Vatican City: The Olympic flame for the 2006 Winter Games set off for a two-month long journey across Italy on Thursday, with torchbearers carrying it past Rome's most famous monuments to the Vatican for the Pope's blessing.
Italy's President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi lit up the torch and handed it to Olympic marathon champion Stefano Baldini, the first of 10,000 torchbearers who will take through a 11,000-km trek to 140 cities.
"To be the first athlete in this relay is a great moment for me because I was the one who won the last gold medal in Athens 2004," Baldini said.
"The flame started from the stadium in Athens and so today it's a big honour for me, I am very happy this was a dream in my sports career and it is now a reality," he said.
On their way to the Vatican, torchbearers snaked past Rome's landmarks, from the Trevi Fountain to the Spanish Steps and the Pantheon.
"It's beautiful a really emotional moment' said onlooker Emmanuela Musco who had watched the handover at the Trevi fountain.
The flame later arrived at St Peter's Square where Pope Benedict blessed it from his window during the traditional Angelus on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
"I am pleased to bless this Olympic flame which today will cross Rome on its journey towards Turin, home of the the next winter Olympics," the Pope said.
"This flame will remind everyone of the values of peace and brotherhood which are the very basis of the Olympics," he said.
Highlights of the cross-country journey of the olympic flame will include a ride in a Ferrari in the racing car's hometown of Maranello and a cruise on a gondola in Venice.
The games, which start in Turin on February 10, are the first Italy has hosted since 1960.
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