Quarto Spazio proposes three days in tuscia
Day 1 - “Bolsena and its suggestive lake”
Arrival in Bolsena around 12.00 - Lunch - In the afternoon we will go on an excursion by boat to do some site-seeing from the lake (duration approximately one hour). Upon our return we will walk within the picturesque historic centre of Bolsena and visit the 4th century Church of S. Cristina and its sacred Grotto. The sacred stone of S. Cristina is kept within the Chapel of the Eucharistic Miracle. This sacred stone captures a holy miracle that occurred in 1263 where the saint’s blood and imprints appeared.
An official guide is available for the duration of the afternoon and at dinner.
Hotel accommodation, dinner and overnight stay (Viterbo or Bolsena area)
Day 2 - "Parks Villas and Palaces of the 'Fifteenth Century"
After breakfast at the hotel, departure for Caprarola where we meet with the guide and visit the magnificent Palazzo Farnese XVI century. This particular palace is considered one of the greatest works from the late Italian Renaissance. Here we will have the opportunity to visit many most famous works from Italian masters of the mid-16th century. After the tour of the interior, we will walk in the monumental park with Italian gardens, labyrinths, fountains and water games.
We will go by bus along the wonderful Cassia Cimina Road which crosses the Natural Reserve of Lake Vico, to Bagnaia, which was for a long time the prestigious holiday retreat for noble lords and important church prelates.
Here we visit to the Italian Gardens of Villa Lante, commissioned by card. Giovanni Francesco Gambara and developed on the design by Vignola. The Villa Lante is a splendid example of a sixteenth-century residential architecture that yields to nature. The two pavilions that constitute the residence frame the marvellous green terraced Italian Gardens that modulate the hillside and become the stage-set for the play of water captured from the natural spring and transformed through its decent by a multitude of fountains and other innovative waters games.
On our way back to the hotel we will make a brief stop at the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Quercia designed by Giuliano Sangallo, which preserves precious works such as the Terracottas by Andrea dalla Robbia, the great Baroque Organ, the inlaid coffered ceiling designed by Antonio Sangallo the Younger and the marble temple which houses the Oak and the miraculous image of Madonna with Child.
An official guide is available for the duration of the day and at dinner.
Breakfast and dinner are at the hotel and you are free to choose where you want to eat lunch.
Day 3 - "The Dying City"
After breakfast we depart for Civita di Bagnoregio known as "the dying city": a place of heart-breaking beauty located on an isolated tuff mass in the middle of the Calanchi Valley and connected to the world only by a footbridge. They say that "a trip to Civita is like embarking on a journey back in time, where everything has stopped". As we ascend into the once inhabited ancient city centre, we become aware that the town dominates one of the most evocative panoramas over the surrounding gulches. We will visit the Cathedral, the ancient birthplace of S. Bonaventura, and the rest of the solitary and silent village, which is a testimony of the Etruscan civilization, from which Civita was a very important centre. Lunch is free and after we will transfer to Bomarzo to visit to the famous Monster Park commissioned by Vicinio Orsini in the mid-16th century. The purpose of this spectacular garden was to amaze anyone who entered. We will take a pleasant and enjoyable walk through the centuries-old vegetation and discover the unexpected gigantic figures of monsters, gargoyles, nymphs, animals and strange architectures.
An official guide is available for the duration of the day.
At the conclusion of the day, participants depart for their return trip home.
For info costs and reservations:
Quarto Spazio - Via F. petrarca,22 - Civita Castellana (vt)
Tel. 0761.516188 - 0761. 599297
info@gmail.com
www@quartospazio.com
