The photos are some of the perfect views from the top level of the castle. In one of the photos you can see an aqueduct running from the castle to the Vatican. That's actually a popeaduct, as its sole purpose is to house a raised passageway connecting the Vatican palace to the castle, enabling the pope to flee to the greater protection afforded by the castle during all the riots and invasions.

Since the popes spent alot of time here, the interior, which was previously focused on housing and torturing prisoners, evolved to a sort of palace, albeit with no windows and really thick walls. One practical note to visitors; the only public bathroom is on the entry level at the roof, prior to descending through the many levels of the palace to the eventual exit. So go before you start the descent, or you'll regret the very long backtrack.

Hadrian had his mausoleum decorated with elaborate artwork and sculptures. Unfortunately not much of this survives, chiefly because the popes decided to make this their personal fortress, and hightailed it here whenever the going got rough (which was often, because in the years from 500 to 1500 AD, Rome experienced an invasion or rebellion on average every two years). The statues, which were made by the empire's best sculptors, were used as artillery in 527. Surrounded by invading barbarians, the pope ordered his soldiers to cut down the statues and hurl them at the barbarians below. The strategy worked apparently as the barbarians fled the deluge of statuary.

We walked north along the river to perhaps my favorite building in Rome, the Castel Sant'Angelo. The circular tower was built by Emperor Hadrian in 138 AD to be his tomb. He purposely chose this place on the "wrong" side of the Tiber so it could be a peaceful, permanent memorial to his greatness. The beautiful bridge crossing the Tiber to allow people to come and pay homage was also built around that time. When Hadrian died, he was of course buried in the building, but due to its unparalleled defensive position, it was immediately turned into Rome's chief fort, prison and torture center. Public executions took place almost every day with the dead left swinging from the bridge, while the many levels of subterranean dungeons hosted most of the torturing activity.