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The Passetto, or er Corridore (the Corridor), of Borgo is an elevated and fortified passageway and is the name given to that section of the Vatican Walls that connects the Vatican with Castel Sant'Angelo.

Some experts associate its construction with Nicholas III (around 1277) or, others, believe that the work began with Boniface IX, during the years of his pontificate (between 1389 and 1404), while it was completed during the reign of Baldassarre Cossa, the future antipope John XXIII. Further renovations of this area of the walls were also carried out by Nicholas V, pope between 1447 and 1455, Sixtus IV, whose pontificate covered the years between 1471 and 1484, and Alexander VI, pope between 1492 and 1503, so much so that other scholars end up attributing the paternity of the entire Corridor to the latter.
With the construction of a passage leading to the Castle directly from the Vatican Palaces, the aim was to allow the head of the Church to take refuge in case of need inside the Castle and at the same time to have a bastion that would allow a better control of the district.

The strategic importance of the Passetto emerged most during the darkest and most painful periods for Rome and for the Church itself. In fact, it was used by Alexander VI Borgia when, in 1494, he walked the 800 metres or so to find refuge in Castello during the invasion of Rome by the militia of Charles VIII of France. In 1527, the Passetto was also used as an escape route by Pope Clement VII Medici (1523-1534) who took refuge in Castello during the Sack of Rome by Charles VIII's Lansquenets. This was the last great undertaking linked to the Passetto, which saw its defensive function disappear at the end of the 16th century.