TOURS & COMPANION PROGRAMME
Visiting Rome means more than simply visiting a city, it means revisiting the entire history of the western world from its early beginnings. With its Coliseum, its timeless Forum, it ancient Spas and pagan temples, Rome offers a unique opportunity to breathe the atmosphere which once reigned during the great Emperors' days. With its more than three hundred churches ranging from Michelangelo's magnificent St Peter's Basilica to more humble buildings where the first Christians gathered, Rome also offers visitors a unique window on the history of Christianity. Moreover, thanks to its unsurpassed art collections, Rome provides a rare opportunity to meet up close with the work of such Renaissance and Baroque geniuses as Raphael, Bernini and Caravaggio.
Attendees and their companions will be offered the opportunity of taking part in a series of exclusive and unforgettable excursions around the city.
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Sunday 17 October 2004
Tour 1 - afternoon
14:00 - 17:00
ROME SEEN FROM ITS BELVEDERES
An extraordinary walk through the Eternal City, featuring stops at some of Rome's most panoramic sites, including:
- The Gianicolo hilltops which is the best place to walk and admire the panorama of Rome from above. The ancient Romans, the romantic travellers of the 18th Century and the poets and writers of the 19th Century walked here looking for inspiration.
From the Gianicolo hill every day at noon since 1904, an Austrian-Hungarian cannon fires a shoot. Its echo can be heard throughout the whole city.
- The Aventino area, set among the greenery and the mystical silence of Rome's most characteristic monasteries, cloisters and gardens. The view will surely take your breath away: up at the river, close to the centre, Rome will show you all its incredible beauty; it's a wonderful place to have a rest from the chaotic roman life.
- The Campidoglio is the lowest of the seven roman hills but at the same time is the most majestic since it was the acropolis and the religious centre of the ancient town, always remaining the heart and the seat of the town's government.
The square was created only starting in 1538, when Pope Paul III entrusted its arrangement to Michelangelo. On this hill the ancient and the modern World find their ideal connection point.
Cost per person: € 26,00
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Monday 18 October 2004
Tour 2 - morning
09:00 - 12:30
THE GLORIES OF BAROQUE ROME
If there is a period in art that can be said to have left its nature indelibly impressed on the city of Rome, it is the Baroque: the robust expression of a triumphant Church that managed to overcome the crisis caused by the Protestant Reformation. Baroque is the style of theatre, wonder and amazement par excellence that emotionally involves the viewer. During the 17th century, palaces, fountains, squares and churches were created, totally invading the city and giving it a new face which today, still sets it apart in the World. Throughout this itinerary, two names are alternately repeated: Gianlorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, the two great and undisputed protagonists of this epoch.
The viewers will discover the splendid Colonnade of St Peter's Square with the elliptical shape symbolising the Church's embrace of all of mankind. It is defined by a series of 284 columns arranged in four rows. If, however, you stand on one of the two focuses of the ellipse, marked by a granite disk, it seems that the colonnade is made up of only a single row of columns; Piazza Navona that recalls, with its perimeter, its original use for athletic games in Republican times with three magnificent fountains; the Fountain of the Four Rivers, Fountain of the Moor, the Fountain of Neptune. St. Agnese in Agone's Church is one of the most symbolic places of the roman Baroque. In addition there is the superb church of St Ivo alla Sapienza that was conceived to be the chapel of the University of Rome which was transferred only in 1935 in the modern seat. The task of building the chapel was originally assigned to Bernini who, considering the work troublesome and difficult, entrusted it to Borromini, who instead created a structure as extraordinary as it was complex. In between these visits, you will get a glimpse of other remarkable landmarks, such as the church of St Ignazio, with its superb frescoes by Andrea Pozzo, a Jesuit priest, painter, architect and mathematician who also worked as a cook for his religious order. The lovely little square which contains this church is one of the most successful Rococo creations.
