Fully accessible

Historic papal escape route in Rome restored

The covered corridor leads 700 meters from the Vatican Palaces through the heart of the medieval Borgo Pio in the shadow of St. Peter's Basilica to Castel Sant'Angelo on the riverbank, once considered the most secure of all papal fortresses.(Bild: AP)

The historic escape route of the popes from the Vatican to Castel Sant'Angelo has been reopened after six months of restoration work. Among others, Pope Clement VII used the secret passageway known as the "Passetto" to escape when the mercenaries of Emperor Charles V plundered the Eternal City in 1527. 

The corridor was partially reopened in three stages, first in 1999, then in 2005 and finally in 2013. Thanks to the latest restoration, the path is now almost completely accessible

Before its reopening in 1999, the Passetto had long been home to vagrants and a route for burglars, and during the Second World War it served as a hiding place for anti-fascist fugitives. 

Until the first costly restoration work was completed in 1999, the interior of the corridor remained a secret, accessible only to a select few with the right connections.(Bild: AP)

A covered corridor leads from the Vatican palaces through the heart of the medieval Borgo Pio.(Bild: AP)

The covered passageway leads 700 meters from the Vatican Palaces through the heart of the medieval Borgo Pio in the shadow of St. Peter's Basilica to Castel Sant'Angelo on the riverbank, once considered the most secure of all papal fortresses.(Bild: AP)

The "Passetto" was built in 1277 by Pope Nicholas III on the walls originally erected by Pope Leo IV in 847-851 to protect the Vatican from the Saracens. The Saracens had advanced to the mouth of the Tiber with their warships to plunder the city.

During the restoration work, the restorers found inscriptions on the walls by anti-fascists who had fled to the Vatican during the Second World War.(Bild: AFP)

After Nicholas, other popes added towers and reinforcements and adorned the outside of the corridor - or the Passetto del Borgo, as it is popularly known - with their emblems.