A mock-up set on the Cinecittà Studios tour. (Photo by Maurizio Riccardi, courtesy of Cinnecittà)
From its ignominious origins in 1937 as a propoganda machine for fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, Rome's Cinecittà movie studios has grown to become a Mediterranean mini-Hollywood, the site of more than 3,000 productions from sword-and-sandals epics to spaghetti westerns, classic Fellini films to HBO miniseries.
A short, short list of some of the most famous films made at Cinecittà:
Sadly, a 2007 fire destroyed some of the modern sets (including many from the HBO series Rome—leading to many jokes in bad taste about filming the Great Fire of AD 64, the one that gave us the famous, but totally erroneous, phrase "Nero fiddled while Rome burned." Yes, the emperor was psychotic and cruel, but (a) he played the lute, and (b) was no where near Rome when the fire happened, and in fact poured his own money into the rebuiling effort).
The rest of the studios, however, remain open for guided tours, and includes a new, thorough "Cinecittà Shows Off" exhibition, a series of informative and interactive rooms and sections that delve into the art, science, and history of moviemaking.
Since this is a working studio, you never quite know which bits of the grounds you will get to see (sets and soundstages being used for production will be off-limits), but it's invariably fascinating.
Yes, the sets are cool but the best are the prop rooms, vast warehouses overflowing with oddments from every conceivable era and type of movie—ancient Roman statues wedged between scale model spaceships and Victorian furnishings, that sort of thing.
Via Tuscolana 1055 (in the far southeast corner of the city, east of the catacombs)
tel. +39-06-772-931
www.cinecittastudios.it
Wed-Mon 10am–5:30pm.
(Tours of open sets in English: 11:30am and 4pm)
€10 for a show
€20 for a tour
Roma Pass: No
Bus: 502, 552, 552F, 654, C11, N1
Metro: Cinecittà (A)
Planning your day: If you're making the effort to come all the way out here, I am assuming you are a film buff and will want to spend at least two hours. » Rome itineraries
There are tours of the sets in English at 11:30am and 4pm.
Alos, though it does not visit Cinecittà itself, there is an excellent private walking tour of Italian film history in downtown Rome offered by Context Travel:
These sights aren't terribly close to the rest of Rome. If you want to make a day dedicated to the outskirts of the wall, these are the places to see:
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Via Tuscolana 1055 (in the far southeast corner of the city, east of the catacombs)
tel. +39-06-772-931
www.cinecittastudios.it
Wed-Mon 10am–5:30pm.
(Tours of open sets in English: 11:30am and 4pm)
€10 for a show
€20 for a tour
Roma Pass: No
Bus: 502, 552, 552F, 654, C11, N1
Metro: Cinecittà (A)
These sights aren't terribly close to the rest of Rome. If you want to make a day dedicated to the outskirts of the wall, these are the places to see:
This article was written by Reid Bramblett and was last updated in February 2014.
All information was accurate at the time.
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