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THE GRAND TOUR an Aspect in the History of Tourism Was the So-Called

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THE GRAND TOUR an Aspect in the History of Tourism Was the So-Called THE GRAND TOUR An aspect in the history of tourism was the so-called Grand Tour. The Grand Tour was a trip of Europe undertaken by European young men from the upper class, and sometimes by young women of high social rank accompanied by a chaperon. They spent from several months to several years travelling around Europe in an effort to broaden their horizons and learn the languages, the artistic heritage and local cultures. The term Grand Tour was introduced by Richard Lassels in his 1670 book The Voyage of Italy. In fact, the tradition gained popularity during the 17th century, and developed in the following century. The Grand Tour was commonly undertaken in the company of a knowledgeable guide or tutor. The primary value of the tour was believed to lay in the exposure to the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, as well as to the aristocratic society of the European continent. Grand Tourists were primarily interested in visiting those cities that were considered the major centers of culture at the time, first of all Paris and Rome. Paris was definitely the most popular city as French was the most common second language of the British elite. From Paris, tourists would proceed across the Alps or take a boat on the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. Rome was initially the main point they would travel to; but Venice, Florence and Naples were also popular destinations. And when excavations began of Herculaneum /hə:kjuˈleɪniəm/ (1738) and Pompeii /pɒmˈpeɪi:/ (1748), the two sites also became destinations on the Grand Tour. Travelling had its troubles. The numerous items of baggage were hard to handle. Roads were often in bad conditions, and long journeys by coach easily became uncomfortable. Apartments were rented in major cities for weeks to several months. In smaller towns the inns were often untidy and dirty. A tourist would not carry much money due to the risk of highway robbers; so letters of credit from their London banks were presented at the major cities. Many tourists spent a great deal of money abroad, and due to such expenditures outside of England, some English politicians were very much against the institution of the Grand Tour. While the goal of the Grand Tour was educational, a great deal of time was spent in more frivolous pursuits such as extensive drinking, gambling, and intimate encounters. The journals [NB: “diari”] that were supposed to be completed during the Tour were often left blank. The French Revolution in 1789 marked the end of the traditional Grand Tour. After the arrival of steam-powered transportation, in the early decades of the 19th century, the Grand Tour custom continued, but it became cheaper to undertake, safer, easier, open to anyone. The Grand Tour had more than a superficial, cultural importance. It has been said that the ruling-class control in the 18th century lay primarily in a cultural hegemony, and only secondarily in the economic or military power. The legacy of the Grand Tour lives on to the modern day, and is still evident in works of travel and literature. Read the following pages from a book on the Grand Tour (Attilio Brilli. Quando viaggiare era un’arte. Il romanzo del Grand Tour. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1995, pp. 18-19.) (continued on next page) (end of passage) A typical visit in Rome: the Trevi Fountain Read the page below from the book by John Varriano. Rome. A literary Companion. London: John Murray, 1991, pp. 147-148. […] Oscar Wilde, writing a letter in a café facing the fountain, gave the most succinct characterization of anyone: ‘the sound of the waters is wonderful: it soothes: it has κάϑαρσις’. [Greek kátharsis = “purificazione”] replaced by the rite of throwing a coin over one’s shoulder into the basin. The travelling encouraged by the Grand Tour produced a number of travel books about Italy, some of which became well-known. Among them: Richard Lassels (c.1603–1668), a Catholic priest, visited Italy five times between 1637 and 1668: The Voyage of Italy: or a Complete Journey through Italy, published 1670. (This was the first author to use the phrase ‘Grand Tour’.) Tobias Smollett (1721-1771), English writer, visited Italy in 1764: Travels through France and Italy, published 1766. (A largely derogatory account of the French and Italian society.) Montesquieu (1689-1755), French philosopher and historian, visited Italy in 1728-29: Voyage en Italie, published 1894. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German writer, visited Italy in 1786-88: Italienische Reise (Viaggio in Italia), two volumes, published in 1816 and 1817. Stendhal (1783-1842), French writer, lived in Italy in 1800-1802 and in the 1830s: Rome, Naples et Florence (Roma, Napoli e Firenze), published 1817. Thomas Mann (1875-1955), German writer. In his short story The Will to Happiness (1896), [Der Wille zum Glück; in Italian: “La volontà di essere felici”] Paolo raises a glass of the Trevi’s water in a toast to his return. A flash of lightning knocks the glass and breaks it. .
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