In
a city which seems to be designed to give impressive vista's at every turn the
view from the top of the Castel St Angelo is very special.
It
was the great discovery of my holiday in Rome and when people visiting Rome ask
me for their recommendations I would immediately say the view from this
marvelous building. The Castel St Angelo is one of the great sights of the
city. It looms over the Tiber and is connected to the Centro Storico via the
Pont St Angelo. If you cross this bridge you will be following the route that
pilgrims took to St Peters for hundreds of years. And the bridge is graced with
white marble angel statues by Bernini giving it a holy air. Often overlooked by
tourists rushing to the Vatican, I would put the Castel St Angelo at the top of
your list. The place is utterly unmissable.
This huge
monstrous bulk is one of the most ancient in Rome. It is famous for being the mausoleum
created for himself by the great Emperor Hadrian. The most intellectual,
cultured and successful of Emperor's; he created this towering cream coloured
mountain of a building for his final resting place (based on the mausoleum of
Augustus across the river. Originally it was covered in white marble and its
flat top was covered in a garden of cypresses - both of which have long gone.
But this has to be the most solid resilient
building in Rome and must have been near impregnable. This fact was not lost on
the papacy nearby who constructed a corridor between it and the Vatican for
times of trouble. The most famous time when his holiness had to hitch up the
papal robes and sprint for safety was in 1527 with the sack of Rome. Pope
Clement II was trapped in the Castel and had to watch Rome burn around him
through the arrowslits.
To reach it is
simple enough. Most people approach it across the Pont St Angelo on their way
to St Peters from the Centro Storico. This has the advantage of a big build up
and the vista of the Castel at the end of an angel lined bridge is one of the
most memorable in Rome. The bridge nowadays is lined with Senegalese/Dijbouti
hawkers trying to sell fake Gucci handbags. They are not very persistent but
may unintentionally get in the way when you are craning your head over the side
of the Pont. But the quickest way is probably via the metro. The Castel is an
easy walk from Lepanto station. A short pleasant walk takes you down Via
Colonna and Via Tacito to the rear of the Castel. Admittance is a mere 10,000
lira.
Make sure you
pick up the free map when you enter and one thing is for sure you will be
surprised at the lack of visitors especially if you have just visited St
Peters. The first thing to see is the stone circular inner bailey of this
fortress. Several stone staircases lead up to the battlements and the huge
round edifice of the tomb itself is in the centre. A spiral ramp leads you into
the mausoleum and was the funeral ramp of the Emperor Hadrian and it is not
difficult to envisage the cortege moving up illuminated by flickering
flambeaux.
Be careful on the ramp, the stairs are not
steep but there are alot of them. We saw an Anglo-Indian couple give up and
head for a rest on the battlements. At the top is a courtyard with siege
weapons and stairs leading up onto the battlements . A statue of an angel
dominates the courtyard and as my friend remarked - "It's the closest,
Steve, that you'll ever get to heaven.."
Off the
courtyard are the papal apartments which were decorated in some splendour. But
now you are on the battlements with superb views of Rome. A restaurant is set
up on the battlements so you can view the dome of St Peters through an arrowslit
while sipping coffee, and this is a good place to rest.
Off the
battlements is a small museum showing muskets, armour and pikes but it is the
view from the very top which makes the Castel St Angelo. At the very pinnacle
is a giant statue of an angel with sword drawn and on the parapet below is a
viewing platform. To the east across the Tiber is the tangerine cityscape of
Rome with its baroque domes and hills. Directly below is the angular
battlements of the Castel which drop down into the green Tiber. But the horizon
to the south is dominated by the grey dome of St Peters. The colonnades of the
Piazza could be seen with pilgrims in their thousands moving down the Via
Conzolione.
Save the Castel
St Angelo as your first or last sight in Rome. But whatever you do, make sure
your see it - the views are incredible....
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