Brace yourselves, 'cause this one will be a doozie!
Since I've been in Rome, my computer has been in complete disagreement with the internet, so I've been a little behind on blog posting. To make up for lost time, I'm going to try to post a number of updates from the past few weeks. This particular post will cover one of my most recent adventures: a walk around Rome in search of the sites featured in the book (and movie) Angels and Demons.
From Santi's earthly tomb with demon's hole, 'cross Rome the mystic elements unfold. The path of light is laid, the secret test, let angels guide you on your lofty quest. --Poem to locate the four alters of science, from Galileo's Diagramma
On September 7, Erin, Dan and I set off on a walk around Rome with a map, our cameras, and our water bottles. However, this was no ordinary walk--oh, no! This was our self-guided Angels and Demons walk, where we led ourselves across Rome to a number of the sites featured in Dan Brown's book Angels and Demons (as well as the movie...but the book is way better). We opted not to do the tour in the order listed in the book, so we began by taking good 'ole bus 62 from Via Nomentana to Largo Argentina, then proceeded to walk to the architecturally incredible Pantheon. Which, by the way, is MUCH larger than I was expecting! In here, we saw the tomb of Rafael, which is where Robert Langdon and Vittoria Vetra mistakenly travel to in the book on the search for "Santi's earthly tomb."
The Pantheon, Rafael's Tomb (photo cred: Erin Lanz), Ceiling of the Pantheon
From there, we walked to Piazza Navona where Bernini's "Four Rivers Fountain" is located. In the book, the water element comes in to play here, when one of the Cardinals is drowned by the assassin.
Bernini's Four Rivers Fountain and the church of Saint Agnes in Agone
Our next stop was the Bridge of Angels and Castel de Sant'Angelo, which is the Illuminati lair in the book. Although we didn't go inside the castle since it cost 8 euro (about $12), we were able to see the angel statue on top of the building pointing directly down, supposedly indicating the final destination of the journey. Before I leave Rome, I want to tour the inside--it's apparently very cool!
The Bridge of Angels and Castel de Sant'Angelo
Next, we walked down the street to Saint Peter's Square in Vatican City. The bulk of the book takes place within the walls of the tiny country, but during this visit, we just stopped at the marker of the wind element.
View of Saint Peter's Basilica and Square from down the road, Dan and me with the "West Ponente" marker in Saint Peter's Square, The "West" Ponente marker in Saint Peter's Square
Following our trip to Saint Peter's Square, the three of us walked along the river and crossed the bridge at Via Regina Margherita to arrive in Piazza del Popolo, home of the Santa Maria del Popolo church. If you've watched the movie, you'll remember that the church interior is lined with various chapels (and the floor is lined with graves...kind of creepy). One of these chapels is the Chigi Chapel, which is the location featured for the earth element in the book. Unfortunately, this chapel was under construction (may I add the only chapel under construction!), so we couldn't see much.
The Chigi Chapel under construction, view of Piazza del Popolo from Santa Maria del Popolo, Dan and his tomato toy purchased from a street vender
On our way to the last stop of our tour, the chisa Santa Maria della Vittoria (used as the location for the fire element in the book), we came across the Capuchin Crypt, which is a famous crypt decorated with the bones of 4,000 friars. There are also quite a few mummies there, which was really creepy.
The Capuchin Crypt (please note the decorations are made of bones, the intact bodies of friars line the walls with the skulls of former friars, and graves cover the floor in between)
See what I mean?
Following this, we spent another half hour trying to find Santa Maria della Vittoria (should not have been that difficult!). Here, we saw another of Bernini's intricate works: the statue titled "The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa." While the church is famous in the real world primarily for the statue, it is famous in the book for being the location of the element 'fire.'
View of the altar of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Bernini's statue "The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa"
As you can imagine, we thoroughly enjoyed this trip. While it was awesome seeing all the sights in person, it was also nice assimilating ourselves to different areas of Rome! My advice to any future Roman-Greco students: walk to these sites, regardless of whether or not you've read the book. You will immediately feel much more geographically aware of Rome (even if it's just a the central portion!). Also, if you do go on this walk, stop for a cannoli in Universal Bar on the main drag down from the Vatican. I promise you will not regret it!
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