博物馆 Museo Nazionale Castel Sant'Angelo

Audio n. 1

You are inside the Castle of the Holy Angel. It was originally founded as a funeral mausoleum built by Hadrian and completed in 139 A.D; over the centuries it had many functions, first it was used by the popes as a fortress, then only fortress and prison for political prisoners, and now a museum. For those who love the opera,  the Puccini set here his famous opera “Tosca”. The discovery of a coin has unveiled the original shape of the mausoleum, a pyre surmounted by a chariot le by Hadrian. Right after you passed the ticket booth you will able to see three gigantic second century male heads made in white marble. Perhaps one represents Apollo, the other one is the young Antinous, lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian. The floor where you are walking is mostly originated since Roman times. Going ahead you will notice the chapel of the Condemned near the Courtyard of Shootings, where in 1800, where held executions they didn’t want to make in public.