RAVENNA & VENICE: The Byzantine Origins
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8th - 15th March 2008
with Ruth Chavasse and Anthony Earl |
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COST: Including flights to Bologna & return from Venice, transfers, 2 nights in twin rooms with breakfast at the centrally located Hotel Centrale Byron in Ravenna and 5 nights in the Hotel Gorizia a la Valiglia in central Venice, guided visits: £985
EXTRAS: Insurance, Single Room Supplement (£245), travel by Vaporetto (water bus), entrance charges (some free or reduced for senior citizens), and additional meals.
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The storehouse of treasures that is Venice owes much of its original inspiration to the art and buildings of Byzantium, with which trade links in the early centuries provided a channel of learning, style and taste. We shall begin our visit with two days in Ravenna, which was briefly the capital of the Byzantine Empire of Italy after the Roman Emperor Theodosius divided the Empire in AD 395, and remained closely linked to Byzantium with its capital at Constantinople. Here the wonderful mosaics and domed buildings of the Exarchate reflected the splendours of Byzantium itself, and tell much about the early Byzantine empire and about the early Church.
We shall move on by train to Venice, where the riches are such that a selective choice has to be made, but allowing time to enjoy the sheer delight of living briefly in the city. The mosaics of the Basilica of San Marco will introduce those riches together with those of the islands Murano and Torcello. We shall go on to explore how Byzantium and the East provided a unique contribution to Renaissance architecture and art in Venice, visiting the beautifully restored church of the Miracoli and paintings by the Bellini, Carpaccio and their contemporaries in the Accademia Gallery and key churches.
| Date |
Itinerary |
| Saturday 9th March |
flight to Bologna, onward coach to Ravenna: Hotel Centrale Byron |
| Sunday 10th March |
day on foot in central Ravenna, including the Tomb of Galla Placida , the Churches of SanVitale and Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, and the surprising items in the Archbishop’s palace. |
| Monday 11th March |
trip, by local bus to Sant’Apollinare in Classe; midday train to Venice, and waterbus to our hotel Gorizia a la Valigilia, a former Venetian mansion, located between the Rialto and St Marks |
| Tuesday 12th March |
as always, on foot, to the Basilica di San Marco; San Zaccaria ( for the Bellini altarpiece), the Romanesque cloister of Sant’Appolinia; acquaintance with the Campo Santa Maria Formosa, one of Venice’s many urban villages; pm: Santa Maria dei Miracoli and the Scuola San Marco. |
| Wednesday 13th March |
boat trip to the islands of the lagoon: Murano, Torcello and Burano.; lunch (included) stop on the island of Mazzorbo. |
| Thursday 14th March |
in search of art : the Accademia, and then a stroll to lesser known corners; pm: the Marciana Library founded with the gift of the Greek Cardinal Bessarion and the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni with a portrait of him as St Augustine by Carpaccio. |
| Friday 15th March |
options available: either a day tip by train to Padova (Giotto’s frescoes, remains of Mantegna’s work, the Byzantine basilicas of Sant’Antonio and Santa Giustina) or further explorations in Venice itself such as to find the hospital chapel of the Crociferi; also possible: a boat trip to Chioggia. |
| Saturday 16th March |
return from Venice airport to London (transfer by water taxi). |
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