Faith Travel to Italy – Rome & Vatican City, Assisi, Florence, Pisa

Sightseeing Highlights Included

• Florence
  • Basilica of Santa Maria Novella is one of the sites where the history of Italian art was born and where some of its brightest artistic exponents, such as Giotto, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, and many others, were formed.
  • Visit the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore with the splendid dome of Brunelleschi, the Tower of Giotto, and the Baptistery.
  • Reach the Piazza della Signoria which overlooks The Palazzo Vecchio and the statue of Michelangelo’s David.
  • Visit the surroundings up to the characteristic Ponte Vecchio on the Arno River.
  • Explore one of the most important museums in the world, the Uffizi Gallery
  • Church of Santa Croce, a Gothic-Italian Basilica, and here you can breathe spirituality, beauty, and memory with the tombs of great artists such as Galileo Galilei and Michelangelo.
• Pisa
  • Visit the wonderful “Piazza dei Miracoli,” a Unesco World Heritage Site.
• Assisi
  • Visit the Basilica, the first example of a transition from Romanesque to Gothic-Italian.
  • Admire in the lower Basilica an atmosphere of spirituality around the tomb of San Francesco
  • Discover through the medieval city crossing the Town Hall Square to the church of Santa Chiara, among the first followers of Saint Francis and founder of the Order of the Clarisse
  • Visit the Convent of San Damiano, located in an oasis of peace and spirituality, and is the privileged place of the origins of Saint Francis and his conversion and then a convent of the Clarisse.
  • Visit the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli; the majesty of the Sanctuary gathers inside with the small chapel of the “Porziuncola” or chapel of transit, where Saint Francis died.
• Orvieto
  • Visit the gothic Cathedral, built to house the holy relics of the Eucharistic Miracle of Bolsena.
• Rome
  • Celebrate Mass at a local church this morning before going to see the Holy Father praying the Angelus at noon from the window of his study overlooking Saint Peter’s Square.
  • Pope Francis will give his Apostolic Blessing, which extends to you, your loved ones, and any devotional items that you have brought with you to be blessed.
  • Visit the oldest of the four major Basilicas in Rome and the home of the relics of Peter and Paul, the Basilica of St. John the Lateran.
  • Visit the Holy Stairs, where these Holy Stairs are the very steps leading up to the Praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem on which Jesus stepped on his way to trial during his Passion. The Stairs were brought to Rome by Saint Helena in the fourth century.
  • Explore the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the Church dedicated to Our Blessed Mother.
  • Visit the fascinating Church of San Clemente, an early Christian basilica in Rome dedicated to Pope St. Clement (d. 99 AD).
  • Witness the magnificence of the Colosseum, where in the arena fights between men and beasts, gladiatorial contests, races, and simulated naval battles took place and which Pope Benedict XIV dedicated to the memory of the Christian martyrs.
  • The Roman Forum, the religious, political, and commercial center of ancient Rome and, for centuries, the entire civilized world, and we also see the Arches of Constantine & Titus.
  • Visit the Pantheon and the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, where St. Catherine of Siena is buried under the main altar.
  • Visit the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and Piazza Navona on your own.
• Vatican
  • Visit the Vatican Museum, where we will see the magnificent rooms painted by Raphael and the Sistine Chapel.
  • Tour of St. Peter’s Basilica and the fascinating Scavi or Vatican Necropolis, the excavations under St. Peters where St. Peter was buried after his martyrdom.
  • May have the chance to explore St. Peter’s, pray in one of the chapels, ascend to the top of the cupola, visit the Basilica’s Treasury, or shop for souvenirs.
  • Attend a Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square with Pope Francis surrounded by the magnificent colonnade of Bernini
  • Visit the Basilica, built on the site where St. Peter, the first Pope and Bishop of Rome, was martyred.
  • See Michelangelo’s Pieta
  • Visit the Basilica dedicated to the other great apostle of Rome, Saint Paul, outside the Walls.
  • Catacombs of Saint Sebastian, to venerate the tombs of the martyrs and see some of the earliest examples of Christian art.