Ponte Sant'Angelo

Ponte Sant'Angelo (English: Bridge of the Holy Angel) is the bridge in Rome, Italy that connects the Castel Sant'Angelo to the historical centre of the city, extending over the Tiber. By extension, it is also part of the main route between Rome and Vatican City.

History[]

Castel Sant'Angelo originated as the mausoleum of the Roman emperor Hadrian, and the Ponte Sant'Angelo was first constructed to link the city to this to this tomb that was situated just on the other side of the Tiber.^[1]

In 1450, its a mob of pilgrims rushing across the bridge on their way to St. Peter's Basilica caused the balustrades to buckle. A mass drowning ensued from the ensuing collapse of the bridge.^[1]

Around 1506, it was outside the Castel Sant'Angelo that the Italian Assassin Lo Sparviero secretly met with Sirus Favero for advice on hunting "Il Corvo", the enigmatic leader of the Templar counter-Assassin unit called the Crows. Unbeknownst to the Assassins, Sirus was Il Corvo himself and had been hiding his identity by cooperating with them; on this occasion, he was encouraging them to hunt Borgia messengers for intel. Lo Sparviero intercepted one such messenger nearby who had been carrying a letter to the Crows, but he found Sirus suspicious while handing off the letter to him.^[2]^[3] Acting on his intuition, the Assassin tailed Sirus over the bridge, eventually being lured into an ambush.^[2]

At the climax of the final battle with the Crows, Lo Sparviero crossed underneath the bridge to avoid the massive guards on it,^[4] and assassinated Sirus.^[5]

Trivia[]

The bridge was a restricted area in Brotherhood, except in certain memories, such as "The Ezio Auditore Affair".
The bridge was formerly known as Pons Aelius or Ponte Aelius.
Historically, the statues on the bridge were not placed until 1527 by order of Pope Clement VII.
In Assassin's Creed: Identity, due to the different game engine, the arrangement of scaffolds under the bridge are different from Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
In Assassin's Creed: Identity, in the memory "Saviors of Roma", to complete the full synchronization, the player have to cross underneath the bridge.