Secret location

Ezio, my friend! How may I be of service? This article is in desperate need of a revamp. Please improve it in any way necessary in order for it to achieve a higher standard of quality in accordance with our Manual of Style.

File:Ezio secretlocation.png

Ezio about to enter an Assassin's Tomb.

The Secret Locations located in Italy are levels that must be completed through free running and some puzzle solving. These missions are optional, however, the first one must be completed in order to discover a Templar conspiracy against the Medici.

Each location has several stages, and each one has a different platforming objective, from climbing high towers on the inside, to timed free running trials meant to test a player's abilities. Six secret locations are also Assassin's Tombs that contain Seals necessary to unlock Altaïr's Armor, which is the most powerful armor obtainable, and is needed for Desmond to achieve full synchronization with Ezio. The first Assassin Tomb (the secret location mentioned in the first paragraph) does not count as a "secret" location, though it does contain one of the six Seals necessary to unlock Altaïr's Armor. In addition, the last secret location in the secret locations tab of the DNA menu is also an Assassin Tomb, but does not hold one of the Seals necessary to unlock Altaïr's Armor.

Renaissance Italy

Assassin Tombs

The Assassin Tombs were seven landmarks around Italy, each containing the tomb of an Assassin, each of whom were said to have protected the freedom of mankind when it was most threatened. Each tomb also contained (with the exception of Domenico Auditore's tomb in the Auditore Crypt) an Assassin seal, which were used to obtain the Armor of Altaïr in the Sanctuary.

• Santa Maria Novella - contained the tomb of Darius
• Il Duomo - contained the tomb of Iltani
• Auditore Family Crypt - contained the tomb of Domenico Auditore
• Torre Grossa - contained the tomb of Wei Yu
• Rocca di Ravaldino - contained the tomb of Qulan Gal
• Basilica di San Marco - contained the tomb of Amunet
• Santa Maria della Visitazione - contained the tomb of Leonius

Templar Lairs

The Templar Lairs (with the exception of the Palazzo Medici) hide treasure that presumably belonged to and funded the activities of the Templar Order. All of these can be accessed through a wooden door, marked with a large red cross.

• Palazzo Medici in Florence
• Santa Maria Dei Frari in Venice
• Arsenal Shipyard in Venice

Rome

Secret locations return in Rome, in the form of Lairs of Romulus. Like Assassin's Creed II, there are six of them, spread throughout the vast city. Additionally, there are two Templar Lairs are also found in Rome

Completing all of the Lairs of the Followers of Romulus will allow Ezio to obtain two of the treasures they guard, the Armor of Brutus and the Dagger of Brutus. Through traversing these locations, Ezio will also obtain some special documents that give background details to the cult.

Lairs of Romulus

• Catacombe di Roma
• Terme di Traiano
• Il Colosseo
• Cloaca Maxima
• Palazzo Laterano
• Basilica di San Pietro

Templar Lairs

• Aqueducts
• Trajan Market

Constantinople

With Assassin's Creed: Revelations comes the return of secret locations, however, they are more of a optional inclusion, with one being downloadable content and the other requiring the scattered pages of Ishak Pasha's memoirs.

Completing these two hidden areas rewards Ezio with the personal sword of Vlad Tepes, and the unbreakable Armor of Ishak Pasha.

• Hagia Sophia
• Vlad the Impaler's Prison

Trivia

• In the tomb hidden at Santa Maria della Visitazione, if you activate the lever, stand on the edge of the floor and stare into the water, you'll see a large figure move through the water after a minute, swimming past while staring at you with what appears to be a yellow eye. After the lever's time limit runs out, when you re-activate it and stand on the same spot and wait, a giant tentacle will shoot out of the water, though Ezio dodges before it manages to hit him.
• Solomon's Temple in Assassin's Creed is considered to be similar to a secret location; or more precisely, a Templar Lair, due to its linear mission and underground setting.
• In the tomb in the Basilica di San Marco, the banners clearly show the poison symbol, despite the Seal bearing the snake symbol.