Running behind, and crossing the back streets of the Borgo, is the covered passage intended for the escape of the popes to the castle. It was used by Alexander VI. when invaded by Charles VIII. in 1494, and twice by Clement VII. (Giulio di Medici), who fled, in 1527, from Moncada, viceroy of Naples, and in May, 1527, during the terrible sack of Rome by the troops of the Constable de Bourbon.
"Pendant que l'on se battait, Clement VII. était en prières devant l'autel de sa chapelle au Vatican, détail singulier chez un homme qui avait commencé sa carrière par être militaire. Lorsque les cris des mourants lui annoncèrent la prise de la ville, il s'enfuit du Vatican au château St. Ange par le long corridor qui s'élève au-dessus des plus hautes maisons. L'historien Paul-Jove, qui suivait Clement VII., relevait sa longue robe pour qu'il pût marcher plus vîte, et lorsque le pape fut arrivé au pont qui le laissait à découvert pour un instant, Paul-Jove le couvrit de son manteau et de son chapeau violet, de peur qu'il ne fût reconnu à son rochet blanc et ajusté par quelque soldat bon tireur.
"Pendant cette longue fuite le long du corridor, Clement VII. apercevait au-dessous de lui, par les petites fenêtres, ses sujets poursuivis par les soldats vainqueurs qui déjà se répandaient dans les rues. Ils ne faisaient aucun quartier à personne, et tuaient à coups de pique tout ce qu'ils pouvaient atteindre."—Stendhal, i. 388.
"The Escape" consists of two passages; the upper open like a loggia, the lower covered, and only lighted by loop-holes. The keys of both are kept by the pope himself.
S. Angelo is at the entrance of the Borgo, promised at the Italian invasion of September, 1870, as the sanctuary of the papacy, the tiny sovereignty where the temporal sway of the popes should remain undisturbed,—the sole relic left to them of all their ancient dominions. The Borgo, or Leonine City, is surrounded by walls of its own, which were begun in A.D. 846, by Pope Leo IV., for the better defence of St. Peter's from the Saracens, who had been carrying their devastations up to the very walls of Rome. These walls, 10,800 feet in circumference, were completed in four years by labourers summoned from every town and monastery of the Roman states. Pope Leo himself daily encouraged their exertions by his presence. In 852 the walls were solemnly consecrated by a vast procession of the whole Roman clergy barefooted, their heads strewn with ashes, who sprinkled them with holy water, while the pope offered a prayer composed by himself,[322] at each of the three gates.
The adjoining Piazza Pia is decorated with a fountain erected by Pius IX. The principal of the streets which meet here is the Via del Borgo Nuovo, the main artery to St. Peter's. On its left is the Church of Sta. Maria Traspontina, built 1566, containing two columns which bear inscriptions, stating that they were those to which St. Peter and St. Paul were respectively attached, when they suffered flagellation by order of Nero!
This church occupies the site of a Pyramid supposed to have been erected to Scipio Africanus, who died at Liternum, B.C. 183, and which was regarded in the middle ages as the tomb of Romulus. Its sides were once coated with marble, which was stripped off by Donus I. This pyramid is represented on the bronze doors of St Peter's.
A little further is the Palazzo Giraud, belonging to Prince Torlonia. It was built, 1506, by Bramante, for Cardinal Adriano da Corneto,[323] who gave it to Henry VIII., by whom it was given to Cardinal Campeggio. Thus it was for a short time the residence of the English ambassador before the Reformation. Innocent XII. converted it into a college for priests, by whom it was sold to the Marquis Giraud.
Facing this palace is the Piazza Scossa Cavalli, with a pretty fountain. Its name bears witness to a curious legend, which tells how when St. Helena returned from Palestine, bringing with her the stone on which Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, and that on which the Virgin Mary sate down at the time of the presentation of the Saviour in the Temple, the horses drawing these precious relics stood still at this spot, and refused every effort to make them move. Then Christian people, "recognising the finger of God," erected a church on this spot (S. Giacomo Scossa Cavalli), where the stones are still to be seen.
The Strada del Borgo Sto. Spirito contains the immense Hospital of Santo Spirito, running along the bank of the Tiber. This establishment was founded in 1198 by Innocent III. Sixtus IV., in 1471, ordered it to be rebuilt by Bacio Pintelli, who added a hall 376 feet long by 44 high and 37 wide. Under Benedict XIV., Ferdinando Fuga built another great hall. The altar in the midst of the great hall is the only work of Andrea Palladio in Rome. The church was designed by Bacio Pintelli, but built by Antonio di San Gallo under Paul III. Under Gregory XIII., Ottaviano Mascherino built the palace of the governor, which unites the hospital with the church.