Lazio Tour – World Heritage
4 days / 3 nights
A tour of Latium, including Rome, historic villas, mysterious forests and abbeys of surprising spirituality and charm.
Discover the day by day programme of the Lazio Tour
Day 1
Arrival in Rome. Accommodation in the reserved rooms in Domus and meeting with the guide.
On our first day of the tour, we will visit, after a short bus ride, the splendid Villa Farnese in Caprarola. Together we will discover the home of one of the most important families of the late Renaissance, which gave birth to the great Pope of the Council of Trent: Paul III Farnese, a cultured man and a great patron of the arts. The Palace is a place rich in history and charm. During our visit we will get to know the lights and shadows of the ancient Farnese family, walking through the rooms frescoed by great protagonists of the time such as the Zuccari brothers, Bertoja and Raffaellino da Reggio.
After the Villa, we will go by bus to the fantastic Sacred Wood of Bomarzo, also known as the Monster Park due to the presence of grotesque sculptures scattered in a surreal landscape, it is the oldest sculpture park in the modern world.
Pier Francesco Orsini, known as Vicino, created it from the middle of the 16th century and completed the first part of the work in 1552. Vicino, lord of Bomarzo until 1581, had the rocks sculpted on site, animating them and giving them shapes, sometimes threatening and sometimes persuasive, of dreamlike creatures. The Bosco differs from Italian gardens and, although it is part of the architectural-naturalistic culture of the second half of the 16th century, it is unique, creating a hermeneutic labyrinth of silences, allusions and illusions.
Return by bus to the Domus, dinner and overnight stay
Day 2
After breakfast, we will stay in Rome to visit some of the most important and special churches and basilicas of the eternal city.
We will start with the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. Considered the mother of all churches, it is one of the four papal basilicas of Rome. It was built in the 4th century AD in an area then known as the Horti Laterani, the ancient possessions of the Lateran family. Tradition has it that Constantine, having emerged victorious from the battle of Ponte Milvio (312 AD), had the basilica built near the palace as a sign of recognition to Christ.
Considering that it precedes the foundation of St. Peter’s Basilica by about 14 years, the Basilica di San Giovanni is by far the oldest basilica in the world.Walking through the city, we arrive at the Basilica di San Clemente, dedicated to the fourth pontiff, an extraordinary example of urban stratification not far from the Colosseum. We will start with the medieval basilica from the 12th century and discover the mosaic treasures that adorn it. We will then descend into the basement visiting the early Christian basilica and then the even deeper level of the Roman era dating back to the first century, where in some rooms of an insula a Mithraic cult site was later inserted.
Lunch in a restaurant.
After lunch, we will continue with the visit of Santa Pudenziana whose apse is one of the oldest in Rome, the church of Santa Prassede, adorned with beautiful mosaics and the famous Chapel of San Zenone, where according to tradition is kept the column where Christ was bound during the scourging and finally explore Santa Maria Maggiore, another of the four papal basilicas, with its rich mosaics made by Jacopo Torriti and Filippo Rusuti.
Return by bus to the Domus, dinner and overnight stay.
Day 3
After breakfast, we will travel by bus to Tivoli, to discover two very special villas.
The first is Hadrian’s Villa, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. It was built between 118 and 138 AD by Emperor Hadrian, in a green and water-rich area near Tivoli, the ancient Tibur. The Villa extended over an area of at least one hundred and twenty hectares, including residential structures, baths, nymphaea, pavilions and gardens. The various buildings were interconnected not only by surface paths but also by an underground network of roads for vehicles and pedestrians, used for services. The richness of the architectural and sculptural decoration of the villa was extraordinary and has been the subject of frenetic and systematic research since the Renaissance. Almost all the main museums and collections in Rome and the rest of Italy, as well as in Europe, include examples from Villa Adriana among their works.
Lunch in a restaurant.
After lunch, we continue our visit with the fascinating Villa d’Este, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is a masterpiece of the Italian garden with its impressive concentration of fountains, grottoes, water features and hydraulic music. Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este, after the disappointment of not being elected Pope, revived here the splendour of the courts of Ferrara, Rome and Fontainebleau. Governor of Tivoli from 1550, he immediately entertained the idea of creating a garden on the slope of the Valle gaudente.
The Villa was almost complete when Ippolito d’Este died in 1572. Further interventions in the 17th century were followed by a period of decadence, until Cardinal Gustav Adolf von Hohenlohe revived the splendour of the villa by hosting the musician Ferenc Liszt (1811-1886). Acquired by the Italian State, between the 1920s and 1930s the Villa was restored and opened to the public.Return by bus to the Domus, dinner and overnight stay.
Day 4
After breakfast, we transfer to the bus and finish our tour by visiting one of the most important places of worship in Lazio, the Abbey of Montecassino. The complex stands on the acropolis of the ancient Casinum. It is one of the most famous monasteries of Christianity, founded in 529 A.D. by St Benedict of Norcia, who wrote his ‘Rule’ here, which is known throughout the western world and which in fact represented the basis for the birth of modern Europe.
In its thousand-year history, the Abbey of Montecassino has been destroyed four times: first in 577 by the Lombards, then in 883 it was attacked by the Saracens. In 1349 a violent earthquake destroyed it, while in more recent times it was bombed by Allied troops.
The Abbey as it appears today to tourists, pilgrims and visitors has been rebuilt over the course of a decade, recovering among other things some of the material from the rubble, reflecting the original 17th century layout.
Today the Abbey also has a Museum, built in 1980 on the occasion of the celebrations for the fifteenth centenary of the birth of St Benedict and which houses, among other things, a splendid Nativity by Botticelli, a Library, counted among the 11 public libraries of the National Monuments, whose origins date back to the first half of the sixth century, coinciding with the arrival of the Saint of Norcia at Montecassino, and a guesthouse. Those who climb up to Montecassino can admire the panorama of Terra Sancti Benedicti, the town of Cassino below and part of the walls that united the ancient Casinum with its acropolis.
Return by bus to Rome. END OF SERVICES.
Lazio Tour
452€ per person up to 20 people
Single room supplement: euro 90,00
15% reduction 3rd bed 2-12 years
0-2 years free
MINIMUM 15 – MAXIMUM 25 participants
THE PRICE INCLUDES:
On-site transfers as per the itinerary;
Nr 3 HB in double room in Domus;
Nr 1 lunch in Rome
Nr 1 lunch in Tivoli;
Tourist tax;
Guided tours as per itinerary
Entrance fees as per itinerary;
Radio-guides;
Medical/Luggage Insurance.
THE PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE:
Transfers to and from the Domus;
Lunch on the first and last day;
Extras and everything not mentioned in “the fee includes”.
Enrolment fee 30€
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