It is connected to the left bank of the Tiber by Ponte Elio, today's Ponte Sant'Angelo, decorated with ten marble statues of angels with the symbols of the passion of Christ, carved after a design by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The monument's fate was decided in 403, when the Emperor Honorius incorporated it into the city walls, making it into a bridgehead on the river. From the 13th century it became an annexe of the nearby Vatican, and Pope Nicholas III created the famous Passetto di Borgo, a covered corridor connecting St. Peter's to the Castle. The fortress became famous down through time, especially as a prison; here Benvenuto Cellini and the famous adventurer Giuseppe Balsamo, known as the Count of Cagliostro, were imprisoned.

The name with which the fortress is known derives from a miraculous event which took place in 590: Rome was in the midst of a severe plague,
and Pope Gregory the Great had organised a solemn procession to pray for its end. When the procession reached the Mole of Hadrian,
Archangel Michael was seen flying up and sheathing his flaming sword, symbolising the end of the plague. The statue of the angel,
placed on the top of the castle to commemorate the event, was replaced six times. Leaving Castel Sant'Angelo behind us and again going along the Tiber,
we go past the Palace of Justice and reach Ponte Cavour, on the other side of which is the Ara Pacis.

The altar of peace was ordered by Augustus to celebrate the peace in the Empire after the conquests of Gaul and Spain. The monument,
which originally stood near the present-day Via in Lucina in the Campus Martius quarter, was moved here in 1938.
Before the altar is the Mausoleum built by Augustus as a tomb for himself and his family.

The monument, which fell into abandon, was at various times used as a vineyard, a garden and, in the late 16th century, an area for tournaments and bullfights. At the end of the 19th century it was called Anfiteatro Umberto, and from 1905 to 1930 it was a concert hall called Augusteo. At the end of the 1930s the monument was separated from its surroundings, with the creation of the large  piazza Augusto Imperatore.

Right on the piazza, at no. 9, we recommend the restaurant 'Gusto (06 3226273), with extremely refined cuisine and decor; on Saturdays and Sundays it is also open for lunch. Also, for excellent fettuccine, at no. 30 there is Alfredo all'Augusteo (06 6878734). Length of itinerary: entire day.
Practical information: Synagogue and Jewish Museum, open from 9 a.m. to 4.30 p.m., Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1.30 p.m., Sundays from 9 a.m. to noon,
closed Saturdays. Castel Sant'Angelo, open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Mondays.

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