This immense building rises on the site of the
Mausoleum of Hadrian. It was commissioned by the Emperor in 130 from the barchitect, Demetrianus. The huge funerary monument consisted of an enormous base surmounted by a drum. Cut into the base, at the level of the bridge, was the entrance to the «dromos» which led to a helicoidal staircase (extant) leading up to a second corridor and the burial cells. Atop the building stood a statue of the Emperor. In 271 Aurelian turned it into a fort by completing the circle of the walls. The monument was given its present name in 590 when, according to legend, an angel appeared on top of it to announce an end to the dreadful plague then scourging the city. From the Middle Ages on it was the most important of the Papal strongholds in Rome. Over the centuries it served as both a refuge for the popes in times of trouble and a dungeon. Among the illustrious "guests" of the fortress were the Renaissance sculptor
and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini (who managed an adventurous escape), the philosopher Giordano Bruno, the alchemist Cagliostro, and during the 19th century Risorgimento, numerous patriots in the struggle for Italian unity.
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Museo di Castel Sant' Angelo. The bronze entrance doors facing the bridge lead into the Cortile del Salvatore. From here some steps descend to the vestibule and the spiraI ramp leading to the sepulchral chamber. At the end of the ramp the Staircase of Alexander VI opens into the Cortile deU'Angelo or delle Palle, named after the marble statue of the angel and the travertine and granite cannon balls. To the left of the courtyard, are the two Rooms of Clement VIII and then the HaU of Justice. The same courtyard leads into the HaU of ApoUo, the Chapel of Leo X and thence to the Rooms of Clement VII, with their beautiful ceilings; these rooms open onto the Courtyard of Alexander VI; from an adjoining courtyard, a short staircase leads to a small room where the water was heated for Clement VIl's baths, decorated with stuccos and frescos. From here one passes through the historical prisons and the ancient warehouses; it is thought that Benvenuto Cellini was imprisoned in the last of these small, bare cells. Returning to the Courtyard of Alexander VI, from which a staircase leads to the Loggia of Paul 111, turn right, into the GaUery |
