The stone bridge was constructed here at the behest of Emperor Hadrian, who desired to connect his newly built mausoleum (present-day Castel Sant’ Angelo – Castle of the Holy Angel) with the city. Works on it lasted from the year 121 to 134, while they were supervised by an architect by the name of Demetriano. It was built on four pillars placed on the bottom of the river, and it was 135 meters long. The surface was made out of basalt, while the balustrades out of travertine. Initially it bore the emperor’s name and was not oft-used. All of that changed during Christian times. St. Peter was made its patron and it was not until the VII century that it took on the name still used today – Bridge of the Holy Angel. The name itself is connected with a legend, according to which, during a procession led by Gregory the Great, with the goal of putting an end to the epidemic of the plague, the Archangel Michael was to have appeared to the pope at the top of the mausoleum. As we can guess this was a miraculous sign: the plague subsided, the mausoleum was transformed into a papal fortress and was named Castle of the Holy Angel, along with the bridge leading to it. This was the only tract connecting the city with the Vatican  and with its most important structure – St. Peter’s Basilica. The pilgrims flowing into Rome, flooded it, going one way or the other. These included pedestrians, riders, as well as carts pulled by mules, while transport was made even more difficult by the numerous stands with food and devotional articles. We can only imagine, as the huge crowds made their way through the bridge during the celebration of the Jubilee Years, but even at other times it was constantly crowded. Accidents were of course quite frequent, as for instance, the one that occurred during the Jubilee Year of 1450, which is remembered in history as the most tragic. During the hot summer the city was filled with corpses of pilgrims and Romans dropping like flies due to the plague. Rome was not prepared for such an influx of pilgrims, while the sanitary conditions were drastic indeed. As if that was not enough, in September, the frightened mule of one of the cardinals, attacked people, causing damage to one of the balustrades and death of approximately 200 people, who in panic fell or were pushed down into the Tiber. In order to commemorate the victims of this tragedy, at the enterance onto the bridge from the city, Pope Nicholas V ordered the construction of two votive chapels dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene and the Holy Innocents (a reference to the biblical children, who fell victim to the slaughter in Bethlehem). Less than a century later, these chapels were removed by the next pope, Clement VII, who erected two statues dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, that are still standing today. Later, gradually statues of the patriarchs and the four Evangelists were added, attempting to adorn the bridge in this way, but it was not until Pope Clement IX, that the tract was reconstructed (1669) and given a uniform artistic expression. This task was entrusted to the greatest artist of that time – the nearly 70-year-old Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The sculptor kept only the two figures flanking the bridge (Peter and Paul), while the rest he planned in a way befitting him: full of finesse, surprising and as was fit for Bernini – theatrical. He desired to turn the bridge into a veritable Via Crucis, which would at the same time be a sort of a moral sign-post leading to the Basilica of San Pietro in Vaticano. The bridge, decorated in such a way, greeted pilgrims, who flooded into the city for the Jubilee Year of 1675.

Bernini designed all the figures of the angels visible here today, while two of these he created himself. The rest (eight) were completed by his trusted young students, but also his rivals – the most outstanding sculptors working in the Eternal City at that time (Ercole Ferrata, Cosimo Fancelli, Antonio Raggi) – those, whom the pope was able to convince to work together with the apodictic master. And thus was created a row of slender angles holding up the symbols of the Passion of Christ.

The Stations of the Cross begin with the statues of two patrons of the city. The inscriptions adorning the sculpture plinths remind us that: “Here forgiveness to the humble” (Peter) and “Here punishment for the prideful” (Paul). Then come in order:

Angel with the Column (Antonio Raggi) – reminding of the torture of Christ tied to a column;

Angel with the Whips (Lazzaro Morelli) – recalling the flagellation of Christ at that very column;

Angel with the Crown of Thorns (Paolo Naldini) – showing the humiliation of Christ by crowning him with a crown of thorns;

Angel with the Sudarium, meaning the veil of St. Veronica (Cosimo Fancelli) – referring to the face of Christ in a miraculous way preserved on the veil;

Angel with the Garment and Dice (Pietro Paolo Naldini) – relating to Christ’s clothing, over which his oppressors gambled playing dice;

Angel with Nails (Giacomo Lucetti) – which recalls the suffering of Christ nailed to the cross;

Angel with the Cross (Ercole Ferrata) – recalling his suffering on the cross;

Angel with the Superscription (Giulio Cartari) – bringing back the memory of the plaque with the initials of the King of Jews (INRI), which the Romans mounted above Christ’s head;

Angel with the Sponge (Antonio Giorgetti) –   showing the sponge filled with vinegar which was given to the dying Christ in order to bind his wounds (or as a refreshment);

Angel with the Lance (Domenico Guidi) – referring to the final blow struck by the Roman centurion (after his conversion known as Longinus), in order to end Christ’s suffering.

But where are Bernini’s angels, which the great sculptor was not only to design but also complete? We will not find them on the bridge. Currently they are located in the Church of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte. The master did indeed sculpt them (Angel with the Superscription and Angel with a Crown of Thorns), with the idea of putting them on the bridge, however the pope, charmed with their beauty, reportedly did not want them to have to be subject to wind, rain and severe weather. This is the official version – the unofficial one is more prosaic. Clement IX, or more appropriately his nepot desired to keep the statues for himself and place them in his residence. Dissatisfied with such a situation, Bernini entrusted his students with making copies and their works are found on the bridge today. Bernini’s sculptures ultimately remained at the master’s workshop and many years after his death were given as a gift by his descendants to the nearby church.

The Bridge of the Holy Angel, had for centuries fulfilled another, very irreligious function – this was one of the sites where executions took place. Bandits and enemies of the papacy were executed here – while their heads or bodies frequently hung over the riverbed of the Tiber for many days after the sentence had been carried out. It was here that Beatrice Cenci was executed. The saying comparing the number of cut off heads with melons came about during the times of Pope Sixtus V who was particularly severe on all kinds of criminals. At a time period, closer to our own, a guillotine was place there, which was used for the first time in the State of the Church in 1810.

At the end of the XIX century during works fortifying the banks of the Tiber, which were to secure the city against constant floods, the bridge was reconstructed, removing ramps on both of its sides and putting two spans in their place. It was at that time that other bridges connecting the city with the Vatican were built, including the one which was a kind of a challenge to the papacy – the Bridge of Victor Emmanuel II.