After a busy night in the Vatican Museums, we all were tired and needed a little break. While we may have needed a break, we still were anxious to go and see more of Rome. We all met in the lobby at 8:45 for a tour of Castel Sant’Angelo, the castle that we were supposed to see on Wednesday, if it wasn’t for Pope Francis’s speech. The Castle was originally a mausoleum for the Roman emperor Hadrian, where his ashes and those of his family were placed. Later, other emperors had their remains placed in this building. It remained a mausoleum until the 400s, where it was turned into a military fortress. It remained that until the 1300s. As a military fort, the fortress was thought to be impenetrable. The walls were thick, it was stationed on the Tiber River, and it was the tallest building in Rome for quite some time (see picture). Also, armies could use more than just ammunitions to defend the castle. It has been documented that bronze decorations were thrown on attackers, and stone statues were destroyed and catapulted over the walls. When the building became under control of the papacy, it was used as a fort that a pope in St. Peters could run away to, via the Passetto di Borgo. In 1527, Pope Clement VII escaped to the fortress through this passage when German mercenaries sacked Rome (also when the Swiss Guard sacrificed themselves for the Pope, which led to the Swiss Guard we see at the Vatican today). It was also used as a prison, holding those who were thought to be heresies. As the threat of invasions became less prominent, it was decommissioned and turned into a museum. At the top of the building is a statue of the Archangel Michael. According to legend, a plague in 590 was driving Christians to revere a pagan idol. When Pope Gregory I heard of this, he went to the Church, and when he arrived, a clap of thunder was heard and the idol was destroyed. Then, he went back to St. Peters, and crossed a bridge next to Castel Sant’Angelo. He looked up, and saw a vision of St. Michael the Archangel wiping the blood from his sword and then sheathing it, a symbol that God was pleased. While this is just a legend (heard first from a traveler from the 15th century), the name still stands. When we finished touring the castle we had lunch at the top. I spent the rest of the day working on blogs and researching, only stopping to go shopping for a little and to watch the World Cup in the lobby (Unlucky 5th shot for Chile) and to get dinner. Beyond that, nothing much happened. It was the day of rest that we needed before Florence.