The Passetto di Borgo, also called Er Coridore di Borgo or the Passetto, is an elevated passage that links Vatican City with the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. The passage is an approximately 800-metre-l
Route of the "Passetto" from the Vatican (in the background) to Castel Sant'Angelo.
The southern side of the "Passetto" seen from the Borgo S. Angelo.
The Passetto in its original context: in background the rear side of Palazzo Rusticucci-Accoramboni seen from Vicolo del Farinone, before the demolition of the neighborhood (c. 1930)
Over the Passetto, going towards the Vatican.
The Sack of Rome, then part of the Papal States, followed the capture of Rome on 6 May 1527 by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, during the War of the League of Cognac. Charles V o
Passetto di Borgo
…crossed it in 1494, when Charles VIII invaded the city and the pope's life was in peril. Clement VII escaped to safety through this passage during the Sack of Rome in 1527, when troops of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, massacred almost the entire Swiss Guard on the steps of St Peter's Basilica. Index of Vatican…
The sack of Rome in 1527, by Johannes Lingelbach, 17th century (private collection)
Sack of Rome. By Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
View of the Passetto di Borgo from Castel Sant'Angelo. St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican pictured in the background.
Sack of Rome. 6 May 1527. By Martin van Heemskerck (1527).