ITALY – Rome, from Via Nomentana to the Vatican // Spectre (2015)

In the “SPECTRE” car chase 007 has to navigate his Aston Martin through a citywide World Heritage Site. Here are all the locations!

Why Bond was here
James Bond (Daniel Craig) is about to uncover the mysterious terror organization “SPECTRE”. After having killed a high-ranking member of the terror group, Bond sneaks into an emergency meeting – but gets recognized by “SPECTRE” kingpin Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christopher Waltz).

007 then escapes in his Aston Martin – but is followed by Blofelds henchman Hinx (Dave Bautista) in a Jaguar C-X75. Nightly Rome gets morphed into a race track, from Via Nomentana to the Vatican and from the ancient city center to the banks of the Tiber.

How you gonna get there
Though the chase looks like one smooth ride, it was filmed for three whole weeks at numerous places in Rome. This is a chronological list of the main location points:

• Bond and Hinx start the chase at Blenheim Castle, which is actually in England.
• Directly after leaving the castle grounds they are circling around Fontana dell’Acqua Paola at Via Garibaldi in the neighborhood Trastevere.
• The next cut shows the cars five kilometers away at Via Nomentana, a multilane road entering Rome from the north. There the cars turn right into small Via Reggio Emilia.
• Another cut, another location jump: The scenes in the narrow alleys had been filmed in the little Borgo neighborhood east of the Vatican. Bond “chops” of the head of the parked car at Piazza Americo Capponi and pushes the small Fiat 500 forward at Via Plauto driving south and “parks” it at Via dei Corridori.

• Now the cars speed up at Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and Piazza della Cancelleria in the historic city center, when Bond calls Moneypenny.
• Next location jump into the Monti district: Bond hits the breaks to get rid of Hinx and drives east along Via Panisperna.
• But the henchman is at him again, as they enter the Vatican. The cars drive at Via della Conciliazione towards the St Peter’s Basilica before turning right and diving under the arch at Piazza San Pietro.
• The last cut brings the chase to Via degli Scialoja, where both cars pass Monumento a Giacomo Matteotti before heading down the stairs towards the Tiber towpath.

Wanna know, how it ends? Here are our Tiber locations from the car chase!

Good to know
The production crew filmed each night and had to maneuver the high octane cars around one World Heritage Site by the other. Rome authorities forbid some stunts – like jumping over just recently renovated statues. To ensure no damage is done, the crew put concrete layers over the cobbles and used steel paint on the walls.

Lucky for you, Rome and especially the Vatican still stand today. While the city may give you a Bondish vibe at 4 in the morning, you should definitely come back at daytime as well to see Vatican City. The home of the Pope hosts some of world’s finest art – and though the Vatican Museums are always crowded, you have to become part of the herd.
Don’t miss Michelangelo’s Pietà in the St Peter’s Basilica and his famous fresco in the Sistine Chapel. We came as early as 8 am to avoid big crowds and a smooth entry into first the Basilica and then the Vatican Museums. For the latter, we advice to book tickets for your own preferred time slot in advance. Take your time, you may stumble upon statues looking just like Daniel Craig.

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When in the Vatican Museums, best head early to the Sistine Chapel, as it is the main attraction and people are queuing for hours just to see the ceiling. The wait can be exhausting, so keep the other areas like the Pinacoteca with some fine Caravaggio’s and da Vinci’s for the later leisure.

© HuntingBond (1,3) © 2015 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Danjaq, LLC, Eon Productions, and Columbia Pictures, Inc. (2)