Angels & Demons

The prequel to The Davinci Code, Angels and Demons, was filmed mostly in Rome, Italy. Filming locations to visit in Rome include:

* Piazza Navona

* St. Peter's Square

* Castel Sant'Angelo

* The Pantheon

* Santa Maria del Popolo & the Chigi Chapel

* Vatican City

* Piazza del Popolo

Santa Maria del Popolo & the Chigi Chapel

The Chigi Chapel is one of the destinations that Professor Langdon figures out to go to. That is inside the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo, which is inside the Piazza del Popolo.

Chigi Chapel

The angel pointing

The Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo

This skeleton is featured in the movie

Entrance to Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo

The location of Piazza del Popolo in Rome

Piazza Navona

The Fountain of the Four Rivers in the middle of Piazza Navona was supposedly the fountain that one of the 4 Preferiti was drowning in. The fountain was re-created for the movie, though, because the fountain is not really that deep. I've visited Piazza Navona several times. These photos were from March of 2025.

These stones around the fountain were re-created as part of the set of the movie

The Obelisk in the center of the fountain, which is mentioned in the movie

Location of Piazza Navona in Rome

Shot from the movie at the re-created Fountain of the Four Rivers

Robert Langdon runs towards the fountain

The pattern in the stone around the fountain is accurate. The fountain is not really as deep as the movie makes it seem.

There is a rail around the fountain that was not built into the set for the movie

The fountain in the movie

Castel Sant'Angelo

Castel Sant'Angelo and the Bridge of Angels played a big part in the movie near the end, when it was discovered that the explosive device was being stored there. They also used a passageway that actually does run between the Castel Sant'Angelo and Vatican City. It is called the Passetto di Borgo. I have not been inside it yet, but hope to someday. The passageway was originally built in 1277 and actually has served as an escape route for popes in the past. The angel on top of the Castel Sant'Angelo, the Archangel Michael, is featured in the movie. These photos were taken in 2025.

Castel Sant'Angelo

The Bridge of Angels

Archangel Michael on top of the Castel Sant'Angelo

Location of Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome

St. Peter's Square

St. Peter's Square appears twice in the movie. Of course, the Catholic Church didn't allow movie makers to actually film on St. Peter's Square, so a combination of private video and a set built in Hollywood served as the reproduction of St. Peter's Square for the movie.

Here is the cardinal murder scene from the movie on St. Peter's Square: Angels and Demons on St. Peter's Square

And the explosion of the antimatter scene, which was also on St. Peter's Square: Antimatter Explosion

Bernini designed St. Peter's Square. The second marker in the movie is supposed to be a statue in St. Peter's Square, although it ends up being a carved compass marker on the ground.

Here is the google maps location of St. Peter's Square: St. Peter's Square

The official website of St. Peter's Square is here: St. Peter's Square

It is open from 7 a.m. until 7:10 p.m. each day.

In the movie, Professor Langdon locates this compass marker, meaning "West West Wind" to represent "air" and point them in the direction of their next church. Interestingly, St. Peter's Square has 16 of these wind direction markers, so it wouldn't necessarily make sense for the movie that this specific one would point them in the correct direction, but I suppose most of the people who watch the movie have probably not been to St. Peter's Square to see the other 15 markers, which would have sent Professor Langdon in many other directions.

In the movie the other markers are shown without "breath marks," but this is a photo from 2025 of the actual East marker, which is also shown in the movie. To make the story-line work they made the reproduction of St. Peter's Square void of most of the wind marks -- except on the West Wind marker.

St. Peter's Square is always full of people - notice the statues of the Saints on the top of the walls - these are featured in the movie as well.

When we visited in 2025 they were getting ready for one of their Jubilee events.

One of the twin fountains in St. Peter's Square - the fountains are also in the movie

The obelisk plays an important part in the movie, since each destination they search for has an obelisk

Me on St. Peter's Square in 2025

Inside St. Peter's Basilica is also featured in one of the movie scenes on St. Peter's Square, the explosion of the anti-matter. The scene shows the Baldacchino of St. Peter's (the bronze canopy), which was also designed by Bernini, being covered with ceiling material after the explosion.

The dome of St. Peter's Basilica is also featured in the movie during the antimatter explosion - the dome being destroyed, actually.

The Pantheon

The Pantheon is one of the first churches to appear in the movie Angels & Demons, when Langdon thinks that one of the Preferiti may be killed there. A clip of that portion of the movie is here:

Angels & Demons at the Pantheon

The Pantheon is the oldest building in the world that is still in use today. It was built in 125 A.D. Pantheon means "All Gods." The oculus - the opening in the dome of the Pantheon - is 30 feet across. The sun shines in through this "eye" and the rain comes in too - that's why there's drains built into the floor. I have been there when it's raining and they just gate off the wet area and allow the water to drain. It has been a Catholic church since 609 AD. Admittance used to be free and without appointment, but in recent years they have required you to pay 5 euros and make a reservation. We arrived early for our reserved time and they let us in without question.

Pantheon Ticket Website