Help 'Da Vinci'? Churches Divided

Filming Dan Brown's Bestseller Opens Debate In Houses Of Worship

(AP)  Westminster Abbey, the 1,000-year-old London edifice where British monarchs are crowned and buried — and whose Chapter House features in one of the book's climactic scenes — turned down an approach from producers earlier this year, saying it would be "inappropriate" to allow filming.

"Although it is a fine page-turner, we cannot commend or endorse the contentious and wayward religious and historic suggestions made in the book — nor its views of Christianity and the New Testament," the Abbey said in a statement.

Other institutions have been more welcoming. Winchester Cathedral in southern England has given permission for filming to take place later this year, as has Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh.

The 40-by-90 foot medieval chapel has attracted tens of thousands of tourists, many of them American, since Brown popularized its links to the once-powerful Knights Templar, a medieval military order.

Director Stuart Beattie said the 15th-century chapel expected 100,000 visitors this year, almost triple the number of two years ago.

Beattie said the chapel's trustees had agreed to allow filming over four days next month. "We didn't have any dissenting voices," he said.

"There's nothing Rosslyn is concerned about," he added. "Perhaps the church needs to grow a thicker skin."