Between Rome and the cinema there exists an old love story.  Post war Italian directors had no other choice but to film outdoors, on real squares and streets.

 

Then from the fifties on, the restored Cinecittà studios attracted many American film directors, starting with William Wyler and his unforgettable Roman Holidays!
 

This feeling between Rome and the seventh art has not faded with the passing of time, on the contrary,  our  squares,  palaces, baroque churches and fountains have turned into natural settings of numerous films.

 

Dan Brown created for us an intriguing itinerary of Rome: the Path of the Illumination , a trail across the city consisting in a series of concealed symbolic markers placed in public locations which  eventually leads us to the Illuminati’s lair.

 

Each marker is a tribute to one of the four elements: earth for Santa Maria del Popolo a precious Renaissance church with Raphael’s Chigi Chapel, fire for Santa Maria della Vittoria with Bernini’s masterpiece “ the ecstasy of Saint Theresa” brought about by a fiery angel,  who sends us to discover the other markers and to explore more the city….with the Pantheon and its demon’s hole…Piazza Navona  and the fountain of the Four Rivers.

 

After a memorable day our quest ends at last at the Church of the Illumination! The Castle of the Angel -  Castel Sant’Angelo - one of the most fascinating sights of Rome where from the top terrace we can enjoy spectacularly breathtaking views of  the eternal city!