Cinecitta' Rome

They lost their bases

Part of "Gangs of New York" set. It was filmed in Cinecitta'

In front of  "Gangs" set

The HBO "Rome" series was filmed at cinecitta' and most of the set remains

no details were spared

The Suburra neighborhood of old Rome, now what is Monti area

Christopher in front of Roman baths

The Egyptian part of the set for the Rome series

very realistic Egyptian columns

entrance to Cinecitta. From Fellini's Casanova

costume section, notice Pope outfit used in the recent film "Habemus Papum"

Very pretty grounds full of pine trees planted there in 1930's

guess these emperors found their bases

Had the recent fortune of touring the Cinecitta' studios in Rome, actually I have been 3 times in 2 months. The first time was with the U.N walking group and it was a fabulous tour as we were able to see quite a bit more than is offered on the normal tour, including the incredible digital, dubbing facilities, extremely impressive, looked like a fun place to work. On the first tour we were told "No Photos". Second and third time were with family members and what we were showed was more limited but we could take photos.


 Cinecitta  is the largest film studio in Italy. Founded in 1937 by B. Mussolini for propaganda purposes. Was built in the rationalist style  – functional, rational not decorative. It is a national monument so the color cannot be changed. The surrounding pine trees were a gift from the forest department.  Now it is a private company (an SPA in Italy) along with a sub company started in 2009 which deals with post production: sounds, dubbing, digital images, etc.
The scenery (scenografia) is only facades, buildings are empty, called “tubi innocente”. The state owns the buildings but the sets can be rented by anyone. Right now they are opening the area to tourists to celebrate the 150 years of Italian unification.
We got to see the set for the HBO series “Rome”. Was very, very cool. Great buildings made of fiberglass (resina). There was the Roman Forum, the arch of titus, basilica Julia, Roman street (which were made of only 6 molds and placed in different designs resulting in a  very authentic reproducation of the Via Sacra. There were curved corners to give more perspective. And there was even an Egyptian temple and huge statue that was also used in the Rome series for cleopatra episode.



Big American films like Ben Hur, Cleopatra, Gangs of New York were filmed here. And many classic Italian films: Satyricon, La Dolce Vita etc.

 When a production is filming only the production people can enter. Normally about 250 people work here.  It is on about 6 hectares

The 3 generation De Angelis family  create everything – Greek statues in plaster and fiberglass, they send scenery every where in the world. Had statues they had made for “Gladiator” movie. Huge fountains etc. There workshop is on the grounds, as is the famous Studio 5 of Federico Fellini

Very fun tour.

http://www.cinecittastudios.it/en/events/guided-tour