Tour of the Castel Sant'Angelo

I went on a tour of the Castel Sant'Angelo, a medieval and renaissance era fortress for the Papacy.  Originally it was the mausoleum the roman emperor Hadrian (modeled left), but it was gutted and made into the fortress and living quarters that sit today within eyesight of the Vatican.

Looking up at the Citadel

Arrow Port

Left over artillery

Along the fortifications, Marcia Ronda

Hadrian Garden

Citadel South Face

Hadrian's Tomb Spiral Ramp

The famous statue on top of the Castel Sant'Angelo of St. Michael the Archangel comes from the Middle Ages.  According to legend, during a plague that ravaged the city of Rome in 590 a vision of St. Michael was seen on top of what was Hadrian's Tomb.  He sheathed his sword, and the plague ended.  In gratitude, the mausoleum was renamed the Castel Sant'Angelo as it had recently been remodeled as a fortress not to long prior.  The statue left was the original angel statue on top of the Castel, which was removed when a bronze version was made in the 1700s.

Courtyard of the Angel

Rome from the Citadel

Northwest Tower

Overpriced Castel Sant'Angelo Bar

In case of an emergency, there is a tunnel (the Borgo Passage) that connects the Papal apartments in the Vatican to the Castel Sant'Angelo.  That glass door is the entrance to that tunnel.

Ballista in the Borgia Courtyard

Citadel from Borgia Courtyard

Leon X Courtyard

Southeast Tower

View of Rome

Southwest Tower

View of the Tiber River from the Castel

Treasury Room

Library Room

Borgo Passage

Rome from the Castel Terrace

Vatican City from the Castel Terrace

Castel Sant'Angelo St. Michael

Castel Sant'Angelo St. Michael Close-up

Two Michaels