Dan Brown, in The Da Vinci Code, has Aringarosa meeting the Vatican delegation at the Pope’s summer residence in the township of Castel Gandolfo.
“From the access road, Gandolfo resembled a stone monster pondering a suicidal leap. Perched at the v ery edge of a cliff, the casstle leaned out over the cradle of Italian civilization – the valley where the Curiazi and Orazi clans fought long before the foundings of Rome.”
Castel Gandolfo, in the Lazio region near Rome, is home to seven thousand people. The township itself, in the Alban Hills, is spread over 14 square kilometers and looks out over Lake Albano. The site was at one point the summer residence of Emperor Domitian. The landmark which gives its name to the town, Castel Gandolfo, was originally a castle built by the Gandolfo family in the 12th century. The pope’s administration bought the castle from the Savelli family at the end of the sixteenth century. The papal summer residence was built by Urban VIII in the seventeenth century. It was abandoned for seventy years after the end of the Papal State in 1870.
Dan Brown weaves into the story the Specula Vaticana – the Vatican Observatory based at Castel Gandolfo. Aringosa, as he arrives at the summer residence, resents the evidence of the Vatican’s engagement with astronomy found in the two towers, archival library and tourism-related activities.
In 1929 the Vatican was able to secure extraterritorial status from the Italian government for Castel Romano. Pope Paul VI died at Castel Gandolfo. John Paul II spent a lot of time in the gardens there. Benedict XVI has already made it clear that he will continue the Papal connection with the town.
In The Da Vinci Code, Sophie and Langdon escape from the Louvre in Sophie’s red two-seater SmartCar.
The smart fortwo is not a car you see much of in Australia, but is very popular with single city dwellers in Japan, Europe and the UK. Mercede-Benz say it will be commercially available in the USA in summer 2006, although Zap have an Americanised version on sale. The American safety tests are making the sale of the vehicle difficult in the USA. Canada has had a diesel-powered version since 2004.
Its 3-cylinder motor is in the back of the vehicle, and it is only two and a half metres long. I wondered if it would be capable of the manoeuvres Sophie puts it through to escape the police. The manufacturers say it has been electronically limited to yield a top speed of 85mph, so maybe it is. However, Sophie is a bit sloppy with her converting miles/gallon into km/litre. She says it does 100km to the litre, but the best it will do is about 100km on 4 litres. The experts claim it will do up to 60mpg.
The smartcar was designed by the people who produced Swatch watches, but manufactured since 1998 in Smartville, a purpose-built factory complex in Hambach, France, by Daimler-Benz. It’s now being produced by smart GmbH, a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler. It is marketed as a petrol-powered car which is ecology-friendly. In 2004, The Guardian rated it as number 7 on its list of green cars.
The Da Vinci Code movie trailer is out and online now at Apple.com, providing glimpses of what we’ll be seeing in May. You’ll need Quicktime 7 to view the trailer but don’t worry – you can download it from Apple for Mac OS or Windows.
The movie clip begins in the courtyard in front of the Louvre museum, with a shot of the pyramid. Silas chants before lacerating himself. Leabing says, “You and I, Robert, we have observed history. We are in history.” We see shots of the country residence before seeing Robert looking down over the inverted pyramid. “We are in the middle of a war. One that’s been going on forever, to protect a secret so powerful that if revealed it would devastate the very foundations of mankind.”
Sauniere is running. Silas is running. Sauniere lies prostrate as the Vitruvian Man. Sophie and Robert are running.
The trailer finishes with the credits for the main characters, with certain letters shining with light. TOM HANKS
AUDREY TAUTOU
IAN MCKELLEN
ALFRED MOLINA
with PAUL BETTANY
and JEAN RENO.
In The Da Vinci Code, Sophie and Langdon escape from the Louvre in Sophie’s red two-seater SmartCar.
