| This castle was built by the Emperor Hadrian (117-138)
as a mausoleum for himself and his successors and was completed
in 139 A.D. by Antonius Pius. According to a legend during a procession
led by Pope Gregory the Great in 590 to pray for the end of the
plague, an angel appeared on the top of the mausoleum in the act
of putting his sword back in its sheath, which gesture was interpreted
as a divine sign of the end of the plague. In remembrance of the
miracle, a chapel was built on the mausoleum and on top of the Castle
was also placed a statue of the Archangel Michael. Since then, it
has had many roles: as part of Emperor Aurelian’s city wall,
as a medieval citadel and prison, and as the residence of the Popes
above, a 58 rooms museum covers all aspects of the castle’s
history. |
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