The moat of Castel Sant’Angelo

Walking along the moat around the Castel Sant’Angelo, you’ll notice how it’s built inside a fortress. As mentioned before, Emperor Hadrian had an imperial mausoleum built here in the 2nd century AD, surrounded by a beautiful square garden. Atop the monument, now the highest in the city, stood a colossal statue of the emperor, portrayed as the sun god Helios. But in 270 AD, when the Goths became a threat to Rome, Emperor Marcus Aurelius called for new fortifications that would encompass Hadrian’s impressive mausoleum. In fact, it was because of these new walls that this pagan monument wasn’t destroyed by Christians later on. In the Middle Ages, the mausoleum itself became a fortress with towers, battlements and arrowslits. Over time, the structure was expanded and its defenses were reinforced; they added bastions and a moat around the perimeter, as well as a gate with a drawbridge. This fortress also served as a place of refuge for the Popes in the event of threats to the Vatican. Let’s take for example the sack of Rome by Charles V in 1527. Pope Clement VII was able to escape, but almost all the Swiss guards protecting the St Peter’s Cathedral were killed. The city was plundered and lost 1/5 of its population! The castle started to look more like a palace at the end of the 16th century, following various alterations made by Pope Paul III and his successors. It passed into the hands of the Italian army in 1871 and was extensively renovated in the 20th century. Today, you can’t see much of the original structure. On the first floor, you’ll find the remains of the mausoleum; on the second floor, there’s the prison and torture chambers where they kept all enemies of Christianity; on the third floor, you’ll find the papal chambers and a weapons collection, and on the fourth, you’ll see the beautifully decorated papal apartments; on the fifth and final floor, there’s a terrace with stunning panoramic views over Rome and the Tiber River.