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Ponte Sant'Angelo Pons Aelius
Ponte Sant'Angelo, Rome
Coordinates	41°54′07″N 12°27′59″E / 41.90192°N 12.46645°E / 41.90192; 12.46645
Crosses	Tiber
Locale	Rome
Other name(s)	Aelius Bridge
Characteristics
Material	Masonry
Total length	135 m (443 ft)
Height	7 m (23 ft)
No. of spans	5
History
Designer	Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Location
Click on the map for a fullscreen view

Ponte Sant'Angelo, originally the Aelian Bridge or Pons Aelius, is a Roman bridge in Rome, Italy, completed in 134 AD by Roman Emperor Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus), to span the Tiber from the city centre to his newly constructed mausoleum, now the towering Castel Sant'Angelo. The bridge is faced with travertine marble and spans the Tiber with five arches, three of which are Roman; it was approached by means of a ramp from the river. The bridge is now solely pedestrian and provides a scenic view of Castel Sant'Angelo. It links the rioni of Ponte (which was named after the bridge itself), and Borgo, to which the bridge administratively belongs.

History

Starting with the early Middle Ages, the original name was forgotten: after the ruin of Nero's Bridge, pilgrims were forced to use this bridge to reach St Peter's Basilica, hence it was known also with the name of "bridge of Saint Peter" (pons Sancti Petri). In the sixth century, under Pope Gregory I, both the castle and the bridge took on the name Sant'Angelo, explained by a legend that an angel appeared on the roof of the castle to announce the end of the plague. Dante writes in his Divine Comedy that during the jubilee of 1300, due to the large number of pilgrims going and coming from Saint Peter, two separate lanes were arranged on the bridge. During the 1450 jubilee, balustrades of the bridge collapsed, due to the great crowds of the pilgrims, and many drowned in the river. In response, some houses at the head of the bridge as well as a Roman triumphal arch were pulled down in order to widen the route for pilgrims.

In 1535, Pope Clement VII allocated the toll income of the bridge to erecting the statues of the apostles Saint Peter (holding a book, with the pedestal inscription Rione XIV) by Lorenzetto, and Saint Paul (holding a broken sword and a book, with the pedestal inscription Borgo) by Paolo Romano to which subsequently the four evangelists and the patriarchs were added to other statues representing Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses. For centuries after the 16th century, the bridge was used to expose the bodies of those executed in the nearby Piazza di Ponte, at the left bridge head. In 1669 Pope Clement IX commissioned replacements for the aging stucco angels by Raffaello da Montelupo, commissioned by Paul III. Bernini's program, one of his last large projects, called for ten angels holding instruments of the Passion: he personally only finished the two originals of the Angel with the Superscription "I.N.R.I." and the Angel with the Crown of Thorns, but these were kept by Clement IX for his own pleasure. They are now in the church of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, also in Rome.

At the end of the 19th century, due to the works for the construction of the Lungotevere, the two Roman ramps which linked the bridge with the two banks were destroyed, and in their place two arches similar to the Roman ones were built.

For the Great Jubilee in 2000, the Lungotevere on the right bank between the bridge and the castle became a pedestrian area.

On 21 October 2019 Austrian activist Alexander Tschugguel threw five Pachamama statues, which he had stolen from a display at Santa Maria in Traspontina as part of the Amazon Synod, off of the bridge into the Tiber.

List of angels

Image	Title by Sculptor	Inscription
	Angel with the Column by Antonio Raggi	Tronus meus in columna
	Angel with the Whips by Lazzaro Morelli	In flagella paratus sum
	Angel with the Crown of Thorns by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and son Paolo (original at Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, copy by Paolo Naldini)	In aerumna mea dum configitur spina
	Angel with the Sudarium (Veronica's Veil by Cosimo Fancelli	Respice faciem Christi tui
	Angel with the Garment and Dice by Paolo Naldini	Super vestimentum meum miserunt sortem
	Angel with the Nails by Girolamo Lucenti	Aspicient ad me quem confixerunt
	Angel with the Cross by Ercole Ferrata	Cuius principatus super humerum eius
	Angel with the Superscription by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and son Paolo (original at Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, copy by Giulio Cartari	Regnavit a ligno deus.
	Angel with the Sponge by Antonio Giorgetti	Potaverunt me aceto.
	Angel with the Lance by Domenico Guidi	Vulnerasti cor meum.

