DAY 1 DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight to
Rome.
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. Saint 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
Our enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as our tour
manager/guide accompanies us to the airport for the return flight
home. |
