Bond in Rome - The Colosseum

For the first time in the Bond series, Bond visits Rome in Spectre. Urged by M in a video filmed before her death, Bond is attending the funeral of Spectre agent Sciarra in Rome, who Bond himself has killed in Mexico.

In the first scene, Bond is seen driving his Aston Martin DB10 down the road called Via di San Gregorio, that leads up to the Colosseum. This wide road is a popular parking for tourist buses since the Colosseum is only a few hundred meters away.

As the road turns to the right onto Via Celio Vibenna, the Colosseum is visible in the background as well as the Arch of Constantine, Arco di Costantino, which is located to the left of the Colosseum. The Arch of Constantine is the largest Roman triumphal arch. Bond is on the way to the funeral which in fact was filmed in the EUR district outside of Rome, covered here earlier, so Bond would actually not need to drive past the Colosseum in order to get to the funeral. But we are obviously supposed to think that the chapel and graveyard is located somewhere in central Rome.

In the film, the Colosseum is seen from the "back", probably because it is not possible to drive past the front side with a car.

Sadly, not much more of central Rome is seen during the day in Spectre. Bond later follows Sciarra's wife Lucia to her home located outside of Rome, before driving to the Spectre meeting, which of course was filmed at Blenheim Palace in England. Colosseum is, probably, the most famous tourist attraction in Rome and hard to miss when visiting the city. However, as a Bond location it is not the most exciting one in Rome. The front side of the Colosseum is also more preserved than the side seen in the film. 

Car chase through Rome - The Vatican

After attending the Spectre meeting at Palazzo Cadenza (actually filmed at Blenheim Palace in England), Bond is exposed by Blofeld and escapes in his Aston Martin. Hinx pursues him through the midnight streets of Rome. After driving down Via della Conciliazione, which is the wide street leading up to the big Piazza San Pietro in front of the St Peter's Church, Bond takes a right in front of St Peter's Church.

When taking the right turn, Bond is driving down the street called Largo del Colonnato, that runs alongside the Bernini's colonnade, which is the large wing that expands from St Peter's church.

When taking another right turn, Bond and Hinx continue along Via del Corridori and the large stone wall that runs alongside the street.

Bond drives through the first archway on the left hand side in the wall and continues down Via del Mascherino.

Spectre car chase - Rome

After escaping from the Spectre meeting at the Palazzo Cadenza in Rome, Bond drives off in his prototype Aston Martin DB10 through the streets of Rome. Bond is pursued by Hinx in his monstrous Jaguar. The car chase was filmed on several different parts of Rome, but one of the more notable locations during the chase is undoubtedly St. Peter's Church which makes up the heart of the Vatican City.

The filming in Rome kicked off on 19 February 2015, when shooting of the funeral scene began in the EUR district just outside of the city centre, which is covered here. The car chase was filmed at night during the following weeks in February and March.

Bond and Hinx are coming in from Via S. Pio X from the south and continues down Via della Conciliazione, which is the long wide street that leads all the way up to the Vatican from the river Tiber.

St. Peter's Basilica, or St. Peter's Church, is located at Piazza San Pietro which constitutes the south-east corner of the Vatican City. Bond and Hinx are speeding across the piazza and down the street to the right of Bernini's colonnade, the large wing that expands from the Basilica on the right side.

Bond and Hinx are passing one of the biggest churches in the world and S:t Peter's Church is also the most important for the Christian world. It was completed in 1626 and is visible from almost every part of the city.

Bond learns from donna Lucia that the Spectre meeting is taking place at the "Palazzo Cadenza" in Rome. The exterior of the Palazzo Cadenza was actually filmed at Blenheim Palace in the UK. The scenes with Bond driving off from the palace was juxtaposed with the following high speed chase in Rome.

Via Veneto, Rome

I know that this post is rather far-fetched, but I think that there are enough Bond connections to Via Veneto in Rome in order for it to qualify as some kind of a Bond location. When Bond and Tracy are talking about getting married and settling down in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Tracy suggests Via Veneto in Rome. The street was made famous in the film La Dolce Vita in the early 1960's, by our Swedish actress Anita Ekberg, who of course also "played a part" in From Russia with love. 

Anita Ekberg was a frequent guest at the famous cafés and restaurants at Via Veneto and was immortalized in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita when bathing in the Trevi fountain. To Bond fans she is known from From Russia With Love, where she featured on the large movie poster for another film produced by Broccoli and Saltzman, namely "Call me Bwana".

Via Veneto became extremely popular in the 1950's and 60's when the European jet-set frequented the restaurants and cafes here. Even though the jet-set today is gone, it remains popular by tourists and it is definitely one of the more beautiful streets in Rome. However, today it would probably be regarded as somewhat tacky, and it is probably not an address that would have been favoured by Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo today. However, it remains one of the most elegant and expensive streets in Rome.

"-Mr and Mrs James Bond.
              -Of Acacia Avenue, Tunbridge Wells.
-Hmm, how about Belgrave Square?
             -Or the Via Veneto, Rome. 
-Paris, convenient for Le Touquet.
             -Monaco, handy for the Raniers. 
-I wonder how much they're asking for this place..."





