M A RT I N R A N D A L L T R AV E L
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Front cover: Rome, Arch of Septimius Severus, copper engraving 1690. Back cover: Moscow, early-18th-century copper engraving.
M A RT I N R A N D A L L T R AV E L A RT • A R C H I T E C T U R E • G A S T R O N O M Y • A R C H A E O L O G Y • H I S T O R Y • M U S I C
2018
2018 & October to December 2017 Martin Randall Travel Ltd Voysey House Barley Mow Passage London W4 4GF United Kingdom Tel +44 (0)20 8742 3355 info@martinrandall.co.uk www.martinrandall.com
Martin Randall Australasia PO Box 1024 Indooroopilly QLD 4068, Australia
USA 1155 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036, USA Tel 1 800 988 6168 | usa@martinrandall.com
Telephone 1300 55 95 95 New Zealand 0800 877 622 Fax +61 (0)7 3371 8288 anz@martinrandall.com.au
Canada Tel (647) 382 1644 | canada@martinrandall.ca (From 1 September 2017, calls and e-mails to the Canadian office will redirect to the USA office.)
Martin Randall Travel Ltd Voysey House Barley Mow Passage London W4 4GF United Kingdom Tel +44 (0)20 8742 3355 info@martinrandall.co.uk www.martinrandall.com Martin Randall Australasia PO Box 1024 Indooroopilly QLD 4068, Australia Tel 1300 55 95 95 New Zealand 0800 877 622 Fax +61 (0)7 3371 8288 anz@martinrandall.com.au USA 1155 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036, USA Tel 1 800 988 6168 usa@martinrandall.com Canada Tel (647) 382 1644 canada@martinrandall.ca (From 1 September 2017, calls and e-mails to the Canadian office will redirect to the USA office.)
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Contents About us................................................... 3–4 More about our tours Fitness requirements; Amendments; Responsible tourism; Financial protection; Travel insurance............................................5 Tours by country..................................... 6–7 What is included?........................................7 Britain & Ireland................................... 8–40 Mainland Europe..............................41–185 Middle East......................................186–198 Asia....................................................199–218 The Americas...................................219–234 Our lecturers...................................235–242 Booking details Making a booking Booking Conditions Booking form...................................243–245 Tours by date...................................246–251
Britain’s leading provider of cultural tours Leaders in the field At Martin Randall Travel we are committed to providing the best planned, the best led and altogether the most fulfilling and enjoyable cultural tours available. We offer an unequalled range of tours and events focusing on art, architecture, music, archaeology, history, gardens and gastronomy. Our mission is to deepen your understanding and enhance your appreciation of the achievements of civilizations around the world. For almost thirty years we have been the most influential organisation in the field of cultural travel. Pioneering and innovative, we have led the way with ideas and itineraries and by setting the benchmarks for customer service and administration. Martin Randall Travel is one of the most respected travel companies in the world, among both travellers and within the tourism community.
First-rate lecturers Expert speakers are a key ingredient in our tours and events. Academics, curators, writers, broadcasters and researchers, they are selected not only for their knowledge but also for their ability to communicate clearly and engagingly to a lay audience. Their brief is to enlighten and stimulate, not merely to inform – and they also have to be good travelling companions. We select our lecturers through reputation, interview and audition, and provide them with guidance and training. Nearly all of our tours are also accompanied by a trained tour manager who unobtrusively attends to administrative matters.
Original itineraries, meticulously planned Rooted in knowledge of the destination and of the subject matter of the tour, the outcome of assiduous research and reconnaissance, and underpinned by many years of thought and experience, our itineraries are second to none. They are original and imaginative, well-paced and carefully balanced. Meticulous attention to practical matters ensures a smooth-running as well as an enriching experience.
In innumerable ways, large and small, we lift our clients’ experience far above standards which are regarded as normal for tourists.
We select our hotels with great care. Not only have nearly all been inspected by members of our staff, but we have stayed in most of them. Hundreds of others have been seen and rejected. Obviously, comfort ranks high among our criteria, together with good service and warmth of welcome. We also set high priority on charm and style, and location is an important consideration. Most of the hotels we use are rated as 4-star, with some 5-star and a few 3-star (one is 2-star, but pleases every time). We invest similar efforts in the selection of restaurants, menus and wines, aided by staff with a specialist knowledge of these areas. For flights and trains we try to choose the most convenient departure times. Rail journeys are usually in first-class seats. We can provide a holiday without international travel if you prefer, allowing you to make your own arrangements. It is also usually possible to make other variations to the package.
Small groups, and congenial company Directors: Martin Randall (Chief Executive), Fiona Urquhart (Chief Operating Officer), Sir Vernon Ellis (Chairman), Ian Hutchinson, Neil Taylor, William Burton. Registered office: Voysey House, Barley Mow Passage, London W4 4GF. Registered Company no. 2314294 England. VAT no. 527758803. This brochure was produced in house. Much of the text was written originally by Martin Randall. Lecturers also contributed. All staff were involved in editing and proofing. Special thanks to Caroline Cuss for additional proofing. The layout was designed by Jo Murray with assistance from Rosanna Reade, and it was sent to print on 5 June 2017. Illustrations. Front cover: Rome, Arch of Septimius Severus, copper engraving 1690. Left: lithograph c. 1800. Right: Athens, Erechtheion at the Acropolis, wood engraving c. 1880.
Most of our tours run with between ten and twenty participants. We strictly limit numbers, specifying the applicable maximum in each tour description. The higher costs of smaller numbers are outweighed by the benefits of manoeuvrability, social cohesion and access to the lecturer. The small-group principle is diluted when there are private concerts or several speakers exclusively for our clients. Not the least attractive aspect of travelling with MRT is that you are highly likely to find yourself in congenial company, self-selected by common interests and endorsement of the company’s ethos.
ABOUT US
Special arrangements feature on nearly all our tours – for admission to places not generally open to travellers, for access outside public hours, for private concerts and extraordinary events.
Travelling in comfort
Care for our clients
Value for money, and no surcharges
We aim for faultless administration from your first encounter with us to the end of the holiday, and beyond. Personal service is a feature. We won Best Holiday Company for Customer Service in three consecutive years (2014, 2015 and 2016) at the British Travel Awards.
The price includes nearly everything, not only the major ingredients such as hotel, transport and the costs of the lecturer and manager but also tips, drinks with meals and airport taxes.
If anything does go wrong, we will put it right or compensate appropriately. We want you to come back again and again – as most of our clients do.
We do not levy surcharges for fuel price increases, exchange rate changes, additional taxes or for any other reason. The price published here is the price you pay. (Note that bookings paid for by credit card will have 2% added to cover processing charges. It does not apply to other forms of payment.)
ABOUT US
Travelling solo We welcome people travelling on their own, for whom our tours are ideal, as many of our clients testify. There are usually several solo travellers on tour. On evenings when dinner is not included there is always the option of dining with the tour manager. Hotels usually charge a supplement for single occupancy of a room, but we never add anything to this – indeed, some of the supplements we charge are subsidised by ourselves, sometimes by hundreds of pounds. Where we are able to, we assign those travelling on their own to rooms which are normally sold as doubles. Tours exclusively for solo travellers. For 2018 we have three tours dedicated to people travelling on their own: St Petersburg in late September, Samarkand & Silk Road Cities in October and Civilizations of Sicily in November. The basic price includes a contribution to what would usually be charged by way of a single supplement; the bulk of it being absorbed by us. Of course, solo travellers are welcome on all other departures of these tours too. 4
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Illustrations. Above: ‘view of Sassoor in the Deccan’, aquatint c. 1830 after a drawing of 1913 by Robert Melville Grindlay.
Tours for private groups A growing part of our activities is tours for private groups – for university alumni, supporters and friends of museums and for various associations and institutions. We welcome enquiries. With our knowledge of a wide range of destinations, our unparalleled skills at designing tours and our long experience of working with private clients, Martin Randall Travel is well qualified to be the partner for a travel venture. The manager of our private client business is Hannah Wrigley. Please get in touch with her if you would like to discuss a travel possibility: hannah. wrigley@martinrandall.co.uk.
More about our tours Financial security
Fitness Ours are active holidays. Walking, stair-climbing and standing around for lengthy periods are unavoidable aspects of every tour. They should not present problems for anyone of normal fitness but they are not suitable for those who are slow, need support or are low on stamina. On many tours there is a lot of walking on streets that may be steep or poorly paved. On others you may need to scramble over fallen masonry and very uneven ground. More usually it is just a case of moving from one place to another, and getting on and off coaches several times a day. The tours are also group events. The presence of even one person who is not fit enough to cope can spoil the experience for everyone else. We therefore ask people wishing to join a tour to take the quick and simple self-assessment tests described here to ascertain whether they have an adequate level of fitness. By signing the booking form you are stating that you have passed these tests. (It is not necessary to take the tests to attend our music weekends and symposia in the UK.) If during the tour it transpires you are not adequately fit, you may be asked to opt out of certain visits, or invited to leave the tour altogether. This would be at your own expense. Tours do vary. Please refer to the How strenuous? paragraph in each tour description.
A certain level of fitness is a requirement for participation on our tours. We ask that all participants take these quick and simple tests to ascertain whether they are fit enough. 1. Chair stands. Sit in a dining chair, with arms folded and hands on opposite shoulders. Stand up and sit down at least eight times in thirty seconds. 2. Step test. Mark a wall at a height that is halfway between your knee and your hip bone. Raise each knee in turn to the mark at least sixty times in two minutes. 3. Agility test. Place an object 3 yards from the edge of a chair, sit, and record the time it takes to stand up, walk to the object and sit back down. You should be able to do this in under seven seconds. An additional indication of the fitness required, though we are not asking you to measure this, is that you should be able to walk unaided at a pace of three miles per hour for at least half an hour at a time, and to stand unsupported for at least fifteen minutes.
Walking tours Tours which are billed as walking tours, with hikes through hilly countryside of up to three hours, require a different scale of fitness and agility. Please attend to the descriptions of these tours carefully.
Amendments
Travel insurance
There is an amendment fee for changes to the basic package, such as moving the dates of flights, organising flight upgrades, or booking additional hotel nights.
Experience tells us that free travel insurance offered by some credit card companies is not reliable in the event of a claim.
The Association of Independent Tour Operators. Martin Randall Travel Ltd is a member of AITO, an association of specialist travel companies most of which are independent and owner-managed. Admission is selective, and members are subject to a code of practice which prescribes high standards of professionalism and customer care. To contact the Association visit www.aito.com or call 020 8744 9280. ABTA – The Travel Association. Martin Randall Travel Ltd is a Member of the Association of British Travel Agents (membership number Y6050). ABTA and ABTA members help holidaymakers to get the most from their travel and assist them when things do not go according to plan. We are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTA’s Code of Conduct. For further information about ABTA, the Code of Conduct and the arbitration scheme available to you if you have a complaint, contact ABTA, 30 Park Street, London SE1 9EQ. www.abta.com. ATOL. All of the flight-inclusive holidays in this brochure are financially protected by the ATOL (Air Transport Operators’ Licence) scheme. When you make your first payment you will be supplied with an ATOL Certificate. Please check it to know what is covered in your booking. For more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to www.caa.co.uk/ ATOLCertificate. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will ensure that you are not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid us for an advance booking. See our booking conditions (page 245) for further details. Financial protection for holidays that do not include a flight is provided by a bond held with ABTA.
Responsible Tourism Many of our tours visit towns and villages off the beaten tourist trail, enabling you to experience local traditions and practices. We also strive to limit our impact on the environment. Our itineraries are designed to spend more time in places than on conventional tours; this often means there are days without travel.
Our policy is published on our website: www.martinrandall.com/responsible-tourism.
Illustration: York, Micklegate Bar, wood engraving from ‘Our Own Country’ 1888.
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ABOUT US
Martin Randall Travel offers you the option to pay a carbon offset donation every time you book a tour with us that includes flights. We also make a donation for every lecturer, tour manager or member of office staff travelling by air on company business. Through these donations, we support the India Solar Water Heating project, which provides in-house hot water supplies fuelled by renewable energy to homes, community buildings and small to medium-sized businesses throughout India.
Tours by country BRITAIN & IRELAND ENGLAND Great Houses of the South West............................ 8 Great Houses of the East........................................ 9 Walking a Royal River.......................................... 11 Royal Residences................................................... 12 Walking to Derbyshire Houses............................ 13 Arts & Crafts in the Cotswolds............................ 14 Music in the Regions............................................ 14 The Ryedale Festival............................................. 14 Walking to Cornish Houses................................. 14 Walking in the Cotswolds.................................... 15 MUSIC IN THE COTSWOLDS.......................... 15 Walking Hadrian’s Wall........................................ 16 Northumbria......................................................... 17 Britain before England: Prehistoric & Roman in the South NEW............ 18 The Cathedrals of England................................... 18 Dorset Churches NEW......................................... 19 Royal Churches NEW.......................................... 20 Gastronomic West Country NEW....................... 21 Mediaeval Middle England.................................. 22 THE DIVINE OFFICE......................................... 22 The Victorian Achievement.................................. 23 Early Railways: The North.................................... 24 Chippendale in Yorkshire NEW.......................... 25 The Industrial Revolution.................................... 26 Gardens of Cheshire & Shropshire NEW............ 27 Tudor Power in South & West NEW................... 27 Crown & Cromwell............................................... 28 Shakespeare & His World..................................... 29 Modern Art in Sussex NEW................................ 29 London Exhibitions.............................................. 30 Archaeology at The Castle.................................... 31 MUSIC WEEKENDS............................................ 31 LONDON DAYS................................................... 32
Mozart in Salzburg............................................... 45 The Schubertiade.................................................. 45 Haydn in Eisenstadt.............................................. 45
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA, CROATIA
Baroque & Rococo................................................ 86 The Ring in Munich.............................................. 86 Franconia.............................................................. 87 THE RHINE VALLEY MUSIC FESTIVAL......... 88 Rhine Masterpieces............................................... 88 Courts & Palaces of Rhine & Main NEW........... 88 Munich’s Masterpieces.......................................... 89 A FESTIVAL OF MUSIC IN FRANCONIA....... 89 King Ludwig II...................................................... 90
The Western Balkans............................................ 49
GREECE
CZECH REPUBLIC
Classical Greece.................................................... 91 Minoan Crete........................................................ 92
BELGIUM Flemish Painting................................................... 46 Bruges at Christmas.............................................. 47 Rubens & Baroque NEW..................................... 48
Walking in Southern Bohemia............................. 51 Treasures of Moravia............................................ 52 A FESTIVAL OF MUSIC IN PRAGUE.............. 52 The Iron Curtain................................................... 53
DENMARK Danish Castles & Gardens.................................... 53 Vikings & Bog Bodies........................................... 55 Opera in Copenhagen.......................................... 56 Copenhagen Modern NEW................................. 56 Ballet in Copenhagen NEW................................. 57
ESTONIA Estonia................................................................... 58 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.................................... 59
FINLAND Music in Savonlinna............................................. 59 Kuhmo Music Festival.......................................... 59
FRANCE
The Georgians in Scotland................................... 36 Scotland: History & Identity................................ 37 The Orkney Islands NEW.................................... 38 Georgian Edinburgh NEW.................................. 38
French Gothic....................................................... 60 Le Corbusier.......................................................... 61 Monet & Impressionism....................................... 62 Paintings in Paris.................................................. 62 Music & Ballet in Paris......................................... 63 Poets & The Somme.............................................. 64 Châteaux of the Loire........................................... 65 Berry & Touraine.................................................. 66 Mediaeval Burgundy............................................ 67 The Beaune Music Festival................................... 68 Mediaeval Alsace.................................................. 68 Provence & Languedoc......................................... 69 Romans in the Rhône Valley NEW..................... 71 The Wines of Bordeaux........................................ 72 Gardens of the Riviera.......................................... 73 Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur........................... 74 Bilbao to Bayonne............................................... 165
WALES
GEORGIA
IRELAND & NORTHERN IRELAND Western Ireland..................................................... 34 Wexford Opera...................................................... 35 Irish Houses & Gardens NEW............................. 35 Ireland: ‘A Terrible Beauty’ NEW........................ 35
SCOTLAND TOURS BY COUNTRY
Castles, Campaigns, Conquest NEW.................. 39 Welsh National Opera.......................................... 39
CHANNEL ISLANDS Occupation in the Channel Islands..................... 40
MAINLAND EUROPE ALBANIA Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity........................ 41
AUSTRIA Opera in Vienna.................................................... 42 The Iron Curtain................................................... 42 Vienna at Christmas............................................. 43 Vienna 1918 NEW................................................ 44 6
Georgia Uncovered............................................... 76
GERMANY The House of Hanover.......................................... 78 Gardens & Palaces of Berlin & Potsdam............. 79 Opera in Hamburg............................................... 79 Berlin, Potsdam, Dresden.................................... 80 The Hanseatic League NEW................................ 81 The Iron Curtain................................................... 81 Frederick the Great............................................... 81 Music in Berlin at New Year................................. 82 Opera in Berlin..................................................... 82 Mediaeval Saxony................................................. 84 The Ring in Leipzig............................................... 85 Music in the Saxon Hills....................................... 85 The Leipzig Bach Festival..................................... 85
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HUNGARY Hungary................................................................. 93 The Iron Curtain................................................... 94
ITALY Gastronomic Piedmont........................................ 94 Wines of Piedmont NEW.................................... 95 Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes.................. 95 Genoa & Turin...................................................... 97 Art History of Venice............................................ 98 VIVALDI IN VENICE......................................... 98 Venice Revisited.................................................... 99 Jonathan Keates’s Venice NEW.......................... 100 Venetian Palaces................................................. 101 The Venetian Terra Ferma.................................. 102 Gastronomic Veneto........................................... 103 Palladian Villas................................................... 104 Verona Opera...................................................... 104 The Venetian Hills.............................................. 105 Friuli-Venezia Giulia.......................................... 106 The Imperial Riviera........................................... 107 Courts of Northern Italy.................................... 108 Savouring Lombardy.......................................... 109 Caravaggio: Lombardy to Naples....................... 110 Gastronomic Emilia-Romagna.......................... 110 A FESTIVAL OF MUSIC IN BOLOGNA......... 111 Art in the Po Valley............................................. 112 Christmas in Emilia-Romagna.......................... 113 Musical Instruments in Cremona NEW........... 113 Opera in Parma & Bologna ............................... 113 Verdi in Parma & Busseto.................................. 113 History of Medicine............................................ 114 Ravenna & Urbino.............................................. 115 Dark Age Brilliance............................................ 116 Piero della Francesca.......................................... 117 Trasimeno Music Festival................................... 118 Footpaths of Umbria........................................... 118 The Grand Duchy of Tuscany............................. 119 Florence & Venice............................................... 121 Siena & San Gimignano..................................... 122 Florence............................................................... 123 Florentine Palaces............................................... 125 Walking in Southern Tuscany............................ 126 Lucca.................................................................... 127 Torre del Lago..................................................... 128 Tastes of Le Marche NEW.................................. 128 The Duchy of Urbino.......................................... 130 Gardens & Villas of Campagna Romana........... 131 Essential Rome.................................................... 132 Villas & Palaces of Rome NEW......................... 133 Connoisseur’s Rome........................................... 133 The Printing Revolution..................................... 134 The Etruscans...................................................... 135
Illustration: Venice, watercolour by R. Barratt, publ. 1907.
Memories of Monte Cassino.............................. 136 Roman Italy NEW.............................................. 138 Pompeii & Herculaneum.................................... 140 Naples: Art, Antiquities, Opera......................... 141 Gardens of Naples & Amalfi NEW.................... 141 Normans in the South........................................ 141 Civilizations of Sicily.......................................... 142 Palermo Revealed............................................... 144 Palermo at Christmas......................................... 144 Gastronomic Sicily.............................................. 145 Walking in Eastern Sicily................................... 146 Sardinia............................................................... 148
Prices include: • The services of the lecturer and often a tour manager – sometimes also local guides. • Hotel accommodation. • All admissions to museums, galleries and sites visited in the itinerary. • If it is a music tour, good tickets to all included performances.
LATVIA, LITHUANIA Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.................................... 59
MALTA World Heritage Malta......................................... 149 Valletta Baroque Festival ................................... 150
MONTENEGRO The Western Balkans............................................ 49
THE NETHERLANDS Dutch Painting.................................................... 151 Art in the Netherlands........................................ 152 THE RHINE VALLEY MUSIC FESTIVAL....... 152
NORWAY Norway: Art, Architecture, Landscape.............. 153 Rock Art in Norway & Sweden NEW................. 154 Lofoten Piano Festival NEW............................. 154
POLAND Kraków & Silesia................................................. 155
PORTUGAL The Douro........................................................... 156 Gardens of Central Portugal NEW................... 156 Walking & Gardens in Madeira......................... 157 Wellington in the Peninsula............................... 182
RUSSIA St Petersburg....................................................... 158 Moscow & St Petersburg..................................... 159 Holy Russia NEW............................................... 160
SERBIA The Western Balkans............................................ 49 Journey Through Slovakia NEW....................... 161 The Iron Curtain................................................. 162
SLOVENIA The Imperial Riviera........................................... 107 Walking in Slovenia NEW................................. 162
SPAIN Cave Art in Spain................................................ 164 Bilbao to Bayonne............................................... 165 Castile & León..................................................... 166 The Heart of Spain.............................................. 168 Gastronomic Galicia NEW................................ 168 Walking to Santiago............................................ 169 Barcelona............................................................. 170 Aragón: Hidden Spain........................................ 171 Picasso in Spain NEW........................................ 171 Classic Catalan Wines NEW.............................. 172 The Romans in Mediterranean Spain................ 173
SWEDEN Opera in Stockholm NEW................................. 184 Drottningholm & Confidencen......................... 185 Rock Art in Norway & Sweden NEW................ 185
SWITZERLAND Le Corbusier.......................................................... 61 The Gstaad Menuhin Festival............................. 185 THE RHINE VALLEY MUSIC FESTIVAL....... 185
MIDDLE EAST BAHRAIN The Arabian Gulf................................................ 197
IRAN Persia’s Great Empires........................................ 186
ISRAEL Israel & Palestine................................................ 188 Birthplace of Civilisations NEW....................... 192
JORDAN Essential Jordan.................................................. 190 Birthplace of Civilisations NEW....................... 192
• Travel by private coach for all included excursions, and airport or railway station transfers (if we include flights or trains). • All breakfasts. • Most lunches and dinners including wine or beer, water, soft drinks and tea or coffee. • All tips for waiters, porters, drivers, and local guides. • All state and airport taxes.
INDIA Painted Palaces of Rajasthan.............................. 203 Sacred India........................................................ 205 Indian Summer................................................... 207 Gastronomic Kerala............................................ 209 Textile Arts of India NEW................................. 210
JAPAN Art in Japan......................................................... 212 Japanese Gardens................................................ 214
MYANMAR Myanmar: Ancient to Modern........................... 215
UZBEKISTAN Samarkand & Silk Road Cities........................... 217
THE AMERICAS ARGENTINA
PALESTINE
The Making of Argentina NEW......................... 219
Israel & Palestine.................................................... 188 Birthplace of Civilisations NEW....................... 192 Palestine, Past & Present.......................................195
MEXICO
OMAN Oman, Landscapes & Peoples............................ 194
QATAR, UAE The Arabian Gulf................................................ 197
ASIA CHINA Essential China................................................... 199 Ceramics in China.............................................. 201 Sacred China....................................................... 202 Ming & Qing Civilization................................... 202
Lands of the Maya............................................... 220
PERU Peru: the Andean Heartland.............................. 222
USA East Coast Galleries............................................ 223 Frank Lloyd Wright............................................ 225 New Orleans to Natchitoches............................. 226 Galleries of the American Midwest................... 227 West Coast Architecture..................................... 229 Art in Texas......................................................... 231 Tanglewood Festival NEW................................. 231 The Ring in San Francsico.................................. 232 Santa Fe Opera.................................................... 233 Music in New York at Christmas....................... 233 Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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SLOVAKIA
Gastronomic Spain............................................. 174 Art in Madrid...................................................... 174 Gastronomic Valencia........................................ 175 Western Spain: Extremadura & Toledo............. 176 Essential Andalucía............................................ 178 Granada & Córdoba........................................... 179 Eastern Andalucía: Caliphs to Kings................. 180 Western Andalucía NEW................................... 181 Wellington in the Peninsula............................... 182
• Return air or rail travel between London and the destination for tours outside the UK (there are some exceptions – if flights are not included, this is always stated).
Great Houses of the South West Wiltshire, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Devon
15–22 May 2018 (me 870) 8 days • £3,260 Lecturer: Anthony Lambert Great country houses, historic gardens and parks in Wiltshire, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset and Devon. Major examples of a huge range of styles from the twelfth century to the twentieth.
BRITAIN & IRELAND: ENGLAND
Many houses contain outstanding picture collections and exceptional furniture. Special arrangements and out-of-hours visits. Hotels in former country houses. Led by country house expert Anthony Lambert. The landscapes seen on this tour are immensely varied and endlessly alluring – the noble chalk downs of Wiltshire, the evocative Levels of Somerset, the enchanting patchwork fields of Devon, the verdant hidden valleys of Exmoor, the little hills of Dorset. The houses seen are equally varied. Lacock and Longleat and Montacute are among the finest of Henrician and Elizabethan mansions in England. The Stuart era is superbly represented by the incomparable Wilton House, star of the first phase of Palladian classicism in England, and by the Dutch classicism of Dyrham, while the eighteenth century is wonderfully exemplified at Stourhead and by the delicious Adam interiors at Saltram. Victoria’s reign has a magnificent ambassador 8
in Tyntesfield, and the Edwardian continuation is beautifully if eccentrically demonstrated at Castle Drogo. Real castles are represented by the extraordinary Berkeley, still a family home, and, if now more picturesque than defensive, at Dunster. A first-rate country house is more than a house. Clustering around are gardens, auxiliary buildings and a park – at Stourhead, perhaps the most influential one in the world – and beyond lie working farms and enterprises of all sorts. And of course inside the houses there are furnishings and works of art and gadgets and utensils and curios: in many of the houses on this tour these moveables are of a quality and a quantity which surpass the collections of all but a couple of dozen of Britain’s museums. Corsham and Kingston Lacy in particular are renowned for their picture collections. Word must be added about the hotels on this tour, all three of which are excellent, and two of which are former country houses.
Itinerary Day 1: The Vyne. Leave London at 11.00am and drive to Hampshire, arriving at The Vyne in time for lunch. A Tudor mansion built for Lord Sandys, King Henry VIII’s Lord Chamberlain. The house retains its Tudor chapel and has a portico designed by John Webb. Spend the first of three nights in a country-house hotel near the village of Bishopstrow, Wiltshire. Illustration: Longleat, house and gardens as they appeared towards the end of the 17th century, steel engraving c. 1850.
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Day 2: Wilton, Kingston Lacy. Inigo Jones contributed to the design of Wilton House, the outstanding achievement of the first phase of Palladianism in England. The double-cube room, with paintings by Van Dyck, is the most sumptuous English interior of the Stuart period. Also of the 17th cent., Kingston Lacy is noted for its lavish interiors and outstanding art collection of Spanish, Italian and Flemish Old Masters. Both houses have important gardens and parkland. Day 3: Longleat, Corsham. Longleat was one of the largest and architecturally most progressive of Elizabethan houses, and is set in a ‘Capability’ Brown park. Corsham (Wiltshire) is an Elizabethan mansion enlarged in the 18th century and again in the 19th to display a collection of Old Master paintings, still in situ. Day 4: Stourhead, Montacute. Though built in two phases, 1720s and 1790s, Stourhead is the perfect classical villa. The landscaped park of the 1740s is the most important of its kind, with a lake, temples, careful planting and contrived, if seemingly natural, vistas. Montacute is a magnificent Elizabethan house with the longest long gallery in England. An outstation of the National Portrait Gallery, it is hung with 16th- and 17th-cent. pictures. Garden layout and architecture survive. First of two nights in Taunton. Day 5: Saltram, Castle Drogo. Drive across Devon to Saltram, a largely 18th-cent. house with lavish Robert Adam interiors and fine pictures and furnishings. There are dramatic views of the Plym Estuary. A rugged Dartmoor setting overlooking
Great Houses of the East Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Rutland the Teign Gorge matches Sir Edwin Lutyens’s imaginative exercise in mediaevalism at Castle Drogo, though inside there are all the latest in early 20th-cent. comforts. The castle is undergoing a 6-year restoration programme and while some rooms may be closed, it has meant the National Trust has opened rooms not normally available for public viewing. Fine Arts and Crafts garden.
28 June–6 July 2018 (me 936) 9 days • £3,140 Lecturer: Dr Andrew Moore
Day 6: Dunster, Tyntesfield. Drive between the Quantocks and Exmoor to the famously picturesque village of Dunster. Atop a wooded hillock, the castle of Norman origin long ago domesticated its defensive features, notably in the Carolean age. The great Gothic Revival mansion of Tyntesfield has hardly changed since the nineteenth century, caught in a time warp and stuffed with the authentic bric-a-brac of a Victorian country house. First of two nights in a country-house hotel in Colerne, Wiltshire.
The Tudor and Stuart age is particularly well represented, as is the Palladian style.
The best country houses in East Anglia and the East Midlands, outstanding examples from the end of the Middle Ages to the Victorian era.
Great architecture, major works of art, spectacular gardens, landscaped parks, life both sides of the green baize door. Exceptionally attractive towns and villages and magnificent lowland landscape. Special arrangements and out-of-hours visits.
Why is Britain the locus classicus of the country house? Wealth is a precondition of their erection in the first place, and by and large there was a sufficiency. Geography has been kind in allowing agricultural prosperity, and we pass through places key to the Agricultural Revolution of the eighteenth century which further enhanced what Nature provided. The financial benefits of Britain’s primacy in trade and industry seeped into stately piles. Relative peace and absence of foreign occupation, preference for primogeniture, a reluctance to revolt, a fruitful balance between the power of the monarch and the rights of the nobles: all these have been factors in the creation and maintenance of country house culture. Many of the houses on this tour have been in the same family for several generations.
Day 7: Berkeley, Lacock. The keep of Berkeley Castle dates to 1117, the bulk of the rest to 1340–61. Little has been altered since, and yet it is still the private home of its builders, a family that served Edward the Confessor. The contents – tapestries, paintings, furniture – are magnificent. In one of the loveliest villages in England, Lacock Abbey retains a cloister from the nunnery dissolved by Henry VIII and given to a courtier. There are Georgian modifications and, being the home of William Fox Talbot, a window which was the subject of the first ever photographic negative. Day 8: Dyrham. Transformed from a Tudor mansion at the end of the 17th century and scarcely changed since, Dyrham Park externally is mild Baroque in golden Bath stone, and inside exquisitely Anglo-Dutch with pictures and furnishings to match. Return to London c. 4.30pm. Please note that some appointments cannot be confirmed until November 2017.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,260. Single occupancy: £3,670. National Trust members (with cards) will be refunded c. £90.
