1753.
In 1277 the fortress became the ownership of the Church. It was transformed into jail and connection to the Vatican Buildings was created. It led through the fortified passageway of the “passeto”. Later the refuge for the Pope was created inside. From 1849 to 1870 the castle was occupied by French troops. Under the Italian Government it was used as barracks and as a prison until 1901, when the work of restoration was begun. In 1933-34 the castle was adapted for use as a museum (58 rooms) and the surrounding area was cleared.
Inside of the castle is accessible to the visitors nowadays thanks to relative National Museum of Castel Sant’Angelo. On the five floors there are rooms showing the Roman era as well as rooms with Renaissance frescoes and many cells.
