The Pope's Escape Path

In case there are any plunderers wandering about Rome, you should heed these warnings: Skip the Pope.

Long ago, when times were much less safe, a strategic Pope decided it would be smart of him to have a backup plan in the event his city fell or someone wanted to kill him.  So he commissioned builders to create a secret path that would lead him from the Vatican to his private apartments in the nearby Mausoleum of Hadrian, also known as the Castel Sant'Angelo.

The important question was how should he get there?

Underground sewers? Too dirty.
Horseback? Too visible.
The options weren't, as they say, a-plenty. (This verbiage makes me sound like a cowboy from the mid-1800s.) After all, resources were limited in the mid-1200s, a wee 800 years ago.

The answer was quite simple, really: build above ground.

So his men used the existing wall that protected the city and built on top of that. They made it stretch the full 800 or so meters, about half a mile all the way to the castle.  And thus, the Passetto di Borgo was born. From what I understand, it came in handy, as it was used a handful of times to save the life of the Pope.

Now granted, I am no scholar of history and my version of how it came to be may be a little different than the exact truth.  But what I can tell you honestly is that YOU too can walk this historical, life saving passage, just like I did.

A View of the Dome of Saint Peter's Basilica from the Passetto di Borgo.

Castel Sant'Angelo opens most of the passageway only one time a year.  For a few weeks in late July / early August, and only at night, they allow visitors to access and walk a surprising amount on the Pope's escape path.  For the cost of the entrance fee, it's worth it to first tour the castle and see some of the rooms that aren't usually open to the public, such as the rarely viewed Pope's bathroom, fancier and full of more frescoes than any bathroom I have ever experienced. Then a lovely concert among the catapults.

A concert in the Castel Sant'Angelo.

And some great views from up top.

A view of Saint Peter's Basilica from the top of Castel Sant'Angelo.

Few things in Rome are as romantic as this. At night and including a concert, this attraction is one of a kind already. But adding a jaunt on the Passetto di Borgo? Well that might just steal your heart. Consider yourself plundered.

Front view of the Castel Sant'Angelo.