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Included meals: 5 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Bishopstrow House (bishopstrow.co.uk): the house dates from the early 19th century and has been a 4-star hotel for 35 years. The Castle Hotel, Taunton (the-castle-hotel. com): an award-winning family-run 4-star hotel, pleasingly decorated and with excellent service. Lucknam Park Hotel, Colerne (lucknampark. co.uk): this 5-star hotel is a fine example of a country-house hotel, set in 500 acres of parkland and with a Michelin-starred restaurant. How strenuous? Unavoidably, there is quite a lot of walking on this tour. Coaches can rarely park near the houses, many of the gardens are extensive, the houses visited don’t have lifts (nor do all the hotels). Average coach travel per day: c. 95 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Arts & Crafts, 25 May 2018 (please contact us for full details of this London Day or visit www.martinrandall.com).
Houghton, entrance hall, after a drawing by F. G. Kitton in ‘The Art Journal’ 1887.
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Great Houses of the East continued
The broad spread of this tour, East Anglia and the East Midlands, allows for the inclusion of some of the very finest country houses in England. If all you ever see of eighteenth-century England are Houghton and Holkham, they will suffice to shine in the memory forever as the epitome of restrained grandeur and elegant opulence. Burghley is the most elaborate and monumental of Elizabethan great houses, Blickling the most beautiful of Jacobean, Belton the most perfectly proportioned of the Restoration period. There are also several brilliant, if less mainstream, masterpieces. Layer Marney Tower is little more than a Tudor gateway, but what a gateway, the highest such in Britain. Felbrigg is not much more than a large-scale manor house, albeit an exceptionally handsome one, but it is one element in an enchanting ensemble which includes walled gardens, Italian paintings and a remote location. The Queen’s private estate at Sandringham will impress with its quietly regal
be built in the reign of James I but was later reduced, altered and re-Jacobeanised, revealing both changes in taste and styles of country house living. Delicious Robert Adam rooms and park landscaped by ‘Capability’ Brown. In the later afternoon explore the abundance of mediaeval and Elizabethan houses in Lavenham and its superb parish church. Day 3: Ickworth, Melford (Suffolk). Ickworth is almost as eccentric as its builder, the 4th Earl of Bristol (a bishop), a glorious Neo-Classical rotunda attached to curving wings intended to accommodate art and antiquities acquired on his incessant travels. Visit Melford Hall, a house largely built in the 16th century, with beautiful Edwardian gardens and fountain. Day 4: Norwich, Holkham (Norfolk). Stop for a while at Norwich, an exceedingly attractive county town with castle and cathedral. With Holkham Hall (1730s) the English country house reached a
Day 7: Belvoir, Belton, Harlaxton (Leics, Lincs, Rutland). Belvoir Castle, a 19th-century Regency Gothic house has some magnificent ceremonial interiors. A building of supreme and serene beauty, Belton is the classic Restoration house. Fine contents and formal gardens. Victorian Harlaxton Manor is Elizabethan revival on steroids, hallucinatory historicism, quite splendid (you might hate it). Day 8: Boughton, Burghley (Northants, Lincs). Palatial in scale and sumptuously fitted out, Boughton House echoes Versailles (its builder was ambassador to the court of Louis XIV). It has scarcely changed since the end of the 17th century, and sits amid a great estate. The grandest of Elizabethan houses, Burghley was built by the Queen’s chief minister and magnificently remodelled internally a hundred years later. The paintings and furniture are superb. Time is spent in Stamford, one of England’s best preserved historic towns. Overnight Rutland. Day 9: Deene Park, Rushton (Northants). Though largely 16th-century, Deene Park feels very different and is still very much the home of the Brudenell family. Full of good things, there is also an enchanting riverside garden. Rushton Triangular Lodge, an Elizabethan miniature, is laden with symbolism. Finish at Northampton Railway Station at c. 3.00pm. Please note that some appointments are not confirmed until the end of 2017.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,140. Single occupancy: £3,620. National Trust: members (with cards) will be refunded c. £55. Included meals: 1 lunch and 7 dinners with wine.
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interiors despite pretensions to be unexceptional. Deene Park will captivate with the depth of its history and the authenticity of its atmosphere. A feature of the tour is to spend a little time in some of the loveliest towns and villages in England – Lavenham, Norwich, Stamford. And then there is the ravishing countryside, East Anglia with its broad undulations, big skies, fens and bosky vistas, and the rolling farmland and magnificent trees of the ‘Dukeries’.
Itinerary The starting and finishing points of this tour are railway stations because it is usually quicker to travel through London by train than by coach. Day 1: Layer Marney (Essex). The coach leaves Witham Railway Station at 2.00pm. Layer Marney Tower is an apposite first visit: the seven-storey gatehouse is a final flamboyant fling of the Middle Ages, while its Renaissance ornament is harbinger of the classicism which dominated English architecture for the next 400 years. First of three nights in Lavenham (Suffolk). Day 2: Audley End, Lavenham (Essex, Suffolk). Audley End was the most ambitious house to 10
moment of perfection, the serene Palladian edifice contrasting with the ‘natural’ layout of the deer park. Within are magnificent classical halls and a collection of paintings, sculpture and furniture of staggering richness. First of two nights in Norfolk. Day 5: Felbrigg, Blickling (Norfolk). Felbrigg Hall is a lovely 17th-century house whose chief glory is the suite of rooms arranged in the 18th century to display paintings collected on the Grand Tour. Jacobean Blickling Hall is one of the loveliest of English country houses, red brick with stone dressings and mediaeval sprawl constrained by Renaissance symmetry. Among its treasures are a long gallery, library and a variety of art and furnishings, and the gardens are spectacular. Day 6: Houghton, Sandringham (Norfolk). The grandest monument of English Palladianism, Houghton Hall was built for Sir Robert Walpole. It houses outstanding artworks, a spectacular walled garden and an extensive park. Sandringham was built for Edward VII when Prince of Wales and now belongs to the Queen. An attractive Jacobeanstyle mansion set in a landscaped garden, the principal rooms have the glittering opulence of a royal residence despite their intended informality. First of three nights in Rutland.
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Accommodation. The Swan, Lavenham (theswanatlavenham.co.uk): dating from the 15th century, The Swan (4-star) has been an inn since 1667; rooms have been recently renovated yet retain their historical character; excellent restaurant. Congham Hall Hotel, Congham (conghamhallhotel.co.uk): rooms are airy and well appointed at Congham Hall (3-star) with a traditional country house décor; public rooms are pleasant and informal; attractive gardens. Barnsdale Lodge Hotel, Rutland (barnsdalelodge. co.uk): housed in an extended old farmhouse close to Rutland Water (3-star). Public rooms and bedrooms are arranged around a courtyard and have a traditional, country décor. How strenuous? Unavoidably, there is quite a lot of walking. Coaches can rarely park near the houses, many of the parks and gardens are extensive, the houses visited don’t have lifts (nor do all hotels). Average coach travel per day: c. 87 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Norway: Landscape, Art, Architecture, 18–26 June 2018 (p.153); The Rhine Valley Music Festival, 20–27 June 2018 (p.88).
Illustration: Layer Marney, watercolour publ. 1909.
Walking a Royal River Art, architecture and history from the source to Hampton Court 17–23 September 2018 (mf 156) 7 days • £2,460 Lecturer: Dr Paul Atterbury Walk between two and five miles a day from the source of the Thames to Hampton Court. Along the towpath and through the gentle hills which flank the valley. Visit villages, churches, country houses, gardens and palaces with regal connections from the Middle Ages to the present day. Can be combined with music festival, The Divine Office: Choral Music in Oxford, 24–28 September 2018 – see page 22.
Itinerary Day 1: Thames Head. Ascent: 386m. Descent: 420m. Leave The Swan Hotel, Bibury, at 2.15pm or Kemble Railway Station at 3.00pm. The tour begins with the source of the Thames. A soaring rockface, a majestic spurt: an awesome spectacle. Actually, no. A damp patch, the trickle varying with yesterday’s weather, reached by walking across three fields. Total walk: 3½ miles on grassy, level paths. First of three nights in Bibury.
Day 2: Inglesham, Lechlade, Great Coxwell. Ascent: 130m. Descent: 125m. Begin the day with Inglesham church, a beautifully isolated church dating to Saxon times. Continue on foot and walk c. 3 miles along the river to Lechlade-on-Thames, a vibrant small town with a fine Gothic church and a handsome bridge. Visit the masterful mediaeval barn at Great Coxwell, which King John gave to the Cistercian monks in 1203 as part of the Manor of Faringdon. Return to Bibury with a 2½-mile walk along grassy paths and through woodland from Coln St Aldwyns. Day 3: Buscot, Kelmscott. Ascent: 239m. Descent: 258m. Begin the walk at Buscot, whose church has a Burne Jones window, and continue c. 2½ miles on a level, grassy path beside the Thames. Visit Kelmscott Manor, the Tudor house acquired by William Morris, founder of the Arts and Crafts movement. In the afternoon visit Buscot Park, a Palladian mansion with Burne Jones paintings and outstanding gardens. Day 4: Wittenham Clumps, Dorchester, Ewelme. Ascent: 464m. Descent: 470m. Begin at the river at Shillingford and then walk up to Wittenham Clumps, a pair of hillocks with views over a particularly attractive stretch of the Thames Valley. Descend through woods and across farmland, passing an Iron Age fort, to Dorchesteron-Thames. Total walk: c. 4½ miles. Visit the abbey church here, one of the finest mediaeval buildings in Oxfordshire, where St Birinus baptised King Cynegils of Wessex in 635. Continue to Ewelme, site of a Saxon palace, and today a unique complex of 15th-century church, almshouses and school, all still functioning. First of three nights in Marlow. Day 5: Hardwick, Henley-on-Thames, Cliveden. Mapeldurham House is an Elizabethan stately home that has been in the same family for about five hundred years. It is open by special arrangement. See the River and Rowing Museum at Henley-on-Thames with its extensive collection of art, photographs and boats relating to river history. Cliveden’s magnificent formal gardens and woods beside the Thames have been admired for centuries. Cliveden was once the glittering hub of society, visited by virtually every British monarch since George I, home to Waldorf and Nancy Astor in the early 20th century and renowned for its parties and political gatherings.
Day 6: Cookham, Windsor. Walk from the hotel beside the river (4½ miles on a level path along tarmac or grass) to Cookham, life-long home of painter Stanley Spencer (1891–1959); there is a gallery of his work and a fine parish church. Visit Windsor Castle, founded by William I and occupied by every monarch since. The Queen spends most of her private weekends at the Castle, which is also used for State occasions. Day 7: Hampton Court Palace, London. Hampton Court was begun by Cardinal Wolsey, enlarged by Henry VIII and 150 years later partly rebuilt by Christopher Wren for William III and Mary II. The most sumptuous of surviving Tudor palaces is joined to the most magnificent of 17th-century buildings in Britain; great interiors, fine works of art, beautiful gardens, a formal park. Drive to London, arriving by c. 3.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,460. Single occupancy: £2,790. Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. The Swan, Bibury (cotswoldinns-hotels.co.uk): former 17th-century coaching inn in the heart of the village (4-star). The Compleat Angler, Marlow (macdonaldhotels. co.uk): very comfortable hotel, well-positioned beside the Thames with excellent views (4-star). How strenuous? There are 6 walks of 2–5 miles each, usually on flat, well-trodden grassy paths or tracks through woodland, with with some paved roads and towpaths. Some include ascent and descent, climbing over stiles; there is a climb of 230 ft on day 4. You should be accustomed to countryside walking and prepared for the (sometimes inclement) British weather. Average distance by coach per day: 38 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Walking Hadrian’s Wall, 10–16 September 2018 (p.16); The Divine Office, 24–28 September 2018 (p.22); Walking to Cornish Houses, 24–30 September 2018 (p.14). Illustration: Windsor Castle, the south-east corridor, engraving 1900 from ‘The Life & Times of Queen Victoria’.
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‘The Thames is no ordinary waterway. It is the golden thread of our nation’s history.’ It is not to disparage Churchill’s irresistibly orotund metaphor to assert nevertheless that, by comparison with the other great rivers of the world, the Thames is puny. But therein lies its enchantment. While in its lower reaches the river passed through what was for a couple of centuries the largest city in the world and host to its largest port, above the tidal limit at Teddington it was too narrow, too shallow and too meandering to contribute much to the industrial or commercial might of Britain in the early modern era. A vital channel of communication when oars and poles were the locomotive forces – not least to transport rulers and courtiers to their country retreats upstream of the capital – for much of its length the Thames is now a bucolic backwater. This tour selects some of the most attractive stretches of the river to walk along, but it does not follow a linear journey from one end to the other. While resorting regularly to the towpath (now a designated long-distance trail, the Thames Path), the itinerary also ranges through varied countryside and gentle hills, and includes a representative spread of the best of the buildings, artefacts and art in the region. As much as anything, this tour is an exploration of the English village. The numerous examples are as well-preserved as they are various. Parish churches and Iron Age forts, manor houses and major mansions, rapturous gardens and leafy churchyards, mediaeval, classical and railway-era bridges, associations with artists and writers, and of course quintessential riverine landscapes: these are chief among the attractions of the tour. It omits the larger towns; as a travel writer put it in 1910, ‘You cannot rusticate at Reading’. Even Oxford is by-passed; to cram the city into an afternoon would be cruel.
Royal Residences Palaces & houses in and around London, with private visits 14–18 August 2018 (me 981) 5 days • £2,280 Lecturer: Anthony Lambert
National Portrait Gallery, stay for dinner at its roof top restaurant. First of two nights in London. Day 4: Greenwich, Buckingham Palace. By fast river bus down the Thames to Greenwich. Of the great palace, a Tudor favourite, only the Queen’s House remains, designed by Inigo Jones in 1616 and the first truly Classical building in Britain. The rest was replaced by the Royal Naval Hospital built by Wren, Hawksmoor and Vanbrugh, the finest ensemble of Baroque architecture in Britain. In the afternoon visit the state rooms of Buckingham Palace. A mansion of 1703 remains at its core, but periodic refurbishment and enlargement, most significantly by John Nash for George IV in the 1820s, led to today’s truly palatial experience.
Visits nine palaces and homes, several of which are still in use by the Royal Family. Up to three very special out-of-hours private tours, including Windsor Castle. As rich a theme as any that London and its environs has to offer, with outstanding art and architecture, with past and present brought alive. Good hotels near Windsor and in Whitehall. Led by Anthony Lambert, country house expert and writer.
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This tour studies some of the most splendid secular buildings in Britain: Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Hampton Court are of a size and magnificence which are unrivalled. Other buildings visited are glorious fragments – the Banqueting House and Queen’s House, surviving parts of the long-demolished palaces of Whitehall and Greenwich, and the Great Hall of Westminster Palace, rebuilt as the Houses of Parliament. The dominant role of royalty in building activity in England ended abruptly with the death of Henry VIII and did not revive until the late eighteenth century under George III and George IV. Subsequently, royal patronage was constrained by the parsimony of Parliament and a prevailing dislike of Continental-style absolutism – and, long before constitutional monarchy emerged as the established political order after 1688, shortage of cash. There is no Versailles in England, no Caserta, no Winter Palace. Nevertheless, decorum continued to demand that the official residences of the monarch be appointed with a decorative richness which set them apart from even the grandest apartments of the nobility. The gorgeous gilded interiors of Buckingham Palace need to be seen in this context, and the seemingly bombastic sequence of halls and chambers at Windsor and Hampton Court need to be read as symbolic of the might of the nation as well as of the aspirations of the sovereign. The taste and predilections of the inhabitants of these royal residences also contribute to their appearance, of course. Some members of the Royal Family have been passionate about art and architecture and aspired to be enthroned amidst the latest style and in maximum magnificence, but many have been content with – or even yearned for – something more modest. So within the remit of this tour are some charming, fascinating but really rather modest mansions – Frogmore House in Windsor Great Park and Clarence House in St James’s. Modesty, however, is relative, and these rank among the finest historic houses of England. Architecture and decoration are not the sole subjects of the tour. The Royal Collection is one of the greatest in the world; the Queen’s palaces are replete with paintings, sculptures, furniture, porcelain and textiles of international importance. The unoccupied palaces are also amply furnished and adorned. Art, architecture, history, personalities: the theme of royal residences is one which is as rich and stimulating as any that London and her environs has to offer. 12
Day 5: Westminster, Whitehall. Edward the Confessor began building an abbey and adjacent palace at Westminster in 1050. The Great Hall, the largest in Europe when built by William II 50 years later, and spectacularly re-roofed c. 1400, is the main mediaeval survivor; fires in 1512 and 1834 erased the rest. The present Houses of Parliament, designed by Barry and Pugin and the most richly ornamented of Victorian buildings, rose in its place and still ranks as a royal palace. Whitehall was one of the largest palaces in Europe but was burnt in 1698; only the epoch-making Banqueting House by Inigo Jones and Peter Paul Rubens survives. The tour ends at lunchtime.
Itinerary Day 1: Kensington Palace, Windsor. The coach leaves central London at 9.45am. Kensington Palace began modestly and was extended for William and Mary and the first two Georges by leading architects. Recently restored, it is thoughtfully presented to differentiate suites. Drive to Egham and settle into Great Fosters Hotel. There is a private evening tour of the state apartments of Windsor Castle, which was founded by William I – the Norman motte and bailey still dominates – and has been occupied by nearly every monarch since (the present Queen included). Centuries of embellishment has resulted in one of the most impressive palaces in the world. First of two nights in Egham. Day 2: Hampton Court, Frogmore. Hampton Court was begun by Cardinal Wolsey, enlarged by Henry VIII and 150 years later partly rebuilt by Christopher Wren for William III and Mary II. The most sumptuous of surviving Tudor palaces is joined to the most magnificent of 17th-cent. buildings in Britain; great interiors, fine works of art, beautiful gardens, a formal park. There follows a private visit to rarely-open Frogmore House. A farmhouse bought and enlarged by George III, it was used by successive sovereigns as a country residence, and is still used for entertaining. Day 3: Windsor, Clarence House. Return to Windsor Castle to see more of this vast complex, including St George’s Chapel, one of England’s finest Gothic buildings, and the Albert Memorial Chapel. In the late afternoon there is a private visit to Clarence House, a Nash mansion which was home to William IV while king, Princess Elizabeth from 1947, the Queen Mother from 1952 and the Prince of Wales from 2002. After seeing the excellent collection of Tudor portraits at the
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Please note that appointments for private tours cannot be confirmed until January 2018.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,280. Single occupancy: £2,730. Included meals: 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Great Fosters, Egham (greatfosters.co.uk): located between Windsor and Hampton Court, this 4-star hotel in a Grade 1 listed building of the 16th and 17th centuries is sympathetically restored and surrounded by gardens and a park. Bedrooms vary in size and décor; many are furnished with antiques and all are well equipped. Royal Horseguards Hotel, London (guoman.com/royal-horseguards-hotel): 5-star hotel just off Whitehall close to most of the London palaces. The style is that of an international hotel; bedrooms are comfortable. How strenuous? You must be a good walker and have stamina. There is the occasional walk of c. 20 minutes between coach (or water bus) and palace; some visits are of two hours or more without a break. Average distance by coach per day: 20 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: The Industrial Revolution, 6–11 August 2018 (p.26); King Ludwig II, 20–25 August 2018 (p.90).
Illustration: Hampton Court, Ann Boleyn’s Gateway, watercolour by E.W. Haslehurst, publ. c. 1910.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235.
Walking to Derbyshire Houses Magnificent countryside and great country houses 18–23 June 2018 (me 908) 6 days • £2,180 Lecturer: Dr Paul Atterbury Daily walks over hills, dales and landscaped parks followed by visits to country houses. A mixture of grand stately homes and smaller mansions: Kedleston, Haddon, Tissington, Casterne, Chatsworth, and Hardwick. Stay throughout in a comfortable hotel on the Chatsworth Estate.
Day 3: Tissington. Walk along an enchanting rural route to Tissington from the village of Parwich (1 hour, elevation gain 50m). Tissington is an extraordinarily pretty village, and the largely Jacobean Hall is a delight; Georgian interiors, family documents and terraced gardens. After lunch, Sir Richard FitzHerbert gives commentary during a walk through his estate (1½ hours, negligible elevation gain). The landscape is enchanting, quintessential Derbyshire, the hills gentle, trees plentiful, fields bounded by hedges or stone walls. Day 4: Dovedale, Casterne Hall. The River Dove has carved a spectacular limestone gorge which has delighted walkers for generations. Our route leads up Hall Dale and out into the open countryside where livestock graze and the views stretch for miles across Ilam and the Manifold Valley. The three-hour (with stops) walk shows
all the diversity of the White Peak (6.2 miles, elevation gain 170m). Built in the 1730s, Casterne Hall is a manor house rather than a stately home, a perfect Classical structure rising from a farmyard. We are entertained for lunch in the dining room by the owners. Day 5: Chatsworth House. Walk for half an hour from the hotel along the valley to Chatsworth House. Dating largely from around 1700 and the 1840s, Chatsworth is not only one of the grandest country houses in Britain but also an extraordinary treasure-house of art and furnishings, brilliantly presented as refurbishment continues. A tour in the morning is followed by about three hours of free time, to revisit the house and to explore the gardens. Leave for an afternoon walk (75 mins, elevation gain 105m) past an inhabited Elizabethan tower back to the hotel. Day 6: Hardwick Hall. The final walk is another which begins at the edge of an estate and winds through varied terrain to reach the house, which sits atop a high scarp. Features include two magnificent avenues and a woodland walk laid out by Lady Spencer, mother of Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire. (1½ hours, elevation gain 90m). Built in the 1590s by the richest woman in England, Hardwick Hall ranks among England’s greatest Elizabethan architecture, and most memorable interiors. Return to Derby station by 5.00pm. Illustration: Haddon Hall, mid-18th-century lithograph by L.Haghe after a drawing by W.Wood.
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One of the joys of a walk in the English countryside is glimpsing a great house in the distance. At first just dimly perceived chimneys and roofs, the rest screened by trees, but as the walk continues more is revealed, and beauty beckons. But after further progress along the path, foliage and land mass reassert themselves and the mansion passes from sight. Unless the house is the goal of the walk. Then it continues to grow in size, in detail, in magnificence, until one is examining it from the front lawn. Maybe next one mounts the steps and passes over the threshold; or peel away for refreshments or lunch – on this tour the more frequent course, given that arrival follows a country walk of an hour or two, or three. This tour includes some of the greatest houses in the country, outstanding representatives of their period, laden with treasures – Haddon, Hardwick, Casterne, Chatsworth, and Kedleston. Tissington also features, for contrast but also for its intrinsic delight. Famously, the Peak District offers wonderful walking country, and all but one of our walks are within the boundaries of this, the oldest National Park in Britain. Most consists of rumpled hills and their covering of little green fields, dry stone walls, deciduous trees and a dense population of cattle and sheep. There are only occasional hints of moorland. Landscaped parks are another feature, with their carefully composed arboreal clumps syncopated with grassy hillsides, serpentine lakes and grand avenues. River valleys provide another pleasure. Romantic poets delighted in Dovedale, for over two hundred years one of the most famous walks in the world. Wordsworth explored the valley as a young man and crystallised his recollections many years later in The Prelude: ‘In summer, making quest for works of art, / Or scenes renowned for beauty, I explored / That streamlet whose blue current works its way / Between romantic Dovedale’s spiry rocks’.
Day 2: Bakewell, Haddon Hall. Drive to the lovely historic town of Bakewell. Walk out into fields and gradually up through farmland to the village of Over Haddon (c. 55/60 mins, elevation gain 125m). After refreshments, descend through fields, gently at first, with views of the hillsides beyond the Wye and Lathkill Valleys, with tantalising glimpses of Haddon Hall in the valley (60/70 mins). Late mediaeval and Tudor, and with exquisite terraced gardens, Haddon Hall is for some the most arrestingly beautiful and atmospheric house in England. Return to Baslow by coach. Dinner at Michelin-starred restaurant, Fischer’s.
Itinerary Day 1: Derby, Kedleston Hall, Baslow. Leave Derby Station at 12.30pm for the 20-minute drive to Kedleston. Starting at the Doric gateway to the estate, walk through meadows, woodland and the ‘Capability’ Brown park to one of the supreme monuments of Classical architecture and decoration in England (40 minutes, cumulative elevation gain 15 metres). Inside and out Kedleston Hall has hardly changed since the 1760s. Continue to Baslow where all five nights are spent.
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Walking to Derbyshire Houses continued
Walking to Cornish Houses Landscapes & history between Fowey & Padstow
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,180. Single occupancy: £2,350. Included meals: 3 lunches and 3 dinners (including 1 Michelin-starred) with wine. Accommodation. The Cavendish Hotel, near Chatsworth (cavendish-hotel.net): located on the Chatsworth Estate, it has been an inn for centuries. All bedrooms have good views and elegant décor with original artwork. (4-stars.) How strenuous? This is a walking tour, with 8 to 10 (2 could be omitted) country walks of between 40 minutes and 3 hours. Two are on fairly level terrain but some are moderately strenuous with cumulative elevation gain of up to 170 metres. You must be used to regular country walking with significant uphill element. A feature of the Peak District are the squeeze stiles, gaps in drystone walls too narrow for livestock. Some step stiles require you to raise the foot as high as your knee. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Mediaeval Burgundy, 9–16 June 2018 (p.67); Mediaeval Middle England, 25–29 June 2018 (p.22); Great Houses of the East, 28 June–6 July 2018 (p.9).
Arts & Crafts in the Cotswolds September 2018 Details available in August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Music in the Regions September 2018 Details available in December 2017 Please contact us to register your interest BRITAIN & IRELAND: ENGLAND
The Ryedale Festival July 2018 Details available in January 2018 Please contact us to register your interest
Illustrations. This page: Padstow, Place House, steel engraving 1832. Opposite page, top: Chipping Campden, watercolour by G.F.Nicholls, publ. 1920; below: Cirencester, Church of St John the Baptist, wood engraving c. 1890.
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24–30 September 2018 (mf 162) 7 days • £2,520 Lecturer: Dr Paul Atterbury Seven walks of up to 6½ miles through delightful Cornish countryside followed by visits to country houses. A mixture of grand and smaller country houses and gardens, many visited by special arrangement. Stay in Fowey and Padstow, among the most vibrant and picturesque Cornish seaside towns, with charming hotels and modern British food. ‘Cornwall is a land beyond England’, in Simon Jenkins’s happily ambiguous phrase. First, prosaically, it protrudes: with a coastal path of 300 miles and with no village more than 16 miles from the sea, the Cornish peninsula extends mainland England far to the south and west. Second, in some less definable way, it feels palpably distinct. Much of the landscape and streetscape is unmistakably and intensely English, but equally unmistakable is a pervasive all-enveloping Cornishness. The physical reality of slate and granite gave rise to tough economic realities; except at the height of the Industrial Revolution, Cornwall has usually been among the least prosperous parts of the country, mining and fishing and marginal farming providing hard ways to earn a living. Redolent of struggle and privation, the county provides a less luxuriant version of the traditional English scene – reminiscent in many ways of the England of a generation or two ago. There are moorland and coastal landscapes of rugged beauty, but also vistas of heart-stopping charm. There are dramatic cliffs, becalmed valleys with patchwork emerald fields, fecund gardens in sub-tropical microclimates, dour yet impossibly pretty fishing villages, architectural gems among country mansions, and proud little towns.
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The added charm of these walks is that at the end of most is a country house or garden of distinction. We have chosen a selection based on their proximity to first-class countryside or coastal landscapes, but also to offer a variety of architectural periods and styles. Many are still privately owned and open to us by prior appointment or outside usual opening hours. The tour stays in Fowey and Padstow, both bustling holiday destinations in the summer months, but which exude a quieter charm and sense of purpose in the autumn. They are also both home to restaurants building their reputations on locally sourced and well-cooked British food.
Itinerary Day 1: St Germans, Port Eliot. The tour starts at Plymouth railway station at 1.00pm. Drive to the picturesque village of St Germans from where we begin a 1½-mile walk to Port Eliot, a Grade I listed house, substantially remodelled in the 18th-century, in part by Sir John Soane; the Round Room here is considered one of his masterpieces, now decorated with Robert Lenkiewicz’s mural ‘The Condition of Man’. Visit St German’s Priory, once the bishop’s seat for Cornwall. Continue to Fowey for the first of three nights. Day 2: Fowey, Lanhydrock. Topped and tailed with ferry crossings, this moderate to strenuous 6½ mile walk begins with the splendid cliffs of Lantic Bay and continues with undulating farmland, the soaring mediaeval parish church at Lanteglos-by-Fowey, a secluded wooded river valley and views across the estuary to Fowey. In the afternoon walk 1 mile through woodland to Lanhydrock House. A fine Jacobean mansion surrounded by gardens, park and landscape, the opulent interiors display the entire spectrum of life in a top-end Victorian household.
Walking in the Cotswolds Gardens, manor houses and fine parish churches Day 3: Caerhays Castle, Trewithen. A 3-mile coastal cliffs and woodland walk to Caerhays Castle, with some steep ascents and descents, short stony sections and a long, stepped descent at the end (130 steps). There is a guided tour with the head gardener of this Grade II* listed estate. Day 4: Trerice to Padstow. Cross the peninsular towards the north coast, breaking the journey to visit Trerice, an Elizabethan manor house. In the afternoon there is a 5-mile coastal walk, before continuing to Padstow, a picturesque fishing port that has long attracted visitors, the allure recently enhanced by Rick Stein’s restaurants. First of three nights in Padstow. Day 5: the Camel Trail, Pencarrow. Drive to begin walking a 4-mile section of the level Camel Trail. After lunch drive to Pencarrow, the home of the Molesworth-St Aubyn family for 500 years; the current house is Georgian, delightful inside and out and with fine gardens. Return to Padstow for some free time. Day 6: St Enodoc’s Church, Rock. Drive out to Polzeath before a 3-mile walk across Daymer Bay to Rock; John Betjeman is buried in the tiny church at Trebetherick. Return by passenger ferry from Rock to Padstow. Visit St Petroc’s Church and Prideaux Place, a gorgeous manor house, Elizabethan and Strawberry-Hill Gothic, still a private home. Day 7: Cotehele House. A Tudor house perched high above the River Tamar and once home to the Edgcumbe family. It is entirely hung with tapestries, mostly from the 17th century. The coach returns to Plymouth train station by 3.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,520. Single occupancy: £2,990.
