Classic Italy Shrines Tours
 11 Days
/ 10 Nights
Day 1: MILAN
In the late morning arrival at Milan; welcome drink and meeting with our representative
who will introduce our program. Time at leisure to enjoy Milan. Dinner and overnight
at hotel.
Day 2: MILAN
After Breakfast departure for the panoramic tour of the premier monuments
of this city where in the 4th century St. Ambrose was bishop and St. Augustine
was converted by his preaching. We see the Castello Sforzesco and La Scala Theater,
the most renowned opera house in the world. Next we visit the Duomo, the city's
cathedral and the largest and most elaborate Gothic structure in Italy, and
celebrate Mass. Free Time for Lunch. In the afternoon continue on to the Church
of Santa Maria delle Grazie where the fully restored Last Supper frescoe of
Leonardo da Vinci graces a wall in the refectory where the Dominican friars
once dined, Sant'Ambrogio. Finally, we will visit the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan's
finest art museum. Dinner and overnight in Milan.
Day 3: PADUA - VENICE
Breakfast at the Hotel. In the morning departure to Padua, made famous in part
by the labors of Saint Anthony. Though born in Lisbon, Portugal, St. Anthony
chose Padua as the center of his preaching mission. We visit the tomb of the
blessed Saint and celebrate Mass in the Basilica of St. Anthony. We see Prato
della Valle, one of the beautiful Italian square, we can stroll along the watercourse
lined with tall statues and monuments. We'll also see the spectacular Basilica
of Santa Giustina and the Cappella degli Scrovegni wit the famous fresques of
Giotto. In the afternoon continue on to Venice. Dinner and overnight. In Venice
Area.
Day 4: VENICE
Breakfast at the hotel. Departure to Venice, guided visit to the historical
center with St. Marco Square, the Doge's Palace and the Beautiful Basilica of
San Marco. Free time for lunch. In the afternoon half day guided tour of the
Ghetto of Venice. When you visit the Ghetto of Venice you enter an extraordinary
and unique quarter. Five synagogues (15th to 16th C.) are located in this small
area, representing the different "nations" (Jewish ethnic groups)
who settled down in the Lagoon along the centuries. Dinner and overnight.
Day 5: FERRARA - RAVENNA
Breakfast at the hotel and departure to to Pomposa for the visit of the Abbey.
Continue to Ferrara. Meeting with the guide for the visit of S. Giorgio Cathedral
and the Church S. Paolo. Free Time for Lunch. In the afternoon continue to RAVENNA.
Meeting with the guide and visit of Basilica di S. Vitale, Mausoleo di Galla
Placidia, Basilica di S. Apollinare Nuovo and celebrate Mass, and Sanctuary
S. Maria in Porto. Continuation of the guided visit: Battistero Neoniano, Basilica
di S. Apollinare in Classe. Accommodation in the hotel. Dinner and overnight
in Hotel.
Day 6: LORETO - BASILICA SANCTUARY "HOLY HOUSE OF LORETO" - LANCIANO
After Breakfast, departure to Loreto. For seven years now, Loreto, small town
in the center of Italy, has been drawing numerous and endless pilgrimages because
of the Sanctuary that is renowed all over the world, where the Holy House, that
is the room of the Vergin Mary, is guarded. Its walls were transferred into
this place from Nazareth in 1294, brought by the Angels (according to a reliable
hypothesis of men of learning)."The Holy House of Loreto is the first Sanctuary
of international importance dedicated to the Vergin Mary and the true Marian
heart of christianity" (John Paul II). Free Time for Lunch. In the afternoon
we continue to Lanciano. Lanciano is a small town situated south of Chieti,
in the center of Italy. Lanciano guards inside its walls, in the church of St.
Francesco, at the heart of the town, the first Eucharistic Miracle of the Catholic
Church. The prodigious event, according to the unanimous testimony of the tradition
and of the following documentation, dates back to the VIII century. Ancient
Anxanum, the city of the Frentanese, has contained for over twelve centuries
the first and greatest Eucharistic Miracle of the Catholic Church. This woundrous
event took place in the 8th Century A.D. in the little Church of St. Legontian,
as a divine response to a basilian monk doubt about Jesus, Real Presence in
the Eucharist. During holy Mass, after the two-fold consecration, the host was
changed into five globules, irregular and differing in shape and size. The "Miracle"
was first preserved in a chapel situated at the side of the main altar. In 1902
it was transferred into the present monumental marble altar which the people
of Lanciano had erected. Possibility of celebrate Mass in Loreto or Lanciano.
