"Castle of St. Angel"

The Castle of St. Angel has a long history: the Roman Emperor Hadrian decided to build a mausoleum on this place for his future rest.

For the first few centuries, the Castle of St. Angel was a tomb. The huge tomb was then to become the largest and most beautiful building of the ancient world.

After 4 years, on the banks of the Tiber, a giant pedestal grew up with a three-storey house, and on it a cylindrical room with a diameter of 64 m and a height of 20 m.

In the VI century, the plague came to Rome, the epidemic was terrible, and Pope Gregory I led a procession through the city, praying for the salvation of the people. Surprisingly, it was at the former Hadrian’s mausoleum, the castle of St. Angel, that the Pope had a vision: Archangel Michael hovered over the fortress and put the sword into the sheath.

It was a sign that the Lord had heard the prayers of the Romans and would have mercy on the city, and indeed, the terrible illness was over, and the tomb-fortress acquired sacred status among Christians, its current name – Castle of the Holy Angel – and a huge marble statue of an angel on top.