Ponte Sant'Angelo

Ponte Sant'Angelo crosses the Tiber in the heart of Rome, leading straight to the massive drum of Castel Sant'Angelo. Emperor Hadrian built it in 134 AD as the Pons Aelius, the approach to his own mausoleum — the drum that later became a papal fortress and gave the bridge its present name. Three of its five arches are still Roman; the other two replaced the ancient ramps when the Tiber embankments were built in the late nineteenth century.

For pilgrims walking to St Peter's the bridge was the gateway to the Vatican, and it was here, during the jubilee of 1450, that the balustrades gave way under the crowd and many people fell into the river and drowned. In 1535 Pope Clement VII used the bridge tolls to commission the statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul that stand at the southern end, carved by Lorenzetto and Paolo Romano.

The bridge owes its fame to Gian Lorenzo Bernini. In 1669 Pope Clement IX asked him to redesign the decoration, and Bernini devised a procession of ten angels, each carrying one of the instruments of the Passion so that the walk across becomes a meditation leading to the castle. Most of the figures were carved by other sculptors to his design; the two angels Bernini made himself, holding the Crown of Thorns and the Superscription, were judged too fine for the weather and are kept in the church of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, with copies on the bridge. Closed to traffic, the bridge is now purely for walking, and at dusk, with the angels silhouetted against the castle and the dome of St Peter's beyond, it is one of the loveliest crossings in Europe.

Getting there

The bridge is in central Rome, about 1 km from the Vatican. The nearest airport is Rome Ciampino (CIA), about 16 km away; Rome's main airport at Fiumicino is further. The bridge is easily reached on foot from Piazza Navona and the historic centre.