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Porta Castello (Book 1) (Map C2) (Day 8) (View C3) (Rione Borgo)

In this page:
 The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
 Today's view
 Castel Sant' Angelo
 Cappelle del Castello
 Passetto
 Borgo Pio

The Plate (No. 20)

Porta Castello

On a fine day the Romans flocked in the Prati (Meadows) di Castello to play and dance or just walk around. The Villas (with the exception of Villa Borghese) were not open to the public and so the large area north of Castel Sant'Angelo, was the public garden of Vasi's Rome. The view is taken from the green dot in the small 1748 map here below. In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) Castel Sant'Angelo; 2) Corridors leading to Palazzo Vaticano. 1) is shown also in another page. The small map shows also: 3) Porta Castello; 4) Borgo Pio.

Small ViewSmall View

Today

The view today

The area outside Porta Castello was the first real estate development outside the walls: it was called Prati and in 1921 it became a rione. In the 1930s the walls between Porta Angelica and Castel Sant'Angelo were pulled down to allow easier access to the new quarter. Today Porta Castello is just the name of the street which led to the gate.

Castel Sant' Angelo

Castel Sant'Angelo

Castel Sant'Angelo is covered in two Books. Plate 86 shows Castel Sant'Angelo from the river, this plate shows it from the opposite part. Both in the plate and in the picture  the link between Castel Sant'Angelo and the corridor inside the old walls is clearly identifiable. In this way the Pope could seek refuge in the Castle directly from the Vatican (in the background the sentry-box watching over the corridor).

Castel Sant'Angelo

Today Castel Sant'Angelo is a museum where one can visit the fine loggia of the papal apartment built by Paulus III with its rich decoration. In addition to the angel at the top of Castel Sant'Angelo (shown in Plate 86) there are other angels to be seen: the Angel by Raffaele da Montelupo which was put on the top of the castle in 1536 and the angels which stood at the sides of the (erased) coat of arms of Alexander VI (a coat of arms of this pope can be seen on a fine well).

Castel Sant'Angelo

Cappelle del Castello

Chapels

Castel Sant'Angelo was used for centuries as a fortress and a prison. A chapel on the ground floor provided religious services to the garrison. Next to the chapel a little square was used for executions by shooting, but for the sake of a gran finale Puccini set the shooting of Mario Cavaradossi on the top terrace so that Tosca could kill herself by jumping from it. The papal apartment had its own chapel built by Leo X: the fine Madonna is a work by Raffaele di Montelupo.

The Passetto

The Passetto

The Passetto (small passage) is the name given to the old walls which protected the Vatican. They were reinforced by Alexander VI. With the new line of walls built in the second half of the XVIth century they lost their defensive purpose (apart from granting a direct link between the Vatican and the Castle, hence Passetto) and so Pius IV opened them at several points to allow movement between the old Borgo (inside the old walls) and the new Borgo (called Borgo Pio after the Pope's name) between the old and the new walls.

Coat of arms

On the left a coat of arms of Alexander VI and on the right one of Pius IV.

Borgo Pio

Borgo Pio

Borgo Pio was and still is inhabited by people who work in the Vatican. Unlike Old Borgo it does not have churches or palaces, but it has retained its old appearance made of low buildings which once belonged to brotherhoods (inscription in the middle of the above image). The image shows also an inscription below a sacred image which details the rules set by Pius VI for securing 200 days' indulgence and a house embellished by a little Roman relief discovered in its foundation.

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:


Porta Castello
Quella sebbene venga stimata essere sostituita all'antica porta s. Petri, prese però il moderno nome dal vicino castello s. Angelo, perchè a comodo del medesimo fu qui aperta; ma senza alcun ornato di architettura. Fuori di quella porta uscendo, si vede un gran prato, nel quale cavandosi l'anno 1743. furono scoperte delle muraglie, la maggior parte delle quali erano in forma ovale; onde furono credute per sotterranei del Circo di Domizia, e di Domiziano. I prati, che si vedono più oltre, ora lavorati a vigne, furono i celebri prati Quinzj, ne' quali mentre coll'aratro in mano solcava la terra L. Quinzio Cincinnato, fu salutato Ditattore da' Legati Romani.
Corridori del palazzo Vaticano
Dopo il divisato castel s. Angelo, segue una piccola piazza con 4. strade, quella a destra porta alla chiesa di s. Michele Arcangelo già eretta,come dicemmo, da s. Gregorio Magno in memoria della suddetta apparizione del santo Principe, e appresso di questa si vede il gran corridore fatto da Alessandro VI. Spagnolo, affinchè dal palazzo Vaticano si potesse passare segretamente al castel s. Angelo, che poi da Urbano VIII. fu ristaurato e coperto di tetto.

Next plate in Book 1: Map of the Walls of Rome
Next step in Day 8 itinerary Casino Sacchetti

Go to    or to  Book 1 or to my Home Page on Baroque Rome or to my Home Page on Rome in the footsteps of an XVIIIth century traveller.


All images © 1999 - 2003 by Roberto Piperno. Write to romapip@quipo.it