There's nothing quite like the smell of books burning in the morning. Some Italians in the town of Ceccano were treated to the medieval practice of book burning. And what books were being burned, you might ask? The Da Vinci Code, of course!
In the Italian town of Ceccano, two members of the town council burnt a copy of the book "The Da Vinci Code" on Saturday one after the movie opened in cinemas.
Stefano Gizzi and Massimo Ruspandini, both from centre-right parties, lit the pages of the controversial novel by Dan Brown, as an outraged crowd yelled "buffoons" and "Taliban" and threw rotten tomatoes.
The novel, with 46 million copies in print, contends that Jesus married Mary Magdalene had descendants, and that Opus Dei, a conservative religious organisation close to the Vatican, and the Catholic Church were at the centre of covering it up.
The two members of the city council burning the book said that they consider the book and the movie and an insult to Jesus and to their Christian Heritage. Several Vatican officials and cardinals have spoken out against the novel in recent weeks in the run-up to the film's release, including at least one Vatican official who has called for a boycott.
As the pages of the book slowly turned black, dozens of people railed against the two council members saying that their act was a return to the Inquisition times.
Carabinieri struggled too keep the crowd under control as tempers flared, and shouts of "communist" and "fascist" echoed across the square. The event took place in a square nestled between the city hall and a small church.
While the crowd was yelling in the square, inside Ceccano's city hall, the mayor was presiding over a wedding. Following the wedding the Mayor declared that he was "ashamed" of the book burning and called it a "deplorable act."
It's probably the most excitement that Ceccano has seen in years.
