 Pre-Tour: Megalithic Italy
21st - 25th September 2014
The cost of the pre-tour is £795. Single occupancy - extra £70
Day 1: 21st September: Ferentino, the Lost city of the Gods. Collection from Rome international airport and drive to Ferentino and stay four nights in a hotel a short walk from the town. Ferentino is a picture-postcard walled medieval hilltown at 1300ft above sea level, 40 miles southeast of Rome. (1 hour) There are three circuits of megalithic walls around the town containing layers dating from medieval, Roman, Etruscan/Hernici and earlier. They are amongst the finest examples of polygonal walls to be seen in Italy, consisting of giant sized blocks of irregular masonry laid without mortar. We will see for ourselves the colossal size of the blocks within these walls and visit the acropolis containing a medieval cathedral within its walls. Late afternoon/evening tour of the town and introduction to the tour. Dinner at the hotel
Day 2: 22nd September: The Delphi of Italy. Today we visit Palestrina and the great Sanctuary of the Goddess with its magnificent ancient walls. This quaint, sleepy little town high in the mountains south of Rome was once a favourite retreat of the Roman emperors. Today the importance of this town has been forgotten and ignored by tourists, however, the entire town is built over and into the ruins of an enormous ancient temple called Praeneste. Legends say the temple was founded by Ulysses and it was known throughout ancient Italy as an oracle, like Delphi in Greece. Many cultures have built a temple here over the ruins of the previous, including a temple to Fortuna Primigenia (Fortuna the First Bearer) the Etruscan Goddess. Here we will visit the impressive large museum built within the ruined temple complex and see the impressive walls from different periods. Free-choice dinner not included
Day 3: 23rd September:The Italian Troy and the Giants Gate. This morning we drive to the spectacular ancient citadel of Norba, which appears to hang in the air 1575 ft above sea-level on the western edge of the Volscian Mountains. This remarkable site with spectacular views of the surrounding countryside was built from sparkling white limestone and contains a unique polygonal round tower. Some refer to Norba as the great white city of the Latin’s, the Troy of Italy, built by Aeneas and the survivors of the Trojan War. Later it became the capital city of the Celtic Volscians, the enemies of Rome. Picnic lunch at Norba or a nearby café restaurant. Afternoon visit to the beautiful ancient hilltop town of Segni, once a colony established by the great Tarquin, the 7th Etruscan King of Rome. Here we will visit the great polygonal walls with their unique and colossal megalithic gates with scenic mountain views. Dinner at the hotel
Day 4: 24th September: Alatri and the Polygonal Sun Temple. We visit the great acropolis of Alatri which has the finest polygonal walls in Italy. We will walk the complete circuit of polygonal walls around this picturesque hilltop town and its high citadel, shaped like a geometrical castle. The walls here are the highest in Italy and contain colossal blocks of stone such as the lintel in Porta Maggiore that weighs over 50 tons and is among the most remarkable megalithic constructions in Europe. There is also an unusual ancient phallic carving over one megalithic trilithon doorway and the shape of the acropolis has revealed astrological alignments. Lunch outside in the Citadel Café with spectacular views or a local restaurant. The afternoon has been left available for another visit or longer at Alatri. Free-choice dinner not included
Day 5: 25th September: Depart for ‘The Spirit of Etruscan Italy Tour’ or return to Rome Airpor
Main Tour: Etruscan Italy
25th September - 2nd October 2014
The cost of the Nazca add-on is £1595. Single occupancy - extra £150.
Day 1: 25th September: Benvenuto a Etruria... Collection from Rome (Fiumicino/Leonardo Da Vinci) airport and check in to our hotel for four nights in the town of Tarquinia. Spend the rest of the day relaxing and meeting others. (There will be an optional afternoon trip to the Etruscan Necropolis of Cerveteri. Cerveteri once belonged to the now vanished Etruscan city of Caere and is the largest ancient necropolis in the Mediterranean area and a World Heritage Site. This enormous prehistoric cemetery dating from 900BC contains various types of tombs, including mounds, square houses and caves. Some have detailed and coloured paintings depicting Etruscan life and religion.) Dinner at the hotel
Day 2: 26th September: The Great Etruscan Cities. The day begins with an introduction to the mysterious Etruscan culture at the famous National Etruscan Museum in Tarquinia set in a beautiful villa and gardens. Lunch in Tarquinia. We then walk a short distance to the site of the ancient capital city of the Etruscans and its necropolis that has some of the most spectacular painted tombs outside of ancient Egypt. Before the building of Rome, when the shores of the Tiber were inhabited by a group of mud and straw huts, Tarquinia, the capital of the Etruscans, equalled the power and magnificence of Athens. It was a beautiful, lively, colourful city, filled with riches and refined opulent houses. Yet strangely, Tarquinia was lost to history and only came to light two hundred years ago, buried beneath the fertile fields of Lazio. Free-choice dinner not included
Day 3: 27th September: The Etruscan Valley of the Kings. Today is spent in the medieval hilltop towns of Sovana and Saturnia set in the beautiful Tufa Valley. Here we will meet guide and author on many books on the Etruscan mysteries Geovanni Feo who will accompany us for the day around the mysterious Etruscan Valley of the Kings. This sacred area has many rock-cut tombs, temples carved out of solid rock, the most impressive of which is the Ildebranda tomb, a smaller version of the Treasury at Petra in Jordan. The most mysterious features of this area are the Via Cave or rock-cut passages. They are of an enormous size up to 20 meters high and as little as 2 meters wide travelling for half a kilometre. There function is a mystery, but they appear to be passages of the dead, sacred routes of ritual procession associated with the Etruscan necropolis. Sovana once belonged to the Knights Templar and the ruins of a convent houses one of their temples. There are many medieval building of historical interest here set in narrow cobbled streets including a remarkable early Christian Romanesque gothic church with early carvings. Saturnia has pre-Roman megalithic polygonal wall made from massive blocks of polygon shaped volcanic stones. There are also strange, ancient dolmen-shaped tombs resembling those found in Britain. Dinner at the hotel
