TOURS AND EXCURSIONS FOR POMPEII, CAPRI, NAPLES AND AMALFI COAST

S. Peter's square in Rome

Particular of Sistine Chapel in Rome

S. Peter's Basilica in Rome

The famous Trevi Fountain in Rome

Particular of Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican Museums

You will meet our English-speaking driver by your cruiseship at the port of Civitavecchia:

VATICAN MUSEUMS:

The buildings that house the Vatican Museums, know collectively as the Palazzo Apostolico Vaticano, cover an area of 5.5 hectares. Each gallery contains priceless trasures. The most important are the Stanze di Raffaello, the Pinacoteca, the Galleria delle Carte Geografiche (Map Gallery) and, of course, the Sistine chapel. Among the pictures in the Pinacoteca you'll find Raphael's last work, La Trasfigurazione, and pain by Giotto, Bellini, Caravaggio and Leonardo da Vinci, whose San Gerolamo was never finished. Through the superb Galleria delle Carte Geografiche (Map Gallery) and the Galleria degli Arazzi (Tapestry Gallery) are the magnificent Stanze di Raffaello, the private apartments of Pope Julius II. Raphael himself painted the Stanze della Segnatura and the Stanza d'Eliodoro, while the Stanza dell'Incendio was painted by his students to his designs and the ceiling was painted by his master, Perugino.

SISTINE CHAPEL & S. PETER'S BASILICA:

The Sistine Chapel is the room into which the papal conclave is locked to elect the next pope, although it's better know as home to the most famous works of art in the world: Michelangelo's frescoes on the barrel-vaulted ceiling, and the Last Judgement on the end wall (completed in 1541). The chapel was originally built in 1484 for Pope Sixtus IV, after whom it is named, but it was actually Julius II who commissioned Michelangelo to decorate it. The frescoes down the middle represent nine scenes fromt he book of Genesis, including the Division of Day from Night, the Creation of Adam, the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and the flood.

The S. Peter's Basilica is not only huge, but also a monument to artistic genius. The first basilica was built here by Rome's first Christian emperor, constantine, in the 4th century. More than 1000 years later the basilica had fallen into disrepair. In the mid-15th century Nicholas V took a stab at its reconstruction, but it was not until 1506, when Julius II employed Bramante, that serious work began. It took more thatn 150 years to complete the new basilica, now the second biggest in the world. Bramante, Raphael, Antonio da Sangallo, Giacomo della Porta and Carlo Maderno, all contributes, but it is generally held that St. Peter's owes most to Michelangelo, who took over the project in 1547 at the age of 72 and was responsible for the design of the dome.

TREVI FOUNTAIN:

Immortalised by a frolicking Anita Ekberg in Fellini's film La DOlce Vita, the Trevi Fountain is Rome's most famous fountain. The baroque bonanza was desigend by Nicola Salvi in 1732 and depicts Neptune's chariot being led by Tritons with sea horses - one wild, one docile - representing the various moods of the sea. The water comes from one of the city's earliest aqueducts and the name Trevi refers to the tre vie (three roads) which converge at the fountain.

Take water, camera & sun cream; wear comfortable shoes. In low season warmer clothing may be required!

THIS TOUR WILL OPERATE RAIN OR SHINE, SO BE PREPARED FOR ALL WEATHER CONDITIONS.