ITALY – Rome, Museo della Civilta Roma // Spectre (2015)
Museo della Civilta Roma was used for the funeral scene in “Spectre”. The place in southern Rome fits perfect – as it has a dark past.
Why Bond was here
After the death of M in “Skyfall”, James Bond (Daniel Craig) wants to uncover a sinister organization called “SPECTRE”. Having killed a high-ranking member of the terror group in Mexico, Bond now hopes to collect more intel at the terrorists funeral – that is set to be in Rome.
How you gonna get there
The funeral wasn’t filmed at a real graveyard, but a museum. The Museo della Civilta Roma – the museum of Roman Civilization – is located deep in the southern part of Rome. It is quite off the beaten track and not a place you just stop by during your sightseeing trip between the Colloseo and the Vatican.
Head there via metro: The blue metroline B connects central hub “Termini” and “Colosseo” with the south. Get out at station “EUR Fermi” and then shortly walk along Viale America and up north Viale dell’arte.
Good to know
The Museo della Civilta Roma is part of a vast area that is called Esposizione Universale di Roma (EUR). The EUR was a project by Italian fascist leader Mussolini to glorify the Italian life and host the world exhibition in 1942. When World War II happened, the exhibition never went off – but the district had already been built.
Many houses and monuments in the area are versions of a simplified neoclassicism, built as echoes from the Roman Empire and Italo Fascism. If you feel small between the columns and hallways, that it how it is supposed to be. Maybe SPECTRE came here because no other graveyard could look that megalomanic.
Sadly, the Museo della Civilta Roma is under renovation since 2014. And as we have visited the place in 2019, it looks like that it will take some more years. Roots and flowers creep up between the tiling, trash covers the area. Thus the building really symbolizes fascism after all: Let your head get clouded with the skyscraping columns, but don’t look at all the dirt at the plinth.
Going to the Museo della Civilta Roma really was a disappointment. Make it a short stop, when you are around – and then head back to the Colloseo or maybe the nearby Aquarium. Also check for the metro line in advance: When we where in Rome in summer 2019 it was under construction and the replacement bus heading south really is not a joy ride.
© HuntingBond (1,3) © 2015 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Danjaq, LLC, Eon Productions, and Columbia Pictures, Inc. (2)