Borgo

Borgo grew up around the earliest pilgrim routes to St Peter's and kept its medieval, walled character even as part of the district was demolished under Mussolini to create Via della Conciliazione, the broad avenue that now delivers a dramatic, deliberately staged first view of St Peter's dome from the river. Castel Sant'Angelo, originally Hadrian's mausoleum and later a papal fortress and prison, anchors the neighbourhood's northern end, connected to the Vatican by a secret elevated passage still visible along its wall. The surviving narrow lanes just off the main avenue, like Borgo Pio, retain a quieter, more residential medieval feel. It functions largely as the approach to the Vatican, but rewards a slower look on its own terms.