July 25, 2007

Europe | Italy | Rome

Prison Break

By Nicole Cotroneo

This is one haunted house the Vatican would rather you miss.

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Papal dungeons may not have been the sort of destination Pope Benedict XVI had in mind on Saturday when he praised the merits of vacation. But you’ve still got until August 26 to see the restored prison cells beneath Castel Sant’ Angelo during the sinister hours of night. Criminals and adversaries of the papacy were once imprisoned in the Vatican fortress, originally constructed as an emperor’s mausoleum. In your guided nocturnal tour, you’ll see wall drawings by Renaissance artist Benvenuto Cellini, who, imprisoned for avenging his brother’s murder, attempted an escape by lowering himself through a prison toilet with bed sheets.

Presumably they weren’t the pedigree of linens you’ll find at the St. George Hotel, just half a mile from the Castel, on the opposite bank of the Tiber. Recently reopened after a stylish renovation, the boutique property houses a travertine-paved spa and a rooftop terrace dedicated exclusively to rosé wines. Enjoying your vino with fresh lobster while taking in vistas of the Vatican, you may not be following Pope Benedict’s edicts — but you can surely ponder them: Vacations, he recently remarked from his alpine retreat in the Italian Dolomites, are opportunities to enrich the soul. He should know: he’s only the second pope to say peace-out to Rome.