Castel SantAngelo: Not far from Via della Conciliazione youll find one of the most significant monument of the Capital, Castel SantAngelo, the historical fortress that changed several times in the Middle Age and Renaissance. Castel SantAngelos original structure and the Elio Bridge in front of it (nowadays known as Ponte SantAngelo), are built by the Architect Demetriano between 117 and 138 AD, as a mausoleum for the family of the Emperor Adriano. The fortress, with its square plan of roughly 90 metres of length on the side, had a basement 14 metres high on which was standing a cylindrical body having a diameter of more or less 64 metres and a height of 21 metres, at the summit, on a hillock, was dressed up the statue of the Emperor. In 271 however, the structure, with the addiction of the defensive bastions, was transformed in outpost of the Aurelius walls on the right shore of the Tevere. In 1277 Castel SantAngelo becomes the ownership of the State of the Church that means the complete transformation into fortress-jail connected to the Vatican Buildings. The name of Castel SantAngelo originates from a miraculous apparition during the plague of 590 AD: according to tradition, Pope Gregorio Magno, praying in procession, would have had the vision of an angel who was casing the sword and he would have interpreted this gesture as the announcement of the end of the pestilence in the area. In memory of the event, at the summit of Mole Adriana was placed a wood statue, afterwards substituted by a few versions in marble and by one in bronze melted in 1527 to forge guns; the actual statue, the sixth one, is the work of the artist Werschaffelt and is dating back to 1753. Inside the fortress, which can nowadays be visited thanks to the relative National Museum of Castel SantAngelo, is made of five floors and includes, in addition to numerous rooms of Roman era, also many rooms with frescoes of age of Renaissance.
Posted on: Sat, 17 May 2014 22:24:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015