Rome & Northen Lazio 9 days – 8 nts

Rome
Arrival at Rome Leonardo Da Vinci Airport and transfer to   hotel. Accommodation   and lunch.
In the afternoon   visit with   local guide of the   Squares of   Rome, starting from Trevi fountain, the monumental celebration of the Virgin Aqueduct, crossing the Galleria Colonna recently restored and opened to the public. Visit then Piazza Colonna, taking its name from the Column in honour of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. And then Piazza Montecitorio, with the 17th century old tribunal is now the seat of Italian Parliament, Piazza Sant’Ignazio, beautiful rococo square and the Jesuit renaissance church with the illusionist dome by Andrea Pozzo. We’ll enter Pantheon with its huge Ancient Roman dome and the grave of the great Italian artist Raphael, the church of St. Louis of France, with the famous canvases by Caravaggio, the eclectic dome of Saint Ivo alla Sapienza by Borromini. Our tour finish off with Piazza Navona and its famous fountain of the Four Rivers designed by Bernini for the Pope Innocent X Pamphilj. Welcome dinner at a   local restaurant and   back to   hotel for overnight.
  
Rome
After breakfast visit   with local   guide of   the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel.
We enter the Pinecone Courtyard, crossing the collection of Greek and roman sculpture, admiring the famous statue of Apollus, the Laocoon and the Belvedere Torso, the statues of animals, the Coffins of St. Helen and St. Constance,  the Galleries of Tapestries and the frescoed Maps of all Italy painted in 1585. The Rooms painted by Raphael and his pupils, ending with the amazing Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.  Afterward the tour will lead you inside the highest temple of Christendom: St. Peter’s Basilica. More than a simple church the Basilica, originally build by Emperor Constantine over the tomb of the very first pope, the apostle Peter, was designed by the best Italian architects. Its building took more than 150 years, and under a certain point of view is still a “work in progress”. The Pietà by Michelangelo, the Jubilee Gate,  Bernini’s main staircase enlightened by eternal lamps leading to the tomb of Saint Peter designed by Carlo Maderno, the tombs of the Popes made by Bernini, Della Porta, Canova and many others, Michelangelo’s amazing dome and more masterpieces will over helm you. Quick view of  Saint Angel Castle outside , and the secret passage (Passetto) connecting with the papal apartment, will give you the complete picture of the headquarter of Roman Catholic Church.
Free time for   lunch
In the afternoon   visit of Santa Maria Maggiore’s Basilica , the last of the fourth Papal Basilicas that was founded in 5th century A.D., after the miracle of the snow in August. After visiting St. Mary Major Basilica, the guide  will lead you to  Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano : the oldest Papal Basilica, once called by Pope John Paul II “the mother of all the churches in the entire Christianity”, was built over the Headquarter of the Imperial Knights called “equites singulares” under the Emperor Constantine. It was the papal seat until the 15th century, when Pope Martin V moved to the Vatican. We’ll visit the Basilica inside with its 1700 century of history, the baroque decoration made by Borromini the beautiful Romanesque cloister, the Baptistery ending with the Holy Staircase, that was rebuilt in front of the basilica in the 4th century AD after being taken by St. Helena in Jerusalem and being found Pilatus’ House entrance on which Jesus himself stood in front of his people before the crucifixion. Back to hotel for dinner and overnight.
 
Rome   
After breakfast visit   with local guide of the archaeological heart of the eternal city will starting from the Amphiteatrum Flavium , better known as the Coliseum, in which thousands of cruel fights between beasts and slaves took place. Inside visit. Then you will admire the majesty of the triumphal Arch of the Emperor Constantine. Nearby this arch, the Roman Forum is a journey into ancient roman history: from the early Seven Kings to the Late Empire every man who ruled Rome left a reminder of himself in Rome main public square. In the end you’ll enjoy the breathtaking view from Capitoline Hill, the main of the seven hills of Rome, where Michelangelo designed in the Renaissance a monumental square built upon the ancient roman ruins. You can admire the view of Rome from the   top of the Vittoriano.
Free time for lunch and afternoon at disposal for personal activities.
Dinner at hotel and   overnight.
 
