12 Days – 10 Nights $4,995 From BOS In DBL occupancy Springfield Museums presents: Undiscovered Southern Italy: Puglia, Calabria, Lecce & Reggio Travel Dates: April 24 to May 5, 2019 12 Days, 10 Nights accommodation, sightseeing, meals and airfare from Boston (BOS) Escape to Southern Italy for a treasure trove of art, ancient and prehistoric sites, cuisine and nature. Enchanting landscapes surround historic towns where Romanesque and Baroque cathedrals and monuments frame beautiful town squares in the shadows of majestic castles and noble palaces. This tour is enhanced by the rich, natural beauty of the rugged mountains and stunning coastline. Museum School at the Springfield Museums 21 Edward Street, Springfield, Ma. 01103 Contact: Jeanne Fontaine [email protected] PH: 413 314 6482 Day 1 - April 24, 2019: Depart US for Italy Depart the US on evening flight to Italy. (Dinner-in flight) (Breakfast-in flight) Day 2 - April 25, 2019: Arrive Reggio Calabria. Welcome to the southern part of the beautiful Italian peninsula. After collecting our bags and clearing customs, we’ll meet our Italian guide who will escort us throughout our trip. We will check-in to our centrally located Hotel in Reggio Calabria. The city owns what it fondly describes as "the most beautiful mile in Italy," a panoramic promenade along the shoreline that affords a marvelous view of the sea and the shoreline of Sicily some four miles across the straits. This coastal region flanked by highlands and rugged mountains, boasts a bounty of local food products thanks to its unique geography. After check in, enjoy free time to relax before our orientation tour of the city. Welcome dinner at a local restaurant . (D) Day 3 - April 26, 2019: Reggio Calabria – Scilla: This morning, indulge in a relaxing breakfast on the roof terrace of the Hotel with magnificent, panoramic views of the bay. After breakfast, depart for a walking tour to discover the city. Visitors from all over the world come to Reggio for one reason: the Bronzi di Riace, also called the Riace Warriors, two full-size Greek bronzes of naked bearded warriors, cast about 460–450 BCE that were found in the sea near Riace in 1972. The bronzes are currently located at the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio. We’ll tour the museum before we visit the nearby Cathedral. Later, enjoy the beautiful dynamic promenade Corso Garibaldi, favored by the locals for their passeggiata. Enjoy free time at your leisure. Late afternoon we reach the pretty village of Scilla, suspended above the sea, for a stroll and a special dinner at a local restaurant. (B, D) Day 4 - April 27, 2019: The Calabria Countryside - Locri Gerace & Aspromonte. After breakfast, depart for an excursion of the “Undiscovered Italy.” A well-kept secret to international tourists, this area features extraordinary beauty, gorgeous scenery, vivid history, and the endless charm of southern Italy. Drive through many seaside towns that serve the long stretch of sandy beaches along the Ionian coastline to reach Locri, an archaeological site facing the Ionian Sea where we will learn about one of the earliest settlements of Magna Graecia (4th century BCE.). We then proceed to Gerace, an ancient fortified hill town like no other in Italy to visit the main Church and the several tiny Piazzas. The stunning countryside landscape awaits - this is the region of the Apennines Mountains called Aspromonte. We will stop at a local Trattoria for a very traditional country lunch and return in the afternoon to Reggio Calabria. Enjoy the evening at your leisure. (B, L) Day 5 - April 28, 2019: Winery / Matera: After breakfast depart for Matera. We will stop along the way to enjoy a peaceful nature walk through silent olive groves and leafy vineyards that stretch for a hundred acres. Then, visit a local farm and winery. Stroll through the underground cellars where barriques (a small wine barrel, made of new oak) and casks are full of vintage wines selected by skilled enologists and aged before they are shipped all over the world. Enjoy a country lunch, tasting the fruits of such hard work: oil, milk and wine, along with all the deliciousness of the land. Later in the afternoon, arrive in Matera, a captivating tapestry of beauty and contradiction. Matera is home to cave dwellings called the “Sassi,” which have been declared a UNESCO Heritage site in 1993 and is now one of Italy’s most fascinating icons. Check in into the Hotel Viceconte and enjoy the magic of Matera at night. (B, L) Day 6 - April 29, 2019: Matera / Puglia: After breakfast, enjoy a guided tour of Matera and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera. For millennia, people of this area have carved a complex of dwellings, churches, monasteries and hermitages built into the natural caves made of tufa stone, a characteristic honey-colored soft stone. This calcareous highland plateau characterized by deep fault fissures, ravines, rocks