Cost per person: € 26,00
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Tuesday 19 October 2004
Tour 3 - full day
09:00 - 16:30
OSTIA ANTICA
The beautifully preserved ruins of Ostia Antica, Rome's ancient seaport, lies twenty miles from the modern metropolis, in the meadows between the Tiber River and the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was probably founded in the 4th century BC as a military colony to guard the river mouth against seaborne invasions. Later, during the centuries when virtually all imports reached the Capital via the Tiber, Ostia gained prominence as the domestic landing for cargo boats. By the 2nd century AD it had become a flourishing commercial center inhabited by upwards of 100,000 people, whose apartment buildings, taverns and grocery shops are still preserved intact thanks to a mud covering.
The excavations brought to light Porta Romana, the Forum, the Theatre, the Baths and many other buildings providing evidence of Roman public and private life and of its great magnificence.
Cost per person: - 52,00 (lunch NOT included)
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Wednesday 20 October 2004
Tour 4 - morning
09:00 12:30
IMPERIAL ROME
From the huts where, according to legend, Romulus and Remus were raised before going on to found Rome in the 8th century BC, to the imposing remains of Domitian's Palace, the Palatine guards the secrets and traces of Rome entire history.
The Palatine forms a spectacular itinerary, both for its grandiose ruins and for its splendid panoramic views of the city and also of the underlying Roman Forum that is definitely the very place from where it is possible to admire the Eternal City with basilicas, temples, arches, domus one after another. The tour will be completed with a stop at the imposing Coliseum, which is considered to be a symbol of the eternal Rome. It is the biggest monument of the roman period and more famous for the austerity and purity of its style.
Cost per person: € 26,00
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Thursday 21 October 2004
Tour 4 - full day
09:00 - 16:30
TIVOLI AND STATELY HOMES
Right outside Rome, Tivoli, the ancient Tibur, was already a favourite holiday resort for the Romans as well as a place for the worship of local divinities.
Tivoli is also the site of an imposing architectural complex which is the Villa Adriana, a perfect union of nature and architecture. The impressive ruins have fascinated generations of visitors and artists, attracted by the beauty of its surroundings and the perfection of its architecture. Built by Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century, the villa consists of an intricate maze of ancient spas, squares, colonnades, underground passages, triclinia and nymphae, characteristic of the supreme inventiveness of ancient Roman architects.
The Villa d'Este, built on the ruins of a Roman villa, was first a Benedictine convent and then the Governor's Palace, which was magnificently restored by Pirro Ligorio in the 16th century for Cardinal Ippolito d'Este. The Villa is known for its innumerable fountains, streams, cascades and fishponds, which form a spectacular backdrop to the perfect symmetry of its terraced gardens.
Cost per person: € 52,00 (lunch NOT included)
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Friday 22 October 2004
Tour 5 - morning
09:00 - 12:30
VATICAN MUSEUMS
The Vatican Museums are one of the most famous and renowned cultural institutions of the Holy See. They are known everywhere because of the masterpieces which the Roman Pontiffs have commissioned, collected and preserved during the ages. Together with the immense heritage of movable works of art, sculptures and paintings which are displayed in the galleries, the itineraries of the Vatican Museums include the most important and artistically significant rooms of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, such as the "Cappella Niccolina" with paintings by Beato Angelico, the "Appartamento Borgia" with decorations by Pinturicchio, the "Stanze" painted by Raphael and, of course, the Sistine Chapel with frescoes by Michelangelo as well as the most important 15th century masters from Umbria and Tuscany.
Cost per person: € 46,00
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Please note:
· Tours will depart from and return to Ergife Palace Hotel.
· Each tour includes transportation, entrance tickets (where applicable), an English-speaking guide and hostess.
· Lunches are on your own. They are not included in tour fees.
· Tours reservations will be processed on a first-come-first-served basis. An additional € 5,00 will be charged per tour for on-site registration. On-site reservations availability cannot be guaranteed.
· Tour programmes and hours may be modified due to last-minute logistics issues.
· The organisers reserve the right to cancel tours accounting for less than 20 participants without liability other than refunding the cost of the tour to participants.
· Cancellations of tours must be sent to EGA in writing. For cancellations received before 25 September 2004 a full refund (less 10% administration fee) will be given. For cancellations received after this date no refund will be given. No refunds will be made for cancellations received after 25 September 2004. Please note that all refunds will be handled after the Conference.