14–21 May 2018 Lecturer: Dr Steven Blake Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Six walks through some of the loveliest countryside in the world with stops to enjoy buildings and landscape features. A carefully selected itinerary which favours the lesser-visited and less accessible places over some of the more touristy ones. Several outstanding gardens are a feature, as are manor houses and a handful of the finest parish churches in the country. Stay in Broadway, in a former 15th-century retreat for the Abbots of Pershore. Can be combined with our festival: Music in the Cotswolds, 21–24 May 2018 (see below). The Cotswolds famously encompasses some of the loveliest countryside in England. Loveliness belongs not only to the countryside but also to the buildings that go with it – viscerally pretty villages, farmsteads, manor houses and market towns. An essential ingredient of the winning formula is the building stone, seemingly 80% honey and 20% lichen, extruded from the hills on which they stand and sculpted by generations of masons who honed their craft with instinctive good taste. The vernacular is timeless and utterly beguiling, though it incorporates some of the grandest and proudest town houses in England. Some could almost have been designed by Andrea Palladio himself – and some practically were, the designs transmitted to Gloucestershire artisans through the innumerable copycat pattern books which buoyed up English provincial building for a couple of centuries.
Parish churches are a particular glory of the Cotswolds. Mostly mediaeval, they range from the diminutive, artless and additive – often blessedly under-restored and unmodernised – to the great churches in the larger villages and towns with soaring arcades, acres of glass, elaborately sculptured tombs and towers and spires to rival any in the country. Where did the money come from? Wool. Prized as the best in Europe by the Merchant of Prato in the fourteenth century, wool and cloth manufacturing was the basis for solid prosperity from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution – when the water power of the hills and valleys pushed the region to the forefront before the advent of steam power knocked it back again. Thus the Cotswolds slumbered, ripe for discovery as a rural idyll by the bicyclemounted aesthetes and romantics of the late Victorian era.
Included meals: 2 lunches, 5 dinners, with wine.
How strenuous? This tour should only be considered by those who are used to regular country walking, with some uphill content; some steep rises and falls are unavoidable, and walking sticks are recommended. Strong knees and ankles are essential, as are a pair of well-worn hiking boots with good ankle support. There are seven walks of between 1 and 6½ miles. Average distance by coach per day: 43 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Walking a Royal River, 17–23 September 2018 (p.11); Early Railways: The North, 16–22 September 2018 (p.24); Palladian Villas, 2–7 October 2018 (p.104).
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Music in the Cotswolds 21–24 May 2018 (me 876) Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com
BRITAIN & IRELAND: ENGLAND
Accommodation. Fowey Hall (foweyhallhotel. co.uk): late-Victorian mansion, set above the town centre with extensive estuary views from the grounds. Elegant public rooms compliment the comfortable bedrooms. In Padstow we occupy the rooms above Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant (rickstein.com): rooms vary in size and outlook, but throughout décor is fresh and modern and the service is excellent.
Six private performances of English music in towns and villages in the Cotswolds, England’s prettiest region. Renaissance polyphony, 20th-century anthems, cornetts and sackbuts, orchestral rhapsodies, folk and art song. The Tallis Scholars, Gabrieli Consort, Orchestra of St John’s, The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, tenor Matthew Long. Concerts in four glorious mediaeval churches, a Regency hall, and an Arts and Crafts home – access is exclusive to those who take a package which includes accommodation, dinners, talks, transport to each venue and much else besides. Choose from five hotels, all traditional countrystyle properties with modern facilities. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Walking Hadrian’s Wall Roman civilization at the edge of an Empire 14–20 May 2018 (me 865) 7 days • £1,980 Lecturer: Graeme Stobbs
moorland, lakes, conifer forests to the north, richly variegated greens, plentiful livestock, distant vistas to the south (4½ miles, up to 3 hours). Pub lunch. Chesters, the most salubrious of the forts (lavish bath house), built for 500 Asturian cavalrymen, in enchanting river valley setting.
10–16 September 2018 (mf 110) 7 days • £1,980 Lecturer: Graeme Stobbs
Day 4: Vindolanda; Brocolitia, Chesters. The fort and town of Vindolanda is the site of ongoing excavations which are revealing everyday artefacts including, famously, the ‘postcard’ writing tablets which uniquely document details of everyday life. Drive to a couple of archaeological remains, the Mithraic temple at Brocolitia and the bridge abutments across the river from Chesters.
The archaeology and history of the largest Roman construction in northern Europe. The most spectacular stretches accessible only on foot, this is also a walking tour through some of the most magnificent scenery in England. Excursions from coast to coast include all the major Roman sites and relevant museums.
Day 5: walk Gilsland to Birdoswald; Newcastle. Walk through low-lying and pretty farmland with streams and wild flowers. The only mile with both milecastles and turrets visible, and good lengths of Wall (2 miles, 1½ hours). In Newcastle, the Great North Museum has the best collection of objects excavated along the Wall.
One hotel throughout, the best in the region. The lecturer is Graeme Stobbs, curator for the Hadrian’s Wall Museums.
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Traversing England from the Tyne estuary to the Solway Firth, the Wall was conceived and ordered by Emperor Hadrian in ad 122 to mark and control the northernmost limit of the Roman Empire. The ambition was extraordinary, its fulfilment – far from the pool of skills and prosperity in the Mediterranean heartlands of the Empire – astonishing: a fifteen-foot-high wall 73 miles long through harsh, undulating terrain with 80 milecastles, 161 intermediate turrets and flanking earthwork ditches and ramparts. Fifteen or sixteen forts, many straddling the Wall, housed a garrison of 12–15,000 soldiers from radically different climes in the Empire, including Syria, Libya, Dalmatia, Spain and Belgium. A populous penumbra of supply bases and civilian settlements grew up nearby. As a feat of organisation, engineering and willpower, Hadrian’s Wall ranks among the most extraordinary of all Roman achievements. Its story does not end with its completion within Hadrian’s reign because for the remaining 300 years of Roman control there were constant changes to the fabric, and to its administration and occupation. A study of the Wall leads to an examination of practically every aspect of Roman civilization, from senatorial politics in Rome to the mundanities of life for ordinary Romans – and Britons – who lived in its shadow. But the Wall itself remains the fascinating focus, and the subject of endless academic debate. For the modern-day visitor the Wall has the further, inestimable attraction of passing some of the most magnificent and unspoilt countryside in England. Happily, archaeological interest is greatest where the landscape is at its most thrilling, and it is in this central section, furthest from centres of population, that the tour concentrates. The principal excavated sites can be visited with no more exertion than on an average sightseeing outing, but to see the best surviving stretches of the Wall, and to appreciate the vastness of the Roman achievement, to view many of its details and to immerse fully in the scenic beauties, there is no substitute for leaving wheels behind and walking along its course. How strenuous are the walks? On each of the five full days there is a walk of between two and three hours, covering up to four miles. The slow 16
progress is in part due to stops to examine the archaeology and to take in the wonderful views. But also the terrain is often quite rough, and periodically there are rises and falls, sometimes quite steep, though rarely of more than 50 metres and often aided by rough-hewn stone steps recently made for the Hadrian’s Wall Path. It is not a tough trek but nevertheless it should only be attempted by people whose regular country walks include some uphill elements. A coach takes you to the start of each walk and meets you at the end, eliminating the need to retrace steps or carry much. Each day has been planned to provide a balanced mix of archaeology, more general sight-seeing and cross-country trekking, and for this reason the walks do not constitute a linear progression. On most days you return to the hotel by 5.00pm, allowing plenty of time to relax before dinner.
Itinerary Day 1: Housesteads. The coach leaves Newcastle Central Station at 2.15pm (or from the hotel, Matfen Hall, at 1.30pm) and takes you straight out to Housesteads. With standing remains of up to 10 feet, this is the best preserved of the Wall’s forts and evocatively reveals the usual panoply of perimeter walls and gateways, headquarters building, commander’s palatial residence, granaries, hospital, latrines. Remote and rugged, there are superb views. Day 2: walk Steel Rigg to Cawfields; Corbridge. The first walk is perhaps the most consistently rugged as it follows long, well-preserved stretches of the Wall through moorland above the cliffs of the Whinsill Crag; a thrilling walk (2¾ miles, over 2½ hours). Pub lunch. Corbridge began as a fort in the chain built in c. ad 85 but left to the south by Hadrian’s Wall it became a large civilian town. Day 3: walk Housesteads to Steel Rigg; Chesters. Again for much of the route the Wall rides the crest of the faultline of dolerite crags, dipping and climbing. There are spectacular stretches, excellently preserved milecastles, staggering views:
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Day 6: walk Walltown to Cawfields; Carlisle, Bowness-on-Solway. The final walk is spectacularly varied, from rocky hilltops to lowland pasture (5 miles, 2½ hours). Great Chesters fort has good remains of gates and other structures, with lengths of the Wall up to two metres high. Drive to Carlisle to see the Wall collections in the Tullie House Museum, and continue to the evocative estuarial landscape of the Solway Firth. The Wall ended at the remote village of Bowness-on-Solway. Day 7: South Shields, Wallsend. At South Shields, Arbeia is a fine reconstruction of a fort gateway, as well as reconstructions of a soldier’s barrack block and an opulent house belonging to the Commanding Officer. At aptly named Wallsend and now engulfed in the Tyneside conurbation, Segedunum was the most easterly of the forts, the layout clearly seen from a viewing platform. Arrive at Newcastle railway station by 2.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,980. Single occupancy: £2,120. English Heritage members (with cards) will be refunded c. £28. Included meals: 3 lunches, 5 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Matfen Hall Hotel (matfenhall. com): a 19th-century Jacobean-style mansion and fine country house hotel offering excellent service. How strenuous? Please read the last two paragraphs of the introduction. You should not consider this tour unless you possess a well-used pair of walking boots, are more than averagely fit, have good balance and a head for heights. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. In May, combine this tour with: Music in the Cotswolds, 21–24 May 2018 (p.15). Or in September, with: Walking a Royal River, 17–23 September 2018 (p.11).
Illustration: bust of Hadrian, engraving c. 1840.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Northumbria Countryside, coast, architecture and art 6–14 June 2018 (me 898) 9 days • £2,880 Lecturer: Christopher Newall Wide-ranging exploration of the natural and manmade beauties of one of the most interesting but least visited regions of England. Castles, country houses, villages, towns and cities and wonderful landscape. Several special arrangements, a private boat for a day, two exhilarating country walks (optional – alternative visits are provided for non-walkers). Good hotels: Jesmond Dene House in Newcastle and Waren House outside Bamburgh.
Day 3: Bywell, Hexham, Hadrian’s Wall. Nestled in the Tyne Valley, the village of Bywell has two fine churches, one with a Saxon tower. The delightful town of Hexham grew up around an abbey founded in ad 674; the grand 13th-century church survives. An optional walk along Hadrian’s Wall from Housesteads (3½ miles), scenically and archaeologically perhaps the most spectacular stretch. Non-walkers visit Vindolanda, site of a Roman town; ongoing excavations are yielding exciting discoveries. Day 4: Alnwick, Edlingham, Cragside. Externally still a formidable mediaeval fortress, Alnwick Castle, seat of the Dukes of Northumberland, has sumptuous interiors and a superb painting collection. A beautiful drive via Edlingham to see the Norman church and remains of a 12thcentury hall house. Cragside, built for Sir William Armstrong, is the masterpiece of Norman Shaw and the interiors form a wonderful sequence of late-Victorian taste and technology.
Day 5: Warkworth, Woodhorn, Belsay. More palace than castle, the 15th-century Warkworth Castle towers above the town. Woodhorn Colliery is one of the best surviving examples of a 19th-century coal mine. After Sir Charles Monck’s return from Greece in 1805 he built Belsay Hall in a severely Grecian style, a contrast to the delightful woodland gardens which lead to a mediaeval castle. Day 6: Craster, Dunstanburgh. En route to Craster visit Tynemouth to see the impressive Collingwood Monument and the North and South piers at the mouth of the Tyne – astonishing pieces of engineering. Lunch in the pretty seaside town of Craster, kipper capital of the UK. A glorious coastal hillside walk to Dunstanburgh Castle (2½ miles; optional), in splendid isolation on a rocky promontory. Non-walkers visit the gardens at Howick Hall. Drive to the hotel at Waren Mill two miles away. First of three nights here. Day 7: Berwick-upon-Tweed, Norham, Bamburgh. The border town of Berwick has been much fought over by England and Scotland in the past. It is protected by the most complete set of ramparts in England. Barracks, Cromwellian church and Royal Border Bridge. Drive into wild Northumberland to the ruins of Norham Castle, once one of the strongest border castles and finally defeated by James IV of Scotland. Some free time at the hotel or in Bamburgh. Illustration: Alnwick Castle, chromolithograph c. 1880.
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Northumbria is border country in depth. The Romans had a bumpy ride in their attempts to fix the limits of their empire and pacify the populace, despite the extraordinary achievement of Hadrian’s Wall. After the Norman Conquest the region was supposedly within England but was subject to frequent Scottish incursions and effectively ruled by a handful of clans beyond the writ of the English Crown. To this day castles characterise the region more than country houses, and yet those houses that exist share an austere aesthetic. But perhaps the most striking and alluring consequence of its buffer-zone heritage is the landscape. Remote and sparsely inhabited, ruffled by majestic undulations and etched with dry stone walls, rugged uplands mixing with picturesque farmland, Northumbria has some of the most enthralling scenery in all England. Such marginal land was a magnet to monastic foundations, and outstanding mediaeval church architecture is another feature. And yet, by extreme contrast, the region became one of the powerhouses of the industrial revolution. The Tyneside conurbation has some of the most fascinating cityscapes in Britain. Beyond the city, wealth and innovation led to the great Victorian country estate such as Norman Shaw’s Cragside. Northumbria was far larger than the (relatively) modern counties of Northumberland, Durham and Tyne and Wear. This tour presents a grand sweep of history, architecture and landscape by selecting the finest sights in an itinerary that is balanced in content and pace.
1825, the Literary and Philosophical Society is the largest independent library outside London and houses over 150,000 books. See the library at the Mining Institute, built at the height of the English Gothic Revival. Planned and developed by Richard Grainger, Grey Street in the commercial city centre is often described as one of the finest planned streets in England. Outstanding postindustrial regeneration on the quayside with the Millennium Bridge (Wilkinson Eyre) and Foster’s Sage Gateshead.
Itinerary Day 1: Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Durham. The coach leaves the hotel at 1.00pm and Newcastle Central Station at 1.30pm. Drive to Durham Cathedral, one of the great monuments of Romanesque Europe, its glories enhanced by a hilltop site in one of the loveliest little cities in England. Return via St Paul’s church in Jarrow, the monastery home of the Venerable Bede (ad 673–735), one of the greatest intellectuals of the Middle Ages. First of five nights in Newcastle. Day 2: Newcastle. A day in the city, an undulating site tumbling down to the Tyne through fine buildings and streets. Start at the Laing Art Gallery, home to a collection of paintings by north-eastern artist John Martin. Opened in Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Northumbria continued
Day 8: Farne Islands, Holy Island. Drive to Holy Island to see Lindisfarne Priory and the Castle which was later converted by Lutyens into Edward Hudson’s country home. Sail on a privately chartered boat to the Farne Islands and Inner Farne, famously the setting of Grace Darling’s heroism and home to some of England’s richest birdlife. St Aidan lived as a hermit here before establishing Lindisfarne Priory, as did St Cuthbert who later became the patron saint of Durham.
The Cathedrals of England Ely, Lincoln, Durham, York, Coventry, Gloucester, Bristol, Wells, Salisbury, Winchester
Day 9: Newcastle. Wallington Hall dates to 1688 but was refurbished in the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries, the latter resulting in an arcaded twostorey hall with scenes of Northumbrian history painted by William Bell Scott. Drive south to Newcastle, dropping off at the station by 1.45pm and at the Jesmond Dene House c. 2.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,880. Single occupancy: £3,220. National Trust or English Heritage members (with cards) will be refunded c. £45. Included meals: 1 lunch and 7 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Jesmond Dene House, Newcastle (jesmonddenehouse.co.uk): 4-star, 19th-century mansion in a quiet wooded suburb which opened as a hotel in 2007 and was awarded César City Hotel of the Year in 2013; stylish, very comfortable, exceptional service, good amenities, garden, excellent restaurant. Waren House Hotel, near Bamburgh (warenhousehotel.co.uk): 3-star, Georgian house in the countryside with 13 rooms; furnished and adorned by the owners in a charmingly quirky way with light, floral bedrooms, sitting room-cum-library and dining room; patio, garden and sea views. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking involved, even without the two optional country walks. Coaches can rarely park near the sites and some places visited are extensive. Average distance by coach per day: 47 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
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Combine this tour with: Berry & Touraine, 28 May–5 June 2018 (p.66); Crown & Cromwell, 15–21 June 2018 (p.28); Walking to Derbyshire Houses, 18–23 June 2018 (p.13).
Britain before England: Prehistoric & Roman in the South July 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Illustration: Lincoln, cathedral, wood engraving from ‘Cathedrals, Abbeys & Churches of England & Wales Vol.I’, publ. 1896.
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18–26 October 2017 (me 604) 9 days • £2,610 Lecturer: Jon Cannon 18–26 April 2018 (me 828) 9 days • £2,740 Lecturer: Jon Cannon 24 October–1 November 2018 (mf 282) 9 days • £2,740 Lecturer: Jon Cannon A study of ten of England’s greatest buildings – their history, architecture, sculpture, stained glass and current life. Built between the Norman Conquest and Henry VIII’s Reformation, with Coventry Cathedral a moving exception. Organ recitals exclusively for us, and many other special arrangements. Five hotels and quite a lot of driving, but an uncrowded itinerary includes time for rest and independent exploration. The April departure can be combined with Royal Churches, 13–15 April 2018 – see page 20. This is an architectural journey that would be hard to equal for intensity of aesthetic delight and as a way into the minds and lives of the people of the Middle Ages it would be difficult to surpass. Personalities of extraordinary capability and vision will be discovered, and the thought
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processes and techniques used by craftsmen of genius revealed and decoded. The tour ranges across England – north, south, east and west – to see some of the most glorious mediaeval architecture to be found anywhere. Connoisseurs may carp at the omissions, but logistics exclude only a couple of cathedrals of comparable beauty, magnificence and interest. With an average of little over one cathedral a day, there is plenty of time to really get to know, assimilate, appreciate and contemplate each one. All but one are mediaeval, Norman (as Romanesque is generally called in Britain) and Gothic. It is easy to underestimate the length of time the Middle Ages encompasses: the span from the earliest work we see on the tour to the latest, from the Norman Conquest to the Reformation, equals that from the Reformation to the present day. There was huge variety in the building arts and historical circumstances during those 460 years. The one non-mediaeval cathedral on the itinerary is Coventry. Rebuilt after the Second World War, not only is it a treasure house of midtwentieth-century art but it is a moving monument to rebirth and reconciliation. There are many special arrangements to enable you to see more than most visitors. Organ recitals are organised for us at some cathedrals. There are also opportunities to hear some excellent choirs at Evensong. Cathedrals come with cities, and many of these were relatively little changed during the era of industrialisation and now rank among the loveliest in England. Much beautiful countryside is traversed as well.
For centuries, British scholars and critics laboured under an inferiority complex, believing English Gothic to be a defective derivative of the thoroughbred French version, inferior according to the degree to which it departed from the soaring, clean-limbed and impeccably rational paradigms across the Channel. That cultural cringe has all but evaporated in the last couple of generations, not least because evidence has been piling up that masons and architects in England had entire confidence in their inventiveness and deliberately chose to shun French conventions in favour of England’s own distinctive and fascinating imaginative universe.
Jon Cannon Writer, lecturer and broadcaster, and specialist in historic religious architecture. He teaches at Bristol University and co-wrote and presented the BBC’s How to Build a Cathedral. He has also travelled extensively in China and has published on the country in the London Review of Books and in his The Secret Language of Sacred Spaces.
Itinerary Day 1: Ely. The coach leaves King’s Cross, London at 9.30am for Ely, a surprisingly remote and rural location for one of England’s greatest cathedrals. The mighty Norman nave and transepts (c. 1110–30), with their thick walls, tiers of arches and clusters of shafts, leads to the crossing and its unique 14th-century octagonal lantern, a work of genius. The detached Lady Chapel, also in the Decorated style, is the largest and perhaps the finest in the country; the Early English quire a ravishing setting for the lost shrine to St Etheldreda. Overnight Lincoln. Day 2: Lincoln. Also largely by-passed by modern urban development, Lincoln’s hilltop site above the broad Witham valley renders this enormous cathedral even more imposing. Largely rebuilt from 1192, it has always been revered as one of the finest of Gothic cathedrals, its fascinations enhanced by myriad minor inconsistencies and variations which reveal the struggle for solutions at the frontiers of artistic fashion and technological capability. The steep streets of the ancient town are a delight. First of three nights in York.
Practicalities Day 6: Gloucester, Bristol. The procession of tall cylindrical pillars in Gloucester’s nave is unadulterated Norman, but, following the burial of Edward II in 1327, the eastern parts are exquisitely veiled in the first large-scale appearance of Perpendicular architecture. The east window, which retains its mediaeval stained glass, is one of the largest in Europe. Bristol cathedral is a muchoverlooked gem with fine work of every era, from the lavishly patterned walls of the Romanesque chapter house to G. E. Street’s great Victorian nave. But its highlight is the east end, among the most innovative and beautiful of early 14th-century buildings. First of two nights in Wells. Day 7: Wells. An exceptionally unspoilt little city, Wells has a fortified bishop’s palace, 14thcentury houses of the Vicars Choral and much else of charm and interest. The cathedral was one of the first in England to be built entirely in Gothic style. Its screened west front, eastward march of the nave, sequence of experimental contrasted spaces of the Decorated east end, serene chapter house and Perpendicular cloisters all contribute to the cathedral’s exceptional allure. The strainer arches supporting the sagging tower are among the great creations of the Middle Ages. Overnight Wells.
Day 4: York. York Minster is the largest of English mediaeval cathedrals. Above ground it is all Gothic, from Early English to Perpendicular but predominantly 14th-century, demonstrating an exceptional knowledge of the latest French Rayonnant ideas. It is a treasure trove of original stained glass, and the polygonal chapter house is without peer. The city retains its mediaeval walls and an exceptional quantity of historic buildings. Overnight York.
Day 8: Salisbury. One of the most uplifting experiences in English architecture, Salisbury is unique among the Gothic cathedrals in England in that it was built on a virgin site and largely in a single campaign, 1220–58. To homogeneity are added lucidity of design and perfection of detail. Completed a century later, the spire at 404 feet is the tallest mediaeval structure in Britain. The close is the finest in the country, and the town beyond has an extensive expanse of historic fabric. Overnight Winchester.
Day 5: Coventry. Coventry Cathedral is perhaps internationally Britain’s best-known 20th-century building. Built to designs by Sir Basil Spence beside the ruins of its predecessor, destroyed in 1940, it is both a showcase for some of the best art of the time (Graham Sutherland, John Piper, Jacob Epstein). In the evening, a walk through Stratford-upon-Avon, which has retained many buildings Shakespeare would have known. Overnight Stratford.
Day 9: Winchester. Winchester Cathedral is one of Europe’s longest churches, reflecting the city’s status intermittently from the 9th to the 17th centuries as a seat of English government. The transepts are unembellished early Norman (1079), raw architecture of brute power, whereas the mighty nave was dressed 300 years later in suave Perpendicular garb. The profusion of chantry chapels constitutes an enchanting collection of
Price, per person in 2017. Two sharing: £2,610. Single occupancy: £2,930. Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £2,740. Single occupancy: £3,060. Included meals: 1 lunch and 6 dinners with wine. Accommodation. The Castle Hotel, Lincoln (castlehotel.net): 4-star, historic building close to the cathedral. The Grange, York (grangehotel. co.uk): 4-star, also in an historic building with a new wing, within walking distance of the city centre. The Stratford (Q Hotels), Stratford-uponAvon (qhotels.co.uk): 4-star, modern hotel, located on the edge of the historic centre of the town. The Swan, Wells (swanhotelwells.co.uk): 3-star, in a building of 15th-cent. origin in a narrow street close to the cathedral. The Wessex, Winchester (mercure.com): 4-star, excellently located overlooking the cathedral in a 1960s building. Rooms at all the hotels, being city-centre historic properties, vary in size and outlook. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking on the tour. You ought to be able to walk at about three miles an hour for up to half an hour. There are also a lot of steps and uneven surfaces. Roof and tower visits are optional of course, but at Salisbury there are 332 stairs to climb. Two of the hotels do not have lifts. There are three days without any coach travel, but there is an average on the remaining five days of 73 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour in April 2018 with: Royal Churches, 13–15 April 2018 (p.20); Mediaeval Saxony, 30 April–8 May 2018 (p.84). Or in October 2018, with: Mediaeval Alsace, 16–23 October 2018 (p.68).
Dorset Churches 12–15 September 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Illustration: Gloucester, cathedral cloister, engraving c. 1820.
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Day 3: Durham. By train to Durham (40 mins), where the topography and riverside walk provide the most exciting approach to any English cathedral. Massive towers rise above the trees which cling to the steep embankment, a defensible bulwark in the frequently hostile North. Largely completed in the decades from 1093 and little altered since, the nave and quire with their great cylindrical pillars, distinguished by their engraved patterns, constitute one of the world’s greatest Romanesque churches. Overnight York.
Gothic micro-architecture. Wall paintings, floor tiles, the finest 12th-century Bible. Return to Tothill Street in central London by 4.00pm.
Royal Churches Windsor, Westminster, St Paul’s, Canterbury 13–15 April 2018 (me 814) 3 days • £1,040 Lecturer: Jon Cannon Four of the greatest buildings in the land encapsulate aspects of a nation’s history. Combine this tour with a complementary tour, The Cathedrals of England, 18–26 April 2018 (page 18). Stay in a comfortable hotel near St James’s Park. Led by Jon Cannon, a leading expert in historic religious architecture. Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, St George’s Windsor and St Paul’s Cathedral reflect the spiritual, dynastic and political interests of the English state; national monuments to Crown and Church alike. Patronised by the richest and most powerful figures for over 1,500 years, these mighty edifices embody the finest in architecture, sculpture and art. They are also imbued with the history and politics of the eras in which they were created, periods in which both royal and religious powers were charged with the sacramental. Starting in
the capital, this tour travels back to the origins of Christianity in England. Churches of the first order were erected in association with mediaeval England’s primary palaces at Westminster and Windsor. Westminster was a personal project of Henry III, designed to act as a monarchical mausoleum and a shrine to royal saint, Edward the Confessor, and to be a fitting location for coronations. Designed to outdo all other churches, it is the apogee of thirteenthcentury design and the setting for a remarkable series of fittings and tombs. London’s other great church, St Paul’s, was rebuilt after the Great Fire in a self-conscious attempt to create a Baroque great church for that very English creation, the Church of England. It is at once London’s cathedral and an embodiment of a new, more measured manifestation of Church and Crown, one both sensibleof and shot through with measured magnificence. St Paul’s shares with Westminster Abbey status as a national monument; venue for important events of state, and repository for the remains and monuments of the great and the good. The result of the epoch-making conversion to Christianity of the Kings of Kent, led by papal missionary Augustine, Canterbury still
bears the traces of its early re-shaping from ad 597. Its great cathedral, the primatial church in England, was founded then. So too was the Abbey of St Augustine, which swiftly became the most important centre of learning in the country. Today St Augustine’s is an evocative ruin, but as the site of some of the most dramatic events in English history the cathedral complex retains the essence of its past to vivid extent.
Itinerary Day 1: Westminster, Windsor. Leave the hotel on foot at 10am for a first visit to Westminster Abbey. Founded c. 1040 as monastery, palace and mausoleum by Edward the Confessor, every coronation since 1066 has taken place here. Today we examine the church built largely by Henry III from 1245 and the tombs of mediaeval monarchs. By train to Windsor Castle, which remains a functioning royal palace. St George’s Chapel, built by Edward IV as his burial place, is one of the most beautiful buildings of the 15th century. Day 2: Westminster, St Paul’s. Return to the Abbey to study inter alia the Henry VII Chapel, apogee of Perpendicular architecture, and its Tudor tombs. Wren’s masterpiece, St Paul’s Cathedral, is Britain’s greatest Classical monument, albeit with a Baroque inflection, and her most monumental building. Mother church of the Diocese of London, it retains special links with the City Corporation, guilds and institutions, as well as with the Crown. Day 3: Canterbury. England’s premier cathedral, the seat of the spiritual head of the Church of England for nearly five centuries Canterbury retains its magnificent Norman crypt, the eastern parts form the earliest major Gothic structure in England, and the soaring nave and crossing tower are masterpieces of Perpendicular. Tombs of Henry IV and the Black Prince. Now ruined, St Augustine’s Abbey visibly takes us back to the roots of Christianity among the first English kings. Return to central London by 4.30pm.
Practicalities BRITAIN & IRELAND: ENGLAND
Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,040. Single occupancy: £1,260. Included meals: 2 dinners with wine. Accommodation. St Ermin’s Hotel, London. (sterminshotel.co.uk): situated in central London, tucked into a tree-lined courtyard behind St James’s Park tube station, this 4-star hotel has contemporary, tasteful décor. Service is excellent. How strenuous? Unavoidably there is quite a lot of walking on this tour and it would not be suitable for anyone with difficulties with everyday walking and stair-climbing. Coaches can rarely park near the sites, the buildings visited don’t have lifts. Travel by underground railway within London. Average distance by coach per day: 57 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: The Cathedrals of England, 18–26 April 2018 (p.18). Illustration: Canterbury, cathedral, wood engraving c. 1880 from ‘Brittons Cathedral Antiquities.’
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Gastronomic West Country ‘The best larder in all of Europe’ 2–8 July 2018 (me 943) 7 days • £3,140 Lecturer: Marc Millon A new tour for 2018. Almost every visit included is only possible by special arrangement, many of which are opening their doors to us through the lecturer’s personal contacts. Led by gastronomic specialist and Devon resident Marc Millon, author of The Taste of Britain.
