Castel Sant’Angelo represents one of the most extraordinary and enduring testimonies of Rome’s historical and artistic panorama. While many other monuments of ancient Rome have not survived to the present day, either destroyed or used as building materials for more modern structures, Castel Sant’Angelo has undergone a different fate thanks to the multiple transformations it has experienced over time.
From an imperial mausoleum to a military stronghold, from a dark prison to a sumptuous Renaissance residence frequented even by Michelangelo, and finally to a museum, the strategically located fortress on the right bank of the Tiber has accompanied the events of the Eternal City for about 19 centuries.
Its history began in 135 AD when the Emperor Hadrian ordered the construction of the funerary mausoleum for himself and his family, inspired by the Mausoleum of Augustus but on a monumental scale.
Completed in 139 AD, the mausoleum initially housed the remains of numerous emperors and members of the imperial family. Later, the mausoleum lost its original function and was included in the Aurelian Walls as part of Rome’s defensive system, simultaneously connected to the Vatican through a fortified corridor known as the “passetto.”