We then walked over to Santa Maria del Popolo church and square. In 10 BC this ancient obelisk was brought to Rome by Emperor Agustus from Heliopolis in Egypt. It stood on the circus Maximus for centuries, and then it was rediscovered and moved here by Pope Sixtus V in 1589. In the book "Angels & Demons" this is where Tom Hanks (Robert Langdon) came to find a murdered cardinal in a crypt below the Chigi chapel. There are no dead cardinals but I did come to see Caravaggio's Crucifixion of St. Peter, which he painted in 1601. (When you make an offering here it lights up)The marker on the floor marked earth in the movie in Bernini’s Chigi Chapel. The Bernini statue of the angel pointing the way was covered along with parts of the chapel. I am guessing they are still restoring some of it. The “air” in the movie is on the ground in Vatican square.
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Santa Maria del Popolo church
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