The oldest caffè in Rome

The oldest caffè in Rome is in 86, Via Condotti and its name is Caffè Greco. Founded in 1760, some of the most influential people of the last two and half centuries entered this place. During the XIX century this place was visited by musicians like Mendelssohn, Wagner and Berlioz, writers like Leopardi, Stendhal, Gogol' and Twain, patriots like Silvio Pellico and philosophers like Schopenhauer. In 1906 a very characteristic person went there: Buffalo Bill with some Red Indians! This visit is witnessed by a photo which still hangs inside. 

The angel of St.Angel Castle

 

Why St. Angel Castle is called this way and why on top of it there is a bronze statue of an angel? This monument is also known as Mausoleum of Hadrian and it was built under his rule at the beginning of the II century A.D.. It seems that in the year 590 a terrible plague raged through the city and to stop it the pope Gregorio I Magno organised a procession. At the moment of passing in front of the Mausoleum of Hadrian to go towards St. Peter, the archangel Michael was seen hovering in the sky while putting away the sword, an act which was interpreted as a sign that the plague would have ended soon. Indeed, not much later, the plague ended and the Mausoleum of Hadrian became castellum Sancti Angeli, Castel Sant'Angelo.