Sometimes, being the Pope isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes you just can’t get
love from The People the way you do from the Big Guy upstairs. And when the little people get ornery, sometimes you just need a conveniently located heavily fortified castle in which to flee their pitchforks. You need Castel Sant’ Angelo!
Click here for previous chapters of “A Week in Rome.”
That’s right, this many bedroom, no bath riverfront property with a full dungeon located near downtown Vatican City is just waiting for a savvy but unpopular Pope to make it his own.
The place was originally built as a mausoleum for Hadrian, but some business with Pope Gregory and a visit from the archangel Michael, or maybe just some moldy bread, made it a choice spot for Popes under siege. In any case, it’s not very attractive on the inside–one of the big reasons to go there is the view. The other is that it’s a short walk from St. Peter’s and a good stop on your way back into the Old City of Rome.
Michael keeps an eye on things from the top:
Don’t mess with that dude…
From the castle you can see some of Rome’s nicer neighborhoods spread out with the famous hills beyond.
A rather lousy cafe with nice views of St. Peter’s is on an upper level.
The Castel is about a 2 hour visit. When I was there, massive flocks of swallows were flying over the Tiber River in clouds of black. The atmosphere of this place is fascinating. In addition, since I originally posted this travelogue, the Castel has been used in the DaVinci Code movie “Angels and Demons” and figures prominently in the plot.
Table of Contents
The Colosseum
Palatine Hill
The Forum
The Pantheon
The Vatican
St. Peter in Chains
Imperial Lion
St. Peter’s Square and Basilica
Atop St. Peter’s Dome
Castel Sant’ Angelo (Pope hideaway on the Tiber River)
Day Trip to Florence
Castel Sant’ Angelo, Continued
St. Paul’s Outside the Walls (Vatican church in Rome’s Suburbs)
Great Fountains of Rome
Musei Capitolini (Capitoline Museum): Romulus and Remus and Random Body Parts
Victor Emmanuel Monument (VE Monument)
National Museum of Rome: A Treasure Vault and Lots of Heads
Wrap-Up-The-First – Summary of the Trip
Wrap-Up-The-Last – Final Summary of the Trip