Daily tours in English of normally off-limits areas of Rome's Castel S. Angelo fortress.

Visitors to the Castel S. Angelo museum in Rome can take the new Castello segreto (secret castle) tour which includes areas usually closed to the public, until 20 November.

The main attraction of the tour is the Passetto di Borgo, an 800m-long escape passage which links the former papal fortress to the Vatican. Other highlights include the prisons used from Renaissance times up to the 19th century, while those curious to know what a 16th-century pope’s bathroom looked like can check out the Stufetta di Clement VII.

The museum is open each day from 09.00 to 13.00, with guided Castello segreto tours in English at midday and 16.00, and Italian tours at 11.00 and 15.00. The museum entry fee is €10 plus an extra €5 if joining the guided tour.

Initially built as a mausoleum for the Roman emperor Hadrian and his family, over the centuries Castel S. Angelo was used as a papal fortress and a prison before becoming a state museum in 1925. 

For full details of tours see museum website.