Da Vinci Code Good for Tourism
Strange Facts- Da Vinci Code Good for Tourism
LONDON (Reuters) - Christians may condemn "The Da Vinci Code" as historical rubbish but for churches that starred in the film, it is the Holy Grail of Tourism.
Most critics panned the film when it opened at the Cannes Film Festival but the religious sites that acted as backdrops for the movie are enjoying an influx of curious pilgrims.
"I suspect that we will have a very significant surge in visitor numbers for the next three or four weeks," said the Reverend Robin Griffith-Jones, master of the Temple Church in London that appears in the Dan Brown bestseller.
He had no regrets about allowing the crew to film at the beautiful sandstone church built by the Knights Templar. The fee enabled him to keep the 12th century church open seven days a week to welcome those pursuing the "Gospel According to Brown."
Winchester and Lincoln Cathedrals, both used in the movie, have staged tours and exhibitions while Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland, another crucial film setting, expects up to 140,000 visitors this year.
Griffith-Jones believes the book and film offer an opportunity, not a threat for the Temple Church, home to stone effigies of nine knights from the order of crusading monks founded to protect pilgrims on their way to and from Jerusalem.
"The book's historical claims are rubbish," he told Reuters. "People like me have a serious job to put the record straight."
"This is a very sophisticated way of muddying fact and fiction. I am not at all surprised that people who read the book feel they are learning something. It unsettles me."
The novel has enraged religious groups because one of its characters argues that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and had a child by her, and that elements within the Catholic Church resorted to murder to hide the truth.
Since the book was published, visitor numbers to the Temple church have soared and now up to 1,000 tourists a week flock there. It is on every Da Vinci Code tour as guides cash in on the book's popularity.
Griffith-Jones gives weekly talks in the church on "The Da Vinci Code" and has even written his own book -- "The Da Vinci Code and The Secrets of the Temple".
"I think people leave the church feeling grateful they have been there. They realise it is a very special place. They walk round slowly and talk in hushed tones. It still feels very much like a church rather than a mediaeval Disneyland," he said.
The Vatican has urged Catholics to boycott the film. Anglicans argue for a more sanguine attitude.
"The wagon is rolling," Griffith-Jones said. "We are not going to stop it. We could ignore it and pretend it is not there or we could get defensive and people would then think there is something in it," he said.
"But we have nothing to hide. Church history has as many villains as heroes. What is misleading is the suggestion that we are not prepared to talk openly."
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