Ponte Sant'Angelo historical timeline

A bridge built to a tomb, which became the pilgrim route to St Peter's, then a place of execution display, then a gallery of angels.

Chronology

1. 136 — the emperor Aelius Hadrianus has the bridge built, as the Pons Aelius, to connect the city to the entrance of his mausoleum — the building that is now Castel Sant'Angelo. Structural impact: the arches and piers the bridge still stands on. What you see today: the Roman structure beneath the Baroque parapet.
2. 1300 — in the first Holy Year, proclaimed by Boniface VIII, the crowd of pilgrims forces a regulation of traffic for access to the bridge. Dante Alighieri testifies that two opposite routes were created, marked out by a row of stalls, on what was the most direct route from the city to St Peter's. Structural impact: temporary stalls down the middle. What you see today: nothing of the stalls; the bridge still carries the pilgrim route they were set up to divide.
3. 1450 — in the Holy Year, an accident caused by the white mule carrying Pope Nicholas V breaks the parapets, and dozens of people drown. Structural impact: the parapets fail. What you see today: the reason the sides were rebuilt.
4. 1488 to 1534 — the bridge and the square before it are used for the esposizione patibolare, the public display of the bodies of the executed. Structural impact: none. What you see today: what the place was before it was beautiful.
5. Over the centuries — the bridge's appearance is transformed: its towers are demolished and two statues of St Peter and St Paul are added. By now it is commonly called Sant'Angelo, after the statue of the Archangel that crowns the castle. Structural impact: the medieval fortifications go. What you see today: an open parapet instead of towers.
6. 1668 — the bridge is enriched with ten statues of angels bearing the symbols of the Passion. Bernini, commissioned by Clement IX, designs the figures and entrusts their execution to his pupils. Structural impact: ten pedestals along the parapets. What you see today: the reason people cross it slowly.
7. 1882 — following restructuring work, the bridge takes on its present appearance. Structural impact: the final form of the crossing. What you see today: exactly this bridge.

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• Wikipedia