Took an Angels & Demons tour, based on the book by Dan Brown. This has been one of my favorite tours. Massimo our guide brought the story to life with his lively storytelling, great sense of humor, and his knowledge of the book and the locations visited. As he talked about the places from the book, he gave the history of each site visited, and talked about the differences between the book and movie, as well as the 'poetic licensing' (i.e. when the author took a basic idea or event and changed it to fit the purposes of the story)--ad example being that Galileo could not have actually been a member of the Illuminati because they were not around until after his death.
The crux of the story is Dr. Robert Langdon (one of the main characters) has traveled to Rome to help solve a murder. Langdon is an art history teacher at a University, but is an expert in symbology and in the Illuminati. Langdon originally believes that the Illuminati was a group that no longer existed, but through the course of the story he comes to learn that it was not a fable.
In the book the Illuminati is portrayed as a Satanic cult, but the group was not really "satanic" in the traditional sense of the word. The Catholic church opposed them because their quest for knowledge and understanding (enlightenment) went against the beliefs of the church. In reality the Illuminati were actually a wealthy group of bankers.
The story continues as Langdon is in search of the antimatter that was stolen from a research facility, and is going to be used by the Illuminati to destroy the Vatican, and bring down the Catholic church as punishment for all the years of oppression the Illuminati have faced. During this time the Catholic church is in an enclave (electing a new pope), so popes from around the world are all in one location. The four preferiti who are the favorites to take over are all kidnapped, and will be killed on the hour, every hour. This is where the story begins to mesh with some of the historic locations around Rome.
The clues left behind imply that the first preferiti is going to be killed where the earthly tomb of Rafael is. Langdon believes this to be at the Pantheon (see previous post for pictures), so everyone rushes there only to find out their mistake. The Pantheon is where the tomb is, but not where he is actually buried. A re-evaluation of the clues leads Langdon to the church of Santa Maria del Popolo....which is where the tour began.
The church of Santa Maria del Popolo is located on the outskirts of the Piazza del Popolo. It is the representation of 'earth' (from the book) due to the high number of family tombs that are buried underneath the church, or inside the columns and walls. It is also the location of the original tomb of Rafael. In the book the preferiti who was murdered here had his body half way buried, standing up, in a tomb and had soil stuffed down his throat.
 |
| Church of Santa Maria del Popolo |
 |
| Front of the church |
 |
| One of the side chapels |
 |
| Ceiling |
 |
| Demon's eye--entrance to the underground crypt |
 |
| Angel pointing the way to the next location in the book, St. Peter's Square |
The angels in the chapel (inside the church) point the way to the next location, St. Peter's Square.
At St. Peter's Square (where this next series of pictures was taken) they find the next preferiti dressed as a poor man, yet he is still alive when they find him. Unfortunately, the preferiti's lungs had both been punctured, so when he tried to breath he ended up sprayed blood from his chest. Thus, the death by 'wind.'
At the church of Santa Teresa d'Avila they find the third preferiti still alive. He has been stripped naked, and has been suspended spread eagle above the alter in the church. Langdon tries to find a way to help the man, but the hassassin has set fire to the building. Thus, the next death, by 'fire' in which the preferiti is burned alive.
 | ||
Alter where the preferiti would have been hanging (remember this is all fiction)
|
At the Piazza Navona the last preferiti is found bound by chains, and is being thrown into the fountain by the hassassin. Our hero Robert Langdon once again tries to save a preferiti, but again he fails (sensing a theme here yet?). Thus, the death by 'water' as the preferiti drowns.
Langdon begins to map out the four locations of the each preferiti death. He connects all the points of the locations and finds he has a diamond (a symbol of the Illuminati), but he is perplexed because he can't figure out what the final location is. Finally he connects each location to its opposite, and finds it makes a cross, and at the center of the cross is the clue leading to the final destination, the location of the secret meeting place of the Illuminati.
The final clue leads to Castel Sant'Angelo, where the hassassin is waiting for the final moments of the plan to come together.
 |
| Castel Sant'Angelo at night |
 |
| Mausoleum |
 |
| Lady justice |
Views from the top of Castel Sant'Angelo
 |
| Note you can see the Vatican from this view--which played into the ending of the book. |
There is so much more history and information I could share about these locations.....but it would take a while to write it all out. I hope you've enjoyed what I've shared here though--and if you've read the book then I hope you have enjoyed actually getting to 'see' the places written about.
No comments:
Post a Comment