Umbria tour to Perugia, Arezzo, Sansepolcro, Assisi, Gubbio, Todi, Spoleto, Orvieto

October 10-20, 2003

Early Booking Price, before June 10, 2003: $2995

Regular Price, from June 10, 2003: $3375

Single Supplement $415, Deposit $600

Tour Director: Professor Peter Gravgaard

Itinerary

Day 1 (October 10, 2003)

You fly from the USA to Rome, Italy. (Please choose a flight arriving at Rome airport (Leonardo da Vinci) between 08:00 am and 01:00 pm on Day 2 of the tour.)

Day 2 (October 11, 2003)

You arrive in Rome where the tour director, Professor Peter Gravgaard, will meet you and take you to Perugia where you will spend six nights.

Day 3 (October 12, 2003)

Today we will explore Perugia in detail. This is a remarkable city with a population full of energy, intelligence and urbanity. As Facaros & Pauls put it, "Just as remarkable as the people is the stage they act on: the oldest, most romantically medieval streets and squares in Italy." We will start out from the Piazza IV Novembre and walk through the town, looking at the Town Hall, the Palazzo dei Priori, and the Cathedral. See the Art Gallery with its fine collection of works by Piero della Francesca, Duccio and Perugino (Pietro Vannucci). Remarkable, also, is the fountain in the Piazza - Fontana Maggiore - with reliefs by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano. Notice Perugino's frescoes in the Collegio del Cambio next to the Town Hall. Enjoy strolling down the Corso Vannucci, as the locals do in the evening. Also notice the University in the Borgo Sant'Angelo, and the submerged Baglioni palaces under the Piazza Italia and the Carducci Gardens. Don't forget to visit the Museo Archeologico.

Day 4 (October 13, 2003)

Excursion to Assisi, the town of St Francis. A visit here means seeing some very fine churches: the Basilica of San Francesco is the great monument to the Saint and was started after he was canonized in 1228; it has frescoes by Giotto, Cimabue and Lorenzetti. Three more churches merit your attention: the Cattedrale di San Ruffino, where St Francis and St Clara were baptized, as was later the Emperor Frederick II, who was born in nearby Jesi. St Clara was head of the Franciscan order for women, the Poor Clares. She also has a church in Assisi: the Basilica di Santa Chiara. The third church is the Basilica degli Angeli, built over and around the little chapel, the Porziuncola, where the angels visited St Francis, (hence its name). Besides its many churches, Assisi also has some fine secular buildings: there is a fine Piazza del Comune with a torre and a Palazzo del Comune, and a Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo. Dinner in Perugia.

Day 5 (October 14, 2003)

Today our excursion goes to Arezzo and to Lake Trasimeno where Hannibel defeated a Roman army in 217 BC. In Arezzo we will see, in the San Francesco Church, a masterpiece by Piero della Francesca: The Legend of the Cross.

Day 6 (October 15, 2003)

Our excursion goes to Gubbio and to Urbino. Gubbio is the quintessential Umbrian mountain town - the Cadogan Guide calls it "stony, taciturn and mystical, a tough mountain town that fought its own battles until destiny and the popes caught up with it". But before its defeat by the Pope it had stood up alone to the onslaught of a coalition of twelve Umbrian cities under the command of Frederick Barbarossa; it took their bishop, the later Saint Ubaldo, to get the Emperor to agree to peace. It is fitting that in Gubbio it is the secular buildings that merit the greatest praise: taking the main street, the Via dei Consoli, we pass the Bargello and come to the splendid Piazza della Signoria with the fine Palazzo dei Consoli. You should also visit the Duomo and the Palazzo Ducale, built for Federico da Montefeltre. Back to Perugia for dinner.

Day 7 (October 16, 2003)

Today we drive to Sansepolcro, the largest town of the Valtiberina and the birth place of Piero della Francesca. Here we will see some of his best works in the Museo Civico (The Resurrection, the Misericordia Polyptych) and works by Luca Signorelli. We will also see the historic city center within the well preserved walls and two good churches: the San Francesco and the Duomo. Dinner in Perugia.

Day 8 (October 17, 2003)

Today we will leave Perugia and drive to Spoleto, where we will stay for two nights. On the way we stop at Orvieto, where we will visit the magnificent cathedral. This church does not easily find a rival, it is terrific. Some of the best artists in Italy have contributed: Maitani was the architect; there are works by Fra Angelica, Benozzo Gozzoli, Luca Signorelli, Maitani and others. From Orvieto we continue our drive to Spoleto. Here we will find our hotel and have dinner.

Day 9 (October 18, 2003)

This morning we will explore Spoleto, and a very lovely city it is! One can understand why Menotti chose it as the setting for his Festival of the Two Worlds. In the afternoon you may relax in Spoleto or join me on an excursion to visit Todi with its splendid Piazza del Populo - surrounded by fine palaces and the San Fortunato Church where Jacopone da Todi, the writer of latin hymns, is buried. You may remember his Stabat Mater Dolorosa and his Dies Irae. We return to Spoleto for dinner.

Day 10 (October 19, 2003)

Today we drive to Rome where we will spend the night. In the evening we will have our FAREWELL DINNER.

Day 11 (October 20, 2003)

The Umbria tour is finished, and we will drive you to your plane at Rome airport (Leonardo da Vinci). Please choose a departure which leaves Rome no earlier than 09.00 hours in the morning. SAFE JOURNEY!

Bibliography

Dante Aligheri, The Divine Comedy
Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy
Cassirer, Kristeller and Randall eds., The Renaissance Philosophy of Man
Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier
Lina Duff Gordon, The Story of Perugia and The Story of Assisi (Medieval Towns Series, J.M.Dent, 1910's)
Agnes Heller, Renaissance Man
H.V.Morton, A Traveller in Italy
Giuliano Procacci, History of the Italian People, Penguin, 1973