We have seen Hadrian's Villa, so the next place on our list only made sense to be his castle.
He actually built it as a tomb for himself and his family.
Pretty morbid actually when you think about it.
it then grew and changed. later it became a fortress and castle.
Then it was used for executions and prisoners.
Also as a papal refuse in times of trouble, with a private raised walkway from the castle to The Vatican.
The outside looks pretty imposing - a large and impenetrable cylinder.
The fortress has quite a few items dotted about - replica's I assume? Still looks good!
The original flooring - Walking in ancient footsteps.
The papal rooms are crazy richly decorated - weird to think not far away are the prisoners dungeons.
The Castle got it name from the Archangel Michael. Legend has it, the angel appeared on top of the castle and sheathed a flaming sword. This signaled the end of a plague in 590, so they names the castle Sant'Angelo.
We found a little place just off the main tourist stress, and went for their antipasti. It was totally different to what we have had before - not to my taste as it has lots of pickled vegetables, which I found a bit mushy and vingary.
But on the plus side - it also came with meatballs, hams, mozzarella, bread and a lentil dish.
And that was antipasti for one!
We were just going for a wonder around the center after taking in the castle
AND FOUND THIS PLACE!
The cat sanctuary. I kind knew of it, and had wondered why we hadn't seen it. SO CUTE!
Much Love
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