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1 DAY 1 DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight
to Rome.
DAY
2 DAY 2 ARRIVE ROME ( 6 NIGHTS)
We will be met at the airport by our tour manager/guide, where
we will board our own private coach and transfer into Rome,
“The Eternal City.” This afternoon we will take
an introductory Walking Tour, commencing
outside Castel Sant’ Angelo. We will then cross the
Tiber River and walk to Piazza Navona, which
was built on the foundations of Domitian’s Circus. This
magnificent square, designed in the 17th century by Bernini,
is full of life and is highlighted by one of Rome’s
most spectacular fountains, the fountain of the Four
Rivers. The square is often filled with local
artists, and the surrounding neighborhood features many charming
cafes and restaurants.
DAY
3 DAY TRIP TO ASSISI
Assisi, the city of birds and silence that is named
after St. Francis has hardly changed since the Middle Ages.
Our sightseeing commences with a visit the grandiose, gorgeously
embellished Basilica di San Francesco, an
incongruous memorial to a man who preached and lived an utterly
simple life - one of poverty, abstinence, and renunciation
of worldly goods in search of greater spirituality. We will
explore the bi-level basilica including: the Lower
Church, the Crypt, and
the Upper Church, with the famous
28 scenes of the Life of St. Francis, frescoed by Giotto.
We continue with a visit to the Church of Santa Chiara,
the resting place for St. Clare's bones, as well as the home
of Francis' miraculous crucifix. Our visit will include the
neo-gothic Crypt, and the Oratorio
del Crocifisso, preserving the venerated 12th-century
crucifix that spoke to St. Francis at San Damiano and set
him on his holy path.
• Your first concert performance
will be today
DAY
4 COLOSSEUM, FORUM & PANTHEON
Today we will explore Rome’s most spectacular
remains from the powerful Roman Empire, commencing with a
specialist-guided tour of the Colosseum,
considered the symbol of Rome’s eternity. Completed
under Titus in 80 A.D., over 55,000 spectators could watch
the gladiatorial games. We continue with a walk through the
ruins and excavations of the Roman Forum,
featuring the remains of magnificent temples, basilicas and
triumphal arches, which once formed the heart of the Empire.
Our afternoon includes a visit to the Pantheon, one
of the grandest and the best-preserved Roman monuments, which
today houses the tombs of Raphael, Vittorio Emmanuelle II,
and Queen Margherita.
DAY
5 ST PETER'S & THE VATICAN MUSEUMS
Today we will explore the Vatican,
the world’s smallest independent nation, and the center
of the Christian world. Our day begins with a specialist-guided
tour of the Vatican Museums, which contains
one of the most impressive collections of art in the world.
Our tour will include the map rooms, the tapestry rooms, and
the magnificent Raphael Rooms, as
well as the spectacular Sistine Chapel, highlighted
by Michelangelo’s ceiling and Last Judgment. We continue
with a visit to St. Peter's Basilica, the
largest church in the western world and the most important
point of pilgrimage in the Catholic world. Highlights of our
visit will include: The Pieta by
Michelangelo, the Tomb of St. Peter
and Bernini’s magnificent Baldacchino.
The remainder of the afternoon will be free to explore and
shop in Rome at our leisure.
DAY
6 CAPITOLINE & MAMERTINE PRISON
We will visit the Capitoline Museums,
which house some of the greatest pieces of classical sculpture
in the world, and a Picture Gallery,
with works from the 16th and 17th centuries, including paintings
by Caravaggio, Rubens and Titian. Not to be missed is the
entrance courtyard lined with the remains (head, hands, a
foot, and a kneecap) of an ancient colossal statue of Constantine
the Great. Later we visit the Mamertine Prison,
a Roman prison noted for its famous inmates. Inside you will
see lists of the most important prisoners and how they died
- suppliziato means quartered, strongolati is strangled, and
morto di fame is starvation. Apostles Peter and Paul are said
to have been imprisoned here.
• Your second concert performance will
be today
DAY
7 BASILICA OF ST. MARY MAJOR, SPANISH
STEPS & TREVI FOUNTAIN
The Basilica of St. Mary Major is our first
visit this morning. The impressive interior contains remarkable
mosaics and depicts scenes from the Old Testament. Later this
morning we will ascend Michelangelo’s graceful Cordonata
stairway, leading to Piazza Campidoglio atop
the Capitoline Hill. This perfectly proportioned square is
highlighted by a copy of the bronze equestrian statue of Marcus
Aurelius in the center. On our final evening in Rome we will
walk to the Spanish Steps, the stairway of
the Church of Trinita dei Monti and “the sitting room”
of the city. Our evening concludes at the spectacular Trevi
Fountain, where it is traditional to toss a coin
into the fountain to ensure a return to the Eternal City.
• Your third and final concert performance
will be today
DAY 8 DEPARTURE FROM ROME
Your enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as your
tour manager/guide accompanies you to the airport for the
return flight.
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