Page 21 - Clipper Cruise Book

Castel Sant’ Angelo  Online Video: Castel Sant’ Angelo (1m 2s)

Popes often hid here when their lives were in danger, which used to happen pretty
often. However, the Sant Angelo Castle was actually built to be a mausoleum for
Roman Emperor Hadrian between 123 and 139 AD and looked more like a fortress
than a burial place. Emperor Flavius Augustus Honorius incorporated the castle into
Rome’s Aurelian Walls. It is linked to the Vatican through an underground tunnel.

Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth)
is a marble mask which stands
against the left wall of the portico of
the Santa Maria in Cosmedin church.
It attracts visitors who stick their
hand in the mouth. The legend is
that if you’re given to lying, your
hand will be bitten off when you put
in the mouth.

Gregory Peck shows Audry Hepburn the Mouth of Truth
in the 1953 film, Roman Holiday. He didn’t tell Hepburn
that he was going to pretend his hand was bit by the
mouth. Her reaction and scream were real.
 Online Video: Mouth of Truth clip from Roman
Holiday

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