For the past couple of years, Rome has been buzzing with renewal and beautification projects designed to give Italy’s ancient capital a much-needed facelift. Brand new piazzas have seen the light of day, old squares have been given a loving overhaul and ambitious new infrastructure projects – most notably Rome’s metro Line C – are underway after years of debate.
Hundreds of construction sites of varying sizes have been active over the past year, requiring great patience from the Romans.
NEW ATTRACTIONS
In all this renovation and building zeal, there is a real gem that has now – after hundreds of years of silence and hermetic closure – been opened to the public. It’s a previously ‘secret’ corridor known as il Passetto, but for many years the Romans simply called it er Coridore, the Corridor. It is an attraction that will appeal to those with an interest in church and urban history and architecture.
Il Passetto has a somewhat mythical status, perhaps because the common Roman did not have access to the secret corridor.
Via this 800m-long corridor it was possible for the Pope, in the event of threats from enemy forces, to leave the Vatican quickly and unseen for refuge in the more secure Castel Sant’Angelo.
The corridor’s origins go back to the ninth century, when Pope Leo IV laid the first stones for a massive city wall that would defend St Peter’s Basilica and Vatican City against frequent attacks, especially from the hostile Saracens. However, it was in 1277 that the secret corridor, on top of the 15m-high masonry, began to take shape.
Towards the end of the 15th century, Pope Borgia VI added a superstructure to certain parts of the corridor to increase security on these covered sections. This would soon prove to be a much-needed initiative, because in 1494 it was this same Pope who had to jog the 800m through the corridor as the enemy troops, fighting under Charles VIII of France, approached Vatican City.
In 1527, the escape corridor was again used when the then Pope Clement VII – the famous year of the sack of Rome – was attacked by the same Charles VIII of France and his German mercenaries. The Pope’s private army, the Swiss Guards, fought against the enemy forces. They lost the battle but managed to stall long enough for the Pope to reach safety at Castel Sant’Angelo. Today, bullet holes that are around 500 years old can still be seen in parts of the masonry around St Peter’s Basilica.
ENTERTAINING TALES
Despite its long status as a hermetically sealed area in the centre of Rome, the corridor has found its way into several film productions. In American author Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons (2000), the corridor plays a central role in the novel’s plot. In the 2009 film of the same name, we don’t see the corridor itself, although it is mentioned as part of the story.
The Corridor was also present in Roman Holiday (1953). Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, who fall in love while travelling across Rome, are seen dancing in front of Castel Sant’Angelo and il Passetto.
For the opening of the corridor, Italian press has been full of articles of various ‘city tales’, believable or not. For example, it is said that Pope Alexander VI used the corridor when he had to visit prisoners in Castel Sant’Angelo. Another – and more colourful – story is that he also used the corridor when he wanted to visit unseen his mistresses.
NEW AND DIFFERENT VIEWS
The Popes had direct access to il Passetto via the famous palace, the Palazzo Apostolico, inside the Vatican. Today, the meeting point to access the corridor has moved to the Torre del Mascherino, a small tower in Piazza della Città Leonina, about 200m from the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica.
When you enter il Passetto, it is almost as being in a page of Rome’s history book. Up on the masonry you have a clear view of large parts of the Borgo district near the Vatican – the brown, greyish and ochre-coloured rooftops, small private terrace gardens, the mighty dome of St Peter’s Basilica and street environments that you otherwise only have a view of in the middle of the city’s hectic traffic. The view of the dome of St Peter’s Basilica from 15m above street level is a unique experience.
The experience of entering the covered part of the corridor is intense. The atmosphere is a mixture of mystery and tension. If you close your eyes for a short while, it may not take much imagination to feel you have the enemy at your back and have to scramble to get to a safer place.
In the second half of il Passetto, Castel Sant’Angelo comes into view, and here too the corridor offers new and different angles down towards Rome’s streets and alleys. At the end of the tour at Castel Sant’Angelo you step on to a lower terrace, where beautiful views suddenly open up over the Tiber and large parts of the city.
This impressive beautification project began in 2018 and opened at Christmas 2024 in conjunction with the beginning of the Catholic Jubilee year.
For this event, Church and city seem to walk hand in hand, and at regular intervals new squares and areas around Rome are being inaugurated as a sign that this Jubilee is having a positive impact on the city’s architecture and infrastructure. A different face is slowly being revealed.
VISITING IL PASSETTO
A visit to il Passetto is organised in groups of about 20 persons, always with an authorised guide who is available on site and who tells about the history of the area in Italian or English. Various times are available, including the possibility of an evening visit. The entrance is at the small tower on a corner of Piazza della Città Leonina, near the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica.
Buy tickets for Il Passetto.
