The Great Beauty: Filming Locations in Rome

The Great Beauty opens on the Janiculum, at the Fontana dell'Acqua Paola: the opening sequence was shot here, and so was the first day of a two-month Rome shoot that began on 9 August 2012. Locals call the monumental fountain Il Fontanone, "the big fountain". It was built in 1612 to mark the end of the Acqua Paola aqueduct and was the first major fountain on the right bank of the Tiber. Stand in front of its five arches and the city spreads out below you, the same view of Rome the film keeps returning to.

Visitor guidance: The fountain stands on the Janiculum Hill and can be seen from the street at any time.

Jep Gambardella, a 65-year-old journalist and theatre critic, lives in a penthouse on Piazza del Colosseo with the Colosseum right in front of it. That is where the film places his flat, and his terrace is where he sits above the Rome he writes about and mocks. The Colosseum itself is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, completed in AD 80 under Titus. The building with the penthouse is not named in our sources, so the pin marks the Colosseum it overlooks.

Location precision: The sources place the flat in a building on Piazza del Colosseo without naming it; the pin marks the Colosseum it overlooks.

Visitor guidance: The Colosseum is open to visitors; the penthouse is private, so view the square from outside.

Palazzo Sacchetti on Via Giulia plays the home of Viola, the wealthy woman whose son Andrea has serious mental problems. The production borrowed the palace for her residence, and the facade was adjusted in editing to stand in for Palazzo Taverna near Piazza dell'Orologio. Palazzo Sacchetti is widely considered the most important palace on Via Giulia, at number 66, so the setting fits a family rich enough to give everything to the Church later.

Visitor guidance: A private palace; admire the facade from Via Giulia.

On the Aventine Hill the film follows Stefano's night tour for Ramona and Jep, and one stop is the church of Santa Maria del Priorato on Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta. Ramona, the stripper with a personal secret, is the friend Jep grows fond of. The church was rebuilt in 1764-66 to designs by Giovanni Battista Piranesi. The famous keyhole of the Priory next door, at number 3 on the square, frames the dome of St Peter's perfectly between the garden hedges.

Visitor guidance: The Priory keyhole is on Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta; the church interior opens only at set times.

The night itinerary ends at Villa Medici, the arrival point at dawn for the film's characters. The sixteenth-century Mannerist villa stands on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti, with a seven-hectare Italian garden. It belongs to the French State and has housed the French Academy in Rome and welcomed winners of the Prix de Rome since 1803, so the film's mix of art, history and a sleepless night fits well.

Visitor guidance: The villa and gardens can be visited; check opening hours before you go.

Scenes of Andrea's funeral were filmed at the Cimitero Monumentale del Verano, the great monumental cemetery of Rome. After the death of her son, Viola gives all her possessions to the Church and becomes a missionary in Africa. The cemetery covers 83 hectares in the Tiburtino district, near the Basilica of San Lorenzo, and was designed in 1807-1812 by the architect Giuseppe Valadier. The film uses it quietly: it is the sober, human counterpart to the city's parties.

Visitor guidance: A working cemetery; visit respectfully and follow signs.

The final sequences were shot on Giglio Island, at the Capel Rosso lighthouse at the southern tip. In the story Jep goes to the island to report on the Costa Concordia shipwreck and relives his first meeting with Elisa in a flashback. Filming was due on 31 August 2012, but bad weather pushed it to 7 September and the crew worked for two days, helped by the local police. The lighthouse was inaugurated in 1883.

Visitor guidance: The lighthouse is at the southern end of Giglio Island.