Rome, the undeniable gravitational center of every pilgrimage, even during the Grand Tour era. The controversial libertine writer and philosopher Donatien-Alphonse-François de Sade, the Marquis De Sade, was also attracted to it. In fact, he became a writer just after returning from his Grand Tour. Here the Marquis comes to terms with the Church, the Catholic religion and Baroque, far from his Enlightenment Weltanschauung, but also with the countless attractions of the Eternal City.