Itinerary Day 1: Topsham. The coach leaves Exeter St David’s Railway Station at 12.30pm. Take a boat on the Exe estuary from Topsham to the Turf
Hotel (accessible only by boat, walking or cycling) for a simple lunch. Transfer to the Deer Park Country House Hotel near Honiton for the first of three nights. Day 2: Riverford Farm, Sharpham Vineyard. Guy Watson’s Riverford Farm is the source of organic vegetables delivered in ‘boxes’ all around the country. Farm visit followed by lunch of organic vegetables and local organic meats in the ‘field kitchen’. Visit and tasting at the Sharpham Vineyard, beautifully situated above a sharp bend in the River Dart, where awardwinning wines and cheeses made from rich Jersey milk are produced. Dinner includes a tasting of house-smoked foods and beer from the local Otter Brewery at The Holt, Honiton. Day 3: Quicke’s Cheese, Pipers Farm. Cheese masterclass and tasting at Quicke’s, awardwinning producer of cloth-wrapped traditional farmhouse cheddar. Visit to Pipers Farm to meet the animals, then lunch on hay bales around the fire pits. Free time in Exeter, with the option of a guided tour of Exeter Cathedral. Dinner at The Pig at Combe, with a menu of foods sourced locally within a 25-mile radius. Day 4: Haytor, St Austell. A walk on Dartmoor to Haytor Rocks is followed by a picnic lunch of local food and drink. Visit and beer tasting at St Austell Brewery, one of the few remaining great regional breweries, still family-run after many generations. Continue to Padstow, where the next three nights are spent. Dinner at Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant. The well-known television chef’s acclaimed restaurant is considered one of the best in the country for seafood. Day 5: Tregothnan Estate, Padstow. Tregothnan Estate is home to one of the UK’s only tea plantations. See how tea is grown in sub-tropical conditions and enjoy a masterclass in tea tasting. Lunch at a nearby restaurant on the Roseland peninsula, overlooking the south Cornish coast. Return to Padstow for an early-evening seafood cooking demonstration and tasting at Rick Stein’s Cookery School.
Day 6: Padstow. Learn about the life cycle of lobsters and what can be done to help them to reproduce sustainably at the National Lobster Hatchery. Free afternoon in Padstow, with an optional ferry trip to Rock to walk to St Enodoc Church where the poet laureate Sir John Betjeman is buried. Day 7: Lympstone Manor. Michael Caines held two Michelin stars at Gidleigh Park for 18 years. His newly-opened country house hotel has yet to be inspected by the guides at the time of writing, but is already winning high praise and numerous accolades. Michael has devised a special lunch menu to highlight and showcase places and producers visited during the week. Finish at Exeter St David’s Railway Station by 4.45pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,140. Single occupancy: £3,480. Included meals: 6 lunches, 5 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Deer Park Country House Hotel, near Honiton (deerparkcountryhotel. co.uk): charming country house hotel set in beautiful grounds in the Devon countryside. The Metropole, Padstow (the-metropole.co.uk): friendly 4-star hotel, every room reserved for this tour has an excellent view over the estuary. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking on tracks in vineyards and farms, participants must be steady on their feet and able to walk unaided over rough ground in order to fully enjoy the tour. There is quite a lot of driving, often in two minibuses as access is limited at many of the special sites visited. Average distance by coach per day: 75 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with Mediaeval Middle England, 25–29 June 2018 (p.22). Illustration: Devon, near Sidmouth, early-20th-century watercolour by Donald Maxwell.
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The gastronomic renaissance that has been taking place all over the United Kingdom has profound roots in the West Country, notably in the counties of Devon and Cornwall. Climatically the mildest areas of the country (Devon’s so-called English Riviera boasts palm trees, while south Cornwall features foliage and plantings that are positively sub-tropical), this region has long been the source of some of the finest things to eat and drink: organic vegetables from the South Hams; rich dairy products such as traditional farmhouse cheeses, clotted cream, farm ice cream; an outstanding catch of fish and shellfish landed at Exmouth, Brixham, Newlyn and Padstow; meats from local breeds such as Red Ruby cattle and Exmoor sheep; English wines, regional and craft beers, and farmhouse ciders; and much more. A supportive and virtuous circle of farmers, fishermen, cheesemakers, artisan producers, some of the country’s most talented and high-profile chefs, and appreciative and knowledgeable consumers and diners has resulted in a food scene that is squarely local, varied and at all levels, never less than deliciously vibrant. Gastronomic West Country goes direct to the source to discover, learn, taste and enjoy. We meet some of the inspirational people who work so hard to produce such good things to eat and drink. We enjoy a lunch of just-picked organic vegetables and local meat in a ‘field kitchen’. We dine seated on hay bales on a feast of the best meat you will ever eat, expertly cooked over fire pits by the farmer himself. We learn about the mysteries of tea at a sub-tropical plantation that has climatic conditions similar to Darjeeling. And we visit the National Lobster Hatchery to understand how this delicious crustacean can be sustainably raised. A cream tea is obligatory of course – but does the cream or the jam go on first? Other highlights include a picnic on the roof of Dartmoor, pub lunches, a visit to a vineyard, a cheese tasting masterclass, and a splendid seafood feast in the most famous fish restaurant in the country, Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant. ‘The West Country has the best larder not just in the UK but in all of Europe,’ says Michael Caines, the inspirational and highly acclaimed two-star Michelin chef. The tour concludes with lunch at Lympstone Manor, Michael’s newly-opened country house hotel overlooking the Exe estuary.
Mediaeval Middle England Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire 25–29 June 2018 (me 931) 5 days • £1,410 Lecturer: John McNeill
tower, before continuing to Edmund Crouchback’s stunning church at Higham Ferrers and the most delicate of the surviving Eleanor Crosses at Geddington.
Well-balanced survey of the outstanding mediaeval monuments of Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and the Soke of Peterborough.
Day 4: Melton Mowbray, Gaddesby, Oakham, Castor, Fotheringhay. A day of local horizons, starting with the majestic late mediaeval town church at Melton Mowbray, and maturing via Decorated Gaddesby, late-12th-century Oakham Castle, Romanesque Castor and the sometime Yorkist mausoleum at Fotheringhay.
Beautiful drives through understated verdant landscapes. Stay in one hotel throughout.
Day 5: Tickencote, Stamford. Drive along the north shore of Rutland water to the Romanesque parish church at Tickencote. In Stamford visit the important late mediaeval chantry foundation known as Browne’s Hospital and the superb late mediaeval stained glass at St Martin. Arrive Peterborough train Station by 2.30pm.
Led by mediaeval architectural historian John McNeill.
BRITAIN & IRELAND: ENGLAND
The East Midlands boasts some of the finest mediaeval ecclesiastical architecture in England. The region largely corresponds to the AngloSaxon kingdom of Mercia, which converted to Christianity during the seventh century and had already established a widespread network of churches and monasteries by the eighth century. Though the rich, agricultural territory remained disputed between the Saxons and the Danes until the Normans finally brought stability, those looking to explore its pre- and post-Conquest heritage will be delighted to find outstanding examples of Saxon, Norman and Gothic architecture. Two of the most impressive buildings the tour visits are Peterborough Cathedral and Southwell Minster. Peterborough, one of the five great mediaeval abbey churches, is the least altered of England’s Norman cathedrals, with a nave that retains the original 13th-century painted wooden roof – one of only four in Europe. Southwell Minster, with its distinctive pepper-pot spires, is another exceptional example of the Norman and Early English styles. The area is notable, too, for its fine mediaeval parish churches and amongst the highlights of the visit are: All Saints’ Brixworth, England’s largest and best preserved Saxon church; the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Northampton, built shortly after the First Crusade and inspired by the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem; and the 14thcentury St Mary Magdalen, Newark upon Trent, with its remarkable panel painting from the Dance of the Death.
Itinerary Day 1: Peterborough, Barnack. The coach leaves Peterborough Railway Station at 2.00pm for the short drive to Peterborough Cathedral, proud possessor of the most ambitious mediaeval painted ceiling to survive in England, as well as a majestic Romanesque nave, fan-vaulted east end and astonishingly inventive west front. A brief visit to the important early Gothic parish church of Barnack. First of four nights in Rutland. Day 2: Southwell, Hawton, Newark, Holme. A day devoted to Nottinghamshire, beginning with Southwell Minster, the pre-eminent mediaeval church of the county and a building justly celebrated for the exquisite naturalistic foliage of its chapter-house. Thence to the breathtaking early-14th-century chancel at Hawton. Visit Newark-on-Trent, whose mid-12th-century castle and new river crossing sowed the seeds 22
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,410. Single occupancy: £1,540. Included meals: 4 dinners with wine. of prosperity for the town, which led to the rebuilding of St Mary Magdalen as one of the finest of all English late mediaeval parish churches. Cross the Trent to the tiny church in Holme. Day 3: Brixworth, Northampton, Earls Barton, Higham Ferrers, Geddington. A perfect opportunity to slip south into Northamptonshire. First to the great Anglo-Saxon minster church at Brixworth, and on to a wonderful pair of Romanesque churches: lavishly sculpted St Peter and the centrally-planned Holy Sepulchre, in Northampton. Drive to Earl’s Barton, the town beautifully punctuated by its late Anglo-Saxon
The Divine Office Choral music in Oxford 24–28 September 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest A celebration of choral music, largely liturgical, with mediaeval and Renaissance plainchant and polyphony prominent. The centrepiece of the festival is the Divine Office, the eight Offices of the Hours, sung at the appropriate times of day and night. The performances take place in college chapels: Christ Church, Magdalen, Merton, All Souls, Queen’s and New. The best of Oxford’s college choirs perform together with some of Britain’s leading specialist choirs: The Tallis Scholars, Stile Antico and Westminster Cathedral Choir. Access is limited to those who take a package which includes all the concerts, and accommodation in hotels or a college.
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Accommodation. Barnsdale Lodge Hotel, Rutland (barnsdalelodge.co.uk): 3-star hotel in an extended old farmhouse close to Rutland Water. Rooms are arranged around a courtyard and vary in size and outlook. There is a restaurant and lounge; service is friendly. There is no lift. How strenuous? This tour involves quite a lot of getting on and off coaches and standing around. Average distance by coach per day: 61 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Illustration: Earl’s Barton Church, engraving c. 1840. Below: Magdalen Tower, by Yoshio Markino, publ. 1910.
The Victorian Achievement Architecture, industry and art in Lancashire and Yorkshire 13–20 August 2018 (me 980) 8 days • £2,080 Lecturer: Dr Paul Atterbury Studies the social history, industrial archaeology, architecture and art of the reign of Queen Victoria, a period when Great Britain led the world in trade, industry and ideas. Includes some of the most beautiful architecture of the era and immensely impressive works of engineering – canals, railways, bridges. Painting and sculpture in all its manifold variety features; many of the country’s best collections of Victorian art are in the region. The historical, social and economic context is an important strand of the tour, with attention to the lives of some of the greatest Victorians. A subsidiary theme is the remarkable postindustrial regeneration of recent years. Led by Dr Paul Atterbury who specialises in the art, architecture and design of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Pirenesian warehouses, fabulously embellished churches, noble Philosophical Institutes, mansions for the rich and tenements for the poor. But of no less interest are the stunningly impressive engineering accomplishments – canals, railways, bridges – whether their aesthetic power arises from raw functionalism or historicist adornment. Victorian painting and sculpture is an important part of the tour; a good proportion of the country’s finest collections are in the North West. The best is world-class, the Pre-Raphaelites in particular, but irrespective of artistic merit the art is fascinating for what it reveals of Victorian attitudes and mores as well as for what it purports to depict. A week’s holiday in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool is an unusual proposition, and this itinerary is probably unique. We might not have risked it ten years ago but recent regeneration has reversed decline and dramatically assisted the transformation to the post-industrial era. As a trio of cities to visit they should be considered to rank with, say, Bologna, Parma and Verona, or Augsburg, Nuremberg and Regensburg: there is as much of artistic and architectural interest to see, and arguably the historical significance is greater.
Itinerary Day 1: Manchester. Assemble at the Midland Hotel in Manchester and leave at 2.15pm for a walk to see many of the great Victorian buildings which still predominate in the city centre. The City Art Gallery has a superb collection of Victorian paintings, particularly Pre-Raphaelites. First of two nights in Manchester. Illustration: Manchester, the Exchange, etching 1910.
Day 2: Manchester. The industrial landscape of Castlefield encompasses the world’s first passenger railway station (1830), the nodal point of England’s most important canal network and other monuments of the industrial revolution. A palatial manifestation of municipal pride, Alfred Waterhouse’s Town Hall (1867–77) is one of the most splendid buildings of the era, an imaginative Gothic design with glorious interiors and murals by Ford Madox Brown. An afternoon by coach includes the soaring beauty of Bodley’s St Augustine at Pendlebury. Overnight Manchester. Day 3: Manchester, Saltaire, Leeds. The John Rylands Library (Basil Champneys) is late Victorian architecture at its most refined. In 1853 Titus Salt consolidated his five cloth factories into one, added a model town and named it Saltaire. It survives intact, a monument to Victorian ameliorism and to 21st-century regeneration. Arriving in Leeds, visit the stupendous Classical Town Hall (Cuthbert Broderick 1853) and the Corn Exchange (also Broderick), a masterpiece of Victorian commercial architecture. First of two nights in Leeds. Day 4: Leeds, Bradford. The industrial heritage of Leeds: a vast 1840s mill, an Egyptian-style mill and factory chimneys imitating mediaeval Italian towers. The retail and commercial district is the most extensive and unspoilt area of Victoriana in Britain, with dazzlingly elaborate arcades and endlessly inventive façades. An afternoon in Bradford (20 minutes by train), source in the 1850s of two-thirds of Britain’s woollen cloth. Retaining a mediaeval street pattern on a sloping site, the centre has a magnificent set of Gothic Revival buildings. Overnight Leeds. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Athens, Florence, Manchester: there is no fourth. Another risible Victorian polemic? No. The essence of this proposition concerning the paramount importance of Manchester in the history of civilization remains valid. The impact of the industrial cities of Victorian Britain in shaping the modern world cannot be overestimated. But the era still needs rescuing from twentiethcentury disdain. Ignorance and misunderstanding remain deep and widespread. The truth is that nineteenth-century Britain was one of the most dynamic and innovative societies in history, and that Victorian cities, as the principal material manifestation of that great age – and their postindustrial reincarnation – are among the most fascinating features of the United Kingdom. In the earlier decades of the century Britain led the world in industrialisation and technology, dominated world trade and became the world’s wealthiest nation. It can also be claimed that Britain was a leader in the development of ideas, the extension of education, the practice of philanthropy and social amelioration and the advance (if haltingly) of political reform. Meanwhile the British Empire grew and grew, almost by accident, and became the most extensive the world has ever seen, and the best administered. London might have been the world’s biggest city and the seat of government of the Empire, but the crucible of progress did not lie beside the Thames. The great inventors were mainly from the north, railways were at first a northern phenomenon and the north was the source of many of the great ideas of the age, free trade among them. The arts, too, particularly architecture, were less Londoncentric than they became subsequently; a very large proportion of the great buildings of Victorian England are in the northern counties. (Liverpool has more listed buildings than any city outside London.) For variety, vigour, muscularity, ambition, technological boldness, ingenuity, symbolism and, yes, beauty, Victorian architecture has few peers in all history. Much of the interest of this tour lies in the built environment: palatial town halls,
The Victorian Achievement continued
Early Railways: The North History, technology, architecture, landscapes
Day 5: Leeds, Liverpool. Among the sights today are the 1830s Parish Church, a key monument in the history of the Gothic Revival, an amazing Venetian Gothic warehouse disrupting the Georgian serenity of Park Square and the Municipal Buildings complex with the Art Gallery, Library and Tiled Hall. By coach from Leeds to Liverpool. First of three nights in Liverpool. Day 6: Liverpool. The Albert Dock (1843) is among the most impressive constructions of the century, ruggedly functional but perfectly proportioned. Time for exploration, lunch and a museum or two (Tate Liverpool is here). See other waterside buildings, including the enormous Tobacco Warehouse. To the salubrious suburb of Sefton Park and two fine late Victorian churches, St Agnes (JL Pearson 1883) and St Clare (Leonard Stokes 1899). Overnight Liverpool. Day 7: Liverpool. St George’s Hall is the most magnificent of a group of buildings which are unequalled as a display of potential for variety of classical architecture. Another is the Walker Art Gallery with an outstanding collection of Victorian painting. Explore the architectural riches of the central business district including the former Bank of England (Cockerell 1845) and cast iron Oriel Chambers (1864). Finally Giles Gilbert Scott’s Anglican Cathedral, begun in 1904 so not quite Victorian but the superb, sublime culmination of the Gothic Revival. Overnight Liverpool. Day 8: Port Sunlight. Cross the River Mersey to Port Sunlight, the exceedingly pretty and superbly appointed township started in 1888 for workers at Lord Leverhulme’s adjacent soap factory. The Lady Lever Art Gallery is outstanding for English painting of the 18th and 19th centuries with masterpieces by Millais, Leighton, Burne Jones and others. Drive to Manchester, reaching Piccadilly Station by 3.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,080. Single occupancy: £2,450. Included meals: 5 dinners with wine.
BRITAIN & IRELAND: ENGLAND
Accommodation. All hotels are located within walking distance of much that is seen on the tour and are among the more comfortable hotels in each city; all are rated 4-star. The Midland, Manchester (qhotels.co.uk): large, elaborately adorned Victorian hotel; recent refurbishment blends some of its original character with modern comforts. Queens Hotel, Leeds (qhotels. co.uk): very comfortable 1930s building with Art Deco interiors. Hope Street Hotel, Liverpool (hopestreethotel.co.uk): in a salubrious area between the cathedrals, it brings good modern design and comforts into a 19th-century factory and adjacent 1960s police station. How strenuous? This tour would not be suitable for anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and who cannot stand for long periods of time. Average distance by coach per day: 25 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: The Industrial Revolution, 6–11 August 2018 (p.26). 24
16–22 September 2018 (mf 155) 7 days • £2,570 Lecturer: Anthony Lambert The pioneering periods of railway history– social, political and economic aspects, civil and mechanical engineering, architecture and art. Includes a high proportion of the world’s earliest surviving steam locomotives, rolling stock, stations, bridges and viaducts. Most journeys are by train, some through outstanding scenery, some on historic railways, some steam traction likely. Hotels in Newcastle and York beside stations. Led by Anthony Lambert, already well known to Martin Randall Travel clients, and who is also a prominent railway writer. It’s arguable whether any previous event had a more transformatory impact on the lives of inhabitants of this island than the coming of the railways. But whatever else could be suggested – the Norman Conquest, the Henrician Reformation – would be of merely local significance: the British invention of railways went on to change the lives of much of the population of the world. This tour examines the beginnings of this extraordinary development, of which there are surprisingly many physical remains, many visually stunning, many still in use. It is commonly but erroneously believed that railways were a Victorian phenomenon. The fact is that the first inter-city passenger service dates to the reign of William IV, the first public railway to use steam locomotives opened under George IV, the first viable steam engines were built while George III was still king, the first major railway bridge opened during the reign of George I, the
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earliest stationery steam engines started pumping while a Stuart, Queen Anne, was still on the throne and the earliest documented waggonways in England take railway history back to a Tudor, Elizabeth I. Victoria’s reign saw massive extension of the railways, but not its genesis. The scale of pre-twentieth-century railway engineering is almost inconceivable, especially given the limited mechanical aids available. Digging, blasting, tunnelling, embanking, bridging; thousands of navvies and skilled artisans employed on each major project; carving up the countryside, thrusting cacophonously into towns and cities, absorbing great wealth, yielding even greater riches, creating a vast penumbra of supporting businesses. A couple of the railway companies were for a while the world’s biggest public companies (one of many world records which will pepper the lecturer’s commentary). Railways transformed the world, transformed the way we live and think and imagine. And it all began in the North of England. Impelled by the need to transport coal and ore from mine to wharf, Tyneside and its vicinity became the crucible in which the assorted ingredients of the modern railway were finally fused together. Connecting inland Manchester with coastal Liverpool was an incentive on the other side of the country; London, soon to be the world’s biggest city, was irrelevant to the story in these pioneering years. While plenty of twentieth-century developments are seen in passing, the focus is earlier. Engineering and technology are of course central to the tour, though much of the input from the lecturer is about social and political context, financial and economic factors and architectural and artistic matters. A number of attractive towns and cities are visited, and there are some splendidly scenic rail journeys.
Chippendale in Yorkshire Celebrating the 300th birthday of the great furniture maker Itinerary Day 1: Newcastle, Tanfield. Drive at 2.00pm from the hotel in Newcastle the few miles to the Tanfield Railway. With a claim to be the oldest working railway in the world, it opened in 1727 using gravity and horse power on wooden rails. Part of this extraordinary engineering enterprise was the Causey Arch, the world’s first railway bridge and the widest span in Britain for 30 years. Join a train at Andrews House Station and alight at Causey before returning. First of two nights in Newcastle. Day 2: Beamish, Shildon. By coach to Beamish, the North of England Open Air Museum, where the world’s finest collection of working replicas of early steam engines (Locomotion, Steam Elephant, Puffing Billy) plies the Pockerley Waggonway. The Shildon branch of the National Railway Museum is on the site of the engine works of the Stockton & Darlington Railway; among the many exhibits is Timothy Hackworth’s Sans Pareil, runner-up in the Rainhill Trials of 1829. To avoid rushhour road congestion, the last leg is by rail from Durham. Overnight Newcastle. Day 3: Newcastle, Darlington. Visually dramatic and historically important, the bridges spanning the Tyne includes R. Stephenson’s innovatory High Level Bridge for both road and rail (1845–9). There is some free time in Newcastle, which has the most impressive late Georgian architecture of any regional city, good Victorian buildings and art galleries. Drive to the Head of Steam Museum in Darlington whose prize exhibit is George Stephenson’s Locomotion which inaugurated the Stockton & Darlington in 1825. First of four nights in York. Day 4: North Yorkshire Moors Railway. By coach to the attractive market town of Pickering, the terminus for the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Planned by G. Stephenson and opened in 1846, it was a victim of the Beeching cuts but was brought back to life as a heritage railway using vintage rolling stock and engines. Travel for an hour (by steam maybe) through exceptionally lovely countryside to Grosmont. After lunch, return to Pickering for a little free time. Overnight York.
Day 6: Settle-Carlisle Railway. ‘The most spectacular piece of railway engineering in Britain’, the Settle-Carlisle Railway (built 1869–75) traverses the moorland hills of the Yorkshire Dales. Twice last century it faced closure, but it survives as England’s most scenically exciting rail journey. Today’s itinerary: by train via Leeds to Settle, train to Ribblehead, walk around the viaduct and lunch, continue by rail to Kirkby Stephen, and then do the journey in reverse without stops except at Leeds. Overnight York.
Celebrate 300 years since the birth of the great furniture maker Thomas Chippendale. Includes some of Chippendale’s best-surviving work at Newby, Harewood and Nostell Priory. Outstanding collections at some lesser-known and private properties. Special arrangements and out-of-hours visits. Led by Dr David Jones, furniture historian and Chippendale expert. Yorkshire contains the best concentration of documented commissions from the Thomas Chippendale workshop. Probably this is due to his family links with the county: he was born in the West Riding market town of Otley in 1718, and lived there until his move to St Martin’s Lane, London, at the age of thirty. The houses that contain his furniture were all either built or ‘modernised’ in the 1760s and 70s, some by local architects such as James Paine or John Carr, and some with striking
interior schemes by Robert Adam. These provide a complementary backdrop to Chippendale’s effortlessly dignified ensembles. The furniture that we will be looking at varies from the simple and utilitarian, and sometimes engagingly old fashioned, to the most glamorous and expensive that Chippendale ever made. Analysing furniture at close quarters, we will learn how to identify a Chippendale piece (he never marked or stamped his furniture) from its construction and tell-tale features that characterise his workshop practice. For example, chairs are turned upside down to see the glue cramp cuts and setting out marks that his journeyman cabinet makers made, and the distinctive screw holes in the frames to fix a piece inside its packing case for the journey north by road and sea. At all locations, we view Chippendale’s furniture in its original context; accompanied by ‘Chinese’ wallpaper and accessories, for instance, in the Best bedroom at Nostell; surrounded by Grand Tour treasures and Gobelins tapestries at Newby; or simply en parade in the lavish Adam interiors at Harewood. Illustrations. Left: Newcastle, High Level Bridge (background) and Swing Bridge (foreground), wood engraving c. 1880. Above: Harewood House, chromolithograph c. 1880.
Early Railways: The North, continued. Day 7: York. The National Railway Museum at York is the world’s greatest such collection, possessing hundreds of engines, rolling stock and miscellaneous items – royal carriages, Mallard, a replica Rocket and many other fascinating treasures. The lecturer finishes his tour by the end of the morning. As you are only a few minutes from the hotel and York Station you leave when you want.
to the station. The Principal York Hotel, York (phcompany.com/principal/york-hotel): 5-star hotel built beside the station in 1878 by the North Eastern Railway, recently refurbished by the Principal Hayley group.
Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,570. Single occupancy: £2,960.
How strenuous? Days start between 8.40 and 9.30am and most finish at the hotel by 5.30– 6.30pm, so not a strenuous schedule. There is quite a lot of walking including steps and short hills, so not suitable for people unused to daily walking and stair climbing. The option for keen walkers of a two-mile moorland walk at Ribblehead requires stout footwear.
Included meals: 3 lunches, 5 dinners, with wine.
Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Accommodation. Crowne Plaza, Newcastle (crowneplaza.com): new 4-star hotel on the site of the Stephenson Works in Forth Street next
Combine this tour with: The Divine Office, 24–28 September 2018 (p.22); Walking to Cornish Houses, 24–30 September 2018 (p.14).
Practicalities
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Day 5: Manchester, Marple. By rail to Manchester. The Liverpool & Manchester Railway opened in 1830 and the original station, the world’s oldest, survives. Castlefield has an extraordinary, Pirenesian conjunction of viaducts and canals, including the pioneering Bridgewater Canal (1761). A semi-rural afternoon near Marple outside Manchester along the towpath of the Peak Forest Canal to see the beautifully engineered flight of locks and astonishing 100 ft-high aqueduct (1800) across the River Goyt; the adjacent railway viaduct is even higher. Overnight York.
5–9 June 2018 Details available in August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
The Industrial Revolution Invention, manufacture and design in 18th-century England 6–11 August 2018 (me 975) 6 days • £1,570 Lecturer: Dr Paul Atterbury The 18th-century Industrial Revolution when Britain led the world in technology, invention, manufacture and commerce. Highly significant industrial archaeology. Fine and applied arts, created with the wealth generated by industrialisation or which was the outcome of new factory processes. Led by Dr Paul Atterbury who specialises in the art, architecture and design of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In a putative ‘Concise History of World Civilization’, Britain might garner a few mentions (Magna Carta, Parliamentary democracy) but would probably be awarded only one substantial passage. This would be an account of the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century. The modern world began in the English Midlands. It is difficult to overestimate the global impact of the technological developments which took place in this relatively out-of-the-way region of Europe (there were few roads in pre-modern Shropshire and Staffordshire). Enabled by the abundance of accessible mineral resources, propelled by an Enlightenment spirit of enquiry and experiment, and forged by the enterprise and ambition of a few exceptional individuals, Britain came to lead the world in manufacturing, commerce and science through to the middle of the nineteenth century. Places have been chosen to show most of the main constituents of the Industrial Revolution: water power and steam, coal and iron, textiles and pottery, the factory system and urbanisation, canals and roads. Sights include the visible remains of early industrial enterprise of the highest importance.
The subsequent two centuries are not ignored. Indeed, much of the industrial archaeology and the art we see takes us well into the twentieth century. The tour concentrates on five centres. Two are the upper reaches of fast-moving rivers, the Severn in Shropshire (now dubbed Ironbridge Gorge) and the Derwent in Derbyshire. (Both, incidentally, are now tranquil and fairly rural, the Derwent Valley in particular being a place of outstanding natural beauty.) The six towns of the Potteries in Staffordshire were a unique concentration of the ceramic industry – as indeed they still are. The fourth is the group of towns in the West Midlands known as The Black Country, and the fifth is Birmingham, ‘workshop of the world’.
Itinerary Day 1: Birmingham. The coach leaves from New Street Railway Station at 11.45am and there follows a walk around a nexus of canals – Birmingham famously has more canals than Venice. Soho House, excellently restored and presented, was the home of Matthew Boulton and a meeting place of the Lunar Society, a group of progressive thinkers, scientists and manufacturers who played key roles in the Industrial Revolution. Continue to Telford for the first of two nights there. Day 2: Ironbridge Gorge. By the end of the 18th century this short stretch of the upper River Severn (a unesco Heritage Site) was the most heavily industrialised location in the world. The blast furnace at Coalbrookdale, where in 1709 Abraham Darby I achieved the smelting of iron with coke and thus ushered in the modern world, survives as part of a fascinating Museum of Iron. Abraham Darby III was largely responsible for the Iron Bridge of 1779, an epoch-making structure of powerful beauty as well as an icon of the Industrial Revolution. Two mansions lived in by the Darby family overlooking the works retain original
Dr Paul Atterbury Lecturer, writer and broadcaster specialising in the art, architecture and design of the 19th and 20th centuries. He has published widely on pottery, porcelain, canals, railways, and the Thames. He curated the V&A exhibitions Pugin and Victorian Vision and is an expert on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. furnishings. Renovation works on the Iron Bridge began in Spring 2017. Day 3: Dudley, Barlaston. The Black Country is a contender for the title ‘birthplace of industry’, being named after the smoke from the unequalled density of mines, workshops and factories. An outstanding museum shows historic industrial installations, many in working order, including a replica of a Newcomen steam engine of c. 1717, and rescued houses, shops and other buildings furnished as 100 years ago. Josiah Wedgwood was a genius of the Industrial Revolution, dedicated equally to improvements in design and technology, to natural philosophy and commerce, and to social amelioration and progressive politics. The awardwinning Wedgwood Museum, one of the finest ceramics museums in the world, well documents the development of an iconic English brand. First of three nights in Stoke-on-Trent. Day 4: Stoke-on-Trent. Stoke-on-Trent remains the world’s foremost pottery city despite the loss of much mainstream production. The Gladstone Pottery Museum is the only complete Victorian pottery factory: original workshops, bottle ovens, historic products. See the wonderfully archaic production processes at Burleigh Pottery and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Hanley, which excellently displays Staffordshire wares and other ceramics; another outstanding museum.
