The three lives of an extraordinary monument: Mausoleum, Castle, and finally Museum
Part one. The Mausoleum
Over the more than nineteen centuries of its history, the Mausoleum has had three lives. The first as a Mausoleum and dynastic tomb of Hadrian and his successors. The second as a Castle, an impregnable fortress that withstood every siege, even the Landsknechts. And the third as a National Museum, after a sad interlude during which it was used as a barracks and prison.
Monumental architecture has always been a symbol of Power. During their lifetime, sovereigns and aristocrats lived in luxurious palaces and mansions; their afterlife could not be less so, so they built equally grandiose and monumental tombs. This occurred in the Egyptian world (Pyramids), in Oriental and Hellenistic world (Mausoleum of Halicarnassus), and also in the Etruscan (large tumuli), Italic, and then Roman worlds.
Since the Republican era, the tombs of Rome's most famous figures were built along the consular roads to have maximum visibility. Aristocratic families competed in building increasingly imposing tombs, which were symbols of the power and prestige of their Gens.
For example, the Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella on the Appian Way in Rome and the Mausoleum of the Plauzi on the Via Tiburtina near the Ponte Lucano in Tivoli; both were built at strategic points of high traffic.
The Mausoleum of Augustus, the first great imperial dynastic tomb, must also be seen in this context. While still alive, Augustus ordered its construction in the Campus Martius, a site of great symbolic significance, where the funerals of the most important Roman figures had been celebrated and temples built in their honor.
On his Mausoleum, Augustus had the Res Gestae affixed, his celebratory autobiography engraved on bronze tablets, which reminded posterity of all he had done for Rome, making it greater than ever. The Mausoleum was one aspect of the propaganda celebrating the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
By the early 2nd century AD, there was no more room in the Mausoleum of Augustus. The last emperor to be buried there was Nerva, while Trajan (died 117 AD) was buried within the city walls, a highly exceptional event, and his urn was placed in the base of Trajan's Column.
Even in the Campus Martius there was no longer room for a monument of that size, so Hadrian decided to build his new dynastic Mausoleum in the same area, but on the opposite bank of the Tiber, in the the Horti Domitiae that since long time belonged to the imperial House.
To reach them, he built the Pons Aelius, which was the monumental and scenic access to the tomb. Also nearby was a very important road, the Via Triumphalis, along which the triumphal processions of the great Roman leaders had always passed.
With its circular shape, Hadrian's Mausoleum was obviously inspired by that of Augustus, whom Hadrian considered himself the ideal successor. Like Augustus, he had put an end to the wars of conquest and sought to consolidate the empire's borders, launching an ambitious program of construction and restoration of public buildings. Among which, of course the Pantheon, one of the architectural masterpieces of all time, deserves mention.
In the Late Antiquity and Middle Ages, the Mausoleum of Hadrian was robbed of its metals, marble, and all precious materials, a fate shared by many other monuments of Roman antiquity.
But supported by the study of on ancient sources, Renaissance descriptions, archival research, and the results of excavations and on-site surveys, it has been possible to at least partially reconstruct its ancient appearance.
The Pons Aelius (Aelius Bridge) was the monumental and scenic access to the Mausoleum. Originally, it had eight arches: three larger central ones and five others of decreasing size, to adapt to the varying water levels of the river. An extraordinary example of Roman mastery in the field of hydraulics.
The Bridge is still supported by three large original pillars, carefully constructed to withstand the river current. It was originally decorated with eight columns and was clad in travertine.
The original sections of the bridge, including the flint-paved road and the travertine sidewalks, had been incorporated and hidden by countless medieval and modern modifications and additions. At the end of the 19th century they were rediscovered and partially demolished to build the new riverbanks of the Lungotevere.
A ramp connected the Pons Aelius to the Mausoleum, which was surrounded by a bronze gate decorated with gilded bronze peacocks, two of which are now in the Vatican Museums.
The Mausoleum had a large square Base Podium clad in marble and decorated with a splendid frieze of bull heads, of which only a magnificent fragment remains, on display in the Museum.
The Base Podium had on one side the only entrance to the Mausoleum, a large Vestibule, from which a 100-meter-long Spiral Ramp goes upward to reach the second Vestibule on the upper level, with a spiral path. From there, the Hall of the Burial Urns was accessed: the very heart of the building, completely clad in precious marble and illuminated by two large window-tunnels, with three niches for the sarcophagi.
Another route led to the upper part of the Mausoleum, specifically to the Temple at the summit, crowned by a Quadriga of the Sun driven by the deified Emperor Hadrian, depicted as Sol Invictus, which had a precise symbolic meaning.
The original structures of Hadrian's Mausoleum that survived collapse and destruction, were enclosed within a Renaissance shell when the tomb was transformed into a fortress.
Through meticulous research and field surveys, we were able to strip the Mausoleum of all its additions and virtually revisit it through the centuries, offering a new and unprecedented reconstruction of its original appearance.
You can rediscover the original parts of the Bridge and the Mausoleum thanks to the book of Marina De Franceschini «Castel Sant'Angelo. Mausoleum of Hadrian. Architecture & Light» also in English edition.
It's a real guide to visiting Castel Sant’Angelo with new eyes, understanding its hidden symbolic meaning. It will accompany you in a journey throughout the centuries, retracing the three lives of this extraordinary monument, where some of the greatest artists and architects of Roman antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance worked and met.
The book - also in English Edition - is on sale in the Bookshop of the National Museum of Castel Sant'Angelo.