Some of Rome's most renowned cafés and five star hotels, like Café de Paris, Harry's Bar, Regina Hotel Baglioni are located along Via Veneto. A walk along Via Veneto is highly recommended as well as a lunch or evening cocktail in one of the luxury hotels.

The Persuaders! - Rome

As we are getting ready to finally see Rome as a new Bond location in Spectre, it has naturally been used rather extensively as a filming location throughout the decades. Rome was for instance the location for Lord Sinclair and Danny Wilde in an episode of The Persuaders!. In the 17th episode, called 'Five Miles to Midnight', Danny and Brett are sent to Rome to help judge Fulton to smuggle an American mobster out of Italy. As per usual, most of the scenes were shot in Pinewood, but a few establishing shots over Rome were filmed on location.

The episode starts off with a panoramic view over Piazza del Popolo, a large oval square in the northern part of central Rome. You have the best view over the square from one of the viewpoints in the garden of Villa Borghese, for instance near Piazza Bucarest. Piazza del Popolo is an odd choice for an establishing shot, since it is perhaps not the most characteristic place in Rome, even though St. Peter's Church is visible in the far background.

After the title sequence Brett is driving his Aston Martin around town and few famous sights are featured.

Brett makes his entrance in the episode in front of Altare della Patria, (Altar of the fatherland), also known as the national monument to Victor Emmanuel II. He arrives on the Via dei fori Imperiali and drives across Piazza Venezia, which is the big square right in front of the monument and Rome's answer to Trafalgar Square. Built in honour of Victor Emmanuel who was the first king of unified Italy, the monument was inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1925.

Very briefly seen in the background behind Lord Sinclair is the imposing Palazzo Venezia which also faces the big square. This is a Renaissance palace built in the 15th century by Pope Paul II. The palace is perhaps most known for being the place from where Mussolini harangued the Italian masses during the fascist era. Il Duce declared war against Britain and France on 10 June 1940 from the stone balcony seen in the two pictures below. The balcony connects with the Mussolini’s old office.

Having the most British of all Lords driving his Aston Martin past the balcony where Italy, 30 years earlier, had declared war on England was perhaps a cheeky hint to Il Duce. The palazzo today houses a museum.

Funeral in Rome - SPECTRE teaser trailer

The principal filming of Spectre started on 8 December 2014 and in February the cast and crew went to Rome. From the teaser trailer we learn that Bond will attend a funeral in the Italian capital. Bond will also drive his Aston through the streets of Rome and the city will feature a car chase close to the Vatican and along the river Tiber. A few shots from the funeral were released in the teaser trailer featuring Bond observing the mysterious Lucia Sciarra, played by Monica Bellucci.

Spectre will be the first film to feature Rome as a Bond location. Bond is nonetheless well acquainted with Italy since he previously has been sunbathing in Sardinia and Talamone, done some skiing in Cortina, driven his Aston Martin on the roads along lake Como as well as in the city of Sienna and he has visited Mr White's palazzo by the Garda lake. Bond has also been to Venice on three different occasions, which makes Venice together with Istanbul, the most visited city by Bond (excluding London of course). However, although Bond has yet to visit the Italian capital, there is a reference to Rome in the beginning of Live and Let Die. M congratulates Bond on the way he had handled the "Rome affair" on which the Italians were very pleased. Thus, Bond will probably know his way around town.

The funeral scene was filmed around the Museum of Roman Civilization (Museo della civiltà Romana) in EUR, south of the city centre of Rome. The funeral was staged in between the columns that connects the two large wings which houses the museum. The film team were actually supposed to film the funeral scene at the Verano cemetery, which is a famous early 19th century cemetery in the central part of Rome, close to the Termini Station. It boasts the graves of several Italian cultural icons. However, the film team was refused to film there by an ancient Christian confraternity, namely the Arciconfraternita di Carità verso i Trapassati. Thus the team had to relocate to the EUR district and use the museum to recreate a mausoleum. The cemetery is reminiscent of the Slumber cemetery in Diamonds are Forever.

The film crew converted the area to a cemetery with fake head stones between the columns before filming took place on and around 19 February this year.

The museum itself consists of 59 sections which illustrate the history of Roman civilization but it is currently closed for renovations, which apparently made it an ideal choice. On the back, there is an open patio that faces a row of trees that also can be seen in the bottom picture.

EUR is a residential and business district that was planned and chosen by Mussolini to hold the World Fair in 1942. The fair would celebrate 20 years of fascism but due to the war, the project was never finished. However, the usefulness of a business district outside the city centre was soon recognized after the war, and in the 1950's and 1960's the fascist era buildings were completed and new, more contemporary buildings were constructed. Two monstrous wings extend from the columns and create a big square, mainly used as a parking lot today.

                                             "-I was at a meeting recently and your name came up.
                                                        -I'm flattered London is still talking about me.
                                              -It wasn't Mi6..."
                                                                   - Bond to Mr White - 

This is not the first time that the Bond team has been refused to use a religious location for filming. In For Your Eyes Only, the monks at S:t Cyril's tried to sabotage filming by putting sheets and blankets on the roofs of their houses when they had not been sufficiently compensated by the Greek municipality as they had been promised. The film team then had to recreate the S:t Cyril monastery on an adjacent rock.