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DAY 6 / TUESDAY / JUNE 15
LAKE GARDA & VERONA
OVERNIGHT IN ABANO TERME, ITALY
En route to Verona, drive along the shores of Lago di Garda, the largest lake in Italy.
Lunch at the lakeside village of
Malcesine. Castello Scaligeri has 14th-century
fortifications and
an older medieval tower. Remnants of an Etruscan tomb have been found within
the castle walls. The castle was fortified by the della Scala family who ruled
the region throughout the 14th century.
Verona was the birthplace of Catullus, and the town that Julius Caesar selected
for his relaxing stays. Because of the value and importance of its many historical
buildings, Verona has been named a UNESCO world heritage site.
Its Roman Arena, built in the first century AD, is one of the biggest
(and best preserved) amphitheaters from the times of the Empire, with a capacity
of 22,000 spectators.
The Gran Guardia Palace on the Piazza Bra looks like a magnificent
Greek-Roman temple.
Piazza delle Erbe , on the site of the ancient Roman forum, is now a lively
marketplace. At the center is the Fountain of the Verona Madonna.
The Basilica of San Zeno Maggiore is considered one of the great achievements
of Romanesque architecture. The present structure is the third on this site,
built from 1123-1135, over the 4th century shrine to Verona's patron saint, St Zeno.
The splendid façade dominates the large square, and is flanked with a beautiful
72 meter tall bell tower, which is mentioned by Dante in Canto 18 of Purgatory in
the Divine Comedy.
In addition to being the home of those famous lovers, Romeo and Juliet,
Verona is a beautiful medieval city.
Our home for three nights is the spa town of Abano Terme, just outside Padua.
Virtual Tour of Venice
Virtual Tour of Verona
Walking through Verona
History of Verona
DAY 7 / WEDNESDAY / JUNE 16
VENICE EXCURSION
OVERNIGHT IN ABANO TERME, ITALY
Today we visit nearby
Venice, The Serene Republic, La Serenissima , The Queen of the Adriatic,
for a thousand years one of the world’s most important and enduring mercantile sea powers.
Venice is built on some 118 islands about 2.5 miles from the mainland.
According to legend, Venice was founded in 422 by Roman refugees fleeing from the Goths.
The city of Venice originated as a collection of lagoon communities banded together for
mutual defence from the Lombards as the power of the Byzantine Empire dwindled in
northern Italy in the late seventh century.
Included on our walking tour are St. Mark's and its famous landmarksand
a journey through the labyrinth of the hidden Venice. Tour finishes at the Rialto
Bridge.
DAY 8 / THURSDAY / JUNE 17
PALLADIO EXCURSION
OVERNIGHT IN ABANO TERME, ITALY
The Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio shaped the world that surrounds us
today. Some of his most influential villas survive in the Veneto region around
Venice.
Villa Emo was designed by Palladio in 1559 for the Emo family of Venice. It is one of
the most accomplished of the Palladian Villas, showing the benefit of 20 years of
Palladio's experience in domestic architecture.
In the 1990s Villa Emo was featured in Guide to Historic Homes: In Search of
Palladio, Bob Vila's three-part six-hour production for A&E Network. The 2002
movie Ripley's Game used the Villa Emo as a location.
Villa Pisani is a late baroque villa at Stra, begun in the early 18th
century on commission by the
noble Venetian Pisani family. Alvise Pisani, its most prominent member, was
appointed doge of Venice in 1735. The initial models of the palace by Paduan architect
Girolamo Frigimelica still exist, but the design of the main building was
ultimately completed by Francesco Maria Preti.
From the outside, the exuberant facade of the oversized palace, attempting to
emulate Versailles, appears to command the site, facing the Brenta canal some
30 kilometers from Venice.
The broad façade is topped with statuary, and presents exuberantly decorated
center entrance with monumental columns shouldered by caryatids. It shelters
a large complex with two inner courts and acres of gardens, stables, and maze.
The most stunning decoration in the massive frescoed ceiling by Giovanni
Tiepolo (1760-1762) depicting the Glory of the Pisani family. The bombastic
allusions of the ceiling echo hollow in the now uninhabited shell of a palace.
The remainder of its nearly 100 rooms are now eerily empty; on the first floor
there are several rooms with furniture of the 18th and 19th century.
Deserted by the Pisani family, the villa has had a share of notable and
infamous visitors. Napoleon acquired the villa in 1807. It has been a
national monument since 1882. German Chancellor Adolph Hitler first conferred with Benito Mussolini
here in 1934.
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