Day Excursions
Your guide will meet you at your accommodations and accompany you to meet your driver. This region was, for most of its history, an independent republic, beginning life at the close of the Roman Empire as an outpost of refugees fleeing barbarian invaders; by the early Renaissance, thanks to some strategic looting and a location at the head of the Adriatic Sea, it had become an independent "republic" and one of the richest and most powerful cities in Europe. It did not become part of Italy until...
Read moreBefore reaching Ravenna, your guide will show you Chioggia, an old fishing city with the canals and bridges of Venice but without its palaces and crowds. Moving back in time, you will tour Pomposa Abbey, an important Benedictine spiritual center near Ferrara begun in the late 800s in a simple Romanesque style; its lack of ornamentation and minimal later additions make it an excellent example of the transition from classical to medieval architecture. Finally, in the Neonian baptistery and St...
Read moreVicenza and Verona are small cities, but between them is archeological, architectural, and artistic evidence of just about every significant period in Italy's history. In Vicenza, the emphasis is on the elegant and extremely influential work of sixteenth century architect Andrea Palladio, whose rediscovery of the building styles of the ancient Greeks and Roman changed the appearance of Europe forever and greatly affected construction design in the New World, as well. The city's beautiful...
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