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| www.essential-architecture.com the architecture you must see | ||
| architecture in the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. | ||
| The architecture of the Da Vinci Code really takes place in four main areas- Paris, Rome, London, Scotland and New York (click images for more images and detailed architectural info). | ||
| Paris | ||
| 12- Ritz Hotel | ||
 | After he gives a talk at the American University of Paris on mysterious runes at Chartres Cathedral, Robert Langdon returns to the famous Ritz hotel for a good night's sleep. A late-night visit from the police inspector Bezu Fache leaves him shocked: the man with whom he was supposed to meet earlier that day, Jacques Saunière, has been murdered. | |
| 01- Musée du Louvre | ||
 | Jacques Saunière's body is discovered in the Louvre's Denon Wing, not far from two of Leonardo da Vinci's greatest works. Near the body, the police have found an enigmatic message. With the help of Saunière's granddaughter, talented cryptologist Sophie Neveu, Langdon unravels the message: a series of clues that will lead the two on a quest for the Holy Grail. | |
| 026- Champs-Élysées | ||
 | Neveu and Langdon flee the Louvre in her SmartCar (!), heading first to the rue de Rivoli and then down the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe. Heading north out of the rotary, the car makes a hard right down boulevard Malesherbes and makes a beeline for Gare Saint-Lazare, where Neveu's purchase of two train tickets to Lille provides a convenient decoy. | |
| 028- Bois de Boulogne | ||
 | Having lost the police, Neveu and Langdon head in a cab to Paris's west side, traveling via the Bois de Boulogne's Allée de Longchamp to the Depository Bank of Zurich, where a deciphered message from Saunière tells them they'll find a "cryptex" (a device whose code must be broken to reveal its contents) that will help in their quest for the Grail. The fictional Depository Bank of Zurich is said to be "adjacent to the Roland Garros tennis stadium," which is in the park's southern section. (The bank is said to be on rue Haxo near the stadium; the real-life rue Haxo is on the eastern edge of Paris near the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise.) | |
| 19- Church of Saint-Sulpice | ||
 | An albino monk-assassin connected with Opus Dei pays a visit to Saint-Sulpice, where he searches for a keystone believed to unlock the secret of the Grail. The sole occupant of the church, Sister Sandrine, watches the monk from a distance, but her phone call for help is cut short. | |
| 09- Chateau de Villette, | ||
 | Unable to break the code that will open the cryptex and reveal the secrets of the Grail, Neveu and Langdon turn to art historian Sir Leigh Teabing for help. Holed up in the splendid 17th-century Château Villette with a ne'er-do-well manservant, Teabing is more than willing to help. | |
| Rome | ||
| 029- Vatican City | ||
 | After learning from the Vatican Council that a secret society, the Priory de Sion (headed by Jacques Saunière), has been making plans to uncover shocking news about Jesus, Opus Dei's Bishop Manuel Aringarosa accepts a mission to quash the revelations. We first meet the bishop on an Alitalia night flight from New York to Rome, where, at a secret meeting of the Vatican Council, he will collect an important package. Although the action of The Da Vinci Code sidesteps the Vatican, the office of the Holy See weighs heavily on every page. | |
| 030- Castel Gandolfo | ||
 | Upon arrival in Rome, Bishop Aringarosa is picked up by a Vatican attaché, who, in keeping with the clandestine nature of the operation, takes him not to the Vatican but to the papal summer retreat in nearby Castel Gandolfo. | |
| London | ||
| 02- Temple Church | ||
 | Realizing that the clue to the cryptex might not be in France but in England, Langdon, Neveu, and Teabing board Teabing's private plane for London. In midair, the three manage to open the cryptex, but the contents, instead of revealing the secrets of the Grail, yield only another clue wrapped around yet another cryptex. Once on the ground, the threesome, hastily interpreting this latest clue, make a mad dash down Fleet Street to a Knights of the Templar fortress. | |
| 032- Saint James's Park | ||
 | A character besotted with the Holy Grail has followed the trio to London, planning to usurp control of the secrets Langdon and Neveu continue to discover. Before he makes his move, though, he slips into St. James's Park to deal with an accomplice who has misbehaved. | |
| 033- King's College | ||
 | A portion of the second cryptex's message, "In London lies a knight a Pope interred," finds new meaning for Langdon with the aid of a helpful King's College librarian's computer. | |
| 03- Westminster Abbey | ||
 | As Langdon and Neveu scour the tomb of Sir Isaac Newton for a final clue that will crack open the second cryptex, they receive a message from a rival character to meet him in the Chapter House at Westminster Abbey. In the ensuing struggle, they vanquish their nemesis. | |
| Scotland | ||
| 04- Rosslyn Chapel | ||
 | With a little help from Sir Isaac Newton, Langdon breaks the second cryptex code, after which he and Neveu journey to Rosslyn Chapel, Scotland's most famous Templar temple, but what they find is not what they expect. | |
| New York | ||
| 05- Opus Dei Headquarters, New York | ||
 | If you still can't get enough of things Da Vinci Code, wing your way across the Atlantic to the headquarters of Opus Dei, in New York's Murray Hill district. With a facade of red brick and Indiana limestone, the headquarters, designed by the architectural firm of May & Pinska, opened in 2001. The building stands a few blocks east of the Empire State Building, but you won't find an Opus Dei sign on it. (The Prelature of Opus Dei in the United States, by the way, has issued a response to The Da Vinci Code.) | |
| Architecture from the book | ||
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| 16- The Temple in Jerusalem | 18- Paris Meridian | 25- La Pyramide Inversée |
| Filming Locations for The Da Vinci Code (2006) | ||
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| 06- Belvoir Castle, Belvoir, Leicestershire, England, UK (one of the Popes residences) | 07- Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, UK | 08- Caledonian Hilton Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK |
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| 13- Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, Hampshire, England | 10- Fairfield Halls, Croydon, Surrey, England, UK | 11- Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK ('Westminster Abbey') |
| Extra | ||
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| 14- Da Vinci Artwork | 15- The Last Supper | - Plot overview |
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| 17- Notes on the story | - Theological Notes on Mary Magdalene (external link) | 20- The Illuminati |
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| 21- The Knights Templar | 22- The Priory of Scion | 23- Rennes-le-Château |
| 24- TEUTONIC KNIGHTS | ||