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The present appearance of Castel Sant'Angelo is the result of numerous modifications carried out over time. Built in the 2nd century C.E. to be Hadrian’s Mausoleum, a testament to the Emperor’s admiration of Eastern culture, it was later encircled with new walls by Aurelian (271) and transformed into a fortress. It also served this function for the Popes who used it as both a residence and a prison. The structure, linked to the city of Rome by Ponte Elio (better known today as Ponte Sant’Angelo), is connected to the Apostolic Palace by the Passetto di Borgo built by Niccolò III in 1277.
Today the structure has the appearance of a fortress with merlons and four corner towers (named for the Evangelists) and numerous interior spaces. These include the Sala Paolina, commissioned by Pope Paolo III (1534-49) and frescoed by Raphael’s pupil Perin del Vaga, whose loggia, supported by four slim columns, overlooks the Tiber River and the city. At the top of the monument is the bronze statue of the Archangel Michael by Flemish Sculptor Peter Anton van Verschaffelt (1752), which replaced the previous marble work by Raffaello da Montelupo (1544) today conserved in the so-called Courtyard of the Angel lower down. The two angels evoke a legend which tells of the vision experienced by Pope Gregory the Great during a procession to ward off the plague in 590 where he saw the archangel sheath his sword above the mausoleum, a sign that the epidemic had come to an end.
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