CASTEL SANT'ANGELO & HADRIAN'S MAUSOLEUM: A THOUSAND-YEAR HISTORY
In the Middle Ages, Hadrian's Mausoleum was transformed into an impregnable fortress, which withstood every siege for centuries, including that of the Landsknechts in 1527.
The Mausoleum of Augustus was the first great dynastic tomb, and all the emperors from Augustus onward were buried there. The last one was Nerva, while Trajan (who died 117 AD) exceptionally was buried within the city walls, in the base of Trajan's Column.
Since there was no more room in the Mausoleum of Augustus and space was limited in the Campus Martius, Hadrian decided to build the new dynastic tomb on the opposite bank of the Tiber, and built the Pons Aelius as monumental and scenic access to his tomb.
The ground along the river was marshy and unstable, requiring foundations over seven meters deep, made with wooden and cast piles, which were discovered and studied during the demolitions of the late nineteenth century.
Hadrian himself inaugurated the Pons Aelius in 134 AD, while the Mausoleum was inaugurated by Antoninus Pius, Hadrian's successor, in 139 AD, because its construction had required a longer time.
Surrounded by a sacred enclosure with a bronze gate, the Mausoleum had a large square Base with a single entrance door on the south side, which gave access to the lower Vestibule and then to the very long Spiral Ramp, which spiraled up to the upper Vestibule, ten meters higher.
A short corridor (now obliterated) led to the Hall of the Burial Urns, which was originally closed. A staircase led to the upper square, where another square base, the Podium, supported a circular Temple crowned by an enormous bronze Quadriga of the Sun driven by Emperor Hadrian, depicted as Sol Invictus.
Due to its strategic location and tower-like shape, the Mausoleum was transformed into a fortress, withstanding sieges by the Visigoths in 410 and the Vandals in 454.
In 537 AD, General Belisarius smashed the Mausoleum's sculptures to pieces trowing them at the Goths led by Vitiges, who were besieging it. The marbles of the building were looted, and in 1379 the Municipality used the travertine cladding to pave Rome's streets and squares.
The original access with the Spiral Ramp was indefensible and was walled up at the end of the 14th century, creating a new, higher entrance with a drawbridge; the Hall of the Burlial Urns became a casemate. The Renaissance popes, starting with Alexander VI Borgia, called upon the greatest artists of their time to decorate the papal apartments built on top of the Castle.
At the end of the 18th century, the French transformed the Castle into a prison and barracks. In the late 19th century, the construction of the new embankments along the Lungotevere revealed the original ramps of the Pons Aelius, which were demolished to hastily complete the work.
Like all great Roman monuments, Hadrian's Mausoleum was designed and built to last forever, for millennia it has withstood floods, earthquakes, wars, and looting.
Discover this fascinating and little-known story in Marina De Franceschini's book, «Castel Sant'Angelo. Mausoleum of Hadrian, Architecture & Light».