Dinner and overnight in Lanciano.
Day 7: LANCIANO - SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO
After Breakfats we departure to San Giovanni Rotondo. San Giovanni Rotondo
is a village situated north of the Apulian coast and a place of pilgrimage for
the devotion to Padre Pio. We'll visit the House Relief of the Suffering, hospital
built in 1956 thanks to the offering of believers from all over the world. It
is the most eloquent testimony of the action of Padre Pio who lived in the adjoining
convent of St. Mary of the Graces of the Capuchins; the attached modern sanctuary
gives hospitality to an exhibition with the objects of the religious and, in
the crypt, his tomb. We'll see west of the hospital a flight of steps (at its
foot is the statue of Padre Pio) leading to the Stations of the Cross, going
up till Mount Castellano. Possibility of celebrate Mass in The convent of Santa
Maria delle Grazie. Dinner and overnight in san Giovanni Rotondo.
Day 8: SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO - POMPEII (Naples) - SANCTUARY OF THE BLESSED
VERGIN MARY
After Breakfast we departure to Pompei. Pompeii, place of great interest both
artistic and archaeological, the Sanctuary of the Blessed Vergin Mary has a
special interest. The history of the Sanctuary of Pompeii is linked with the
life of its founder, Bartolomeo Longo di Latiano (Br). He came to Pompeii for
his job in 1872 and he wanted to do something in favour of those peasants who
lived in poverty. He started to gather those poor people in the small church
of St. Salvatore, celebrating solemnly the feast of the Madonna. In 1875 he
brought from Naples a canvas representing the Madonna of the Rosary that was
immediately displayed to the veneration of the believers. After an apparition
and a miracle, the image became the object of great worship. The Sanctuary was
built in 1891 and in 1939 it was enlarged, so that the existing one is five
times bigger that the former one. Because of the many miracles and favors bestowed
by the Vergin Mary, the sanctuary has became in a short time a destination of
endless pilgrimages. It is also called "the sanctuary of charities"
thanks to the works rose for the will of Bartolomeo Longo, in favor of the little
orphans, of the prisoners' children, ecc... Bartolomeo Longo, who was recently
beatified, is buried in the crypt. After the visit of the Sanctuary, we continue
a guided visit to the ruins of the Roman city destroyed by Vesuvius. Possibility
of celebrate Mass in The Sanctuary. Dinner and overnight in Sorrento area.
Day 9: SORRENTO - NAPLES - MONTECASSINO - ROME
After Breakfast we departure to Naples. Guided visit of the historical center
of Naples, with the most beautiful churches, Church of Santa Chiara and its
Chiostro delle Clarisse, the Cappella San Severo. Then along Spaccanapoli we
pass the Church of Sant'Angelo a Nilo and the Renaissance Palazzo Marigliano
before arriving at the Duomo of San Gennaro. Free time for Lunch. In the afternoon
we continue to Montecassino. In Montecassino, place south of Latium, is the
Abbey dominating the plain land underneath on the rise of the same name that
has gone through the centuries and the atrocities of the last world war, symbol
of the thought of St. Benedetto. Indeed, it is here that the Saint arrived from
Norcia in 529 retiring for 40 days in the place where once rose the temple of
Apollo. After demolishing the pagan sacrarium, he erected the Church of St.
Martino. Possibility of celebrate Mass in the Church of Santa Chiara. Dinner
and overnight in Rome.
Day 10: ROME
Breakfast at hotel. In the morning guided visit to the Vatican Museum, Sistina
Chapel and Raffaello's Rooms. In the afternoon guided visit with our art historians
to St. Peter's Basilica and Santa Maria Maggiore, the first Basilica of Rome,
and celebrate Mass. Dinner and overnight at hotel.
Day 11: ROME
Breakfast at hotel. In the morning guided visit with our art historians to
the Basilica of St. John Lateran, and celebrate Mass. Continue the visit to
the Cloister and the Baptistery, the Lateranense Palace, the ancient Pope Residence,
La Scala Santa and Sancta Santorum, the Popes' private Chapel. In The afternoon
we will visit the "Basilica and Catacombe of S. Agnese and the Mausoleo
of Santa Costanza", wonderful examples of the Christian art. Dinner and
overnight at the hotel.
Day 12: ROME - DEPARTURE
After Breakfast departure.
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