We can now cross the square by the archways, and start walking along Borgo Sant'Angelo, by the wall. The archways in the middle of the square are not original ones: they were opened for the benefit of modern traffic, since only one gate used to be here in the old times, as can be told from old maps (such the one featured on the right).

The Passetto can be followed on its inner (southern) side, because due to changes in time, some old houses of Borgo now lean against the outer side of the wall, or are built very close to it.

Over the centuries, the Passetto underwent alterations almost constantly.

By the end of the 15th century, pope Alexander VI had the passage along the wall doubled: an upper footway was added to the extant gallery through the brick structure: from the outside, you can see the narrow windows which give light to the latter.
This hidden 'corridor' runs from the castle all the way down to the Vatican, as a real escape route; only a few years later, in 1527, pope Clement VII and his court actually used it for this purpose, when Rome was sacked by the mercenaries sent by Charles V. But not everybody made it: a notary called Alberto Serra da Monferrato is remembered for having just reached the end of the passage, when he was stricken by a heart attack ...and lost his life all the same!

The passage, which both names of the wall (i.e. Passetto and Corridore di Borgo) refer to, had become particularly unsteady. After having undergone restoration on the occasion of the Jubilee Year 2000, it was partly reopened to the public after a very long time. However, visits are still now restricted to the first stretch of the passage, and have to be booked in advance as, for safety reasons, only a small number of visitors is let in at the same time.

This clearly shows how many times this wall collapsed and was rebuilt over the parts that had been left standing, yet using different materials. The earliest stones may likely date back to the Middle Ages. A madonnella (i.e. a small shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary) hangs centrally on the pillar. You'll see a much better one by the archway on the corner of vicolo d'Orfeo: it features an 18th century image encased in a wooden frame, with a blue background; the original painting, though, has been recently removed and replaced with a faithful copy, in order to preserve it.

Most archways, located by the crossing with each of the lanes that run through Borgo Nuovo, bear the coat of arms of Pius IV, the pope from the Medici family who built the new wall (see page 1); one of the lanes was even named after his device [map ref. 3], vicolo delle Palline ("Small Balls Lane"), referring to the six spheres on the family's shield. However, this is not the only papal coat of arms that hangs from the Passetto: further towards its Vatican end, you'll also notice the shield of Alexander VI (1492-1503), from the Borgia family, especially as you move towards the Vatican end of the wall.

Walking under either of the aforesaid passages, enter Borgo Nuovo and spend a few minutes taking a stroll through this district: its late medieval street plan, with long and straight parallel roads (each of which called borgo = "borough", whence the name of the district) crossed at right angles by narrow lanes, has remained unchanged.
Many original buildings still look old, despite alterations have been carried out over the years, and looking through open windows of private houses you'll see how some ceilings are still crossed by wooden beams.

As mentioned in page 1, for a very long time this district has been populated mainly by taverns and hostels for the many foreigners who stayed here: pilgrims, merchants, students and, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, travellers. Today, due to the nearby presence of St.Peter's, this trend has remained substantially unmodified.

Back along Borgo Sant'Angelo, approaching the Vatican the name of the street changes into via dei Corridori (related once again to the wall itself), and the enormous colonnade by Bernini comes into sight; the narrow space enhances the visual impact of the columns, already huge by themselves.

Just past the small Fountain of the Tiaras, which mimics the old papal headgear (see details in Fountains, part II page 4 and picture in The Rioni, Borgo), besides St.Peter's Square, there is another wide passage through the wall [map ref. 4]: a large inscribed plaque above the left archway informs us that Pius IV opened it in 1563 for the many pilgrims who reached the city along via Angelica, the long straight road ahead, which ran northbound, merging into the Cassian Way about 2½ Km - 1½ miles off this spot. The other twin archway was opened in 1933, for traffic reasons.

Here the Passetto meets the modern boundary of the Vatican City.

But if you walk beyond the large newspaper kiosk, in the narrow space between the columns and the wall, just before the small Vatican Post Office, you will see a further gate, closed by a large door and overlooked on each side by a square tower: this is Porta Viridaria [map ref. 5].
In the Middle Ages this was the only official gate of the Passetto; its name comes from the Latin viridis ("green"), referring to the Vatican's gardens that once were beyond this door. It was also called Porta San Pellegrino, from the many pilgrims who entered the city on this side of town. Other names it took through the years were Porta degli Svizzeri ("Swiss Gate"), from the nearby barracks of the Vatican's Swiss Guard and - amazingly - Porta Merdaria ("Shitty Gate"!), an infamous nickname which sounds like a pun, likely corrupting its first name chosen by the local commoners. Above the archway is one of pope Alexander VI's coat of arms, dated 1492, the year of his election when he likely had the gate restored, although later on it was forever closed.