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The Castel Sant Angelo is a medieval fortress created from the mausoleum of the Emperor Hadrian. The fortress is strong, many-walled, and surrounded by a moat and battlements in the style of Vauban. Several floors of rooms are stacked above the fortress, and the apartments wear frescoes on their ceilings. This was the refuge of popes during the many centuries of wars that wracked the Italian peninsula in the Middle Ages. Some of the rooms are marked with the names of the last three popes to take refuge in the castle in the 1500s: Alexander VI, Leo X, and Clement VII. The image here shows the view from the castle towards St. Peters, with the raised papal escape passageway showing in the foreground.
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