ROME GUIDE by Doris Visits. Pantheon, Vatican, Piazza Navona, Angels and Demons

Rome wasn't built in a day but you may have to visit Roman a day so we Revisited all our films of Rome and put together this guide it may also help you find the best place to take that great photo rather than having to fight with the crowd we'll show you the route by train though this is one place that you might find the Big Bus tour very helpful we'll show you that too if you do decide to go with the big bus company there may be a representative at city of ekia at the port and you can buy a shuttle bus from them to the Terminus in Rome and then get on the big bus from there and start your trip your ship will arrive in civitavekia look for either the big bus shuttle or a local bus to the station you get the shuttle from the ship to the bus stop and then you get the bus for two Euros to the station it's bus stop four you get on at bus stop three and you buy your ticket for Rome here everybody goes to tourist information but you can buy tickets in the station now decide where you're going to get off because the nearest station to the Vatican is not the main Rome terminal the nearer Roma espietro is where many will get off and walk for nine minutes into the Vatican because the train goes all the way around the room you better be up half an hour and get off at San Pietro which is right by the Vatican just down from the station is your first clue Dan Brown missed this one it's the sign for San Pietro walking down from the station you enter the Vatican at Piazza Santo Visio welcome back to Vatican City in a moment but let's sort out travel options first walking is best if you can the weather's good and you know the city the Big Bus June if you bought a ticket in advance for the Big Bus Company you come out of the station at the Termini and you walk right to the top of the hill opposite the main entrance and on the right is the ticket office let's assume you go up to the main Rome Terminal Station you can get the big bus here or before you do tucked away here in the outskirt is what I think is one of the most magnificent buildings in Rome you'll need to check to see it's open look up the times on the internet you go do you recognize it from the movie Angels and Demons this is the Church of the Santa Maria de la Victoria where the third Cardinal was found dead the clue was fire he was found dead in front of a statue of Saint Teresa she claimed that an angel had pierced her heart and she was on fire with the love of God it's not on many bus tours but really not to be missed if you're a fan of Angels and Demons those tours book up fast but we have most of it here on Doris visits and you can do it and Roam by tube you could buy a 150 ticket which will last 100 minutes or you could do the whole Angels and Demons Tour on the tube for seven euros Rome is a good walk or an easy segue on the right hand side of San Angelo Castle is where you find the Segway Tours and at the bottom of the wonderful Spanish Steps you will not only find some great shops you should actually just spend the day looking at clothes and shoes but the wholesome carriages will be waiting ready for you and if you don't fancy that you can pimp a magnum now let's jump on the bus Rome is a wonderful place to visit full of beautiful basilicas fountains and amazing architecture it is one of the most romantic cities in the world the Colosseum seated 50 000 people the best way to see it is to get an audio guide and to walk around inside although lots of it and get a real sense of what it was like in Roman times [Music] the Big Bus tour is the best way to cover everything we started here at the Coliseum just looking at it transports you back in time to the days of the Gladiators March some of the original Colosseum facing has been put on this wall they've built whichever stop you choose to make you'll be tempted to walk and explore because there is so much to see it was built for fun where the Gladiators fought and Romans went for their entertainment once you get to know Rome you'll see how everything is close and the bus approaches the same features from different roads with different bus stops as a cruiser time is your currency you might want to skip the line tickets for a Coliseum and party dance it's very convenient so you just buy here keep it take it to the office and go directly and you don't need to wait two or three hours this is bus stop five at Circus Maximus and this is where the Romans used to race in their chariots and it seated 150 000 people [Music] bus stop six is the Teatro Marcelo and the monument to King Victoria one of the most impressive buildings in Rome it's quite Central and often serves as a meeting place again easily accessible from the big bus stop if you're visiting on a Sunday unfortunately the museum is closed seven on the blue bus and stop six on the red is Vatican City the smallest country in the world you just have to cross over the San Angelo bridge over the river Tiber and you're there the marble statuary groups represent allegories of Liberty oppression defeated Unity of Italy and loyalty to the Constitution the statues on this bridge are absolutely amazing at the other side is an Angelo Bridge is a museum Castel santangelo on the right hand side of San Angelo Castle is where you find the Segway Tours there are four walking tours but only the first tour advice for cruise passengers another good thing about the big bus company is if you do one of their free walking tours you get a free soda at the Hard Rock Cafe some Peter's Square in front of the Vatican is a masterpiece designed by bonini most people have seen it on television but it's worth the trip to experience its atmosphere which is unique there's a sense of awe here and whichever religion you follow even if you don't believe in God the atmosphere is tangible imagine how crowded it becomes when the pope gives his address Peter's Basilica looks amazing lit up at night we will come back to Vatican City at the end of the film when we go through the Angels and Demons tour points this is the cue for some pieces for silica so plan your visit it's a long wait there is a way you can avoid the queue if you don't mind paying if you queue entrance to the Basilica is free as you look at the back the right hand side you 'd take you at your allocated time into the Vatican probably the best view of some Peter's amazing basilica the new pope addresses his people from the middle window on the balcony this Pope chooses not to live in these Grand Apartments but in a much more humble home The Colonnade has been in his Masterpiece and there are four rows of pillars and there is a place you can stand between the obelisks where if you look at the pillars it looks like there's just one row of pillars all the way around foreign scarred that guard the pope are indeed from Switzerland inside the old wall there's a small tunnel that goes all the way from the Vatican to the castle in case of attack next up we're off to Plaza Nevada and then the pantheon they are over the other side of the river and your spot for choices with