Mausoleum Hadriani

Mausoleum Hadriani (now Castel Sant'Angelo) located on the right bank of the Tiber River was an imperial mausoleum built by Hadrian between 134 and 139 CE. It continued as a tomb for subsequent emperors through to Caracalla, who died in 217 CE. By 401 the tomb had become a fortress with Honorius incorporating it into the line of the Aurelianic walls. During Alaric's sacking of Rome in 410 the mausoleum was looted and the ash urns dispersed. Procopius describes the destruction of the tomb's bronze statuary in 537. By the fourteenth century, the mausoleum had become a papal fortress. At one point, a fortified corridor known as Passetto di Borgo connected the fortress to St. Peter's Basilica.