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Day 5: Derwent Valley, Derby, Cheadle. A stretch of the River Derwent in Derbyshire is the birthplace of the modern textile industry (and another unesco Heritage Site). The world’s first water-powered cotton-spinning mill, built by Richard Arkwright in 1771, survives at Cromford, and his 1783 Masson Mills are equipped with 19th-cent. machinery. The Derby Museum displays many paintings by Joseph Wright, one of Britain’s finest 18th-cent. painters, who excelled at innovatory scenes of industry and scientific experiment and portraits of industrialists. The Church of St Giles at Cheadle, 1841–7, A.W. Pugin’s masterpiece, has been called ‘the outstanding English church of the 19th century’. Day 6: Birmingham. Established in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter in 1881, J.W. Evans is an exceptional survival of a historic factory where little has changed for a century. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery has the largest public collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings in the world. The tour ends at New Street Station by 4.00pm. What else is included in the price? See page 7. 26
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Tudor Power in South & West Forts, ships, great houses and abbeys Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,570. Single occupancy: £1,740. Included meals: 1 lunch, 4 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. The Telford Hotel and Golf Resort (qhotels.co.uk): modern 4-star hotel in a quiet location on the edge of town. Swimming pool, fitness centre, spa. The Best Western Moat House (web search: ‘Best Western Moat House’): though incorporating the shell of Etruria Hall, Josiah Wedgwood’s home, it is also a new 4-star hotel, adequately comfortable, lively. Of both it can be said that the rooms are comfortable and the service willing, and that they are the best available in their localities. How strenuous? This tour would not be suitable for anyone who has any difficulty with everyday walking and stair-climbing. Average distance by coach per day: 42 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: The Victorian Achievement, 13–20 August 2018 (p.23).
‘Wide-ranging knowledge, ease of communication, generous with his time, Paul Atterbury is a first class lecturer and cannot be faulted.’
Gardens of Cheshire & Shropshire
8–13 May 2018 (me 856) 6 days • £1,740 Lecturer: Professor Maurice Howard Tudor England studied through a variety of architecture, artefacts and artworks. Great country houses – most of which arose on the site of suppressed monasteries. Defence and warfare, coastal fortifications and the Mary Rose, the finest assembly of 16th-century goods to be found anywhere. Led by a leading historian and art historian of the period, joined by the former chief executive for the Mary Rose Trust. Whether in a complete or fragmentary state, the buildings of Tudor England reflect the changing political, social and religious environment of the time. Travelling westwards from London brings home the increasing power of the capital, where the court resided, and the need for government to control and monitor parts of the country that took days to reach. At various points the itinerary intersects with the loyalty-building progress that Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn made in 1535 during the crisis of the break with Rome. Anxiety about foreign invasion led to the building of fortifications along the south coast, and to the construction of great warships. One of these has been retrieved from the seabed and gradually conserved and displayed: the Mary Rose and its amazing contents constitute the greatest single hoard of sixteenth-century quotidian artefacts anywhere in the world. Yet this was not entirely a time of exclusion from foreign influences on the arts and sciences; craftsmen, objects and prints (as sources of design and ornament) arrived, and we will see the impact of these in both religious and secular buildings.
The revolutionary design of those coastal fortresses is a prime example. While the Reformation brought about destruction of the religious infrastructure of the past, there are continuities before and after the dramatic events of the 1530s, in the completion of great churches and the transformation of former monasteries with their dependent buildings into country houses, smaller dwellings and public buildings such as town halls, almshouses and schools. Great funeral monuments, however, do reflect profound shifts in religious observance, in the change of emphasis towards celebrating the individual’s worldly achievements with the grandest and most fashionable means possible through heraldry and colour. We end at Lacock, which through abbeyhouse and village shows the lasting legacy of this period and its re-shaping and preservation by subsequent generations.
Itinerary Day 1: The Vyne. The coach leaves central London at 11.30am. A great Tudor courtier house, partially preserved with fascinating evidence in 16th-century brickwork and original internal fittings. Changes from the 17th to 19th centuries always respected the past. First of two nights in Portsmouth. Day 2: Portsmouth, Southsea. Portsmouth was a hive of activity during Henry VIII’s wars with France, and innovative fortifications were erected here and nearby. Through the miraculous survival not only of part of its hull but also of its myriad contents, the Mary Rose constitutes the richest material evidence we have of early Tudor times. These items are spectacularly displayed in a museum opened in 2013, where
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July 2018 Details available in July 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Visits to some of England’s finest gardens with a focus on traditional and modern design and planting. One day dedicated to the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park, showcasing new and upcoming designers and summer plants from top nurseries. Visit Trentham Estates’s Italian garden and Capability Brown landscape, with modern updates by Tom Stuart-Smith and Piet Oudolf. Private gardens are a feature. Led by garden designer Amanda Patton.
Illustrations. Left: Ironbridge, engraving from ‘The Rivers of Great Britain: South & West Coasts’, 1897. Right: Montecute House, Somerset, lithograph 1842.
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Tudor Power in South & West continued
Crown & Cromwell Battles of the English Civil War 1642–45
we are joined by Rear Admiral John Lippiett, former Chief Executive for the Mary Rose Trust. Overnight Portsmouth. Day 3: Titchfield, Longleat. Titchfield is the spectacular ruin of a monastery taken over and transformed into a dwelling by Sir Thomas Wriothesley, a leading courtier of Henry VIII. His formidable tomb is in the local church. Likewise a former monastery, Longleat displays a completely new and fashionable Renaissance-style façade, its rebuilding dating to Elizabeth I’s reign. The house has its original great hall and a series of grand 19th-century state rooms with extraordinary collections. First of three nights in Bath. Day 4: Bath, Bradford-on-Avon. Bath Abbey is one of the handful of great late-mediaeval religious buildings completed in the first thirty years of the 16th century. There will be time also to explore aspects of 18th-century Bath, but with indications, as we walk around, of the footprint of the earlier city it replaced. Bradford-on-Avon has significant mediaeval buildings and a famous bridge and chapel. It also contains a few key 16th- and 17thcentury buildings that tell us of the growth of communities in the early modern period. Day 5: Montacute, Barrington, Sherborne. Montacute House is one of the country’s most significant late-Tudor houses, built with the finest local stone for a man with ‘new’ money. As a branch of the National Portrait Gallery, it displays Tudor pictures. Barrington Court is an early Elizabethan house with an impressive long gallery in the attic storey. Built by Sir Walter Raleigh, Sherborne Castle serves to introduce us to the ‘romance’ of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods in looking back to the past, thinking about history. Day 6: Lacock. Lacock Abbey was a nunnery until 1539, then became a private home, and the juxtaposition of preserved old buildings and new structures is especially interesting here. Both the house, in the 18th-century changes to the interior, and the extraordinary village tell us much about the later layers of building history at sites like this. Return to central London by 4.30pm.
Practicalities BRITAIN & IRELAND: ENGLAND
Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,740. Single occupancy: £1,980. Included meals: 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. The Langstone Hotel, Portsmouth (langstonehotel.co.uk): on Hayling Island, overlooking the water, this 4-star hotel is modern and comfortable. Francis Hotel, Bath (sofitel.com/MGallery/Bath): 4-star boutique hotel set across several converted Georgian terraces on sought-after Queen’s Square. How strenuous? Unavoidably, there is quite a lot of walking on this tour and it would not be suitable for anyone who has difficulties with everyday walking and stair-climbing. Average distance by coach per day: c. 78 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Walking Hadrian’s Wall, 14–20 May 2018 (p.16); Gardens & Palaces of Berlin and Potsdam, 15–20 May 2018 (p.79). 28
15–21 June 2018 (me 906) 7 days • £1,810 Lecturer: Patrick Mercer OBE The most important contests of the first English Civil War Some of the most beautiful and least visited battlefields in the country. Three fine hotels in the heart of England. Led by a military historian whose background provides unparalleled insights into the politics and the fighting of the period. What makes this tour stand out is the way that past and present are startlingly linked. For, although it’s more than 350 years since Britain was plunged into the bitter chaos of civil war, the scars still remain: churches whose spires have been shot away or pulled down, earthworks and trenches, gun-damaged walls and ramparts, mass graves – all of these sites are still there to be seen if you know where to find them. These, of course, are only the physical signs of strife; the constitutional and emotional fault-lines still affect our daily lives. In England and Wales 85,000 men were killed in battle while another 127,000 people died of warrelated disease or starvation. Yet from slaughter and regicide came our Parliament, our democracy and the bastions of society – the monarchy, the church, the tenets of our law, our navy and our army. Less positively, though, the embers of hatred, which flare to this day in parts of Ireland, were fanned by the events that we’ll be examining. Three major battlefields of the First English Civil War are visited, Edgehill in Warwickshire, Marston Moor in Yorkshire and the Crown’s final defeat at Naseby in Northamptonshire. But we’ll see far more than these sites as we walk over sconces and redoubts, ravelins and lunettes in some of England’s most beautiful and bestkept secret countryside. We’ll see how York was ravaged, reveal Oakwell Hall’s Civil War connections, see Newark Castle, Lincoln Cathedral and the very ground where the New Model Army won its spurs, as well as a host of smaller battles and skirmishes – the anvils upon which modern Britain was forged.
Itinerary Day 1: Siege of York. The tour begins at 2.00pm at the hotel in York with a walk to see the sites of the siege and capture of the city. In April 1644 Scots and Parliamentary troops besieged the Royalist garrison until 1 July when the city was relieved by Prince Rupert of the Rhine. But Rupert was defeated the next day at the decisive Battle of Marston Moor, and the siege resumed until the city was surrendered with the ‘honours of war’ on 16 July. First of two nights in York. Day 2: Battle of Adwalton Moor. In the morning we will focus on weaponry at Oakwell Hall, before commencing our investigation of the battlefield. In June 1643 the Earl of Newcastle marched a vast force of 10,000 Royalist troops towards the Parliamentarian stronghold of Bradford. In defence of the town, Lord Fairfax advanced with 3,500 men and the two armies met on Adwalton
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Moor. The overwhelming number of Royalist pikemen eventually forced the Parliamentarians back, the Royalist cavalry completing the victory. This rout guaranteed the King control over most of northern England until the next year. Day 3: Battle of Marston Moor, the biggest battle ever to be fought in Britain. Having taken York on 1 July 1644, Prince Rupert sought to destroy Parliament’s much larger forces. He should have attacked earlier but was dissuaded and during the day both sides gathered their full strength on Marston Moor, west of York. The Scots Covenanters and Parliamentarians launched a surprise attack. After a melee lasting two hours, Cromwell’s troops drove Royalist cavalry from the field whilst Leven’s infantry wiped out what remained of Rupert’s infantry. First of two nights in Lincoln. Day 4: Battle of Winceby, Lincoln. In October 1643, Henderson, the Royalist Governor of Newark, took Horncastle from a detachment of Fairfax’s troops. Determined to reverse this, Parliamentary cavalry met their enemies in what became the almost entirely mounted battle of Winceby. Still early in his military career, Cromwell feigned a retreat, lured the Royalists onto flat ground and then charged home. We will see where Cromwell himself was unhorsed, where his troopers smashed the Royalist Horse and the bloody aftermath. In Lincoln Cathedral, examine its Civil War and other military monuments. Day 5: Sieges of Newark. The wonderful old market town of Newark was besieged three times in the Civil War. First, briefly, in 1643, after which it was dashingly relieved in 1644 by Rupert before becoming the scene of King Charles’s surrender in 1646. Spectacular earthworks still exist and we’ll visit the new National Civil War Centre, see the site of a mass grave and recreate the final months of the King’s reign in this atmospheric setting. First of two nights in Stratford-on-Avon. Day 6: Battles of Edgehill, Cropredy Bridge. The first pitched battle of the War, in October 1642, Edgehill was designed as a knock-out blow
Modern Art in Sussex Paintings and sculpture, artists and houses by the King against the main Parliamentary army. It ended inconclusively and condemned the country to four more years of strife. At Cropredy Bridge, things were more clear cut in June 1644. After several reversals earlier, Charles’s troops captured 11 guns from the Parliamentarians and crushed Waller’s forces. We’ll tread in the king’s footsteps and see how his cause was reinvigorated at this crucial point. Day 7: Battle of Naseby. The last pitched battle of the war, Naseby proved to be Charles’s final throw of the dice, his first and last chance to shatter the recently created New Model Army. In June 1645 Charles and Rupert chose to stand and fight; initially things went well with Fairfax’s Parliamentarians falling back. But Cromwell turned the tide; his Dragoons manoeuvred brilliantly and Rupert’s own Bluecoat Regiment were depleted as they formed the rearguard for the Royalist army and for Charles’s last hope of victory. Coach to Northampton railway station arriving at c. 1.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,810. Single occupancy: £2,110. Included meals: 3 lunches, 4 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. The Grange, York (grangehotel. co.uk): 4-star hotel 10 minutes’ walk from the Minster, décor and furnishings combine period and modern in this converted Georgian town house. The Castle Hotel, Lincoln (castlehotel. net): 4-star luxury hotel in Lincoln’s historic quarter, close to the cathedral. The Arden Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon (theardenhotelstratford. com): comfortable 4-star waterside hotel situated opposite the RSC theatres. How strenuous? A considerable amount of walking (up to 2 miles per day; Marston Moor and Naseby also include modest hills) and quite a lot of standing – up to 60 minutes – in exposed spots. Average distance by coach per day: 65 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Shakespeare & His World July 2018 Details available in February 2018 Please contact us to register your interest
Illustrations. Left: Portrait of Oliver Cromwell, wood engraving c. 1880 after Sir P. Lely. Right: Hastings, Pelham Crescent, steel engraving c. 1850.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235.
The heart – and homes – of English modernism. Artistic houses, magical gardens and the charismatic personalities who created them. Exceptional collections of modernist art in awardwinning galleries and museums. Monica Bohm-Duchen is an expert on 20thcentury art and the historical events that influenced this artistically productive period. The light and topography of Sussex have drawn artists to the area since the start of the eighteenth century. Turner made his first sketch at Petworth in 1809, while Constable, spurred to the coast by efforts to relieve his wife’s tuberculosis in the 1820s, found the sea, towns and landscapes a source of rich inspiration – although Brighton he called ‘Piccadilly by the sea’. A century later, in autumn 1916, the artist Vanessa Bell, seeking a new rural retreat from Bloomsbury, was struck by ‘the extraordinary peace and beauty’ of a spot beyond Lewes, and by ‘the very warm, most lovely browns & warm greys and reds’ of the countryside, combined with ‘the chalk everywhere giving that odd kind of softness’. She was not alone. The diverse and attractive natural environment of east and west Sussex drew a number of painters, sculptors, architects and writers in the mid-twentieth century. Free from urban constraints and ideological and moral judgements, they formed communities – formal and informal – in which social experiment was a stimulating impetus. The flowering artistic output that ensued emanated from Eric Gill’s arts and crafts guild at Ditchling; Roland Penrose and Lee Miller’s Surrealist farmhouse hub near Chiddingly; and from Eric Ravilious and John Piper’s regular sojourns at Furlongs cottage on the
Downs, near Firle. And, of course, best known of all, from Charleston, the Bloomsbury ‘escape’ of Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, Roger Fry et al. Shared artistic and intellectual interests, coupled with turbulent events in Europe, propelled many Continental and transatlantic personalities to join them; Picasso, for example, was one of many art-world greats who paid visits to Farley Farm. The exuberant legacy – both collaboratively and individually – of this creative vortex is celebrated in a number of first-class collections viewed on this tour, as well as in the unique homes, gardens, churches and public institutions created and enhanced by these artists.
Itinerary Day 1: Woking, Chichester. The coach leaves Woking Railway Station at 11.00am. The Lightbox is a prize-winning museum and gallery, established in 2008. Highlights include the Ingram Collection of Modern British Art, as well as the Joan Hurst Sculpture Collection. At the magnificent Gothic Cathedral in Chichester, the focus is on modern artworks by John Piper, Marc Chagall, Graham Sutherland and others. First of two nights in Chichester. Day 2: West Sussex. The Cass Sculpture Foundation, founded in 1992 by Wilfred and Jeannette Cass, shows in an open-air setting changing displays of work by modern and contemporary artists. West Dean Gardens includes the Dalí-inspired Artichoke House. Pallant House Gallery in Chichester holds one of the finest collections of modern British art in the country. A large part of it was bequeathed by the collector and architect Sandy Wilson (British Library), whose final project was the sensitive modernisation of this gallery in its Queen Anne building. Some free time to explore Chichester. Day 3: East Sussex. In 1920 Eric Gill, Hilary Peplar and Desmond Chute founded a Roman Catholic art colony, the Guild of St Joseph and St Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Combine this tour with: Northumbria, 6–14 June 2018 (p.17); Mediaeval Middle England, 23–29 June 2018 (p.22).
24–28 April 2018 (me 836) 5 days • £1,460 Lecturer: Monica Bohm-Duchen
Modern Art in Sussex continued
London Exhibitions From Scythian gold to American Pop
Dominic, on Ditchling Common. A permanent collection of work by its members and other artists from the Ditchling community is housed at the award-winning Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft. Leonard and Virginia Woolf’s modest and intimate 17th-century country retreat, Monk’s House, was occupied by the couple from 1919. Nearby, St Peter’s Church in Firle has a John Piper stained-glass window, and Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant are buried in the graveyard. Charleston Farmhouse, the country residence of Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant and the Bloomsbury Group, has almost every surface decorated by them. Grant and Bell painted murals at St Michael and All Angels Church, Berwick, in the early 1940s. First of two nights in Lewes. Day 4: East Sussex. Farleys House & Gallery is the former home of Surrealist artist and activist Roland Penrose and photographer Lee Miller, with works of art by them and their famous friends adorning the walls. In Bexhill-on-Sea, the once controversial, now iconic De La Warr Pavilion was designed in the mid-1930s by émigré architects Serge Chermayeff and Erich Mendelsohn. The Jerwood Gallery in Hastings opened in 2012 to house the fast-growing and important Jerwood Collection of Modern British Art. Day 5: East Sussex, Tudeley. Designed by prizewinning architect Rick Mather, the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne opened in 2009. Highlights of its permanent collection include work by Eric Ravilious, Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis and Edward Burra. All Saints in the village of Tudeley is the only church in the world to have all its windows designed by Marc Chagall – nothing short of a revelation. The tour ends at Tonbridge Railway Station by 4.00pm. The starting and finishing points of some UK tours are railway stations because it is usually quicker to travel through London by train than by coach.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,460. Single occupancy: £1,700. Included meals: 3 dinners with wine.
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Accommodation. Harbour Hotel, Chichester (chichester-harbour-hotel.co.uk): smart, boutique hotel in the centre of town. This 4-star hotel is within walking distance of the Cathedral and Pallant Gallery. Pelham House Hotel, Lewes (pelhamhouse.com): housed in an old court house, now a characterful 4-star hotel on the high street with delightful gardens. How strenuous? Unavoidably there is quite a lot of walking on this tour and it would not be suitable for anyone with difficulties with everyday walking and stair-climbing. Average distance by coach per day: 53 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Monet & Impressionism, 15–20 April 2018 (p.62); Mediaeval Saxony, 30 April–8 May 2018 (p.84). Illustrations. Right: British Museum, from ‘A London Reverie’, 1928, by Joseph Pennell. Opposite page: early-18th-century copper engraving.
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3–6 November 2017 (me 671) 4 days • £1,590 Lecturer: Patrick Bade Tour manager: Janice Brooke
The lecturer, and sometimes a curator, will give a series of talks. Guiding within the exhibitions is not possible, but the lecturer will be in the gallery with you, and audioguides are available in many cases.
Eight excellent temporary exhibitions.
Start & end
Huge range of subject matter, from prehistoric Siberian textiles to American Pop Art.
Day 1. The tour begins at 2.00pm with a lecture at Dukes Hotel in St James’s.
Very central hotel – three exhibitions are within walking distance, others a short taxi ride away.
Day 4. The last exhibition is Jasper Johns at the Royal Academy, which probably you will be able to finish before 3.00pm. As an alternative, you could travel to the V&A for the opera exhibition and return to the hotel from there.
Accompanied throughout by art historian Patrick Bade, formerly of Christie’s Education. Forget Paris, Berlin or New York: London remains the world’s most exciting centre of the visual arts. In addition to the unsurpassed array of museums and galleries, at any one time there are innumerable temporary exhibitions to see, of hugely varied theme and content and high standards of presentation ranging from major blockbusters to small and niche. Periodically there is a particularly rich conjunction, and early November 2017 (2nd to 12th to be precise) is one of these brief bright windows. Eight exhibitions in four days: too rich a diet? Not at all, the variations in size, theme and venue refresh the aesthetic palate. And there is quite a lot of free time, particularly in museums where there is much else to see, though relaxing in the café or walking in a royal park or through London’s fascinating streets might be preferred. We have chosen a hotel in St James’s, and therefore within easy walking distance of The Queen’s Gallery and the Royal Academy and only ten to twenty minutes to the other locations by taxi. The plan for the tour accommodates the option to walk (independently) if desired – still the most reliable way of getting about the capital.
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The exhibitions Canaletto and the Art of Venice at The Queen’s Gallery. The Royal Collection contains the world’s finest group of paintings, drawings and prints by Canaletto, and the best will be shown alongside works by other Venetians, bringing to London the irresistible allure of the most beautiful city in the world. Reflections: Van Eyck and Pre-Raphaelites at the National Gallery. Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait (1436) was one of the beacons by which the Pre-Raphaelites forged a radical new style. The exhibition places it next to works by Rossetti, Millais, Holman Hunt and others to explore the ways in which they were influenced by this extraordinary painting. Treasures of the Scythians at the British Museum. One of the great nomadic civilizations of antiquity, the Scythians dominated the region stretching from Siberia to the Black Sea, and produced objects of exceptional beauty – rugs, clothes, harnesses, gold objects and much more.
MUSIC WEEKENDS In Somerset and Suffolk Cézanne Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery. This brings together over 50 paintings from collections across the world, including works which have never been on public display in the UK, and explores the special pictorial and thematic characteristics of Cézanne’s portraiture.
The Schubert Ensemble
Monochrome: Painting in Black and White at the National Gallery. Explores a tradition from its beginnings in the Middle Ages to the 21st century, with works on glass, vellum, ceramic, silk, wood, and canvas by artists such as Rembrandt, Picasso and Gerhard Richter.
The Mandelring Quartet
Impressionists in London: Artists in Exile at Tate Britain. In the 1870s France was devastated by the Franco-Prussian war and insurrection in Paris, driving artists – Monet, Tissot, Pissarro and others – to seek refuge across the Channel. The experience influenced both their own work and the British art scene.
The Chilingirian Quartet
Matisse in the Studio at the Royal Academy (Sackler Gallery). Brings together the treasured objects from the artist’s Nice studio – Buddhist statuary, African sculpture, Polynesian textiles, Islamic artefacts – which played a formative and recurring role in his own works. A sumptuous and unprecedented exhibition.
26–28 January 2018 The Castle Hotel, Taunton Please contact us to register your interest
9–11 March 2018 The Castle Hotel, Taunton Please contact us to register your interest
13–15 April 2018 The Castle Hotel, Taunton Please contact us to register your interest A music weekend arranged by Martin Randall Music Management is a very special experience. There is the pleasure, first, of hearing music performed by artists of the highest calibre, and who are all among the very best in their fields. Second, the music is performed in an intimate setting, a small hall little bigger than a large drawing room – just the sort of size which
composers used to have in mind for chamber music. The audience is rarely more than a hundred, and consists mainly of those who stay throughout the weekend and attend all concerts. Third, the weekends take place in excellent hotels. The Castle Hotel in Taunton and The Swan in Lavenham are among the most agreeable and comfortable hotels in England. We often have exclusive use during these music weekends, and there is the added opportunity for artists and audience to mingle. While these events are undeniably indulgent and leisurely retreats, they are also intended to stimulate the mind and enchant the aesthetic sensibilities. Within an over-arching theme, the music is carefully chosen and programmed to provide an illuminating sequence – while each concert is satisfyingly self-sufficient. Pre-concert talks are also included, by a musicologist or by the musicians themselves. Prices include accommodation, most meals, admittance to the concerts and talks, and much else besides.
Further artists and dates to be announced Full details available in July 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Either Jasper Johns at the Royal Academy. A major retrospective of one of the most important artists of the 20th century. His treatment of iconography and appropriation of objects and symbols, such as his iconic flag and target works, made the familiar unfamiliar, and he has remained central to American contemporary art since the 1950s. Or Opera: Passion, Power and Politics at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The inaugural exhibition of the new Sainsbury Gallery is a vivid and immersive journey through opera from its origins to the present day. It focuses on seven opening nights in distinct cultural landscapes.
Practicalities
BRITAIN & IRELAND: ENGLAND
Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,590. Single occupancy: £1,860. Refund of relevant admission prices will be made to members of the Art Fund. Included meals: all 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Dukes Hotel (dukeshotel. com): 5-star hotel in a quiet courtyard near St James’s Palace. Public rooms are traditional while bedrooms are more contemporary. All mod cons. How strenuous? Participants need to be good walkers. We visit two exhibitions per day. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Archaeology at The Castle A Symposium • 16–18 February 2018 The Castle Hotel, Taunton Full details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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LONDON DAYS ‘Dear, damn’d, distracting town’ – Alexander Pope London Days are all-inclusive, non-residential tours opening doors in the capital to its wonderful art, architecture and history. They are led by carefully-chosen experts who enthuse, interpret and inspire, bringing to life each specialist theme. Radio guides enable lecturers to talk in a normal conversational voice while participants can hear without difficulty whether in a museum or on a main road. All are accompanied by a trained administrator to ensure the smooth running of the day. The itinerary is detailed and meticulously planned with special arrangements and privileged access significant features. Refreshments and lunches are included and planned in appropriate settings for sustenance, conversation and reflection. These are active, fulfilling days, often with a lot of walking and standing. Travel is mainly by Underground, sometimes taxi, occasionally by private coach or bus. If you would like to receive fortnightly e-mail updates on the latest range of London Days, please contact us. Details and dates are released frequently throughout the year.
Spanish Art in London At Apsley House, Wallace Collection and National Gallery Saturday 2 December 2017 (le 722) Saturday 27 January 2018 (le 748) Lecturer: Dr Xavier Bray
BRITAIN & IRELAND: ENGLAND
In 1848 the great pioneer in the study of Spanish art, Sir William Stirling Maxwell, declared that ‘the private collections of England could probably furnish forth a gallery of Spanish pictures second only to that of the Queen of Spain’. A great many of these pictures have since entered public collections throughout the country, making Great Britain one of the best places outside Spain to study Spanish art. Initially, it was the Peninsular War of 18081814 that broke the floodgates and provided a new market for Spanish art, and many more paintings were to leave Spain when the Spanish monasteries were dissolved in 1832. One such private collection is the first Duke of Wellington’s at Apsley House. Displayed inside this aristocratic townhouse are numerous paintings of the highest quality taken from Madrid’s Royal Palace by Joseph Bonaparte during the Peninsular War and later gifted to Wellington by King Ferdinand of Spain. The Wallace Collection includes Velázquez’s mesmerizing portrait of a Lady with a Fan as well as a rare work by the Sevillian artist, Alonso Cano, who was known as the ‘Michelangelo of Spain’. The National Gallery owns nine paintings by Velázquez that span his career, from his early beginnings in Seville to his courtly paintings for Philip IV in Madrid. Alongside Velázquez hang some of Murillo’s finest paintings including several large canvases that originally decorated the altars of Seville’s monasteries and convents. The National Gallery also prides itself on a small group of works by El Greco, an artist who became fashionable in 32
the early twentieth century, principally thanks to the art critic Roger Fry who compared the abstract quality of his work with Cézanne. Start: 10.15am at Apsley House. Finish: c. 5.30pm at the National Gallery. Price: £210 – this includes lunch, refreshments, donations to the galleries and taxis. Fitness: travel is by taxi, but you are on your feet throughout the day while looking and listening. Group size: maximum 14 participants.
Great Railway Termini Paddington, King’s Cross & St Pancras Stations Tuesday 10 October 2017 (le 607) Tuesday 6 February 2018 (le 753) Lecturer: Professor Gavin Stamp Wednesday 1 November 2017 (le 682) Lecturer: Dr Steven Brindle Two eyebrow-raising assertions: the railways were a Georgian invention, all the ingredients being in place before 1830; and the twenty-first century is witnessing a golden age of rail travel. The first is indisputable fact, if surprising to contemplate; the second is likely to provoke an unprintable retort from many a daily commuter. However, few would quibble with a statement that the greatest achievements of railway architecture and engineering are Victorian. But seeing and appreciating magnificent stations such as those studied today is to a large extent possible because of enlightened intervention in the last ten or twenty years. The adaptation and upgrading of ageing infrastructure to meet modern requirements has been a major achievement, but so has the restoration and cleaning of historic fabric. And the sensitive addition of new structures of the highest quality of design has been a triumph.
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Largely the creation of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Paddington is well preserved and in some ways the most appealing of London’s termini. King’s Cross has always been admired for the majesty of its unadorned functionality, but recent removal of twentieth-century clutter enables it to be better appreciated than for a century. And in 2012 the station acquired a magnificent new lattice steel foyer, the widest span in Europe apparently. The 240-ft span of the St Pancras train shed, opened in 1868, far surpassed any previous structure in the world and its conversion for use as the Eurostar terminus, completed 2007, created one of the most exciting public spaces in Europe. The contiguous Midland Grand Hotel by Sir George Gilbert Scott is perhaps the best-known of all Victorian Gothic Revival buildings. Start: 9.30am at Paddington Station. Finish: c. 4.45pm at St Pancras Station. Price: £190 – this includes refreshments, lunch, travel by underground and special arrangements. Group size: maximum 18 participants.
The Ever-Changing City Skyline Wren’s Cathedral to Rees’s Towers Tuesday 19 September 2017 (le 553) Tuesday 10 April 2018 (le 809) Tuesday 3 July 2018 (le 945) Lecturer: Professor Peter Rees cbe For twenty-eight years Peter Rees was the City of London’s chief planning officer, and since 2014 has been Professor of Places and City Planning at University College London. Charismatic, articulate and passionate about planning, he has done more to shape the City’s current appearance than any
London Days in 2017 & 2018 Please contact us for our dedicated London Days brochure or visit www.martinrandall.com for full details AUGUST 2017 10
Japanese Art in London (ld 392) Dr Monika Hinkel
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17
London Gardens Walk (ld 483) Louisa Allen
FEBRUARY 2018
22
Canaletto & the Art of Venice (ld 502) Lucy Whitaker
6
Great Railway Termini (le 753) Professor Gavin Stamp
23
Charles Dickens (ld 504) Professor Andrew Sanders
14
The Genius of Titian (le 754) Sheila Hale
24
The South Bank Walk (ld 503) Dr Jeffrey Miller
MARCH 2018
29
‘Wren’ in the City (ld 507) Professor Gavin Stamp
9
30
John Nash (ld 509) Dr Geoffrey Tyack
APRIL 2018
SEPTEMBER 2017
Start: 10.30am, St Paul’s tube. Finish: c. 7.00pm, The Walkie-Talkie, 20 Fenchurch Street EC3. Price: £220 – this includes lunch, refreshments and one taxi journey. Fitness: most of the day is spent outside and on foot, both standing and walking. Group size: maximum 18 participants. Illustration: St Pancras Station, wood engraving c. 1880.