Rome / Tivoli  
After breakfast departure for the  visit that   will lead you through the Roman countryside to Tivoli, built on the slopes of the Sabine Hills.
Visit  with local guide of Villa d'Este, one of the most enchanting of the late Renaissance, home of Lucretia Borgia's son, famous for its gardens, marvellous fountains, waterfalls and centenary trees. Then at short walking distance, from the historical centre, just passing the Gregorian Bridge, rebuilt like the original after the bombing of 1944 and erected by Gregory XVI in 1826, we find “Villa Gregoriana” Park on its left. Under a dense forest of gigantic and dark trees, near sombre and massive vestiges of ancient constructions, on the edge of frightening depths, inside hard rocks and steep crags, in the middle of green, small clearings gloriously lit by the sun, myrtles lanes, craggy paths, steep alleys, eroded flights of steps and small tunnels, wind and find their way, leading the visitor to the discovery of the most varied and unexpected visions. In the upper paths, there is a number of ancient memorial tablets, found during the excavations to create the two Gregorian underground passages, as well as some archaeological finds like columns and parts of statues from the near necropolis, once located in the little public garden overlooking the circular flower bed in front of Villa Gregoriana. Today, the number of such memorial tablets ,are now very few because they have been stolen or removed to other destinations. We arrive to the end of the underground passages, where the river hurls down to form the great fall, 120 mts. high.
Time at leisure for   lunch and in the afternoon   visit of Adrian's Villa, the largest and most luxurious country residence of all times with its gorgeous array of imperial palaces, thermal baths, temples, theatres and pools. Back to hotel in Rome for   dinner and overnight.
 
Rome / Cerveteri /Tarquinia/ Viterbo
After breakfast departure to Cerveteri, located 30 minutes north of   Rome.   Visit    with local guide  of the site   known as the most powerful of Etruscan city-estate , the   necropolis La   Banditaccia .The particularity of this necropolis, is that the project followed by the Etruscans had the intention to recreate the structure of "urban" city of the living: the tombs are located along the main street of the Underworld. Continue to Tarquinia and Visit of the   Etruscan’s museum, housed in a gothic – renaissance palace, in the centre of the village. The museum is certainly the most important Etruscan museum in Italy where   you can see the sarcophagi of the Etruscan families , Greek vases found in Etruscan tombs, mirrors, coins and sculptures of great interest including the wonderful winged horses. Stop for   lunch and   in the afternoon visit of the the necropolis of the Monterozzi just outside the modern town of the city of Tarquinia which represents only a part from the extensive area for the burial of the dead past. Incredibly well-preserved polychrome frescoes represent an irreplaceable testimony of the funeral and conceptions of the everyday life of this civilization. Continue to Viterbo and accommodation at hotel. Dinner and   overnight.
Viterbo/ Villa Lante
After   breakfast   visit with local   guide of    Viterbo. The city became one of the most flourishing cities of Italian medieval. Head of the Popes in the second half of the thirteenth century today, preserves evidence of its rich past. Starting from the Cathedral of San Lorenzo, where the elegant terrace overlooking the Palace of the Popes, which was the first conclave in the forms still in place today, and the house of Valentino Pagnotta, graceful example of transition between the Romanesque architecture and Gothic architecture. The walk continues with a visit to the beautiful fountains and a zone of the typical medieval quarter of San Pellegrino.  Stop   for   lunch and   in the afternoon visit the splendid Villa Lante, built originally as the seat of the Bishop of Viterbo Cardinal Riario and built into castles. Villa Lante  garden is an enchanted place, wanted by a powerful cardinal in the name of the primacy of man over nature.Back to hotel for dinner and   overnight. 
Viterbo/ Civita Bagnoregio/  Bomarzo/ Viterbo
After breakfast   departure to   Civita di Bagnoregio, an example of wonder unique. Combined with the world only by a long, narrow bridge, the "dying city", has long been so named because of the slow rock  walls fallen, enclosing a tuft of medieval houses and a population of very few families. Resting gently on a hill, the town overlooks the absolutely immense valley below, giving the tourists a wonderful and unforgettable scenery. Stop for   lunch at   a local restaurant.   In the afternoon
Continue to   Bomarzo, the park of Monsters devised by the architect Pirro Ligorio (he completed the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Rome after the death of Michelangelo and built Villa d'Este in Tivoli) on commission of Prince Pier Francesco Orsini, only to vent the heart broken at the death of his wife Giulia Farnese. A visit to the park will unfold in a series of stages ranging between mythology and fantasy. Back to   Viterbo for dinner and overnight.
 
Viterbo / Caprarola/ Sutri / Roma
After   breakfast departure to Caprarola. Visit   with local guide   of Palazzo   Farnese, one of the many residences built by the Farnese family in their domains. The design for a defensive fortress was initially entrusted to Antonio da Sangallo the Younger by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese il Vecchio. Inside the palatial worked the best painters and architects of the period including Taddeo Zuccari and Annibal Caro,Panvinio Onofrio and Fulvio Orsini. Attached to the villa are the "Farnese Gardens" a splendid example of late Renaissance garden. Lunch   in a local restaurant and continue to   Sutri for the visit of the amphitheatre . It was entirely sculptured from the tufaceous rock of the hill with a north-south orientation and a major axis of 49m and a minor one of 40m. It was built with Etruscan techniques and not far from it, there is an Etruscan tomb, that was transformed in Mitreo in the III century A.D. and then became a suggestive Christian hypogeum church dedicated to the Madonna del Parto. Farewell dinner in a local restaurant in the   historic centre of the village. Transfer to   Rome ,accommodation and overnight.  
 
Roma
After breakfast departure to Rome   Leonardo Da Vinci Airport for departure.
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