and caves, is integrated with ancient cave churches, shepherd tracks marked by wells, and fortified farmhouses to form one of the most evocative landscapes of the Mediterranean. The property was first occupied during the Palaeolithic period and shows evidence of continuous human occupation through several millennia until the present day, and is harmoniously integrated into the natural terrain and ecosystem. Our guided tour will take us through complex and unique locations within the characteristic districts of Sassi, starting from the area called “the Piano” (flat), the last level of urban development located on top of Sassi. Proceed along paths, alleys and stairs, descending back over time. Visit a Rupestrian Church, cut into the rock of hillsides and ravines, created by Basilian monks who were fleeing the iconoclastic persecutions in the Byzantine Empire during the eighth and ninth centuries. The cave contains faded frescoes in the Byzantine style. We will also explore a Cave House, a fascinating opportunity to see the typical layout of an inhabited cave, prior to being deserted in the 1950s. Our guided tour includes a visit of the Palombaro Lungo, one of the most impressive water cisterns in the world that lies underneath the main square of Matera. Entirely dug by hand, it is as deep as a 5-story building, and as long as a football field. Fully covered with terracotta to make it waterproof, it can contain up to five million liters of water. It is considered a masterpiece of the ancient hydraulic engineering, and a key point for enlisting the town at the UNESCO as a World Heritage site. After our city tour and some time at leisure, depart for Puglia one of Italy’s hidden treasures. This is the region of fine weather, beautiful shorelines, lovely towns, baroque architecture and delicious cuisine. We reach our Hotel located in Martina Franca, a little baroque jewel built like a balcony overlooking the land of Trulli. Check-in and dinner at Hotel. (B, D) Day 7- April 30, 2019: Ostuni Oil Mill & Alberobello: After breakfast, depart for Ostuni. Known as the white capital, it is one of the most stunning towns of Southern Italy. Clinging onto three hills at the edge of Le Murge, the old center is a spiral of whitewashed houses featuring dramatic views facing a sea of olive trees and further away, the blue Mediterranean Sea. Our journey leads us to the fortified Masseria, an active farm of monumental, centuries old olive trees that still produce supreme quality, extra virgin olive oil. Visit the farm and the amazing underground olive mill which dates back to Roman times followed by a traditional lunch at a local Trulli Farm. After lunch, discover the Trulli Valley and Alberobello a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its stunning collection of unique houses with conical roofs, and a visit to the beautiful historical center. Evening at leisure. (B, L) Day 8 - May 1, 2019: Bari & Polignano a Mare: Enjoy a relaxing breakfast at the hotel and some free time to enjoy the area and hotel amenities. Depart to visit Bari the capital of Puglia, with its elegant waterfront and Murat district of elegant and refined buildings. The old city is an area of rare beauty and a perfect example of medieval architecture. Enjoy a guided tour of the Basilica of San Nicola that houses the relics of San Nicolas, standing imposingly in the Old Town of Bari. Continue your guided visit to the Norman Castle, Piazza Ferrarese e Mercantile and the historic center. Spend some time at leisure discovering Bari. In the afternoon we will make a stop in Polignano a Mare. The tiny old town built on a cliff, reached through the Porta Vecchia gate, combines charming, white- washed streets with beautiful old churches such as the Chiesa Matrice. You may find yourself getting lost in the winding streets, but you won’t mind at all. Before you know it, you will have reached one of three panoramic terraces offering breathtaking views of the beautiful Adriatic Sea and coastline. This is the native city of the world-famous singer Domenico Modugno, who wrote and sang numerous classic songs, including the massive international hit, Volare. As you wander through the streets that inspired such a wonderful song, you might well find yourself involuntarily singing or whistling, “Volare, oh,oh… Cantare, oh,oh,oh,oh… Return to Hotel evening at leisure (B) Day 9 - May 2, 2019: Castel del Monte & Trani: After breakfast, depart for Castel del Monte, a13th-century citadel and castle. Situated on a hill in Andria, it was built during the 1240s by the Emperor Frederick II, who had inherited the lands from his mother Constance of Sicily. UNESCO included it in the list of World Heritage Sites due to the astronomical and mathematical rigor of its forms and the harmonious union of cultural elements from northern Europe, the Islamic world and classical antiquity, a typical example of a fortress of the Middle Ages.