Spanish Art in London (le 748) Dr Xavier Bray
Ancient Egypt at the British Museum (le 769) Lucia Gahlin
10
The Ever-Changing City Skyline (le 809) Professor Peter Wynne Rees cbe
4
The Tudors (le 548) Dr Neil Younger
5
The London Backstreet Walk (le 556) Sophie Campbell
12
Stained Glass (le 549) Peter Cormack
19
The Ever-Changing City Skyline (le 553) Professor Peter Wynne Rees cbe
20
The London Backstreet Walk (le 560) Barnaby Rogerson
20
London’s Underground Railway (le 561) Andrew Martin
Still to come in 2018
28
The Complete London Hogarth (le 582) Dr Lars Tharp
Hampstead in the 1930s NEW
29
Ancient Egypt at the British Museum (le 683) Lucia Gahlin
Holborn & Clerkenwell NEW
OCTOBER 2017 5
The London Backstreet Walk (le 608) Martin Randall
10
Great Railway Termini (le 607) Professor Gavin Stamp
26
Ancient Greece (le 642) Professor Antony Spawforth
NOVEMBER 2017 1
Great Railway Termini (le 682) Dr Steven Brindle
1
Canaletto & the Art of Venice (le 670) Lucy Whitaker
7
Chinese Ceramics (le 681) Dr Konstanze Knittler
DECEMBER 2017 2
Spanish Art in London (le 722) Dr Xavier Bray
6
The Genius of Titian (le 723) Sheila Hale
7
Ancient Greece (le 742) Professor Antony Spawforth
MAY 2018 25
Arts & Crafts (le 877) Dr Paul Atterbury
JULY 2018 3
The Ever-Changing City Skyline (le 945) Professor Peter Wynne Rees cbe
The London Squares Walk Seven Churches & a Synagogue The Italian Renaissance in the National Gallery
BRITAIN & IRELAND: ENGLAND
other single individual, and this is an exceptional opportunity to hear his story and to understand how and why London looks as it does. Starting at St Paul’s, we see some of the planning challenges posed by the ‘reframing’ of the Cathedral over the last decades. Paternoster Square was redeveloped following a tortuous process of consultation, royal intervention and redesign. After a visit to the roof-top space at Jean Nouvel’s 1 New Change, there is a surreptitious stroll through The Royal Exchange, the City’s centre of gossip, and an exploration of the hidden alleyways between Cornhill and Lombard Street. Here banking was born, and City pubs still fulfil a vital business role. From the mid-1980s, and boosted by the ‘Big Bang’, the Square Mile became larger, swallowing parts of neighbouring boroughs. Broadgate is a fine example of a late 20th-century business quarter with ground-scraper buildings accommodating large dealing floors for international banks and fine publicly-accessible spaces providing the social opportunities which are conducive to business activity. Only 25 years later, the development is being refurbished and some buildings replaced. Having grown outwards in the 80s and 90s, the City is now growing upwards, with a cluster of office towers sited to maximise their proximity to an abundance of public transport while minimising their impact upon the London skyline. A Gherkin sits alongside a Cheese-Grater, and the Walkie-Talkie provides a high-level opportunity to contemplate the ever-changing City below.
JANUARY 2018
The Poetic Landscape: From Claude to Turner Robert Adam’s Country Houses Great Houses in Westminster Interwar Interiors: Modernist, Traditional & Art Deco George Gilbert Scott & the Gothic Revival Islamic Art in London Please contact us to register your interest, or to receive our fortnightly e-mail updates on the latest range of London Days.
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Western Ireland Archaeology, history and landscape
BRITAIN & IRELAND: IRELAND
2–8 July 2018 (me 941) 7 days • £2,310 • Flights not included Lecturer: Professor Muiris O’Sullivan Prehistoric and historical sites, monastic and early Christian sites, country houses and museums. The marvellous landscape of the west coast of Ireland is still largely unspoilt. The Dingle Peninsula, the Burren, the Aran Islands. Led by Muiris O’Sullivan, Professor of archaeology at University College Dublin. The west coast of Ireland is one of the richest archaeological landscapes in Europe with its surviving, though much threatened, Gaelic culture. There is a mixture of prehistoric and historical sites (for there are no Roman or Saxon remains in Ireland), monastic and early Christian sites, country houses, small museums and other treats strung out along one of the most beautiful coastlines in Europe. 34
Irish archaeology and history offer a wealth of information, due partly to the extraordinary amount of survey and excavation carried out in the last two decades. From 10,000 years ago, the first hunter-gatherers moved across the island, exploiting the rich land and sea life of the western seaboard. From 6,000 years ago, complex societies were established and the development of a series of tombs bears out the structure of society at this time. From 4,000 years ago, Bronze Age and Iron Age Ireland produces incredible gold torcs, wonderful jewellery and fascinating evidence of religious beliefs and rituals, contact with people overseas, and an increasingly stratified society. With the introduction of Christianity, many aspects of pagan practices were absorbed into the new belief. The arrival of the Vikings in 795 (Dublin became one of the largest Viking settlements outside of Scandinavia) brought new challenges and the beginnings of urbanisation. Ongoing conquest and colonisation from the east continued piecemeal to the end of the seventeenth century. Closer to our time rising rural populations led to a catastrophic famine and the deaths of one million people, the single largest loss of life in nineteenth-century Europe. Mass emigration to Britain and North America followed, and with it, ironically, a rising awareness of the cultural importance of this disappearing Gaelic world. This awareness provided inspiration for the remarkable cultural literary revival at the end of the nineteenth century, and is something which remains to this day. Ireland has emerged from a period of intense economic, social and political change with an increasing population – a large influx of returning Irish emigrants together with thousands of non-nationals – and a radical transformation of the major cities and towns of the island. The countryside, however, has escaped the impact and worst excesses of this intensive growth. Explore the incredibly rich rural landscapes, studded with small towns and villages, of the south and west coasts. The vast bulk of the country is still beautiful, unspoilt and offers a happy balance between fantastic archaeological sites and scenery, superb accommodation and relative peace and quiet. Our extensive itinerary is planned to take in parts of the country which show the cultural legacy of the island, specifically outside of the major cities. In addition, the food on the west coast is of the highest standard, and the daily fresh catch can bring in all sorts of delights.
Itinerary Day 1. A coach leaves Cork airport at midday, or meet in the hotel. (Flights are not included – see ‘Practicalities’.) Kinsale has a rich maritime history: the battle in 1601 was a turning point in Irish history. Visit the 17th-century, star-shaped Charles Fort. Overnight Kinsale. Day 2: Killarney, Dingle. Leave west Cork for Killarney. Visit the 19th-century Muckross House and gardens, Killarney’s National Park and see the earliest Bronze Age copper mine in northwest Europe. Drive along the dramatic south coast of the Dingle peninsula passing Inch and Anascaul, a landscape of mountain and sandy beach. First of two nights in Dingle.
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Professor Muiris O’Sullivan Emeritus Professor of Archaeology and former Head of School at the UCD School of Archaeology, Dublin. He has conducted research at some of the more famous sites in Ireland, at Tara, Knowth and Newgrange. His publications include The Mound of the Hostages, Tara – From the Past to the Future, and Archaeology 2020.
Day 3: the Dingle Peninsula. Dún Beag is a cliff-edge Iron Age fort with four earthen rings and a souterrain overlooking the sea and the Iveragh Peninsula. Drive around Slea Head (the westernmost point of Europe) to Dunquin and associated sites. The area is dotted with beehive huts, standing stones, and early monastic sites. Visit the Blasket Islands’ Visitor Centre and Ferriter’s Cove, the earliest Mesolithic site in the southwest of Ireland. Continue to the monastic sites of 10th-century Riasc, the perfectly preserved 8th-century Gallarus Oratory, and the 12thcentury Kilmalkedar church. Visit the region’s museum in the village of Ballyferriter. Day 4: County Clare. Visit the 15th-century castle at Listowel, once occupied by the Firzmaurice lords of Kerry and occupying the location of the original 13th-century castle which fronted on to the river Feale. Cross the Shannon by ferry and pass through the spectacular landscape of the Burren in north County Clare. Visit the 12th-century Kilfenora cathedral, with its high crosses and glass-roofed chancel. First of three nights near Ballyvaughan. Day 5: the Aran Islands. The Aran Islands have captivated visitors for hundreds of years; distinctive geology and landscape alone make it a memorable trip, and the archaeology makes it unforgettable. Earliest occupation dates from the 8th century bc, and it was here in the 1890s that J.M. Synge came to record the islands’ folklore and traditions which inspired his dramatic writings. By ferry to Inishmore, with views back on the Cliffs of Moher, for a full day on the island exploring ring forts, churches, and grave sites.
Wexford Opera October 2018 Details available in February 2018 Please contact us to register your interest
Irish Houses & Gardens June 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Day 6: the Burren. Visit Ailwee Cave, the largest and most spectacular cave in Ireland. Surrounding Leamaneh castle, 15th-century, is a mediaeval landscape of ancient roads and ruins. Continue north through the Burren to view prehistoric Poulnabrone dolmen. Day 7: Kilmacduagh, Shannon. The 11th-century slightly leaning 100ft tower at Kilmacduagh is on a monastic site with four ruined churches. Continue to Shannon airport by 11.00am where the tour ends.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,310. Single occupancy: £2,640. Included meals: 2 lunches, 5 dinners, with wine. Flights are not included in the price. We will send recommended flight options in due course and ask that you make your own flight reservation. The cost of an economy seat at the time of going to press is c. £255 and will be available to book towards the end of July 2017. Accommodation. Acton’s Hotel, Kinsale (actonshotelkinsale.com): excellently located on the waterfront, a business-orientated 4-star hotel in five converted Georgian town houses. The Dingle Skellig Hotel (dingleskellig.com): 4-star functional hotel, out-of-town overlooking Dingle bay. Gregans Castle Hotel, Ballyvaughan
(gregans.ie): 4-star country house hotel set in gardens and woodland. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking or scrambling over archaeological sites. This tour should not be undertaken by anyone who is not sure-footed. You are outside on exposed sites for most of the time. Average distance by coach per day: 61 miles.
Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Mediaeval Middle England, 25–29 June 2018 (p.22); Dutch Painting, 27–30 June 2018 (p.151); French Gothic, 9–15 July 2018 (p.60). Illustrations. Left: cliffs of Moher, engraving from ‘Irish Pictures’ 1888. Above: the Tara Brooch, wood engraving c. 1880.
Ireland: ‘A Terrible Beauty’ Troubles and triumphs 1916–1994 July 2018 Details available in August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
In the North, examine The Troubles in Belfast, Londonderry, rural areas and the border. Led by Patrick Mercer obe, an historian and former soldier and politian who served in Northern Ireland. Contributions from people with special insight into the troubled past and the febrile present. This is a ground-breaking tour for MRT. You are taken to the sites of flash points and political and sectarian confrontations where few ever venture, and travel around areas which are still lividly conscious of the events that forged them. Uniquely, you are guided by individuals who are still involved in the convolutions that dominate Ireland today. Furthermore, the tour is led by Patrick Mercer, an historian steeped in Ireland’s past, whose former Regiment was foremost in 1916 and who himself served at the most harrowing times of The Troubles.
The tour ranges from the best known sites in Dublin – the GPO and Kilmainham Prison – to secret areas that are now forgotten. We see where Eamon de Valera was captured, Dublin’s ‘Bloody Sunday’ and the key sites of the founding of Eire. Then, in Ulster, you are shown the boiling points of The Troubles. First, on the Border, we go to areas where only a few years ago civilians wouldn’t have dared to visit. Next, to Londonderry’s own ‘Bloody Sunday’ where an uprising became a rebellion, and finally to Belfast. Here thirty years of dissent, protest and now an uneasy peace are explained using the extraordinary murals on Loyalist Shankill and the Republican Falls as a backdrop. Uniquely, we’ll hear from guides who saw history being made at first hand; it’s these guides, their views and experiences that make this tour so different. There’s rather more time spent outside than indoors on this tour and it involves walks of up to two miles, if mainly over level pavements. We take over a luxurious hotel in Dublin that was once a rebel stronghold and then stay in the now peaceful Ulster countryside near Londonderry and lastly to Belfast’s famous Europa Hotel. From these hotels we’ll taste and feel events that have built one nation yet torn another apart.
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BRITAIN & IRELAND: IRELAND
In Dublin, an in-depth study of the struggle for Home Rule and the early years of the Republic.
Starting in Dublin, the tour first focuses on Home Rule and the events leading up to the Easter Rising of 1916. Subsequent writing tends to emphasise the romanticism of the Rising, never better summarised than by Yeats’s line, ‘A terrible beauty is born’. Yet, that was not how it was seen at the time. While Britons bled on the Western Front, rebels rose up and delivered what many regarded as an unforgivable stab in the back, and the Crown reacted bloodily. That clumsy cruelty not only caused sympathy to turn but led to a chaotic Partition in 1922, a shocking civil war and dreadful brutality by all sides. The raw emotions of those years will be stripped bare by this tour: the links between Eire’s agony and modern Ulster’s political turmoil will be explained by people who were – and still are – involved. As the tour moves north so the tensions which caused resentment to bubble over in 1969 will be examined. The blame is often laid solely at the feet of either the IRA or the British government but of course the situation was complex and nuanced. The guides will trace the simmering resentment between Republicans and Loyalists, the political and social impasse, the bravery of the police and soldiers who tried to keep order and the anguish of the people caught in the middle.
The Georgians in Scotland Architecture, interiors and landscape for Scottish kings. Holmwood, a 19th-century suburban villa, delights with its flamboyant, architecturally eclectic façade. Evoking the era of lavish weekend parties, Edwardian Manderston epitomises the last hurrah of country house entertaining on a grand scale.
Itinerary Day 1: Edinburgh. Assemble at the hotel and leave on foot at 3.00pm for a walk up Calton Hill to see an assembly of monuments including the National Monument, a reproduction of the Parthenon (Edinburgh: ‘the Athens of the North’). First of three nights in Edinburgh. Day 2: Hopetoun House, Dalmeny. In the morning visit Hopetoun House, a few miles outside Edinburgh. Property of the Earl of Hopetoun, the house was begun by Sir William Bruce in 1699 and added to by William Adam in 1721. It has a large collection of James Cullen furniture and an excellent art collection including works by Rubens, Raeburn and Canaletto. Dalmeny House overlooks the Firth of Forth. Property of the Earl of Rosebery, there are superb collections of fine and decorative art, in particular British paintings and 18th-century French furniture of the highest quality.
23–31 July 2018 (me 966) 9 days • £3,260 Lecturer: Gail Bent
BRITAIN & IRELAND: SCOTLAND
Stay in the historic Balmoral hotel in Edinburgh, a country house hotel in the Borders and as guests at Ardgowan, a grand 18th-century country house which remains a private home, not a hotel nor a museum. Visit several houses not generally open to the public, some by special arrangement or with privileged access. Pass through the wonderful coastal and Lowland landscapes of western Scotland. Led by Gail Bent, an expert on British architectural history and historical interiors. Edinburgh stands amid a majestic landscape forged from volcanic rock, forming a dramatic and intimate affinity with its formidable setting. The story of Edinburgh is a tale of two cities, vastly opposed in architecture and lifestyle. Constricted by Arthur’s Seat on one side and Calton Hill on the other, the mediaeval Old Town, with its cramped and unsanitary conditions, became increasingly unpalatable to a growing and prosperous middle class in the 18th century. A Georgian New Town, with its broad avenues and leafy squares, lined with stylish Palladian façades, was, and still is, 36
considered to be a masterpiece of urban planning. The spectacular scenery of the Scottish Borders masks its bloody and turbulent history, its lands ravaged by merciless English armies and rife with violent family feuds. Pacified with the Union of Scotland and England in 1707, Edinburgh’s increasingly wealthy businessmen, lawyers and aristocrats saw in its scenic countryside an idyllic setting for their country houses and it was an Edinburgh firm of architects, William Adam and his sons John, James and, most famously, Robert, who came to dominate the building of Georgian Scotland. Among their architectural triumphs is the grand palace that is Hopetoun, a splendid setting for George IV’s visit in 1822. Arniston is still very much a family home and its estate has been in the Dundas family for 400 years. Among its treasures, Paxton houses the most important collection of Chippendale furniture on display in Scotland while the stark battlemented face of Mellerstain belies its refined and elegant interiors. A supremely handsome Adam creation, the polished rooms of Dumfries House hold the fruits of Chippendale’s first major commission but perhaps Robert’s finest achievement is Culzean Castle, romantically perched on a rocky cliff overlooking the Firth of Clyde. While the emphasis is on houses of the Georgian period, others serve to set 18th-century architecture and culture in context. Of these, the most ancient is Traquair, once a hunting lodge
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Day 3: Edinburgh. The day is spent on foot in Edinburgh. Begun in 1766, the New Town is a magnificent expanse of wide streets, squares, circuses, crescents and parks and terraces, and is one of the finest areas of Georgian architecture in Britain. Robert Adam’s dome in Register House is his largest room. Finish the day with a private visit to the Georgian House, furnished as a typical New Town home belonging to a wealthy family might have been in 1790–1810, the time of the first owner, John Lamont of Lamont. Day 4: Arniston, Mellerstain. Palladian Arniston is an important William Adam house with family portraits by Ramsay and Raeburn. The house remains in the Dundas family today. Unique in being built by both William Adam and his son Robert, Mellerstain House has some of the finest Adam interiors, with a classic enfilade of rooms, exquisite plasterwork and a magnificent Great Gallery. First of two nights in Roxburghe. Day 5: Manderston, Paxton. Built in the late 18th century, Manderston was completely rebuilt in the early 1900s with breathtaking ‘Adam Revival’ interiors. Paxton House, designed by John Adam in grand 18th-century Palladian style and almost untouched, houses paintings from the National Galleries of Scotland and a remarkable collection of Chippendale furniture original to the house. Day 6: Traquair, Pollok House. One of the most romantic houses in the Borders, Traquair is an almost untouched 16th- and 17th-century Scottish castle house, a high Catholic stronghold still lived in by a royal Stuart descendant. 18thcentury Pollok House was designed by William Adam for the Maxwell family. It is home to works by El Greco, Murillo and Goya. First of three nights in Ardgowan. Day 7: Ardgowan. All day is spent at Ardgowan, a superb mansion of the 1790s designed by a follower of Robert Adam. There is time at leisure as well as the opportunity to tour the house.
Scotland: History & Identity A symposium in Edinburgh Gail Bent Expert on British architectural history and historic interiors. She studied at Toronto and Leeds Universities, where she has also taught, and Edinburgh College of Art. She lectures for The Art Fund, The National Trust, The Arts Society and at Christ Church, University of Oxford Summer Programme. She has acted as an expert on country houses for the BBC. Day 8: Culzean, Dumfries. Drive to the clifftop Culzean Castle, Robert Adam’s boldest creation, with oval stair hall and round drawing room with views out to sea. Also by Adam, Dumfries House, famously saved for the nation with the help of the Prince of Wales in 2007, is a perfect Palladian composition which retains unspoilt interiors and a unique set of Chippendale furniture. Day 9: Holmwood House, Glasgow. Holmwood House was designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson and was built in 1857–8 for James Couper, a local businessman. From here the coach takes you to Glasgow Railway Station by 12.30pm and to Glasgow Airport by 1.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,260. Single occupancy: £3,770. Included meals: 2 lunches, 7 dinners, with wine.
How strenuous? A fair amount of walking is unavoidable. Coaches can rarely park near entrances to houses; grounds are often extensive. Most of the houses visited do not have lifts. Group size: 10 to 18 participants.
Illustrations. Left: Culzean Castle, steel engraving c. 1850. Right: Flora Macdonald (Fionnghal nighean Raghnaill ‘ic Aonghais Òig), 1722–1790. Jacobite heroine, by Richard Wilson, photograph courtesy of The National Gallery of Scotland.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Speakers include: Professor Dauvit Broun, Nick Card, Ruth Davidson msp (Cons), Professor Jane Dawson, Professor Sir Tom Devine, David Forsyth, Dr Anna Groundwater, George Kerevan mp (SNP), Professor Murray Pittock, Professor Tony Pollard, Professor Pamela Robertson, David Torrance. The latest in our highly successful series of symposia, Scotland: History & Identity, brings together historians, curators, commentators and a politician or two for a dozen lectures celebrating Scotland’s rich history and culture. Chosen for their pre-eminence and mastery of their subject, the speakers are well placed to offer perspective on current themes relating to independence, sovereignty and modernity. Given the lively debate surrounding Scotland’s ties to the UK, its relationship with Europe, recent referenda and elections, this promises to be a fascinatingly and timely event. The symposium takes place at the Hub on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Built in the 1840s by the Church of Scotland as a General Assembly, this Gothic Revival building is now the base for the Edinburgh International Festival. The wealth of historic monuments, museums and galleries in Edinburgh exceeds that of all but a few capitals of a country the size of Scotland. Many of the museums have benefited from renovation and extension in recent years and there is time in the programme to take advantage of them. The symposium has been planned to coincide with the National Museum of Scotland’s major 2017 exhibition, Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites, the largest on the subject to be held in 70 years. Admission is included. This is a fully inclusive residential weekend, with four hotels to choose from to suit all tastes and budgets. The package includes breakfasts, mid-session refreshments, a lunch, a dinner and exhibition tickets. There is also a private drinks reception for all guests at the National Portrait Gallery on Saturday evening. A gala dinner in the gallery’s magnificent Allan Ramsay room with a talk by an expert curator is an optional extra.
The Speakers Professor Dauvit Broun has taught at the University of Glasgow since 1990. He was appointed to its chair of Scottish History in 2009. He specialises in the study of medieval sources and directed projects that resulted in the People of Medieval Scotland database (www.poms.ac.uk). Nick Card is Director of the Ness of Brodgar Excavations at the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology, University of Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute. He co-directed the major excavations at the extensive Bronze Age cemetery of the Knowes of Trotty and the Iron Age complex at Mine Howe. Ruth Davidson, MSP is the leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party and the MSP for the Edinburgh Central constituency. She has
served in the Territorial Army and was formerly a producer and presenter at BBC Scotland. She was appointed to the Privy Council in 2016. Jane Dawson is the John Laing Professor of Reformation History at the University of Edinburgh. She has published extensively on early modern Scottish history and her acclaimed biography of the Scottish Reformer John Knox (Yale University Press, 2015) was shortlisted for the Saltire Society History Book of the Year. Professor Sir Tom Devine is Sir William Fraser Professor Emeritus of Scottish History and Palaeography at the University of Edinburgh. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, an Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of the British Academy, the only historian elected to all three. He was knighted in 2014 for services to the study of Scottish history. David Forsyth is Principal Curator, MedievalEarly Modern Collections in the Scottish History & Archaeology Department, National Museums Scotland. Lead Curator on the acclaimed Mary, Queen of Scots exhibition in 2013, his latest project is Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites, the largest exhibition on the subject for 70 years. Dr Anna Groundwater is a historian of early modern Britain and Scotland at the University of Edinburgh. Her work focuses on the networks and processes James VI and I used to govern the Scottish regions before and after the Union of the Crowns in 1603. George Kerevan, MP has been SNP member for East Lothian since 2015 and sits on the Treasury Select Committee. He lectured in economics at Napier University and was Associate Editor of The Scotsman for nine years. He served on Edinburgh Council for 12 years and is a former chairman of the Edinburgh Tourist Board. Professor Murray Pittock FRSE is Pro VicePrincipal of the University of Glasgow. He is Scottish History adviser to the National Trust for Scotland and to the National Galleries, and a prizewinner of both the British Academy and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 2013 he wrote and presented The Roots of Scottish Nationalism series for BBC Radio 4. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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BRITAIN & IRELAND: SCOTLAND
Accommodation. The Principal Hotel, Edinburgh (phcompany.com): recently renovated, this well-situated 4-star hotel occupies 5 Georgian town houses and the former offices of the Caledonian Insurance Company. Period and modern touches nod to the literary associations of the buildings’ former occupants. The Roxburghe Country House Hotel (roxburghe-hotel.net): 4-star hotel in an 18th-century manor house, in the grounds of the 50,000-acre Roxburghe Estate. Ardgowan (ardgowan.co.uk): Ardgowan is a private house, not a hotel – keys to bedrooms are not provided. While each room has its own bathroom, in some cases this is a few yards along a corridor. Single rooms have single beds in them.
3–5 November 2017 (me 685) 3 days • Prices from £530
Scotland: History & Identity continued
The Programme Friday 3rd November 2017 Afternoon session 3.00pm–6.45pm: Nick Card. Ness of Brodgar: the true heart of Neolithic Orkney. Professor Dauvit Broun. Rethinking Scottish Origins: Scotland and Britain. Professor Tony Pollard. A Battle Lost, A Battle Found: the archaeology of Bannockburn (1314). Ruth Davidson MSP. Title to be confirmed.* Evening at 8.00pm: Dinner at hotels for all participants. Saturday 4th November 2017 Morning session 9.30am–12.15pm: Professor Tony Pollard is Professor of Conflict History and Archaeology and Director of the Centre for Battlefield Archaeology at the University of Glasgow. He has presented two series with Neil Oliver for BBC TV, Two Men in a Trench (2002) and The Quest for Bannockburn (2014). Professor Pamela Robertson FRSE, FSA is Professor Emerita of Mackintosh Studies at the University of Glasgow and former Senior Curator at The Hunterian. She has curated numerous exhibitions and is a past Chair of the Mackintosh Society and former Governor of Glasgow School of Art. David Torrance is a freelance journalist, writer and broadcaster. He writes a regular column on politics for the (Glasgow) Herald and contributes to a range of publications including The Times and New Statesman. His books include unauthorised biographies of the SNP politicians Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.
The Package BRITAIN & IRELAND: SCOTLAND
Included: room and breakfast for two nights, admission to all talks, refreshments at the conference, dinner on Friday, a buffet lunch on Saturday and evening drinks reception in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Entry to Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites at the National Museum of Scotland. There are four packages to choose from, with prices varying according to hotel (see below). Extending your stay. Please contact us for a quote for extra nights either side of the weekend.
Accommodation & prices A. One Motel, Edinburgh Royal: a large, no-frills hotel located less than 5 minutes’ walk from Edinburgh Waverley station and 10 minutes from the Hub. Bedrooms are plain and simply furnished. All rooms have walk-in showers. Prices per person: Double/twin (two sharing): £530 Double room for single occupancy: £590 38
B. The Radisson Blu: contemporary 4-star, close to the Hub on the Royal Mile. Recently restored, the décor is modern and rooms are spacious. Prices per person: Standard double/twin (two sharing): £710 Double room for single occupancy: £820 C. The Principal: recently renovated, this characterful 4-star hotel occupies five Georgian town houses and the former offices of the Caledonian Insurance Company. Period and modern touches nod to the literary associations of the buildings’ former occupants. Located in the New Town it is a 20 minute walk to the Hub. Prices per person: Standard double/twin (two sharing): £780 Double room for single occupancy: £920 D. The Balmoral: the historic 5-star Balmoral is one of the finest hotels in Britain outside London. Belonging to the Rocco Forte group, it enjoys a prime location at the corner of North Bridge and Princes Street, a 10 minute walk from the Hub. There are welcoming public areas and spacious bedrooms, with a hint of Art Deco in the elegant décor. The hotel restaurants include the Michelinstarred Number One.
Professor Jane Dawson. John Knox, Scottish Culture and the Reformation. Dr Anna Groundwater. James VI & I: tensions at the heart of the Union of the Crowns. George Kerevan MP. Title to be confirmed.* Lunch Afternoon session 1.30pm–3.00pm: David Forsyth. ‘Ye Jacobites by Name’: the history of the Jacobite cause through objects. Professor Murray Pittock. Scottish Romanticism in Global Culture. Evening, 6.30pm–7.30pm: Private reception in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. This is followed by an optional gala dinner (booked in advance). Sunday 5th November 2017 Morning session 9.30–1.00pm: Professor Pamela Robertson. Charles Rennie Mackintosh: heritage, origins and legacy. David Torrence. Title to be confirmed.*
Prices per person: Standard double/twin (two sharing): £920 Double room for single occupancy: £1,090
Professor Sir Tom Devine. A Puzzle from the Scottish Past: why did the Scottish Enlightenment happen?
Georgian Edinburgh
Professor Murray Pittock. The Road to Independence? Culture, Sovereignty and Scotland in the World Today.
Pre-Symposium tour 31 October–3 November 2017 Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com
*In order to reflect current affairs, the titles of these talks will be announced nearer the time.
The Orkney Islands June 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
book online at www.martinrandall.com
Illustration: Edinburgh Castle from Greyfriars cemetery, wood engraving c. 1890.
Castles, Campaigns, Conquest Military architecture and mediaeval Wales 2–6 July 2018 (me 942) 5 days • £1,240 Lecturer: Dr Marc Morris The finest concentration of castles in Europe, set in exceptionally lovely landscape. Includes the great Edwardian castles of the 1280s, the most advanced of their time. Led by historian and castle authority Dr Marc Morris; a history tour as much as an architectural one. Concise but unrushed: ten castles in five days.
Illustration: Chepstow Castle, watercolour by Charles H. Ashdown, publ. 1911.
Itinerary Day 1: Chepstow. Leave Newport Station (Gwent) at 2.00pm and drive to Chepstow Castle, a massive series of enclosures and towers on the cliffs above the River Wye – the border with England. Immensely impressive, there is work from many periods between the 11th and 17th centuries, the great Norman tower standing comparison with those in London and Colchester. Continue to the delightful market town of Abergavenny; first of two nights here. Day 2: Grosmont, Skenfrith, Raglan. ‘The Three Castles’ were built in earth and timber shortly after the Conquest, upgraded in stone a century later and reconstructed c.1200–40 with the latest features. Today we see Grosmont and Skenfrith – relatively small, evocative, ensconced in charming villages. Lunch break in the historic town of Monmouth. Largely 15thcentury, Raglan Castle is a beautifully ornamented architectural composition, lavishly equipped with defensive devices, by now obsolete: the triumph of art over warfare. Day 3: White Castle, Harlech. Third of the ‘Three Castles’, the impressiveness of White Castle is enhanced by its remote countryside setting (inaccessible by coach, taxis required). Drive 130 miles (with two stops) through the unremitting loveliness of the hilly heart of Wales. Harlech Castle clings to a crag by the sea, a compact concentric type with high walls and towers, one of the great sights of the British Isles. Built 1283–89, architect James of St George, patron Edward I of England. First of two nights near Caernarfon. Day 4: Dolbadarn, Caernarfon, Beaumaris. The only native Welsh castle on the tour, Dolbadarn was built in the 13th century to control the route to Snowdonia. Intended as a seat of government, Caernarfon is the greatest of Edward I’s castles, and the high curtain wall and mural towers rising from the estuary’s edge incorporate symbolism evoking his imperial aspirations. Cross the Menai Strait to Anglesey. Beaumaris is the last of James of St George’s constructions and, in terms of its defensive apparatus, the most sophisticated.