Bridges enjoy them all but stay on this side of the river ride through all of the bridges until you get to the court of justices the last bridge then it's a straight walk down we are going to cross the river Tiber to find the Piazza navona and walk further onto the pantheon previously the square was the Open Place Stadium of domitian built in the First Century A.D and known as circus agonalis [Music] it's an Agnes in agone was built in the 17th century by Barack master bonini and stands right opposite the Fountain of the four rivers Fountain of the four rivers with Egyptian obelisk of domitian sits in the middle of Piazza navona foreign [Music] end of the square which became public in the 15th century the pantheon is about six minutes walk we did get lost the first time but it's pretty easy thank you another one of Rome's highlights the pantheon is situated near bus stop five on the red fruit and six on the blue route the pantheon is one of the best preserved Roman buildings now a church it was built by Emperor Hadrian and probably about 126 A.D replacing an earlier Roman Temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus around the time of Christ [Music] the giant hole in the center of the Dome is called the Oculus and originally it served as a kind of chimney for the smoke from ceremonial fires that were buried in the temple floor entrance is free so that's a bonus [Music] I'm on the Spanish Steps which is near bus stop number eight on the blue line of the Big Bus tour and now we're going to walk down there and towards the Trevi Fountain [Music] gorgeous [Music] from the Spanish set the Trevi Fountain is straight down this road one of the things that Rome is famous for are these pavement cafes and romantic dining in the evening all the churches are beautiful this one's of San Andreas de la frate [Music] this pretty little restaurant is by the Trevi Fountain you can take away cocktails for six euros or you can sit at the table for 10 euros the best view of the beautiful Trevi Fountain is from the clothes shop over the road upstairs in the children's Department Legend has it that if you toss the coin into the fountain you'll come back to Rome it could toss in two you'll marry the man of your dreams and if you toss in three you'll get divorced and every night they drain the fountain and give the coins to charity [Music] the Trevi Fountain is near bus stop seven on the red route next to the Trevi Fountain is a Magnum ice cream shop where you can pimp your Magnum [Music] the silica of the Apostles is dedicated to Philip and James the younger and dates back to 556 is one of the oldest and best love basilicas in Rome [Music] foreign bus stop a palazzo babarini and the five o'clock walking tour starts here normally Representatives at the Vatican read the script but on this occasion Dan Brown's name was enough they were never going to let the filming take place here you need special permission to go into the archives and you have to get it from the pope Hanks was never going to get that so they built the archives in a studio where he finds a watermark in a margin we're at the pantheon which is outside Vatican City and we know that Angels and Demons did actually film here probably the only place they did come and film was here in the pantheon but that was a bum steer the giant hole in the center of the Dome is called the Oculus and originally it served as a kind of chimney for the smoke from ceremonial fires that were buried in the temple floor in angels and demons the detectives mistakenly assume it is what is meant by the Demon's hole in the first riddle spines are plaque which says that the body of Raphael was relocated to the pantheon you won't find it here because it was only in the movie he has this confirmed by a nun so he goes off to the Santa Maria Del popolo where the body originally was foreign and those in power at the time in 1826 were still holding public executions here the execution bit is relevant because Dan Brown claims in his book that the Illuminati a group of scientists were reaping revenge on the church who Informer time so persecuted them for their beliefs they were seeking a different kind of Truth the Santa Maria Del popolo was designed by benini and it was here that the first Cardinal was found dead on the floor with his mouth stuffed full of carbon the first clue was Earth Brown said there were eight chapels in here although there were actually six so actually Dan Brown got it wrong after a disastrous start at the pantheon Langdon comes back to the Vatican while walking across this car park well not this actual Car Park London realizes that the second clue is air and that the angels on the tiles at the base of the Egyptian obelisk are all glowing air the Cardinal was found dead with his lungs punctured on these steps at the base of the Egyptian obelisk obviously it couldn't be done here it was done on a back plot in a studio in Los Angeles There are 16 tiles around the base of the Egyptian obelisk and they all represent different points of the compass and they're of angels blowing wind you may think the child doesn't look like the one in the film that's because it isn't that one was made in a plasterous shop in Los Angeles this points to the third clue it's an Agnes in agone was built in the 17th century by Baroque master bonini and stands right opposite the Fountain of the four rivers the Fountain of the four rivers stands in Piazza nabona and this is where the fourth Cardinal was drowned the fourth clueless water the murderer drove the van up in the road right next to it dragged him out and pushed him into the fountain after four dead Cardinals Hanks realizes he has to get back to the mausoleum Castel San Angelo Hanks is looking for a manhole cover not this one not that one it's one where there are a set of Cross Keys which tells him that Peter was crucified upside down he knows he needs to lift it and go down the manhole Hanks runs away from the castle to the Vatican he runs along this wall this wall is 800 meters long guess what he never did it here he did it in the studio Rome and Vatican City were cgi'd into the wall section the Popes are voting in the conclave the people are in the Square waiting they want to see the smoke change color from the chimney above me as you can see there's no chimney there at the moment firemen erect the chimney for each boat for a new pope throughout the film there is a confusion with Vittorio de vettra is she the love interest or The Confidant I mean if she was the love interest surely they would have stopped and had a romantic meal somewhere like this Vatican City is the smallest principality in the world and we're staying in there we're going to number 66 or taviano Street which is here [Music] apparently it's the first door on the right through this lovely Courtyard we found a gem here right in Vatican City just behind the Vatican Lorry House Apartments is a perfect location [Music] the Lorry House Apartments are just behind the bathroom and down the road in the miracle pizza house we're having a gorgeous Pizza in The Piazza [Music] foreign [Music]