In the Roots of Christianity - Special Tour in Rome

Program 05 days 04 nights

1^st day  Arriving of Group at Fiumicino Airport – Time table flight in communication. Transfer by private bus at the hotel with dinner and overnight 

2 day The tour to discover “ Christian Rome” starts from the cathedral of Rome, San Giovanni in Laterano, defined the “Mother of all churches in the world”. It stands on the same site where Constantine built a basilica around 314, on the land already owned by the noble Lateran family, from which the whole area takes its name. Time to visit the basilica and the Holy step and further Not far away we reach the Basilica of San Clemente, one of the most interesting and ancient basilicas in Rome. It consists of two superimposed churches, built on Roman buildings of the Republican age and the remains of a temple of the god Mithras. In the upper basilica of particular note are the ciborium the Cosmatesque floor with polychrome marble and beautiful 12th-century Roman school mosaic. Time to stop lunch in group nearby the Basilicas. Coming back at the hotel with time in disposition. Dinner and overnight.  

3 day  in the morning dedicate to the Vatican City we arrive at Piazza San Pietro (St. Peter’s Square), Bernini’s masterpiece and antechamber to the most important architectural complex in the Catholic World. The tiny state of Vatican City holds wonderful works of art and has a deep spiritual meaning, being the heart of Christianity. After the visit of the Basilica and time to pray, after the free lunch In the afternoon there will be the admittance with guided tour  in the Vatican Museum and Vatican Galleries and  Sistine Chapel As a collection of ancient sculptures, the first group was begun by Julius II (1503-13) but it was Clement XIII (1758-69) who had the Secular Museum created with the assistance of Winckelmann, exhibiting Greek and Roman sculptures.In 1822, the Braccio Nuovo was opened with more than 150 sculptures, including statues such as The wounded Amazon, The Doriforo, the huge statue of the Nile, the Augustus of Prima Porta.In 1837, Pope Gregory XVI opened the Gregorian Etruscan Museum, with material from archaeological excavations carried out in southern Etruria in the 19th century, and in 1839, the Gregorian Egyptian Museum, with a series of statues of gods or members of the royal family, sarcophagus, mummies and funerary materials. In 1844, the Lateran Secular Museum (now the Gregorian Secular) was opened, followed by the Pius Christian Museum, whose collections included materials from excavations in the Roman catacombs, including a large number of sarcophagus In the first 10 years of the 20th century, the Museum of Missionary Ethnology was created, where religious events and religious rites from other continents are presented. The Pinacoteca (Picture Gallery) was also opened at the public, with a collection of works from the 12th to the 18th century by artists such as Lorenzetti, Martini, Giotto, Beato Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Perugino, Pinturicchio, Tiziano, Carracci, Caravaggio, Poussin, G. Reni and Guercino.The visit includes the magnificent Sistine Chapel, whose name has its original inspiration in Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere, who was Pope from 1471 to 1484 and commissioned the restoration of the ancient Magna Chapel between 1477 and 1480. Coming back at the hotel with dinner and overnight. 

4 day in the morning visit of Santa Maria Maggiore (Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major), the best-preserved patriarchal basilica. Despite the excellent 18th-century interventions on its exterior, it is the interior that offers the value of its artistic treasures, especially its superb mosaics; the episodes with Stories from the childhood of Jesus dating from the time of Sixtus III and the beautiful mosaic of the apse, a 13th-century work by Jacopo Turriti capture our attention. Besides the sumptuous mosaic art, the basilica keeps magnificent frescoes (The Prophets) Following  we will join the Basilica of Saint Praxedes, located in the Esquilino district, was built by Pasquale I in the ninth century and restored several times, over the centuries, altering its original feature .The facade before the open atrium, preceded by the courtyard with the remains of the colonnade of the early Christian basilica, has columns of the ancient narthex and three arched windows above. In the middle of the floor a porphyry disk covers a well, where, according to legend, Saint Praxedes collected the remains and the blood of the martyrs. Stop for a free lunch and in the afternoon ending this very full day of holy art we will join the Basilica of Holy Cross in Jerusalem One the Seven Pilgrims Churches of Rome, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme stands on the remains of the Sessorium, an imperial-owned residential complex started in the first half of the 3rd century DC that also included the Circus Varianus and the Castrensis Amphitheater. At the beginning of the 4th century the complex was property of Emperor Costantine’s mother Helena, who transformed the large atrium into a chapel to house the relics of the True Cross she brought to Rome. The basilica was built around the chapel and for this reason it was called Heleniana or Sessoriana. The basilica underwent a radical restoration in 1144 with Pope Lucius II, who divided it into three parts (a nave and two aisles), added a portico and the beautiful brick bell tower we still see today. The current appearance of the building dates back to the 18th century. The architects Pietro Passalacqua and Domenico Gregorini, by will of Pope Benedict XIV, replaced the medieval façade with a new one made of travertine according to the true Baroque taste. Coming back at the hotel with dinner and overnight.  

5 day  in the morning leave Rome to join the Pope’s Summer Residence – Castel Gandolfo to visit Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo The slopes of the Alban Hills, 24 kilometres from Rome, are home to the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo, the place of rest and summer breaks for many Pontiffs since 1620.On this delightful site Emperor Domitian (81-96 AD) had built his grandiose country residence on the western side of the hill, in a position dominating the Tyrrhenian Sea. Further we will join the very nice bourg of Castegandolfo with a walk and stop lunch at the restaurant to have a relaxing moment after a very deep, gorgeous and very  interesting tour with the precious holy places in Rome which the roots are absolutely involved in the Christianity. Coming back in Rome at the hotel with dinner and overnight.    

06 day  Leaving Hotel with private transfer at Fiumicino Airport  Time table flight in communication.

Quote per person in double room € 895,00 - Addiction in single room € 120,00

The quote include 05 overnight in a central 3 stars hotel in central Rome within an elegant modern ambiance surrounded by a 7-acre green park to make our guests enjoy tranquility, privacy and relax. 06 international breakfast with salad and sweet food, coffee and beverage; 05 dinners at the hotel with Italian gastronomy dishes with pasta-meat – vegetables –fruits-  Hotel City tax. Private bus with driver  on duty for 06 hours per day for all the program including the pickup ad drop up at Fiumicino Airport and the City tax Bus compulsory for the access in the Monumental areas and Vatican City . Guided sightseeing tours 04 full days in English speaking. Renting earphones for the best listening guided tour. Admittance tickets for: Vatican Museums and Sistina Chapel – San Peter Basilica- Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica –San Clemente Church – Gandolfo Vatican Palace. Covering Insurance health and care during all the tour in Rome compulsory for Groups in Italy with addiction of Vatican City compulsory indeed. Assistance and organization by Raggio Verde Incoiming Italy travel agency and tour organizer   

       

The quote not include lunch 3^rd day  4^th day on demand – beverages during the meals. Request of special diets or vegetarian or similar on demand.  

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