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Paris of The Da Vinci Code

By: Jeff Steiner  

The beginning of The Da Vinci Code takes place in Paris, visiting some of Paris most famous and visited attractions, notably the Louvre Museum. The Da Vinci Code visits other less famous Paris attraction: Saint-Sulpice Church and the Arago Rose Line.

Saint-Sulpice Church the supposed home to the Priory of Sion is in fact Paris’ biggest church. Bigger even than Notre Dame. The present church was built in the middle of the 16th century replacing a previous Romanesque church built in the 13th.
Yes, Saint-Sulpice has a brass line on its floor and an Obelisk as The Da Vinci Code states. But it’s not the Paris Meridian (that’s about 100 yards away), what the The Da Vinci Code calls the Rose Line. In fact the line inside Saint-Sulpice is used to determine the winter solstice and Easter. At one end of the brass line is the Obelisk and the other a marble plate. When the sun, passing through a window of Saint-Sulpice that has lenses in it, touches the Obelisk it is the winter solstice and when the sun touches the marble plate it is the summer solstice. When the sun shines on the metal plate in the middle between the Obelisk and the marble plate it is Easter.

The Arago Rose Line, simply called the Rose Line in The da Vinci Code is the once 0 longitude line and competitor to Greenwich better know as the Paris Meridian. In the 1990’s 135 bronze disks were placed in its honor. The Arago Rose Line is named after French astronomer Francois Arago who recalculated the Paris Meridian in the early 19th and thus gave it greater accuracy. The Arago Rose Line runs north south through Paris for a distance of about 6 miles. Finding the Arago Rose Line can be a bit difficult but a lot of fun. I would try the Comédie-Française near the Palais Royal, also close to the Louvre. It might take time but you will find them!

For more information and lots of photos about Paris locations from The da Vinci Code please visit Da Vinci Code Paris.


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