The glory that is Rome is tempered by its haunting history and darker delights — as reflected in the new film The Pope’s Exorcist…
The Pope’s Exorcist In cinemas from 7 April
Alicia Miller - 16 April 2023
Ghostly crypts with ancient secrets. Children possessed by the Devil. Levitating demons. New film The Pope’s Exorcist – starring Russell Crowe and in cinemas now – is perhaps not the most obvious advert for an easy-breezy minibreak in Rome. But the supernatural shocker, based on the chilling real-life accounts of Vatican chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, does touch on an enduring aspect of the Eternal City’s appeal to tourists. Part of Rome’s lure is its darker, slightly spooky side, and the pervading sense of ecclesiastical mystery down every street. Visit these haunting Roman highlights for a city break you’ll never forget…
CAPUCHIN CRYPT
From the outside, Barberini district church Il Convento dei Cappuccini looks quite normal, but step inside and you’ll be met with a macabre interior festooned in human skulls and bones (museoecriptacappuccini.it). By order of Pope Urban VIII, the remains of thousands of Capuchin monks were excavated from the Via dei Lucchesi Monastery during the 17th century and used to elaborately decorate the interiors of a series of crypts. A museum contextualises the history and explains the austere lifestyle of the Capuchin community, while the adjoining church features elaborate painted ceilings. If that’s not enough to give you chills, visit the Catacombs of Saint Callixtus in the south of Rome (catacombesancallisto.it), where 16 popes were buried between the second and fourth centuries.
CASTEL SANT’ANGELO
Built as a mausoleum for Emperor Hadrian around AD 135 and later used as a fortress and prison, this structure on the River Tiber has long defined Rome’s skyline. Wander up to its threshold via the sculpture-lined Sant’Angelo Bridge – an executioner’s display row for hanged brigands in the 16th century – and discover the darker chapters of the castle’s history, from associations with the plague to its role during the 1527 Sack of Rome. If the brick-lined spiral ramps inside look familiar, it’s because the Castel Sant’Angelo (castelsantangelo.beniculturali.it) also played a starring role in the 2009 Tom Hanks film Angels & Demons, which is also full of papal intrigue.
MUSEO DELLE ANIME DEL PURGATORIO
Just a short stroll along the Tiber riverfront from Castel Sant’Angelo, the Museum of Souls in Purgatory is every bit as unsettling as it sounds. The elaborate white frontage of the chapel brings to mind Milan’s elaborate Duomo, but the exhibits inside are something else: eerie, glass-framed artefacts (nightgowns, pages from books) that are said to show evidence of contact with the afterlife. The small collection was apparently assembled by 19th-century French missionary Victor Jouet, who travelled Europe collecting these ghostly finds.
THE COLOSSEUM
Given it is Rome’s most recognisable landmark, it is easy to forget how gruesome the background of the Colosseum (parcocolosseo.it) really is. While numbers will always be hazy, the Roman entertainment complex completed in AD 80 is believed to be the setting for hundreds of thousands of human and animal deaths – all for sport. Even if you’ve been here before, it’s worth a return visit as the Colosseum has upped its game recently. Restored underground tunnels and chambers where gladiators were once kept were opened in 2021, and soon it will unveil a retractable 3,000m2 wooden floor, allowing – for the first time in centuries – visitors to stand where the many doomed once fought and fell.
SANTO STEFANO ROTONDO
When in Rome, most visitors flock to see Michelangelo’s famous 16th-century ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. While this famous fresco does have its dark side – depicting Christ’s Last Judgment, with both blessed and damned in attendance – for a properly chilling piece of art, make for Santo Stefano Rotondo (cgu.it/it/santo-stefano-rotondo). In this circular-plan church south of the Colosseum, dating back to the fifth century, wall paintings commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII depict 34 different martyrs, and the gory ways in which they perished. Little wonder Charles Dickens described the church in his 1846 Pictures of Italy as “a panorama of horror and butchery no man could imagine in his sleep”.
WHERE TO STAY
You probably don’t actually want to bed down anywhere creepy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a stay with proper historic atmosphere. Few hotels can match the old-world opulence of Residenza Ruspoli Bonaparte (residenzaruspolibonaparte.com), where elaborate frescoed ceilings take a leaf out of Michelangelo’s book and there are enough chandeliers and gilding to impress a pontiff. If you prefer a more contemporary styled pad but still want to be within striking distance of the historic core, Martis Palace Hotel (hotelmartis.com) has rooms close to Piazza Navona. There’s a rooftop bar with views towards the Pantheon – the landmark Roman temple-turned-church – that’s perfect for aperitivo hour after a day exploring Rome’s mystic corners. And not a ghoul in sight…
Ghostly crypts with ancient secrets. Children possessed by the Devil. Levitating demons. New film The Pope’s Exorcist – starring Russell Crowe and in cinemas now – is perhaps not the most obvious advert for an easy-breezy minibreak in Rome. But the supernatural shocker, based on the chilling real-life accounts of Vatican chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, does touch on an enduring aspect of the Eternal City’s appeal to tourists. Part of Rome’s lure is its darker, slightly spooky side, and the pervading sense of ecclesiastical mystery down every street. Visit these haunting Roman highlights for a city break you’ll never forget…