Day 5: Conwy. Walk atop the walls encircling Conwy, the town founded by Edward I. The castle is one of the great achievements of mediaeval military architecture, and its curtain walls and many mural towers survive intact. The tour finishes here, and the coach drives to Llandudno Junction railway station (5 minutes) two or three times between 12.30 and 3.00pm to meet trains booked by participants. There is more to see here, including Britain’s finest surviving Elizabethan town house.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,240. Single occupancy: £1,410. Included meals: 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. The Angel Hotel, Abergavenny (angelabergavenny.com): former Georgian coaching-inn, now a 3-star hotel with comfortable rooms and excellent restaurant. Ty’n Rhos, near Caernarfon, Snowdonia (tynrhos.co.uk): charming, country house hotel in a tranquil and attractive rural setting. How strenuous? There are many steps, much uneven paving, muddy paths and quite a lot of walking. This tour should not be attempted by anyone with any difficulties with everyday walking and stair climbing. Average distance-by coach per day: c. 71 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: French Gothic, 9–15 July 2018 (p.60), Mediaeval Middle England, 25–29 June 2018 (p.22).
Welsh National Opera February 2018 Details available in August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest What else is included in the price? See page 7. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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BRITAIN & IRELAND: WALES
Wales has the greatest concentration of castles of any region in the British Isles. For variety, architectural excellence, historical interest and state of preservation the group is perhaps unsurpassed in all Europe and Latin Christendom. This short tour encompasses most of the best of them, from Gwent in the south to Gwynedd in the north, and – it should be inserted here as not the least attractive feature – traverses some exceptionally lovely countryside. It is a common fallacy to consider castles to be defensive in function. Many are nakedly aggressive, boldly planted on foreign land. Only one of the castles seen on this tour was built by a Welshman; the other nine were built by English invaders. There had been incursions from England even before the Norman conquest, sometimes by rapacious barons acting free-lance, sometimes by armies of the Crown. But the Welsh refused to be subdued and, time and again, having recuperated in their mountain fastnesses, swept down and ousted the invader. Edward I, the most warlike of English mediaeval monarchs, embarked in 1277 on a campaign of reconquest. Within twenty years, despite setbacks, Wales had lost its independence – forever – and the northern heartland was ringed by new castles, technically as advanced as anything in Europe and the Mediterranean. Craftsmen and labourers were recruited from nearly every county in England, but the master designer was a Savoyard, James of St George, the finest military architect of his generation. This group of Edwardian castles alone collectively constitutes one of the finest sights mediaeval Britain has to offer. Not only are they wonderfully well preserved, they are immeasurably enhanced by their sites. Each was designed to be provisioned from the sea, so they enjoy the matchless setting of waterfront site and mountainous backdrop. It is fascinating to see them in the context of five hundred years of military architecture represented in the other castles. But setting is again important. Wales has some of the loveliest countryside in the British Isles. We journey through a landscape of highly picturesque hills, little green fields, plentiful broadleaves and occasional majestic moorland. At the expense of a couple of castles of note, we have avoided even the fringes of larger towns and cities in favour of countryside, market towns, villages and back roads.
Occupation in the Channel Islands Hitler’s ‘impregnable fortress’ all-round defence from the air and sea. The location of these batteries provide the opportunity to look inside these impressive outposts while enjoying some of Britain’s finest coastal scenery. St Ouen’s Bay, one of the island’s most picturesque bays, was one of the most vulnerable and is now the location of the privately owned Channel Islands Military Museum. Day 3: St Martin, St Helier, St Peter Port. In 2011 the Jersey Occupation Collections held at Jersey Archive were inscribed on the unesco UK Memory of the World Register. After a guided tour and lecture enjoy some free time in St Helier before a short flight to Guernsey for the first of two nights.
20–24 May 2018 (me 874) 5 days • £2,130 Lecturer: Dr Paul Sanders In-depth look at a fascinating and relatively unknown portion of WWII history. Visits Jersey’s and Guernsey’s primary military sites including special appointments and talks by local experts. Features walks along striking coastlines. Excellent hotels on both islands. Led by historian Dr Paul Sanders.
BRITAIN & IRELAND: CHANNEL ISLANDS
The Channel Islands, the oldest possession of the British Crown, were the only part of the British Isles to be occupied by German forces during the Second World War. Following the fall of France in June 1940 the British government withdrew from the islands, their exposed position in the bay of Saint-Malo having rendered them strategically untenable. On 19 June 1940, the islands were demilitarised, and it was announced that those who wanted to be evacuated should register forthwith. German forces landed in Guernsey on 30 June 1940 and in Jersey the next day. There was no organised resistance movement against German forces – only acts by individuals or small groups. The occupying forces enforced a number of restrictions such as a nightly curfew and censorship of the press. In 1942 the deportation began of about 2,000 British-born Channel Islanders to internment camps in Germany. Other residents were deported to concentration camps. During the occupation the islands were heavily fortified as part of Hitler’s ‘Atlantic Wall’. Construction was overseen by the German Forces and the Organisation Todt – a paramilitary engineering outfit. Forced labourers were imported to build the fortifications. This included Spanish Republican refugees from France who had been surrendered by the Vichy government, and people 40
rounded up in Eastern Europe who were treated as work-slaves. Visitors to the islands are often struck by the scale of construction; a staggering 10% of German resources spent on the Atlantic Wall were used to fortify the Channel Islands, much of which remains visible today. This has been deliberately preserved by local volunteers, as a reminder of this chapter in Channel Islands history. The D-Day landings in June 1944 came as both a blessing and a curse. While they marked the beginning of the end for the German occupiers who relied on supply lines from the continent, they also meant that food imports were cut. As supplies dwindled, islanders faced starvation. However, following trilateral negotiations involving the Foreign Office, the Germans and the Red Cross, the SS Vega was authorized to deliver food, saving the lives of many islanders. The islands were finally liberated on 9 May 1945, the day after VE Day. HMS Beagle and HMS Bulldog arrived in Jersey and Guernsey respectively, with on board British officers who finalised the unconditional surrender of German forces in the islands. This tour visits the two largest islands exploring a fascinating and little understood episode of Britain’s WWII history.
Itinerary
Day 4: Fort Hommet, Pleinmont, St Peter Port. Guernsey, the first Channel Island to be occupied, has much in common with its sister Island but is distinctly different. The excellent German Occupation Museum displays an impressive collection of occupation memorabilia while Fort Hommet and Pleinmont Tower on the island’s western coast reveal the scale of German defences that contributed to Hitler’s Atlantic Wall. The afternoon is free to wander the charming streets of St Peter Port, considered one of the prettiest of Channel Island towns. Day 5: St Peter Port. The headquarters of the German Naval Commander Channel Islands handled all the important radio signals traffic for the German forces in the Channel with messages being transmitted and received by naval codes using the Enigma enciphering machines. Housed in the original bunker, the headquarters have been accurately restored providing a rare opportunity to see inside a German military operations centre. Fly c. 4.30pm (Aurigny) arriving Gatwick at approximately 5.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,130 or £1,890 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,430 or £2,190 without flights. Included meals: 2 lunches, 4 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. The Somerville Hotel, Jersey (dolanhotels.com): located above the picturesque St Aubin’s Bay, the hotel enjoys wonderful sea views and excellent facilities (4-stars). Old Government House, Guernsey (theoghhotel.com): former Governor’s residence, this historic hotel is considered the best on the island and is located in the heart of St Peter Port (5-stars).
Day 1: London to Jersey. Fly at c. 11.05am (British Airways) from London Gatwick to Jersey. The vast complex of the Jersey War Tunnels provide an excellent introduction to the background of the Occupation of Jersey including individual wartime stories and award winning galleries. It also provides an idea of the scale and intent of the occupying forces in defending the Islands. First of two nights in Jersey.
How strenuous? This tour would not be suitable for anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking. Some of the sites are on exposed cliff paths so a good level of fitness and surefootedness is essential. Our hotel in Jersey is located part way up a steep hill and is not accessible by coach. Military bunkers often have numerous steps and low ceilings; sufferers of claustrophobia might struggle in some of the inner chambers.
Day 2: Noirmont Point, St Ouen, St Brelades. The dramatic coastline on Jersey’s western and northern fronts were some of the most heavily defended parts of the island. The coastal artillery batteries protected German shipping between Cherbourg and Brest as well as providing
Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
book online at www.martinrandall.com
Combine this tour with: Berry & Touraine, 28 May–5 June 2018 (p.66). Illustration: Guernsey, German military band marching past Lloyds Bank on The Pollet, St Peter Port. © IWM.
Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity Archaeology, history, art and landscape 11–20 April 2018 (me 820) 10 days • £2,680 Lecturer: Carolyn Perry 12–21 September 2018 (mf 125) 10 days • £2,680 Lecturer: Carolyn Perry Discover a forgotten history of conflict, culture and economic power. Explore the remains of once-flourishing Greek, Roman and Ottoman cities. Stay in the unesco World Heritage towns of Berat and Gjirokastra. Led by archaeologist, Carolyn Perry.
Day 2: Tirana. A morning tour of Tirana includes some of the city’s grand central boulevards, lined with relics of its Ottoman, Italian and Communist past. There is also a visit to the National Art Gallery. The afternoon is spent in the vast National Historical Museum where displays span from antiquity to the Communist regime of Enver Hoxha.
Day 6: Himara, Saranda. The day is spent travelling through Llogara National Park and along the breathtaking Ionic coast. The journey is broken in the bay of Porto Palermo, a few kilometres from the small town of Himara, where we visit a Venetian fort and castle. Arrive in Saranda for a panoramic view of the bay before continuing to the hotel for a one-night stay.
Day 3: Durrës, Apollonia. Dürres was a key port for both the Greeks and the Romans, and a vital link on the route from Europe to Asia. We visit its amphitheatre, the largest in the Balkans, as well as the Roman forum, the ancient city walls and the archaeological museum. Then it’s time for Apollonia. Founded by colonists from Corinth around 600 bc, it was later home to a famous Academy, where Octavian was studying in 44 bc. Finds are displayed in the cloisters of a 13th-century Byzantine monastery. First of two nights in Berat.
Day 7: Butrint, Gjirokastra. Situated by a lake close to the Greek border, Butrint (Buthrotum) was settled by Greeks from nearby Corfu in the 6th century bc. It became an important Roman colony, declined in Late Antiquity and was abandoned in the Middle Ages. Lords Sainsbury and Rothschild set up the Butrint Foundation in 1991 to protect and examine the site. Excavation has revealed substantial elements of the late Roman and Byzantine town including a basilica, baptistery and a palace. First of two nights in Gjirokastra.
Itinerary
Day 4, Berat. A unesco world heritage site, Berat is one of Albania’s oldest and most attractive cities, with many Ottoman houses scattered across the hills above the river. A walking tour of the lower town includes the 15th-century mosque and the 18th-century Halvati Teqe. Meanwhile, the Byzantine citadel above shelters the Church of St Mary – home to the dazzling Onufri Icon Museum where 16th- and 17thcentury Christian art and a beautiful iconostasis are displayed. Overnight in Berat.
Day 8: Gjirokastra, Labova e Kryqit. The steep cobbled streets and stone-roofed Ottoman houses of Gjirokastra are best appreciated from the castle. We visit the Old Bazaar, a traditional Ottoman house and the former home of dictator Enver Hoxha, now an ethnographic museum. In the afternoon, the remote village of Labova e Kryqit (Labova of the Cross) is our destination – to see one of the oldest Byzantine churches in Albania, dating back to the 6th century. Overnight in Gjirokastra.
MAINLAND EUROPE: ALBANIA
It may seem a backwater now. But Albania’s importance in the ancient world is writ large in the historical sources. Greek historian Thucydides describes how a dispute over the city of Epidamnus (modern Durrës) helped ignite the Peloponnesian War of 431–404 bc. Nearly 400 years later, much of Rome’s civil war between Caesar and Pompey was played out along the Albanian coast. And it was in the city of Apollonia that Octavian learned of the assassination of his great-uncle Caesar – and launched a bid for power that ultimately made him emperor. Why was Albania so important? One look at its geography will tell you. This is a country blessed with natural harbours, and a short sea crossing to the Italian port of Brindisi. It is also the start of the most direct overland route from the Adriatic to Istanbul, which in Roman times was traced by the Via Egnatia. A natural staging post between the eastern and western Mediterranean, Albania flourished under Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans. It is this rich and forgotten history that forms the backbone of our tour. We visit ancient cities that once had glittering reputations, but have since fallen into ruin and have only ever been partially excavated. Meanwhile, the unesco World Heritage towns of Berat and Gjirokastra shine a light onto the civilisation that developed under five centuries of Ottoman rule. Berat, known as ‘the town of a thousand windows’, is home to the museum of the sixteenth-century iconographer Onufri, while Gjirokastra, birthplace of the novelist Ismail Kadare, is believed to be the setting for his celebrated Chronicle in Stone. Not all the sites are easy to access: but that just adds to the sense of exploration and discovery. The drive to Labova e Kryqit (Labova of the Cross), for example, involves venturing off the beaten track, to be rewarded by an exquisite Byzantine church, complete with dazzling icons and exceptional frescoes. To reach Saranda, we travel through the pristine landscapes of the Llogara National Park and along the undeveloped Ionic coast. Albania wriggled free of the Ottomans on 28 November 1912, but since then has endured occupation by the Austro-Hungarians, Italians and Germans, among others – as well as a repressive Communist regime that outlasted all
Day 1. Fly at c. 5.00pm (British Airways) from London Gatwick to Tirana. Dinner and first of two nights in Tirana.
Day 5: Byllis, Vlora. Once the largest city in southern Illyria, Byllis is a vast and atmospheric archaeological site, perched on a hilltop and commanding spectacular views. In Late Antiquity Byllis became an important Christian centre, and several basilicas were built. Vlora is the country’s second port; the first parliament convened here following the declaration of independence in 1912. Here, we see the Muradie Mosque; built in 1537 by the greatest of Ottoman architects, Mimar Sinan. Overnight in Vlora.
others in Europe. Thankfully, the past two decades have seen great changes, and the country is now a candidate for entry to the European Union. Tirana is modernising at breakneck speed: two visits to its bustle and optimism bookend the tour.
Illustration: Berat, lithograph 1851 by Edward Lear.
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Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity continued
Opera in Vienna Puccini, Verdi, Beethoven Itinerary
Carolyn Perry
Day 1. Fly at c. 2.15pm from London Heathrow to Vienna (British Airways). Arrive at the hotel in time to settle in before dinner.
Lecturer and museum consultant. Taught Ancient History and Mythology in the Department of Mediterranean Studies at Queen Mary College, University of London and has excavated in Italy. Established the Arab World Education Programme at the British Museum. She is also Chair of The British Foundation for the Study of Arabia.
Day 2. A talk on the music is followed by a visit to the Hofburg, the sprawling Habsburg palace where we see inter alia the splendid library hall and imperial apartments. Evening opera at the Staatsoper: La Bohème (Puccini), Speranza Scappucci (conductor), Jean-François Borras (Rodolfo), Anita Hartig (Mimì), Alessio Arduini (Marcello), Valentina Naforniţa (Musetta). Day 3. Lecture, then visit to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, one of the world’s greatest art galleries. Then walk through a series of gardens to a restaurant for lunch. Free time afterwards, or visit an apartment lived in by Beethoven. An evening at the Staatsoper: Otello (Verdi), Dan Ettinger (conductor), Roberto Alagna (Otello), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Iago), Alexandru Moisiuc (Lodovico), Aleksandra Kurzak (Desdemona).
Day 9: Ardenica, Tirana. Drive north to the Monastery of Ardenica, built in 1282 by Byzantine Emperor, Andronikos II Palaiologos and famous as the site of the wedding in 1451 of Albania’s national hero, Skanderbeg. From here, we continue to Tirana where there is some free time. First of two nights in Tirana. Day 10: Tirana. A morning visit to Bunk’Art in the outskirts of Tirana. Explore one of the many bunkers still standing after the fall of Enver Hoxha’s communist regime, which has recently opened to the public as a history and contemporary art museum. Fly from Tirana, arriving at London Gatwick at c. 3.15pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,680 or £2,430 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,930 or £2,680 without flights. Included meals: 8 lunches, 8 dinners, with wine.
MAINLAND EUROPE: albania, austria
Accommodation. Hotel Kotoni, Tirana (hotelkotoni.com): boutique hotel in a restored government building located on a quiet sidestreet off the main boulevard. Hotel Mangalemi, Berat (mangalemihotel.com): small, traditional, family-run hotel in several converted Ottoman townhouses with a central courtyard and roof terrace. Room sizes and furnishings vary. Hotel Partner, Vlora (hotelpartner.al): large modern hotel in a central location. Santa Quaranta, Saranda (santaquaranta.al): luxury resort hotel away from the main centre with sea-views. Hotel Argjiro, Gjirokastra (hotelargjiro.al): recently opened hotel in the the historical centre. How strenuous? This is a fairly demanding tour and a good level of fitness is essential. Unless you enjoy entirely unimpaired mobility, cope with everyday walking and stair-climbing without difficulty and are reliably sure-footed, this tour is not for you. There are some long coach journeys, sometimes on uneven terrain. On one occasion a steep ascent by jeep is necessary to reach a site. There are several hotel changes. Average distance by coach per day: 59 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. In September, combine this tour with Walking in Slovenia, 3–10 September 2018 (p.162).
What else is included in the price? See page 7. 42
16–20 March 2018 (me 784) 5 days • £2,440 (including tickets to 3 performances) Lecturer: Barry Millington Two performances at the Staatsoper, one of the world’s greatest opera houses and one at the historic Theater an der Wien. La Bohème (Puccini), Otello (Verdi) and Fidelio (Beethoven, concert performance). Daily talks by a musicologist, and a programme of walks and visits in the city. Based at a venerable and very comfortable hotel perfectly located beside the Staatsoper. Not content with being the most important city in the history of western music, Vienna continues to nurture an exceptionally active cultural life of a high level of excellence. Music and opera are cherished (and paid for) by government and citizens perhaps more than anywhere else in the world. Vienna is notoriously wedded to tradition, and Staatsoper productions are generally not what could be called progressive by standards prevalent in the German-speaking world. But stagecraft, stage design and dramatic portrayal are of the highest order, and the house continues to attract the world’s finest singers and conductors. And of course it enjoys the supreme skills and sumptuous sound of the Vienna Philharmonic, the orchestra in residence. Highly sophisticated audiences and critics give no quarter to complacency or laziness; opera at the Staatsoper is a fairly safe bet. The Theater an der Wien was built by the impresario who first staged Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Emanuel Schikenader, in 1801. Each day there is a session of talks and discussions about the evening’s opera. There are also guided tours on foot to a choice selection of Vienna’s art and architecture and musical heritage, but also plenty of free time for rest, recuperation and preparation for the next performance.
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Day 4. A morning walk through the centre of the inner city includes the Stephansdom, the great Gothic cathedral, the Baroque church of St Peter and an apartment where Mozart lived. There is some free time before a late-afternoon talk, an early dinner and an evening performance at the Theater an der Wien: Fidelio (Beethoven, concert performance), Giovanni Antonini (conductor), Annette Dasch (Leonore), Klaus Florian Vogt (Florestan), Regula Mühlemann (Marzelline), Sebastian Holecek (Don Pizarro), Stefan Cerny (Rocco), Patrick Grahl (Jaquino), Matthias Winckhler (Don Fernando), Kammerorchester Basel, Gaechinger Cantorey. Day 5. Free morning before the flight to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 4.15pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,440 or £2,260 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,710 or £2,530 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine. Music: tickets (first category) for 3 operas are included, costing c. £425. Tickets are due to be confirmed in Autumn 2017. Accommodation. Hotel Bristol (bristolvienna. com): 5-star hotel in a superb location on the Ringstrasse near the opera house, traditionally furnished and decorated. How strenuous? Quite a lot of walking, mainly through the centre where vehicular access is limited. Average coach travel per day: 5 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Vienna 1918, 21–25 March 2018 (p.44).
The Iron Curtain September 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Vienna at Christmas Art, architecture and music in the Habsburg capital 20–27 December 2017 (me 727) 8 days • £3,520 (including tickets to 3 performances Lecturer: Dr Jarl Kremeier Comprehensive overview of Vienna’s art and architecture, including a day dedicated to the Secession movement. Led by Dr Jarl Kremeier, an art historian specialising in 17th- to 19th-century architecture and decorative arts. Perfectly located 5-star heritage hotel. Three performances: Bach’s Christmas Oratorio BWV 248 (Parts 1–3) at the Wiener Konzerthaus, Strauss’ Arabella, and Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Staatsoper.
Illustrations. Left: scene from Othello, wood engraving from ‘The Works of Shakespeare Vo.III’, 1866. Right: Vienna, watercolour by Donald Maxwell, publ. 1932.
Day 1. Fly at c. 10.25am from London Heathrow to Vienna (British Airways). Drive (30 minutes) to the city centre and check-in to the hotel. An afternoon walk in and around the Hofburg, the Habsburg winter palace, a vast agglomeration from six centuries of building activity. Within the complex are the Great Hall of the library, one of the greatest of Baroque secular interiors, and the collection of precious regalia in the Treasury. Adjacent is the court church of St Augustine. Day 2. Drive to the outskirts to see buildings by Otto Wagner, the richly decorated apartment blocks in the Linke Wienzeile, the emperor’s personal railway station at Schönbrunn and the hospital church ‘Am Steinhof’, the most beautiful example of Secessionist art and architecture. After a break for lunch visit the decommissioned railway station pavilions by Wagner and Olbrich and the Secession building, built in 1898 as an exhibition hall for avant-garde artists, with Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze. An evening at the Staatsoper: Arabella (Mozart): Patrick Lange (conductor), Sven-Eric Bechtolf (director), Kurt Rydl (Count Graf), Anna Gabler (Arabella), Chen Reiss (Zdenka), Christopher Maltman (Mandryka), Benjamin Bruns (Matteo). Day 3. Morning visit to the recently opened winter palace of Prince Eugene, begun in 1696 by Fischer von Erlach and expanded into one of the finest Baroque aristocratic palaces in Vienna by Lukas von Hildebrandt. The Museum of Applied Arts has international and Viennese collections, which are strikingly displayed. A visit to the Baroque Jesuit church follows, with it’s outstanding illusionistic ceiling paintings. Evening concert at the Wiener Konzerthaus: J.S. Bach, Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 (Parts 1–3): Wiener Symphoniker, Wiener Singakademie Choir, Philippe Jordan (conductor), Julia Kleiter (soprano), Wiebke Lehmkuhl (alto), Werner Güra (tenor), Andrè Schuen (baritone). Day 4. Visit the Church of St Charles, the Baroque masterpiece of Fischer von Erlach. See the palace and garden of Schloss Belvedere, built on sloping ground overlooking Vienna for Prince Eugene of Savoy, which constitutes one of the finest residential complexes of the 18th century. It now houses the Museum of Austrian Art with paintings by Klimt and Schiele. Visit the Stephansdom, the magnificent Gothic cathedral adorned with fine paintings and sculpture. Day 5, Christmas Eve. Spend the morning in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, one of the world’s most important art collections, particularly rich in Italian, Flemish and Dutch pictures. An afternoon walk through some of the loveliest of Vienna’s streets and squares passes various imposing palaces and, on the Ringstrasse, the Gothic Revival Town Hall and the Neo-Classical Parliament. Christmas dinner. There are several musically embellished midnight masses. Day 6. Christmas Day. The morning is free, though Mass at St Augustine’s is recommended, and some museums are open. After lunch, return to the hotel on foot with the lecturer, passing some of Vienna’s architectural sights: Palais Coburg, Palais Archduke Wilhelm, Stadtgarten, Kursalon.
An evening at the Staatsoper: The Magic Flute (Mozart): Adam Fischer (conductor), Moshe Leiser/ Patrice Caurier (director), René Pape (Sarastro), Jörg Schneider (Tamino), Hila Fahima (Queen of the Night), Olga Bezsmertna (Pamina), Thomas Tatzl (Papageno). Day 7. Coach excursion to Klosterneuburg Abbey, once the seat of the Babenbergs. Largely Romanesque and Gothic, the church contains an altarpiece by Nicholas of Verdun, one of the greatest surviving metalworks of the middle ages. Return to Vienna after lunch for some free time: a visit to the Albertina is recommended. Day 8. Private visit to the magnificent Liechtenstein Palace which was built at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries by the richest family in the Habsburg Empire and houses the princely art collection. Time for a leisurely lunch before driving to the airport for the flight to London Heathrow, arriving c. 6.25pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,520 or £3,340 without flights. Single occupancy: £4,000 or £3,820 without flights. Included meals: 3 lunches, 5 dinners, with wine. Music: tickets to 3 performances are included, costing c. £425. These will be confirmed in the early autumn, 2017. Accommodation. Hotel Bristol, Vienna (bristolvienna.com): 5-star hotel in a superb location on the Ringstrasse near the opera house, traditionally furnished and decorated. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking and standing around in museums, and navigation of the tram system one occasion. Average distance by coach per day: 6 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Vienna was once the seat of the Habsburgs, the centre of the Holy Roman Empire and capital of a multinational agglomeration of territories which encompassed much of Central and Eastern Europe. Today she is an imperial city without an empire. She is a relic, but a glorious relic, and one of the world’s foremost centres of art, architecture and music. The Kunsthistorisches Museum ranks with the best of Europe’s art collections, and the Court Treasury is without peer for its display of historic regalia and objets d’art. The great Gothic cathedral bears witness to the city’s status in the Middle Ages as the most important city in Danubian Europe; the Church of St Charles and numerous Baroque palaces demonstrate that by the beginning of the eighteenth century Austria had become one of the great powers. During the nineteenth century, when the Empire reached a peak of extent and prestige, a splendid range of historicist buildings was added, notably on the Ringstrasse, the grand boulevard which encircles the mediaeval core. Around the turn of the century there was an explosion of artistic and intellectual activity which placed Vienna in the forefront of Art Nouveau – here known as Secession – and the development of modernism. Not all is on a grand scale. Tucked behind the imposing palaces and public buildings are narrow alleys and ancient courtyards which survive from the mediaeval and Renaissance city. In Vienna the magnificent mixes with the unpretentiously charming, imperial display with the Gemütlichkeit of the coffee houses. As home for Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Mahler and countless other composers, Vienna is pre-eminent in the history of music. Musical activity of the highest order continues and we are offering three performances as part of the package. As with all our tours, careful planning to take account of seasonal closures enables us to provide a full programme of visits. There will be some special arrangements to see places not generally accessible.
Itinerary
Vienna 1918 Klimt, Wagner, Schiele, Moser 21–25 March 2018 (me 792) 5 days • £1,960 Lecturer: to be confirmed A one-off tour to mark the 2018 centenary of the deaths of Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Koloman Moser and Otto Wagner. Visits several special commemorative exhibitions as well as permanent collections and buildings. Intensive study of architecture, design and art of the Vienna Secession, Art Nouveau, Arts & Crafts and early Modernism. Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century was a city in ferment – a bastion of the established order, a hotbed of radical politics, a crucible of intellectual and artistic revolution. As the capital of a multinational empire, residence of Europe’s premier monarchy, centre of an omnipresent bureaucracy and headquarters of a formidable army, Vienna projected an image of unshakeable power and respect for tradition. Lift not the painted veil: behind it lay widespread discontent, a crumbling moral order and myriad cracks in the coherence of empire. With remarkable suddenness, there emerged from this complacent, decadent and artistically stagnant society a brilliant array of artists and intellectuals who were determined to break with the past and were prepared to risk affronting the establishment in doing so. This was the city of Mahler, Schönberg, Schnitzler and Freud, and also of the protagonists of this tour, Klimt, Schiele and Otto Wagner and their friends, collaborators and rivals. The Great War brought Austrian suzerainty of Central Europe crashing to an end, causing death, destruction and trauma along the way. And then the ’flu pandemic of 1918 killed even more, including Schiele, Klimt and Moser.
In the first decades of the twentieth century Art Nouveau in its multifarious manifestations and transformations spread like wildfire around Europe and beyond. In the realm of architecture and ornamentation the Viennese variant was more measured than elsewhere, and more classical. In the first years of the new century, applied ornament retreated further to expose pure form and rational design. Here are the roots of modernism which, in turn, became the dominant orthodoxy of the twentieth century. By contrast, the revolution in painting and the graphic arts had little international influence, but resulted in works which were exceptionally luxuriant and expressive.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 9.00am from London Heathrow to Vienna (Austrian Airlines). Drive straight to the Gallery of Austrian Art in the Baroque magnificence of the Belvedere Palace to see the collection of paintings by Klimt (the world’s largest, including The Kiss), Schiele, Kokoschka and their contemporaries. The Lower Belvedere hosts a special exhibition, Austria-Hungary 1918, in which Klimt and Schiele are presented in dialogue with a variety of figures including leading Czech Cubists and painters in the Hungarian Nyolcak group, among others. Day 2. The Museum of Applied Arts has excellent collections, strikingly displayed, of work by Hoffmann, Moser and other designers of the Wiener Werkstätte, as well as by the Scotsman Charles Rennie Mackintosh. An afternoon walk to see Secessionist designs by Otto Wagner, Max Fabiani, Josip Plecnik and Adolf Loos (including a public lavatory and a menswear shop). Visit to and dinner at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, one of the world’s greatest art galleries, with a
Vienna, Secession Building, wood engraving 1898 (the year of its completion).
special exhibition focused on Klimt’s Nuda Veritas and representations of self-perception. Time for independent exploration of the permanent collection. Day 3. Visit the Museum of the History of Vienna, a fascinating survey whose collections are particularly rich in turn-of-the-century art and artefacts. It will house the first major exhibition dedicated to Otto Wagner to be staged for more than fifty years. See also the decommissioned railway station pavilions by Wagner and Olbrich and the exhibition hall (the ‘Golden Cabbage’) designed in 1898 by Olbrich as an exhibition hall for the Secession. Klimt’s 34-metre long Beethoven Frieze is here. A special exhibition at the Imperial Furniture Collection presents the work of the leading architects of Viennese Modernism: Wagner, Loos and Hoffmann as interior and furniture designers. Day 4. Drive to the outskirts to see buildings by Otto Wagner; the richly decorated apartment blocks in the Linke Wienzeile, the emperor’s personal railway station at Schönbrunn and the hospital church ‘Am Steinhof’, the finest manifestation of Viennese Secessionism.The ground floor of the villa used by Klimt as a studio between 1911 and 1918 features a reconstruction of the original furnishings and various media related to Klimt’s work. Day 5. The Leopold Collection, opened in 2001, is an excellent collection of works by Secessionist artists, especially Schiele. The flight to Heathrow arrives at c. 6.45pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,960 or £1,750 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,230 or £2,020 without flights. Included meals: 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Bristol (bristolvienna. com): 5-star hotel in a superb location on the Ringstrasse; traditionally furnished and decorated. How strenuous? Quite a lot of walking on this tour. Average distance by coach per day: 9 miles.
