By Jeff Titelius
A great introduction to some of Rome’s most famous sights not to mention a lesson in navigation around the eternal city as well, the Angels and Demons Tour is a guided tour based on the highly acclaimed novel by Dan Brown. After searching for introductory tours of Rome during my European tour planning phase, I happened upon this one particular tour and thought it sounded like loads of fun not to mention the fact that it would be a great way to see the sights.
Do you dare to walk in the “Path of Illumination”? If so, then read on as this article recounts the tale as we too, followed in the footsteps of Robert Langdon as he set out on that mysterious and courageous journey guided by angels and demons to save the kidnapped Cardinals not to mention the Vatican from impending doom. So our tour too was to be guided by the same angels and demons.
We raced over to Piazza del Popolo on the other side of the Tiber River to begin our tour at 9:30. There, we met our private guide, Michaela, whom to this day, remains a close and personal friend. After introductions, we began our journey along the “Path of Illumination” which includes visits to the Pantheon, the four churches or “Altars of Science” mentioned in the book and concludes at Castel Sant’Angelo. When viewed on a map, the churches form a giant cross over Rome with Santa Maria del Popolo to the north, St. Peter’s Basilica to the west; Santa Maria della Vittoria to the east and finally; St. Agnes in Agony to the south (across from the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona). As the story unfolds, these churches correspond to the four scientific elements of earth, air, fire and water which represent how each of the kidnapped cardinals was to meet his end. If you want to see pictures of these fascinating sights, you will need to visit my blog. See end of article.
Our first stop was Santa Maria del Popolo. Before I proceed any further, let me back up to give a little background on how we got here when the book starts out in the Pantheon. If you remember, Robert and Vittoria began their tour at the Pantheon, the 2000 year old building in Rome designed originally by Agrippa in 27 B.C. but then later burned and rebuilt in 125 A.D. What remains to this day is Rome’s oldest standing domed structure which was originally designed for the ancient gods of Rome. However, the building was later consecrated in 609 as Santa Maria dei Martiri and currently holds masses to this day. It was at the Pantheon that Robert Langdon made his first stop on his quest to save the four cardinals. Because he incorrectly deciphered the clues from the Vatican library, he and Vittoria headed to this location believing they would be there in plenty of time to save the first kidnapped cardinal. Despite their unswerving efforts, they were too late because as the story goes, they didn’t realize in time that Raphael’s body was later moved from the Pantheon to Santa Maria del Popolo even though all clues pointed here including the demon hole or occulus at the top of the structure.
Now, back to Piazza del Popolo. Michaela our guide, pointed out the Egyptian obelisk in the center of the piazza which formed a giant ellipse, one of the keys to identifying this first church in their journey along the “Path of Illumination”. We went inside to the Chigi Chapel and discovered the demon hole or the ossuary annex in the floor. No wonder history calls this a “demon hole”. Needless to say, this location represented “earth”, the first of the four elements. As the story goes, Langdon was too late but we weren’t. We toured around the rest of the church and before leaving, scouted out our first angel who is positioned with Habakkuk in Bernini’s Habakkuk and the Angel sculpture. Which way is he pointing?
As it turned out, the angel pointed west so we left the church and headed due west to St. Peter’s Basilica where we discovered our next angel, representing “air”, the second of the elements, at the base of the Egyptian obelisk located in yet another giant ellipse that is St. Peter’s square. This is where the second cardinal met his end.
The “air” angel seemed to blow east to Santa Maria della Vittoria where the third cardinal was to meet his doom consumed by fire. Historically, this building was dedicated to St. Paul and known as San Paulo when it was built in 1605-1626. Later, it was rededicated to the Virgin Mary. Once inside, we recounted Langdon’s experience and then directed our attention to the Bernini sculpture, The Ecstasy of St. Teresa where we would find an amazingly realistic rendition of St. Teresa expressing sheer ecstasy for her love of God while an angel stands close by pointing his spear of fire. You must see this in person because pictures do not convey the brilliance of the golden beams nor do they really show you how Bernini captured and rendered ecstasy in St. Teresa’s face. It is beyond belief!
Moving on. The angel in this church then lead us to our next stop on the tour, Piazza Navona where the 4th cardinal would meet his doom in Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers in the middle of the piazza. The fountain represents the four great rivers in four continents at the time it was designed by Bernini in the Renaissance. Surrounding Triton are the Nile in Africa, the Ganges in Asia, the Danube in Europe and finally the Rio de la Plata in America. Rising from the center of the fountain is a gigantic Egyptian obelisk hence another clue for Langdon. By the way, this famous piazza is usually a “must see” on everyone’s Roman itinerary because it was the site of ancient Roman chariot races. Then in the 15th century, it was redesigned as a public space with contributions from Bernini and and Girolamo Rainaldi who designed the church of St. Agnes in Agony. Today, it is home to these glorious buildings and sculptures and very tempting cafés surrounding the piazza. It’s a great place to grab an espresso and people watch, however, be warned that the cafés are absolute tourist traps that feature overpriced and often mediocre food so stick to coffee and maybe a pastry. Go and seek your main courses where the locals dine.
At this point in the book, the four cardinals are gone and now Langdon must rescue Vittoria which brings us to our final stop in the story and tour, Castel Sant’Angelo. Originally designed as a tomb for Emperor Hadrian whose ashes along with those of his wife, were indeed buried here, the structure built in 135-139 AD, was converted into a fortress in 401 that ultimately housed many a Pope after it was converted into a castle in the 14 century. There is one very interesting fact about the “connection” between this structure and the Vatican itself. Not accessible to the public but nonetheless there, is the Il Passeto, a secret passageway that provided an escape route for Popes from the Vatican to the safety of this massive fortress. In the story, the cardinals were kidnapped and lead out of the Sistine Chapel via Il Passeto.
We arrived at the entrance and walked around the curving ramps inside the castle to the top for a breathtaking view of the Tiber River and surrounding Rome. Lots of history to see here and a model of the structure before and after the conversion from mausoleum to fortress.
Our story and tour are coming to an end. Needless to say, Robert does save Vittoria and then rescues the Vatican from the threat of destruction. Michaela rescues us with a treat to some coffee and a pastry at a nearby café before we departed. So, we journeyed along the “Path of Illumination” guided by our angels and demons and experienced a lot of the famous sights in Rome while reliving the fictional world of Dan Brown. What fun!! I strongly recommend it to anyone who has 4 hours to spare in their Roman holiday. You can do a private tour where you are shuttled by your guide via taxi or a group tour in a mini-van. I recommend the private tour! Have fun!
For more exciting stories and planning advice for touring the sites, sounds and tastes in Italy and France, be sure to visit http://theeurotraveler.com often!
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