Spiritual Travel to Italy – Milan, Turin, Venice, Florence, Assisi, Rome

Sightseeing Highlights Included

• Guided tour of Milan
  • Visit the Cathedral dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta in Piazza Duomo
  • Explore the historic Gallery overlooking the most famous opera house in the world, La Scala
  • Castello Sforzesco, the seat of a noble family that gave prestige to the city
  • Visit Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio, one of the oldest churches in Milan,
  • Visit the very rich Ambrosian Diocesan Museum and the nearby complex of Sant’Eustorgio
• Excursion to Turin,  which was the first capital of the Republic of Italy
  • Visit Turin Cathedral, which tradition and in-depth studies, indicates it is the sheet in which Jesus was wrapped in his burial.
  • We visit some wonderful churches, the Sanctuary of the Consolata in Baroque style and decorations, where an ancient and miraculous painting of the Madonna is venerated.
  • Reach to the basilica of Santa Maria Ausiliatrice on foot, commissioned by Don Bosco and here the “oratory” for the boys first begins.
  • Travel up to the large Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and behind a view of the Mole Antonelliana a symbol of the city, the square overlooks the River Po’ and in front of the Church of the Gran Madre di Dio, a neoclassical building inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.
  • Reach the Basilica of Superga, built by the Savoy family to commemorate their victories and make it a family tomb.
• Travel to Padua
  • Stop at the Basilica of Sant’Antonio, visit the architectural complex begun in 1232 with a Romanesque plan, but clearly incorporating the Byzantine style of the Basilica of San Marco, a fusion of absolutely original style.
  • Walkthrough the elegant historic center and the Abbey Basilica of Santa Giustina
  • Visit the Scrovegni Chapel, a small jewel, a masterpiece completely “frescoed” by Giotto
• Venice
  • Board the boat that will take you to Piazza San Marco
  • Boat trip to the islands of Burano, the most picturesque and colorful of the lagoon islands, then to Murano with a visit to a furnace where the skill of glass artisans forges objects that are famous all over the world.
• Pisa
  • Explore Piazza dei Miracoli to visit one of the wonders in the world and a Unesco World Heritage Site.
• Florence
  • The guided tour begins at the basilica of Santa Maria Novella, a church museum, and in the center of the church stands the wooden crucifix by Giotto.
  • Tour continues in the historic center, skirting historic buildings, we reach the Cathedral of Santa Maria in Fiore, the magnificent dome by Brunelleschi, Giotto’s bell tower, and the Baptistery of San Giovanni.
  • Visit Piazza della Signoria where the perfect copy of Michelangelo’s David stands vigorously. (Original is in the Galleria dell’Accademia)
  • Take walk to Ponte Vecchio, dotted with small jewelry shops since the Middle Ages
  • A visit to the Basilica of San Croce cannot be missed, a monumental complex in which beauty, spirituality, and memories merge, and here are the tombs of Galileo Galilei and Michelangelo and other famous people.
• Assisi
  1. Climb to the Basilica of San Francesco to visit the Upper Basilica frescoed on the walls by Giotto’s frescoes with the view of San Francesco,
  2. Then descend into the lower basilica, an atmosphere of spirituality will involve you in front of the tomb of Saint Francis, the “Poverello” (Poor One) of Assisi.
  3. Visit Santa Maria degli Angeli, the grandiose basilica that contains the “Porziuncola”, the small church restored by St. Francis
• Rome
  • The guided tour begins with the Imperial Forums, Circus Maximus, and Colosseum, the most famous of the Roman amphitheaters of the ancient world.
  • Visit the church of San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter, in Chains) to admire one of Michelangelo’s masterpieces, Moses.
  • Visit the Catacombs of San Sebastiano, a place of burial and refuge of Christians,
  • The great Basilica of San Paolo Fuori le Mura (Saint Paul Outside the Walls)
  • Witness the beauty of the Abbey of the Three Fountains, the place of martyrdom of St. Paul.
  • Attend the Audience of the Holy Father in St. Peter’s Square or the Paul VI Hall (depending on the season)
  • Visit of St. Peter’s Basilica
  • Reach to the Cathedral of Rome, San Giovanni in Laterano (Saint John Lateran), the seat of the Diocese of Rome and across from the Holy Staircase.
  • Explore the Marian Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore dedicated to Santa Maria della Neve and visited as an ancient Roman tradition.