I’ve always had the habit of visiting every convenient historical destination wherever I go. As a result, I’ve planned more a few trips in Europe and the Near East that had little or nothing to do with the ancient world. Examples include:
Introduction to the Architecture of Venice
The History of Sicily in a Week
Emperors and Popes in Southern France
Medieval Cyprus
Three Days in Jerusalem
Overlooked Pyramids of Egypt
A Sample Itinerary:
The History of Rome in Four Days
This tour is designed for travelers who want to understand the history of the Eternal City. Although it incorporates the highlights that no visitor to Rome can miss, it avoids the crowds wherever possible. The first day of tour would focus on the monumental center of Ancient Rome. The second day would combine more ancient ruins with some of the city’s most historic churches and catacombs. The third day (described below) explores Rome’s Renaissance and Baroque treasures. The fourth and final day would take in the Vatican and its surroundings.
Day 3 Itinerary
This itinerary assumes that you’re able and willing to walk about two miles.
As in the other sample tours, all practical directions are omitted
San Pietro in Montorio
San Pietro in Montorio, perched on a ridge overlooking the tile roofs of Trastevere, is a pleasant little church that features works by several prominent sixteenth- and seventeenth-century artists. The real masterpiece, however, is in the adjacent cloister. There, virtually unchanged since it was finished more than five centuries ago, is Donato Bramante’s Tempietto (little temple), one of the most important achievements of Renaissance architecture. This tiny building marked a new epoch in the Renaissance imitation of Greco-Roman monuments, and served as an inspiration for the colossal rotunda of the new St. Peter’s Basilica, begun only a few years later…
Here, as in other sample tours, I’ve written only the first paragraph of what could be much longer descriptions. In every itinerary I make, I provide as much (or as little) detail as the customer requests.
Villa Farnesina
Agostino Chigi (1466-1520) was probably the richest man in Renaissance Rome. A native of Siena, he became the preferred banker of the papacy, and was a confidant of both the Borgia pope Alexander VI and the (first) Medici pope Leo X. He entertained Leo and the other luminaries of High Renaissance Rome in this magnificent villa, finished in 1510. The exterior – designed by the famous architect Baldassare Peruzzi – is impressive enough. You’ll have to go inside, however, to see the frescoes that make the villa a pilgrimage site for lovers of Renaissance art…
Ponte Sisto
This graceful bridge was constructed by Sixtus IV, the same pope who built the Sistine Chapel. It stands on the piers of a Roman predecessor, and supposedly used stone from the Colosseum – a nice example of the intimate relationship between the Renaissance city and its classical roots. Check out the Latin inscription on the far side of the bridge, which reads…
Palazzo Farnese
Now the French Embassy, this magnificent building epitomizes both the imposing symmetry of Renaissance palazzo architecture and the equally impressive nepotism of the Renaissance popes. It was constructed for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese – who became Pope Paul III in 1534 – by several of Rome’s most distinguished architects. Like all great Renaissance buildings, the palazzo was inspired by Roman architecture. Michelangelo designed the massive overhanging cornice to look like the entablature of an ancient temple, and the fountains that flank the entrance contain granite tubs taken directly from the Baths of Caracalla…
Via Giulia
Laid out by Pope Julius II at the beginning of the sixteenth century, this was the most famous of Renaissance Rome’s streets. Driven through teeming medieval slums, it was meant to recapture the grandeur and magnificence of imperial Rome. To a remarkable degree, it succeeded. Try to imagine the street as it appeared in the sixteenth century, when it was lined by the palaces of princes and cardinals, and young nobles jousted on the cobblestones…
Campo de’ Fiori
At the center of this pleasant piazza is a somber statue of Giordano Bruno, a philosopher famous during his lifetime for his radical astronomical theories and unorthodox theological views. In 1600, after a lengthy trial, Bruno was burned at the stake as a heretic on the spot where his statue now stands. His turbulent life and tragic death provide an interesting glimpse into the world of ideas in Renaissance Rome…
Galleria Doria Pamphilj
After lunch, we come to the imposing Palazzo Doria Pamphilj. The Doria Pamphilj family still lives here, as it has since the seventeenth century (the palazzo, in fact, is the largest private house in the Rome). The rooms open to the public provide a fascinating glimpse into how the Roman nobility lived in the Baroque era. The art collection displayed in those rooms is one of the finest in Rome. One highlight of the collection is Diego Velázquez’s portrait of Pope Innocent X, the most distinguished member of the Doria Pampilij family. Others include a bust by Bernini, works of Raphael and Titian, and two Caravaggio masterpieces….
Santa Maria sopra Minerva
This is Rome’s only Gothic church. Although the building itself is medieval, the artistic treasures within reflect its importance in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Carafa Chapel, for example, was frescoed by Filippino Lippi; another great Florentine artist, Fra’ Angelico, is buried nearby, as are the Medici popes Leo X and Clement VII. Bernini designed several of the church’s tombs, and Michelangelo himself sculpted the statue of the risen Christ by the sanctuary steps…
Sant’ Ivo
This little church is almost never open. Fortunately, however, you can see its famous corkscrewing spire from the street. This eccentric masterpiece was created by Borromini, the tragic genius of the Roman Baroque. Everybody loved Borromini’s great rival Bernini, who designed crowd-pleasing theatrical spaces. But Borromini was an architect’s architect, obsessed with intricate geometries that left many viewers cold. His austere and esoteric churches are testaments to a brilliant but isolated vision, cut short by suicide…
Sant’ Agostino
Unlike Sant’ Ivo, this church isn’t very impressive from the street (the travertine façade, by the way, is probably built of stone from the Colosseum). All the good stuff is inside – and fortunately (unlike Sant’ Ivo), Sant’ Agostino is usually open. Though remodeled several times since the seventeenth century, the interior preserves most of its Renaissance decoration, including two famous masterpieces. A fresco of the prophet Isaiah painted by Raphael graces one of the nave pillars. And in one of the chapels (usually surrounded by a crowd of tourists) is Caravaggio’s famous Madonna of Loreto…
Piazza Navona
We end our day on the famous Piazza Navona. Although this oval piazza was laid out on the buried remains of an ancient Roman stadium, most of the buildings that line it were built during the seventeenth century. So were the splendid fountains in the center of the Piazza. The middle fountain, the famous Fountain of the Four Rivers, was designed by Bernini with his usual flair. Bernini’s rival Borromini designed the façade of the church overlooking the fountain (tour guides like to claim that the fountain’s central statue is hiding its eyes from the sight)…
How to Schedule your Consultation