Day 4: 28th September: Tuscania and the Mysterious Rock-cut Temples. We start the day with a drive to the beautiful historic hilltop town of Tuscania one of the most photographed places in Italy with many medieval towers set within the rolling hills of Tuscany. It was once an important Etruscan town and the ancient Romanesque church stands on the remains of an Etruscan temple and houses a museum displaying sarcophagi that the Etruscans manufactured in the town. Afternoon visit to the remote spooky valley of Norchia that contains strange Etruscan temple tombs carved out of the cliff faces. Norchia was once an Etruscan city but all that remains are the cliff tombs with unusual carved façades and cornices. We can also explore the scant ruins of a medieval ghost town including a church and castle. Free-choice dinner not included
Day 5: 29th September. The Pelasgian City and Coast. Depart Hotel and drive to Siena via the ancient city of Cosa. Here we will see a remote, half-overgrown ruined city perched on a hill near the sea whose date is in dispute. The ancient walls here take your breath away with their majesty, standing in places 25ft high and are built using a unique style of polygonal and cyclopean blocks of stone. British antiquarian George Dennis attributes the polygonal walls here to a mysterious pre-flood seafaring race called the Pelasgi. We’ll see the great citadel that displays Roman masonry on top of Etruscan on top of Pelasgian. There is a small museum we can visit. Lunch at the cafes in the picturesque coastal town of Talamone. Arrival at hotel in Siena where we stay for two nights Dinner at the hotel.
Day 6: 30th September. The City of Dragons & the Etruscan Grail Church. Enjoy a leisurely morning tour around the medieval city of Siena, famous for its cuisine, museums and art. Originally settled by the Etruscans it was, according to legend founded by Senius, son of Remus who founded Rome. We will walk through the famous shell-shaped Piazza del Campo and visit the spectacular Duomo or cathedral where the dragon lines of the Apollo St Michael Axis cross (as dowsed by Hamish Miller). The city is full of architectural treasures, delightful plazza’s, museums, churches and a Medicean fortress. After lunch we make a trip to San Galgano Abbey and round church. This magnificent roofless Gothic Abbey, reminiscent of those found in the vales of Yorkshire, is situated on a crossing of two ancient roads. The abbey was built around 1224–88AD by French Cistercian monks who dedicated it to St Galgano (d 1181), a knight who renounced his ways and became a hermit living on a nearby hill called Montesiepi. The hill is crowned by an unusual rotunda called The Hermitage that is similar to Knights Templar churches. In the centre of the church floor is the enigmatic Italian Excalibur, a 12th century sword thrust into the rock. Free-choice dinner not included
Day 7: 1st October. A Taste of Renaissance Italy. Visit the walled medieval splendour of Volterra an important Etruscan town founded in the 8th Century BC. It has a fabulous museum displaying Etruscan Sarcophagi depicting some of the finest carvings seen so far and some very unusual items not to be missed. It also has Etruscan walls and a megalithic gate. Here we can also feel and dowse the Athena goddess energy line as she flows through an unusual round baptismal chapel, passing through a beautiful carved stone bath. The narrow medieval streets are filled with shops and restaurants where you can sample the delights of Tuscan food, wine, art and culture. A great place to shop and meet with others at the end of the journey, and a wonderful place to enjoy "La Dolce Vite"... Lunch at leisure in Volterra Farewell Dinner included
Day 8: 2nd October. Depart for Rome airport for return flight home or for personal extra days in Rome
Main Tour £1595 based on double occupancy
Single occupancy supplement
£150 Tour deposit: £450 (per person booked)
For Add-On Options: You will need to enter the main tour and the the pre-tour and post-tour add-ons separately into the shopping cart. Click on one of them, then click on 'continue shopping' on the paypal page to return to this page to enter the next one before you check out. An additional deposit will be added for each Add-On.
Tour Add-Ons: Megalithic Italy 5-day pre-tour
Add on Ancient Italian Mysteries Tour £795 based on double occupancy
Single occupancy supplement: £70 Tour
Add-On deposit: £250 (per person booked) |
Just southeast of Rome (as well as other areas) there are some remarkable polygonal walls underlying later Etruscan and Roman building. The construction is similar to that found in some sites in Greece, Turkey and South America, and it is similarly mis-dated and not recognised for what it is. Could this use of massive blocks of stone, so accurately cut and fitted together, be a legacy of the mysterious Pelasgi, a race said to have founded Greek civilisation and colonised Italy in the Bronze Age? This section of the tour is much more of an exploratory adventure in the countryside of Italy and of the history of civilisation. We will be exploring lesser visited sites as well as a lost city, an ancient oracle site, renowned temples and citadels. Join us as we look for evidence to rewrite history. This 5-day pre-tour Add-on will include 4 nights in Ferentino visiting hilltop towns with panoramic views, and megalithic structures in the hills to the east of Rome.
