Castel Sant'Angelo Privately: Where the Vatican Meets Rome

The castle sits exactly where papal Rome meets the secular city, and that position explains everything about it. Hadrian commissioned it as a tomb for himself and his family, on the far bank, reached by a bridge he built for the purpose. Centuries later the popes took the structure over and used it for the three things a threatened institution needs: somewhere to survive a siege, somewhere to keep the Church's treasure, and somewhere to lock up its enemies. All three functions ran in the same building at once. The private tour goes through the papal apartments, decorated at some expense for men who might have to live in them without warning, and then along the corridors of the prison, where the guide tells the stories of the noble prisoners held here and how several of them died. It ends on the terrace under Saint Michael, with the legends attached to the statue and a view that runs from the white wedding-cake bulk of the Vittoriano across the whole centre to the dome of St Peter's. Two things to know: the route includes stairs, and all sales are final, with no refund for cancellations. The tour can be adjusted to your requirements on request.