Castel Sant'Angelo

Castel Sant'Angelo on the right bank of the Tiber is one of the most layered buildings in Rome: Roman mausoleum, medieval citadel, papal refuge, prison and now museum, all wrapped into one cylindrical drum. Emperor Hadrian began building it in 134 AD as a tomb for himself and his successors, and Roman emperors were buried here through Caracalla. In the 5th century the structure was absorbed into the Aurelian Walls, and from 590 it took the name Castel Sant'Angelo after a vision of Pope Gregory I. In 1527 Pope Clement VII fled along the Passetto di Borgo, a walled corridor on top of the Vatican wall, to take refuge here during the Sack of Rome. The route today climbs through Hadrianic burial chambers, Renaissance papal apartments and a treasury to a rooftop terrace with sweeping views across the city.