Fellini's Rome

Article by: Duncan Garwood, May 2008

Although born in Rimini, Federico Fellini (1920-1993) will forever be associated with Rome. He moved to the city aged 19 and lived and worked there for the next 54 years. His enduring passion for its beauty lay at the heart of much of his work, inspiring some of cinema's most memorable images. Who can forget Anita Ekberg cavorting in the Trevi Fountain in La Dolce Vita or the catwalking cardinals in Roma? Follow in the maestro's footsteps on this whistle-stop tour of our favourite Fellini backdrops.

1. Via Vittorio Veneto

The spiritual home of La Dolce Vita, this smart, tree-lined street snakes down from Villa Borghese to Piazza Barberini. Flanked by luxury hotels and touristy restaurants, this was the epicentre of the jet-set lifestyle so mercilessly satirised in La Dolce Vita (1960). As you walk down from Largo Federico Fellini stop a moment to admire the photos outside Harry's Bar before continuing to the Westin Excelsior hotel at No 125. This is where Sylvia (Anita Ekberg) returns after a night on the town with Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni). Aficionados of the film will note that the on-screen Via Vittorio Veneto is completely flat. This is because Fellini had it reconstructed at Cinecittà, the legendary studio complex in Rome's southern suburbs.

2. Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi)

Rome's largest and most famous fountain is the scene of Anita Ekberg's celebrated dip in La Dolce Vita. You'd never guess it from the film but the sequence was actually filmed on a cold winter night and although Anita Ekberg happily frolicked in the freezing water, Mastroianni insisted on wearing a wetsuit under his clothes. Bathing (clothed or otherwise) is now strictly forbidden, as one Milanese tourist discovered when she was arrested after an impromptu skinny dip in April 2007.

According to tradition, if you toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain, you'll return to Rome. Consequently, a lot of tourists throw a lot of coins in - about €3000 worth on an average day. The money is collected weekly and given to charity, although for years a homeless man known as D'Artagnan simply helped himself.

3. Piazza di Spagna

Approach the piazza from Via dei Condotti, as the bikers do in the exhilarating night ride at the end of Roma (1972). Give your credit card a workout among the designer boutiques or simply window shop as you head up to the Spanish Steps. The Scalinata della Trinità, as the Steps are properly known, have long been a hangout for foreigners. In the 18th century English Grand Tourists flocked to the area, earning it the nickname er ghetto de l'inglesi (the English ghetto). In Roma, the Steps are overrun by flute-playing, free-loving hippies in various stages of undress.

Vestiges of the piazza's English past include Babington's Tea Rooms and the Keats-Shelley House, where poet John Keats died in 1821.

4. Via Margutta

Until his death on 31 October 1993, Fellini lived with his wife Giulietta Masina (Cabiria in Le notti di Cabiria) at Via Margutta 110. Elegant and low-key, the street exudes an air of moneyed bohemia with its colourful facades, swish art galleries and tasty eateries. If you're hungry this is a good place to stop - at No 82 Osteria Margutta (tel: 06 323 10 25; www.osteriamargutta.it) serves a creative Roman menu while down the road at No 118, Il Margutta RistorArte (tel: 06 678 60 33) is one of Rome's rare vegetarian restaurants.

5. Piazza del Popolo

Just round the corner from Fellini's home, Piazza del Popolo is a great place to people-watch. Grab a streetside table at Canova, Fellini's favourite café, and while away the hours over an aperitivo (apéritif). It's on the piazza that Marcello and Maddalena (Anouk Aimee) park for a night-time discussion of Rome, life and love in La Dolce Vita. Before you head off, take time to investigate the Chiesa di Santa Maria in Popolo (tel: 7am-12pm & 4-7pm Mon-Sat, 8am-1.30pm & 4.30-7.30pm Sun) by the piazza's northern entrance. Built on the site where Nero is supposed to have been buried, it's one of Rome's oldest and richest Renaissance churches with works by Raphael, Bernini and Caravaggio.

6. The Vatican

For a bird's-eye view of St Peter's Basilica (7am-7pm Apr-Sep, 7am-6pm Oct-Mar) and Piazza di San Pietro check out La Dolce Vita's stunning opening sequence. In a symbolic parody of the second coming of Christ, Fellini films two helicopters as they fly over Rome. The first has a statue of Jesus suspended beneath it, while the second carries Marcello and his camera-toting sidekick Paparazzo (Walter Santesso).

Towering over the piazza, Michelangelo's 119m-high dome (with/without lift €4/7; 8am-5.45pm Apr-Sep, 8am-4.45pm Oct-Mar) is accessible by way of a vertiginous staircase. In La Dolce Vita Marcello follows Sylvia up these steps (in fact, a Cinecittà copy) to the top of the cupola. Here, and with the piazza spread out before them, they look odds-on for a clinch, but when a gust of wind blows Sylvia's hat off she bursts out laughing and the moment is lost.

For further information on set-jetting in Rome, download the brochure Rome the Great Movie Set from the tourist board website.