Secret Passage from the Vatican to the Castel Saint'Angelo

The Passetto is the fortified passageway, created during the papacy of Alexander VI (1159-81), that links the Vatican with the Castel Sant'Angelo. This view places us within the passage looking towards the cylindrical form of the Castel Sant'Angelo, begun as the emperor Hadrian's mausoleum (consecrated in 139). What survives of the structure today is all that could not be destroyed by invaders and the ravages of time. As early as the 10th century, the structure was a stronghold of the papacy, serving as refuge, prison, and treasury.