- This course has passed.
The Splendours of Naples, Herculaneum & Caserta
13 September 2022 - 17 September 2022
If you would like to join us please contact Mary Bromley at [email protected]
or 0770 288 7383
Description
Naples may be Italy’s most vibrant city. A tangle of winding streets set against a sparkling bay, the wealth of art here attests to the city’s glorious past and links to the Bourbons. Aside from its numerous baroque churches, Naples is famous for key works by the fugitive Caravaggio and, later, Artemesia Gentileschi. From the ancient wealthy town of Herculaneum, destroyed by volcanic eruption, to the stunning Royal Palace at Caserta, we’ll explore a region characterised by drama.
Pricing
Based on 15 participants and strictly limited
£2,310.00 per person sharing a twin/double room
£500.00 deposit is needed to confirm your place
Supplements
£310.00 single room supplement
£180.00 upgrade for seaview subject to availability (per room)
The price includes:
- Lecturing by Nicole Mezey
- Return scheduled flights British Airways between London Heathrow and Naples
- All airport taxes, security charges and local taxes
- 4 nights bed and breakfast accommodation at 4* Grand Hotel Santa Lucia, Naples
- 1 dinner in hotel restaurant
- 5 lunches in local restaurants
- All local coach transport in Italy as per itinerary
- All entrance charges and fees to visits as per the itinerary
- City Tax throughout
- Services of local licenced guides throughout
- Vox Guides throughout
The price does not include
- Dinners (Days 2, 3, 4, 5)
- Teas or coffees during any mid morning / mid afternoon breaks
- Refreshments
- Any incidental and personal expenditure (laundry, telephone, etc)
- Taxis or other transport not specified
- Personal insurance
Your Lecturer: Nicole Mezey
Nicole studied at the Universities of Sussex, York and Paris before becoming Senior Lecturer at Queen’s University, Belfast, where she established the Department of Art History and worked extensively with adult students on part-time degrees and Open Learning programmes. She is currently a freelance lecturer for The Arts Society, the National Museum of Northern Ireland, Queen’s University and the National Trust. Her publications focus on adult education and the arts. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Your hotel: Grand Hotel Santa Lucia, Naples (4*) 4 nights
Via Partenope, 46, Napoli 80121
Grand Hotel Santa Lucia is a four star hotel built in 1900 by the well-known architect Giovan’ Battista Comencini. With its views over the majestic Castel dell’Ovo, Vesuvio Mount and the Gulf (including Capri and Ischia), this elegant hotel has all the usual amenities including a gym.
Tour Itinerary
Day 1/ TUESDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2022
British Airways from London Heathrow
Arrival in Naples, met by local guide and transfer to local restaurant for lunch.
Visit Certosa di San Martino in the sophisticated suburb of Vomero. This former fourteenth century Carthusian monastery is now a quirky museum with wonderful views and a gentle introduction to the city.
Check in to Grand Hotel Santa Lucia
Welcome Dinner in hotel restaurant
Day 2 / Wednesday 14 September 2022
Transfer by coach to the centre of Naples for a walking tour to include the vibrant bustle of Piazza Dante and Spaccanapoli. Visit the Santa Chiara Cloisters with its unique ceramics; the church of San Gregorio Armeno with its frescoed cupola by Neapolitan Luca Giordano and the church of Gesù Nuovo built by the Jesuits and featuring Francesco Solimena’s masterful fresco ‘The Expulsion of Eliodoro from Jerusalem Temple.’
Lunch in local restaurant
Walk to the Duomo – a beautiful medieval cathedral that features the remains of an Early Christian basilica, many notable artworks, and the miraculous blood of San Gennaro.
By coach to the elegant Museo Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano on via Toledo, which Stendhal called the “most populous and cheerful street in the world”. See one of Caravaggio’s last works, ‘The Martyrdom of St Ursula’ and the naturalistic sculptures of Neapolitan Vincenzo Gemito.
Return to hotel by coach
Independent arrangements for dinner
Day 3 / Thursday 15 September 2022
By coach to the Archaeological Museum to see the best ancient artefacts from villas and other buildings in Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae.
Lunch in local restaurant
Continue by coach to the archaeological site of Herculaneum for a guided visit. Buried under around 25m of ash following the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE, wealthy Herculaneum was better preserved than Pompeii, allowing us to reconstruct daily life here.
Return to hotel by coach
Independent arrangements for dinner
Day 4 / Friday 16 September 2022
By coach to Museo Capodimonte, former hunting lodge and royal residence of the Bourbon King Charles VII of Naples and Sicily. Built in 1738, it houses one of the country’s best art collections with masterpieces such as Masaccio’s “Crucifixion”, Titian’s “Pope Paul III and His Grandsons”, Artemesia’s Gentileschi’s ‘Judith and the Head of Holofornes,’ and Caravaggio’s ‘Flagellation.’
Lunch in local restaurant
Walk to the Catacombe di San Gennaro, a vast underground complex of early Christian tombs, offering a rare and extraordinary opportunity to view 2nd-5th C survivals of tombs, frescoes and mosaics.
Coach to Pio Monte della Misericordia a beautiful octagonal church which belonged to a seventeenth century charitable order who commissioned Caravaggio’s great work, ‘The Seven Works of Mercy’ which is still in situ.
Return to the hotel by coach
Independent arrangements for dinner
Day 5 / Saturday 17 September 2022
Check out of hotel after breakfast
By coach to Chiesa di San Lorenzo Maggiore famed for its excavation of half of an original Roman market and also as the site where medieval writer Giovanni Boccaccio met his muse, Neapolitan noblewoman Maria d’Aquino, known as ‘Fiammetta’.
By coach to Caserta
Lunch in a local restaurant
Visit the C18th Palazzo di Caserta one of the world’s largest royal residences and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site described as “the swan song of the spectacular art of the Baroque”.
By coach to Naples airport
British Airways to London Heathrow
Booking Information
Places are strictly limited to 15 so please book early. For further information:
Contact: Mary Bromley
Telephone: 0770 288 7383
Email: [email protected]
Write: The Course, 105 William Court, 6 Hall Road, London NW8 9PB
This tour is organised by Heritage Group Travel who are responsible for all the arrangements. Please refer to Heritage Group Travel Booking Terms and Conditions which can be sent upon request. The Company holds ATOL number 3707 and ABTOT licence number 5060 for your protection. This itinerary is subject to change should local conditions or unexpected restrictions occur. As the tour is arranged many months in advance visits may be subject to amendment.