See also

• Pons Cestius – Ancient Roman bridge, a landmark of Rome, Italy
• List of bridges in Rome
• Roman bridge
• Roman architecture
• Roman engineering

References

Notes

1. Dante, Comedy, Inferno, XVIII, 25-33
2. "Austrian man claims he threw 'Pachamama' statues into the Tiber". Catholic Herald. November 4, 2019.
3. Edward Pentin (2019-11-04). "Austrian Catholic: Why I Threw Pachamama Statues into the Tiber". Ncregister.com. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
4. My throne is upon a column
5. I am ready for the whip. (Ps. 37:18, Sixto-Clementine Vulgate Ed.)
6. in my affliction, whilst the thorn is fastened upon me. (Ps. 31:4, Sixto-Clementine Vulgate Ed.)
7. Look upon the face of Thy Christ.
8. Upon my vesture they cast lots. (Ps. 22:18)
9. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced. (Zech. 12:10)
10. Whose government shall be upon His shoulder. (Isa. 9:6)
11. God has reigned from the Tree.
12. They gave me vinegar to drink. (Ps. 68:22)
13. Thou hast ravished my heart.

Sources

• O’Connor, Colin (1993), Roman Bridges, Cambridge University Press, pp. 65f, ISBN 0-521-39326-4

External links

• Ponte Sant'Angelo at Structurae
• The Waters of Rome: Tiber River Bridges and the Development of the Ancient City of Rome Archived 2008-09-16 at the Wayback Machine
• Ponte di Castel Sant'Angelo Virtual 360° panorama and photos.
• Satellite image
• Angels of the Passion Multimedia feature from Beliefnet.com
• Lucentini, M. (31 December 2012). The Rome Guide: Step by Step through History's Greatest City. Interlink. ISBN 9781623710088.

Media related to Ponte Sant'Angelo (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Roman bridges
England	Chesters Bridge Piercebridge Roman Bridge Pons Aelius
France	Pont Ambroix Pont de Bornègre Pont des Marchands Pont du Gard Pont Flavien Pont Julien Pont Serme Pont sur la Laye Roman Bridge (Saint-Thibéry) Roman Bridge (Vaison-la-Romaine)
Germany	Caesar's Rhine bridges Roman Bridge (Trier)
Iran	Band-e Kaisar
Italy	Pons Aemilius Pons Agrippae Ponte Altinate Pons Cestius Pons Fabricius Pons Neronianus Pons Probi Pons Sublicius Pont d'Aël Pont de Pierre (Aosta) Pont-Saint-Martin Ponte d'Augusto (Narni) Ponte di Tiberio Ponte Corvo Ponte del Gran Caso Ponte Milvio Ponte Molino (Padua) Ponte Nomentano Ponte Pietra (Verona) Ponte di Pioraco Ponte di Quintodecimo Ponte Salario Ponte San Lorenzo Ponte di San Vito Ponte Sant'Angelo Susegana Bridge
Lebanon	Leontes Bridge
Portugal	Ponte de Rubiães Ponte Nova da Cava da Velha Roman Bridge (Chaves) Roman Bridge of Catribana
Romania	Constantine's Bridge (Danube) Trajan's Bridge
Spain	Acueducto de los Milagros Albarregas Roman bridge Alconétar Bridge Aqueduct of Segovia Alcántara Bridge Les Ferreres Aqueduct Puente de Alcántara Puente Romano, Mérida Roman bridge of Ávila Roman bridge of Córdoba Roman bridge of Lugo Roman bridge of Salamanca Roman bridge of Talamanca de Jarama
Syria	Ain Diwar Bridge Bridge at Nimreh Gemarrin Bridge Kharaba Bridge
Turkey	Aesepus Bridge Arapsu Bridge Bridge at Oinoanda Constantine's Bridge (Mysia) Eurymedon Bridge (Aspendos) Eurymedon Bridge (Selge) Karamagara Bridge Kemer Bridge Limyra Bridge Misis Bridge Macestus Bridge Nysa Bridge Penkalas Bridge Pergamon Bridge Sangarius Bridge Severan Bridge Stone Bridge (Adana) Valens Aqueduct Bridge White Bridge (Mysia)
Full list of Roman bridges

• Bridges in Rome
• Pedestrian bridges in Italy
• Roman bridges in Italy
• Deck arch bridges
• Stone bridges in Italy
• Bridges completed in the 2nd century
• Former toll bridges
• Rome R. XIV Borgo
• Hadrian