n" content="Unlike neighbouring Tuscany and Umbria, beautiful Le Marche remains relatively unknown, the Ducal city of Urbino is justifiably famous but there is much more to be discovered. This is a province of hills crowned with tiny fortified towns and the glorious Romanesque and Gothic churches built along the pilgrim roads to Rome and Loreto. Richly fertile and with harbours along her Adriatic coastline she was one of the great mercantile provinces of the ancient and medieval world, her port at Ancona was trading with Byzantium long before the rise of Venice. For centuries Le Marche was at the centre of the power struggles between the papacy and the Holy Roman Emperors but this did not destroy the prosperity of her towns, even the smallest has fine architecture and many have outstanding collections of art commissioned by wealthy citizens for their churches and town halls. ‘Le Marche, A Different Place’ will introduce you to the rich arts and culture of the province from ancient Ancona to hill towns like Jesi and Recanati, the great shrine at Loreto, Renaissance Urbino and the glorious city of Ascoli Picenza." />
A Study Tour with Margaret Knight
21-28 September 2015
For pictures of Le Marche click here and click here for "letters from" Le Marche Itinerary Monday 21 08.30 flight from London Heathrow to Bologna. Transfer by private coach (lunch en route) to the 4* Hotel Gallery in Recanati. A walk through medieval Recanati, one of the most prosperous trading cities of Le Marche and birthplace of the poet Giacomo Leopardi and the tenor Beniamino Gigli. Dinner at the hotel. Tuesday 22 For two thousand years Ancona was one of the greatest ports and mercantile centres of the Italian peninsular. Our visits to the old city will include the beautiful 11th century Duomo di San Ciriaco, the Archaeological Museum with its fine collection of objects from the Bronze Age to the early Middle Ages, the Pinacoteca for works by Carlo Crivelli, Lorenzo Lotto et al, the 13th century church of Santa Maria di Piazza and the 14th century San Francesco alle Scale with its fine Venetian Gothic portal. The day includes a group lunch. Return by private coach to Recanati and dinner at the hotel Wednesday 23 Hidden behind its ancient walls, Jesi, the birthplace of Emperor Frederick II in 1194 is a beautiful city, rich in Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture. Our visits will include the 13th century Duomo, the Biblioteca Planettiana, the Teatro Pergolese and the 18th century Palazzo Pianetti, home to the Pinacoteca Civica. Group Lunch PM On to Numana for the Antiquarium, the museum of the Iron Age Picene people where the exhibits include the fabulous 6th century BC ‘Tomb of the Queen’. Return by private coach to Recanati and dinner at the hotel. Thursday 24
Group Lunch in Osimo PM Return to Recanati for the 14th century Cathedral, the Palazzo Vescovile and the Pinacoteca Diocesano. Dinner at the hotel Friday 25 Beautiful and harmonious Urbino was rebuilt during the reign of the Montefeltro Dukes whose Palace was home to an extraordinary Renaissance court. Our walk through the town will take us to the opulent Palazzo Ducale, now home to the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, one of the most important art galleries in Italy. Group Lunch PM On to Pesaro, birthplace of the composer Rossini and an important city since antiquity, first as a trading centre and then as the administrative capital of the Duchy of Urbino. We will visit the beautiful old town, the Romanesque Cathedral and the collections of art in the small but wonderful Musei Civici. Dinner at the hotel Saturday 26 Group Lunch in Fermo and a visit to the magnificent Duomo della Madonna, commissioned by Frederick II in the 13th century and built with white stone brought from Istria by his Sicilian fleet. Dinner at the hotel Sunday 27 The city was one of the great markets of Roman and medieval Italy and in 1185 she had become a well defended independent commune with 200 fortified houses. Her long period of financial prosperity and artistic vitality beginning in the 13th century made her a magnet for artists and fine crafsmen and saw the creation of one of Italy’s loveliest cities with fine civic and ecclesiastical architecture. Our visits will include the Duomo di Sant’ Emidio and the Baptistry, originally a Temple of Mars, The Gothic church of San Francesco, the Roman Ponte di Solesta commissioned by the Emperor Augustus and the wonderful collections of painting and sculpture at the Pinacoteca Civica. The day includes a group lunch. Dinner at the hotel Monday 28 Free time in Ascoli Piceno. Afternoon departure by private coach to Rome Fiumicino for an evening flight to London Heathrow. This itinerary may be subject to slight modification if required by local conditions. Flights Scheduled flights with British Airways. The hotels This tour is fully catered except for lunch on the final free day. See below for details.
For a printed brochure, booking form and a copy of the terms and conditions please contact Millennium Tours Tel. 020 8875 9863 or Margaret Knight e-mail: cavalieri@waitrose.com (copy and paste Margaret's address into your email address box)
All the flights and flight-inclusive holidays in this brochure are operated by Millennium Tours Ltd ATOL 10040 and financially protected by the ATOL scheme. When you pay you will be supplied with an ATOL Certificate. Please ask for it and check to ensure that everything you booked (flights, hotels and other services) is listed on it.
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