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Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Opera in Vienna, 16–20 March 2018 (p.42); Music & Ballet in Paris, 27–31 March 2018 (p.63).
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Mozart in Salzburg The annual winter festival 27 January–1 February 2018 (me 750) 6 days • £3,510 (including tickets to 7 performances) Lecturer: Richard Wigmore Daily attendance at the Mozartwoche, the annual festival celebrating the composer’s work in the town of his birth. An outstanding programme, performed by leading orchestras, chamber groups and soloists. The best-preserved Baroque city in northern Europe in a wonderful alpine setting. Five-star hotel close to the Mozarteum. Led by Richard Wigmore, music writer, lecturer and broadcaster for BBC Radio 3.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 9.30am from London Gatwick to Salzburg (British Airways). An introductory lecture and early dinner before a concert at the Großes Festspielhaus: Robin Ticciati (conductor), Renaud Capuçon (violin), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Elgar, Violin Concerto in B minor, Op.61; Mozart, Symphony No.41 in C, K.551, ‘Jupiter’. Day 2. Concert at the Mozarteum with Sir András Schiff (conductor/piano), Cappella Andrea Barca: Bach, Concerto in C minor, BWV1060; Mozart, Adagio & Fugue in C minor, K.546; Bach, Concerto in C minor, BWV1062; Bach, from The Musical Offering, BWV1079, Ricercar a sei; Mozart, Piano Concerto No.24 in C minor, K.491. Afternoon walk through the heart of the old city with a local guide, including a church by the greatest master of Austrian Baroque, Fischer
von Erlach, the late-Gothic Franciscan church and the mighty cathedral, the first major Baroque building north of the Alps. Evening concert at the Großes Festspielhaus with Sir John Eliot Gardiner (conductor), the English Baroque Soloists: Mozart, Symphony No.52 in C, K.102, Sinfonia Concertante in E flat, K.364, Symphony No.32 in G, K.318, Symphony No.39 in E flat, K.543. Day 3. Concert at the Mozarteum with Daniel Barenboim (piano): programme to be announced. Afternoon visit to Mozart’s birthplace, now an excellent museum. Evening concert at the Mozarteum with B’Rock Orchestra, Anna Lucia Richter (soprano): Bach, Orchestral Suite No.3 in D, BWV1068, Cantata BWV51, ‘Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen’; Mozart, Motet K.165, Exsultate, Jubilate; Symphony No.33 in B flat, K.319. Day 4. A second guided walk includes a visit to the 18th-century Mirabell Gardens and the former Mozart family home. Then a private guided tour of the Mozarteum’s Autograph Vault, containing original letters and manuscripts. Evening opera at the Haus für Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart), René Jacobs (conductor), Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Salzburg Bach Choir, Robin Johannsen (Konstanze), Sunhae Im (Blonde), Sebastian Kohlhepp (Belmonte), Julian Prégardien (Pedrillo), David Steffens (Osmin). Day 5. Optional visit to the Alte Residenz, a complex dating back to the 16th century, housing a sequence of a dozen impressive state rooms, of which several were redesigned in the Baroque style by Erlach and Hildebrandt. The adjoining Residenzgalerie contains a collection of 16th- to 19th-century European painting, including works by Rembrandt and Rubens. Evening concert at the Großes Festspielhaus with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Alain Altinoglu (conductor), Piotr Anderszewski (piano): Mozart, Symphony No.31 in D, K.297, ‘Paris’, Piano Concerto No.27 in B, K.595; Bizet, Symphony No.1 in C. Day 6. The flight from Salzburg arrives at London Gatwick c. 11.30am.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,510 or £3,390 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,860 or £3,740 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine. Music: tickets (top category) for 7 performances are included, costing c. £1,100. Due to be confirmed in July 2017. Accommodation. Hotel Bristol (bristol-salzburg. at): 5-star family-run hotel, two minutes walk from the Mozarteum and just across the river from the Festspielhaus (600 metres). How strenuous? There is a fair amount of walking within the old town centre where vehicular access is restricted. The tour is planned on the expectation that participants walk to and from the concert venues. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
MAINLAND EUROPE: AUSTRIA
Salzburg is that rare thing, a tiny city with world-class standards in nearly everything the discerning visitor – and resident – would want. It is miraculous that such charm, and such grandeur, and, above all, such unparalleled weight of musical achievement, should be concentrated in so small a place. A virtually independent city-state from its origins in the early Middle Ages until its absorption into the Habsburg Empire in the nineteenth century, Salzburg’s days of glory had all but slipped into the past by the time Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born there. He became the unwitting instigator, post-mortem, of Salzburg’s transformation from minor ecclesiastical seat to the world’s foremost city of music festivals. There are five of them. The Mozartwoche (Mozart Week) held in January every year celebrates Salzburg’s most famous son with musicians famed worldwide for their Mozart interpretations. Our tour allows the concerts to be interspersed with a gentle programme of walks and visits to see some of the finest art and architecture in the city. But there is also plenty of free time to relax and gather energies for the performances, and for individual exploration. The city has several museums – a recent addition is a Museum of Contemporary Art in a cliff-top location overlooking the city, and the city’s principal museum has been re-established in a part of the Archbishop’s palace known as the Neue Residenz.
The Schubertiade June 2018 Details available in July 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Haydn in Eisenstadt September 2018 Details available in October 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Illustration: Salzburg, steel engraving c. 1850.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Flemish Painting From van Eyck to Rubens: Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels 5–9 September 2018 (mf 112) 5 days • £1,810 Lecturer: Dr Sophie Oosterwijk Immersion in the highlights of Flemish painting in the beautiful, unspoilt cities in which they were created. The main centres of Flemish art: Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp and Brussels. Based in Ghent, which is equidistant to the other places on the itinerary. First-class train travel from London. One might argue that Western art began in the southern Netherlands. In the context of 40,000 years of human artistic endeavour, painting which gives primacy to the naturalistic depiction of the visible world was an eccentric digression. Yet the illusionistic triad of solidity, space and texture first came together early in the fifteenth century in what is now Belgium, and dominated European art for the next five hundred years. The Flemish cities of Bruges and Ghent were among the most prosperous and progressive in mediaeval Europe. Brussels and Antwerp peaked later, the latter becoming Europe’s largest port in the sixteenth century. All retain tracts of unspoilt
streetscape which place them among the most attractive destinations in northern Europe. Jan van Eyck and his brother Hubert stand at the head of the artistic revolution in the fifteenth century. Their consummate skill with the hitherto unexploited technique of oil painting resulted in pictures which have rarely been equalled for their jewel-like brilliance and breathtaking naturalism. The tradition of exquisite workmanship was continued with the same tranquillity of spirit by such masters as Hans Memling in Bruges and with greater emotionalism by Rogier van der Weyden in Brussels and Hugo van der Goes in Ghent, while Hieronymus Bosch was an individualist who specialised in the depiction of human sin and hellish retribution. The sixteenth century saw a greater focus on landscape and a shift towards mannerist displays of virtuoso skill and spiritual tension, although the outstanding painter of the century was another individualist, Pieter Bruegel. A magnificent culmination was reached in the seventeenth century with Peter Paul Rubens, the greatest painter of the Baroque age. His works are of an unsurpassed vigour and vitality, and are painted with a breadth and bravura which took the potential of oil painting to new heights. This tour presents one of the most glorious episodes in the history of art.
Itinerary Day 1: Ghent. Depart at c. 11.00am from London St Pancras by Eurostar for Lille, and from there drive to Ghent. Visit Ghent cathedral to see the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb polyptych by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, one of the greatest masterpieces of Netherlandish painting (undergoing restoration, not all panels are visible at once). Day 2: Ghent, Bruges. With its canals, melancholic hues and highly picturesque streetscape, Bruges is one of the loveliest cities in northern Europe. A major manufacturing and trading city in the Middle Ages, decline had already set in before the end of the 15th century. The Groeninge Museum has an excellent collection by Flemish masters including Jan van Eyck and the Church of Our Lady is home to Michelangelo’s marvellous marble Madonna and Child. St Salvator’s cathedral contains a triptych by Dirk Bouts. Day 3: Antwerp. The great port on the Scheldt has an abundance of historic buildings and museums and churches of the highest interest. Four of Rubens’s most powerful paintings are in the vast Gothic cathedral, joined for the first time for the first time since dispersal by the French in 1799. The house and studio Rubens built for himself are fascinating and well stocked with good pictures, and the Mayer van der Bergh Museum has a small but outstanding collection including works by Bruegel. Day 4: Bruges. Return to Bruges to see the mediaeval Hospital of St John, now a museum devoted to Hans Memling containing many of his best paintings. See the market place with its soaring belfry, Gothic town hall and Basilica of the Holy Blood. In Ghent visit the Museum of Fine Arts, mainly to see a work by Hieronymus Bosch. Day 5: Brussels. The Fine Arts Museum in Brussels is one of the best in Europe, and presents a comprehensive collection of Netherlandish painting as well as international works. Take the Eurostar from Brussels to London St Pancras, arriving c. 6.00pm.
Practicalities MAINLAND EUROPE: BELGIUM
Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,810 or £1,630 without Eurostar. Single occupancy: £2,040 or £1,860 without Eurostar. Included meals: 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel NH Gent Belfort (nhhotels.com): comfortable 4-star hotel, excellently located beside the town hall. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of standing in museums and walking on this tour, often on cobbled or roughly paved streets. It should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stairclimbing. You will need to be able to carry (wheel) your own luggage on and off the train and within stations. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 55 miles. Group size: between 10 and 20 participants.
Illustration: Ghent, St Nicholas, etching c. 1900.
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Bruges And the ancient cities of Flanders at Christmas 22–27 December 2017 (me 732) 6 days • £2,430 Lecturer: Dr Sophie Oosterwijk Immersion in the paintings of the Flemish Golden Age in the beautiful, unspoilt cities in which they were created. The main centres of Flemish art: Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels. Led by Dr Sophie Oosterwijk, expert on the Middle Ages, Flemish and Dutch art. First-class rail travel, 5-star hotel.
Illustration: Bruges, watercolour by W. Callow, publ. 1882.
Researcher and lecturer with degrees in Art History, Mediaeval Studies and English Literature. Her specialisms are the Middle Ages, and the art and culture of the Netherlands. She has taught at Leicester, Manchester and St Andrews Universities, and lectures at Cambridge. She is co-editor of the journal Church Monuments.
Itinerary Day 1: Tournai, Bruges. Leave by Eurostar from London St Pancras at c. 11.00am for Lille. Drive to Tournai, whose cathedral is not only one of the seminal buildings of 12th-century Europe, but also preserves one of the masterpieces of mediaeval reliquary art. Continue to Bruges where all six nights are spent. Day 2: Bruges. A walk passes the market square, soaring civic belfry, exquisite Gothic town hall, guild houses and palaces of some of the most prosperous merchants of mediaeval Europe. The mediaeval Hospital of St John is now a museum devoted to Hans Memling and contains many of his best paintings. In the afternoon visit the Groeningemuseum Museum with a wonderful collection of paintings by Van Eyck and other Bruges painters. The Church of Our Lady houses tombs of the Valois dukes and Michelangelo’s marble Madonna and Child. Day 3: Ghent. Walk around the highly attractive historic centre passing churches, canals, magnificent guild halls and fairytale castle. The altarpiece in the cathedral of St. Bavo, The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by the van Eyck brothers, is one of the outstanding achievements of western art, and the first and greatest masterpiece of the Netherlandish school (some panels are undergoing restoration). The Museum of Fine Arts has a representative collection of Flemish paintings to the present day, including Bosch’s Carrying the Cross and the Mystic Lamb panels being restored. Day 4, Christmas Day: Bruges, Lissewege, Damme. The morning is free, opportunity to attend a church service or for independent exploration. In the afternoon visit two lovely villages in the evocative polder countryside around Bruges. Lissewege has a fine church with a tall tower and a huge Gothic barn while Damme, strategically sited on the canal between Bruges and the sea, has a delightful late-mediaeval town hall. Day 5: Antwerp. The great port on the Scheldt has an abundance of historic buildings in the old centre, and possesses museums and churches of the highest interest. The Royal Museum of Fine Arts is closed for renovation until 2019. However, highlights of its impressive collection are on display in the vast Gothic cathedral, in addition to three of Rubens’s most powerful paintings. Visit also the house and studio Rubens built for himself and the Mayer van der Bergh Museum, which has a small but outstanding collection including works by Brueghel.
Day 6: Brussels. Having risen to prominence later than the other cities and thriving in the 19th and 20th centuries, Brussels nevertheless retains splendid palaces and guildhouses around the Grand Place. The Fine Arts Museum is one of the best in Europe, and presents the most comprehensive of all collections of Netherlandish painting as well as international works. Eurostar from Brussels, arriving at St Pancras at c. 7.15pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,430 or £2,240 without rail travel by Eurostar. Single occupancy: £2,840 or £2,650 without rail travel by Eurostar. Included meals: 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Dukes Palace (hoteldukespalace.com): 5-star hotel in the historic centre. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking and standing in museums on this tour. It should not be undertaken by anyone with difficulties with everyday walking and stairclimbing. Average distance by coach per day: 53 miles. Weather: crisp, cold weather is to be expected, with rain or even snow not out of the question. Group size: between 10 and 20 participants.
What else is included in the price? See page 7. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the cities of Flanders (an area now divided between France, Belgium and Holland) were the most prosperous and progressive in northern Europe. Though ruled successively by two of the most illustrious of European dynasties — the Valois Dukes of Burgundy and the House of Habsburg — these great cities were virtually independent states. Each was able to sustain a cultural life which taken together comprise one of the most brilliant episodes in the history of art. Now, with their enchanting dark brick buildings, cobbled streets and network of canals, their great squares formed by splendid guild houses and town halls, their soaring Gothic churches and richly filled museums, they are among the most beautiful of the smaller cities of Europe. Centuries of stagnation and decline subsequent to their period of greatness has resulted in the preservation of much of their ancient fabric. We have chosen Bruges as the base for this tour. With its very extensive unspoilt streetscape, and as the scene of the leading Early Netherlandish school of painting, it is the loveliest city of them all. In December, in the absence of the high-season crowds, Bruges regains some of the affecting tranquillity immortalised in the art of its heyday. The Golden Age of Flemish painting was inaugurated at the beginning of the fifteenth century by the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, whose consummate skill with the new art of oil painting resulted in pictures which have never been surpassed for their jewel-like brilliance and breathtaking naturalism. Among their successors were Hans Memling and Dirk Bouts, while an alternative tradition with greater emotional power was pursued by Rogier van der Weyden and Hugo van der Goes. Jerome Bosch was an individualist who specialized in the depiction of diabolical nastiness. The sixteenth century saw Mannerist displays of virtuoso skill and spiritual tension, though the outstanding painter of the century was another individualist, Pieter Brueghel. A magnificent culmination was reached in the seventeenth century with Peter Paul Rubens, the greatest painter of the Baroque age, consummate master of bravura technique, vitality, passion and tenderness.
Dr Sophie Oosterwijk
Rubens & Baroque ‘The Prince of Painters’ from Antwerp to Brussels Bert Watteeuw Curator of research collections at the Antwerp Rubenianum. He has worked at the Department of Art History at the University of Leuven, and collaborated on exhibitions on Renaissance portraiture: Anthony van Dyck (The Frick Collection, New York) and Peter Paul Rubens (Rubenshuis, Antwerp). He is currently conceptualising a new visitor centre for the Rubens House, due to open in 2019. port on the Scheldt has an abundance of historic buildings and museums and churches of the highest interest. Visit the church of St Charles Borromeo, its Jesuit facade inspired by the Gesù in Rome, with sumptuous decoration partly attributed to Rubens. Day 2. Antwerp. Four of Rubens’ most powerful paintings are in the vast Gothic cathedral, reunited for the first time since dispersal by the French in 1799. The house and studio Rubens built for himself are fascinating and well stocked with good pictures. The Plantin Moretus Museum presents Rubens as a book designer and illustrator, while the church of St Andrews displays artwork by Rubens’ apprentice, Otto van Veen.
4–7 October 2018 (mf 218) 4 days • £1,870 Lecturer: Bert Watteeuw Celebrating the life and work of Peter Paul Rubens. An in-depth exploration of the art of painting in early modern Antwerp. A number of paintings on display in the beautiful buildings in which they were created.
MAINLAND EUROPE: BELGIUM
Led by Bert Watteeuw, curator of research at the Rubenshuis. First-class train travel from London. On 20th August 1566, to disastrous effect, the tide of iconoclasm swept through Antwerp, then the commercial heart of northern Europe. Out of a small mediaeval nucleus on a bank in the river Scheldt, Antwerp had grown into an early modern metropolis. With trade came new ideas, which through a progressive printing and book-dealing culture found an audience among Antwerp’s well-connected and well-informed citizens. In late summer of 1566 came attacks on religious imagery in Antwerp’s churches, and a stint of Protestant rule from 1581 to 1585 would further empty them of their fabled spoils. With the fall of Antwerp in 1585, all hopes of escaping Spanish Catholic reign were dashed. A massive exodus ensued, with many of the educated refugees bringing highly specialised skills developed in Antwerp 48
to Europe’s newly emerging Protestant capitals. Firmly under Spanish rule, Antwerp reasserted itself as a northern bulwark of Habsburg and Catholic forces. The city was to become a beacon of the triumphant Counter-Reformation. Its location offered a newly strident Catholicism a superb stage on which to display new Roman policy on the use of religious images. In this climate of artistic restoration and rejuvenation, commissions for altarpieces soared, and strong domestic and international markets for Antwerp paintings thrived. Peter Paul Rubens was very much more than the right man in the right place at the right time. He delivered. Consistently and on a major scale. He returned to Antwerp after his family had fled to protestant Siegen and travelled extensively in Italy (and Spain) from 1600 to 1608. His return to Antwerp is a major turning point in European art history. A career spanning the continent followed, including massive cycles and ensembles commissioned by royal patrons in Madrid, London and Paris. Antwerp’s monumental churches and its museum collections, among them the Rubenshuis, offer the opportunity to step into the artist’s universe and to delve deep into the historic fabric of the city that made him: from Rubens’ own home and workshop to his tomb.
Itinerary Day 1. Antwerp. Depart at c. 11.00am from London St Pancras by Eurostar for Brussels, and from there take the train to Antwerp. The great
book online at www.martinrandall.com
Day 3. Antwerp. Visit the MAS Museum and the temporary exhibition in collaboration with the Rubenshuis, contrasting intimate commissions with large Baroque paintings. An opportunity to visit the Mayer van der Bergh Museum before the church of St Paul, filled with over fifty paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck and Jordaens. Walk to the church of St James, one of the largest in the city, and the final resting place of Peter Paul Rubens. Day 4. Brussels. The Fine Arts Museum in Brussels is one of the best in Europe, and presents a comprehensive collection of Netherlandish painting as well as international works. Take the Eurostar from Brussels to London St Pancras, arriving c. 6.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,870 or £1,620 without Eurostar. Single occupancy: £2,070 or £1,820 without Eurostar. Included meals: 2 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Julien, Antwerp (hoteljulien.com): contemporary 4-star boutique hotel, excellently located near the cathedral. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of standing in museums and walking, often on cobbled or roughly paved streets. You will need to be able to carry (wheel) your own luggage on and off the train and within stations. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average coach travel per day: 11 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Illustration: late-18th-century copper engraving (detail) after Rubens’ ‘The Descent from the Cross’ (in Antwerp Cathedral).
The Western Balkans Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro: history past and present 2–15 October 2017 (me 591) This tour is currently full 7–20 May 2018 (me 845) 14 days • £4,610 Lecturer: Elizabeth Roberts 1–14 October 2018 (mf 210) 14 days • £4,610 Lecturer: Elizabeth Roberts A ground-breaking journey through one of the most politically complex and fissiparous yet fundamentally similar regions of Europe. Rural villages, little-visited towns, imposing capitals; magnificent mountainous landscapes; little tourism. Exquisite Byzantine wall paintings in the fortresslike monasteries of Southern Serbia, Ottoman mosques, Art Nouveau architecture.
Itinerary Day 1: Zagreb. Fly at c. 8.30am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Zagreb. Lunch is served upon arrival followed by an orientation walk, including a visit to the State Archives. First of two nights in Zagreb (Croatia).
with cobbled alleys and fortress walls. Overnight Osijek (Croatia). Day 4: Ilok, Novi Sad. Pass through Vukovar, the Croatian town worst damaged by the 1991 war. Stop near Ilok, a picturesque fortified settlement on a bluff high above the Danube. Cross the river into Serbia and spend the afternoon in Novi Sad. This has a picturesque core with buildings from the 18th century. Onwards and, across the Danube, the massive fortress of Petrovaradin which was pivotal in Prince Eugene’s wars with the Turks. First of two nights in Belgrade (Serbia).
Day 2: Zagreb. The westernmost place on this tour, the capital of Croatia ranks with the loveliest cities of Central Europe. Visit the Meštrović Atelier displaying the works of the renowned Croatian sculptor, private viewing of the Golden Hall, the Gothic Cathedral of the Assumption. Walk to the upper town, the Kaptol district, via the bustling market. After lunch there is free time to visit the Modern Art Gallery and Museum of Arts and Crafts. Overnight Zagreb.
Day 5: Belgrade. With its broad avenues and imposing public buildings, Belgrade is unmistakably a capital and instantly recognisable as a Balkan one. After Diocletian divided the Roman Empire in the late third century ad, it became the westernmost stronghold of the eastern portion. Its kernel is a citadel on a hill above the meeting of the Danube and Sava rivers, which holds the record for the number of times it has changed hands between hostile powers. Most of the city’s architecture dates from the late 19th century onwards. Liveliness is provided by the café culture typical of the Balkans. Overnight in Belgrade.
Day 3: Zagreb, Osijek. Drive through Croatia’s rustic north-eastern region of Slavonia, via lunch at a vineyard, to Osijek. Located on the River Drava amid gently undulating countryside, Osijek is the administrative centre of Slavonia. There is a remarkably unspoilt 18th-century quarter built by the Austrians as their military and administrative headquarters when they pushed back the Turks,
Day 6: Belgrade, Manasija. Free morning in Belgrade. Then begin three days visiting what Serbia does best, mediaeval Orthodox monasteries. Tucked in a wooded valley, Manasija is ringed by surely the highest and stoutest walls of any monastery anywhere, built in the early 15th century in expectation of the inevitable Turkish assault. Frescoes of the highest quality – a late
MAINLAND EUROPE: BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
This journey takes us to borderlands where, for much of their history, the South Slavs have been divided by competing empires and cultures. In Serbia, the Nemanjić dynasty flourished from the twelfth until the fourteenth centuries and built monasteries that combined Byzantine and Romanesque influences. But from the early fifteenth century (following the defeat of Prince Lazar in 1389) until the mid-nineteenth century, the Ottoman Turks ruled Serbia, Bosnia and much of Slavonia. Meanwhile, the Habsburg Empire reached south into Croatia, and Venice dominated the cities of the Adriatic coast. The modern politics and structure of the Western Balkans were defined by the Congress of Berlin in 1878; the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, which created the first Yugoslavia; the Second World War, which ravaged the region and gave birth to Tito’s Yugoslavia; and, most recently, the maelstrom of the 1990s and the emergence of the present seven independent states. What are the Western Balkans like now? There has been a major change in the past decade. The capitals and main cities that we shall visit are all lively and welcoming, but each retains a distinct character. Croatia is prosperous and joined the EU in the summer of 2013. Its historic links to Vienna and Budapest can be seen clearly in Zagreb and Osijek. Our other destinations are more complex and multi-layered. Belgrade is historically the extension of a strategic Ottoman citadel overlooking the Danube and Sava. It has fine and varied architecture (including some from the Art Nouveau period) and a cosmopolitan feel. Sarajevo combines mosques, Orthodox churches, squares and kafanas in a mountainous setting. Its troubled history is not far below the surface. The smaller Bosnian towns on our route (Višegrad, Mostar and Trebinje) have great charm. Kotor – in Montenegro – is a small fortified Venetian port city with a Romanesque cathedral on the shore of a fjord. Visits to the old capital, Cetinje, and the coast will offer insights into Montenegro’s history and strongly independent national character.
One particular feature of this journey is that it takes in remote and functioning Serbian Orthodox monasteries that are of exceptional architectural and artistic interest, and include unesco World Heritage sites. This tour is emphatically a journey, with some long days and much driving through hilly terrain. The late-spring and autumn departures will show the magnificent countryside at its best.
Illustration: Kotor, watercolour by William Tyndale, publ. 1925.
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The Western Balkans continued
Herzegovina. Walk around the historic walled town and a country market. In the afternoon cross from Bosnia-Herzegovina to Montenegro and descend into the Bay of Kotor. First of three nights in Kotor (Montenegro).
Mostar, from ‘Balkan Sketches’, 1926.
Day 12: Kotor, Perast. Kotor nestles at the foot of high hills, a harbour on a sheltered fjord off the Adriatic. This diminutive city retains its fearsome ramparts, much unspoilt streetscape and an astonishing Romanesque cathedral incorporating Roman columns. In the later afternoon drive around the fjord to Perast, perched between towering mountains and the water, with large mansions, mediaeval to Baroque. A short boat ride allows a visit to an island church, Our Lady of the Rock, before lunch on the water’s edge. Overnight Kotor.
flowering of Byzantine art – survive well. First of two nights in Kraljevo (Serbia).
Peninsula. The various assorted mosques, churches and synagogues highlight the pluralist nature of the city. It is possible to stand where Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand; in the adjacent museum it is strangely moving to see the trousers of the man who started the First World War. Overnight in Sarajevo.
Day 7: Studenica, Sopoćani. This includes a drive through spectacular mountain scenery. We visit two more superb mediaeval monasteries, Studenica and Sopoćani. Both are located in remote and beautiful valleys; both have amongst the finest 13th- and 14th-century Byzantine frescoes to survive anywhere. We stop briefly near the Bosniak town of Novi Pazar in the Sandžak. Overnight Kraljevo.
Day 10: Mostar. Driving over the mountains that encircle Sarajevo and following the Neretva river, we arrive in Mostar in the late morning. A thriving trading town since Herzegovina came under Ottoman rule in 1482, this is Bosnia-Herzegovina’s most picturesque town, an open-air museum with narrow cobbled streets and original Ottoman architecture. At its heart is the Old Bridge, shelled until it collapsed in 1993 and rebuilt in 2004. Overnight Mostar (Bosnia-Herzegovina).
Day 8: Višegrad, Sarajevo. Cross from Serbia to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Stop at the beautiful late16th-century Višegrad bridge before continuing to the capital, Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina). First of two nights here. Day 9: Sarajevo. Famously squeezed by high treeclad hills at the head of a river valley, Sarajevo was founded in the 15th century by the Ottoman Turks in the wake of their steady conquest of the Balkan
Day 11: Stolac, Trebinje, Kotor. This is wine country, and after a stop in the quiet Ottoman town of Stolac, lunch is at a winery in Trebinje, the southernmost city of Bosnia-
MAINLAND EUROPE: BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
H U N G A RY S L OV E N I A Zagreb
Virovitica
RO M A N I A Osijek
C ro a t i a
Ilok
Novi Sad Belgrade
Bosnia & Herzegovina Sarajevo
Serbia Višegrad
Stolac Dubrovnik
M o n t e n e g ro
Trebinje Perast Cetinje
50
c. 100 km
book online at www.martinrandall.com
Day 14: Kotor. Fly from Dubrovnik, arriving London Gatwick at approximately 1.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £4,610 or £4,370 without flights. Single occupancy: £5,060 or £4,820 without flights. Included meals: 9 lunches, 10 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. The Regent Esplanade Hotel, Zagreb (esplanade.hr): grand 5-star hotel within walking distance of the city centre. Hotel Osijek, Osijek (hotelosijek.hr/en): modern, comfortable 4-star high-rise hotel on the bank of the river Drava. Hotel Moskva, Belgrade (hotelmoskva. rs): well-located and comfortable hotel built 1926 with a great deal of character, recently renovated. Hotel Crystal, Kraljevo (hotelcrystal.rs): simple but adequate 4- star with welcoming service; the only acceptable hotel in a region with little tourism. Hotel Europe, Sarajevo (hoteleurope.ba): centrally located 5-star hotel, the best in the city; built in the late 19th century but comprehensively renovated. Hotel Mepas, Mostar (mepas-hotel.ba/ en): modern 5-star business hotel just a short drive from the historic centre. Hotel Cattaro, Kotor (cattarohotel.com): located within the old city walls, this 4-star hotel provides an excellent base from which to explore. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking in the city centres, some of it on uneven ground and up and down steep flights of steps. Though the average distance by coach per day is 65 miles, many roads are slow and mountainous and some travelling days are long. Border crossings may entail minor delays. There are 6 hotel changes. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Sopoćani
Kosovo
Kotor
I TA LY
Kraljevo Studenica
Mostar
Adriatic Sea
Manasija
Day 13: Cetinje, Budva. A mountain drive to Cetinje, which until the end of the First World War was the capital of Montenegro and still retains the echo of uniforms, a royal court and Balkan diplomacy. Visit the Palace of King Nikola, the Art and History Museum and former embassies. In the afternoon visit the historic old town of Budva on Montenegro’s Adriatic coast. Final night in Kotor.
ALBANIA
M AC E D O N I A
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Walking in Southern Bohemia Castles, country houses and country walking 8–13 June 2018 (me 904) 6 days • £2,260 Lecturer: Dr Jana Gajdošová Country walking and architectural history. Undulating countryside, some uphill walks, through woodland of oak, lime and conifer and across meadows and arable land. A variety of castles and country houses and extremely pretty towns and villages. Led by Dr Jana Gajdosova, art historian and lecturer at Cambridge, specialising in the architecture of Central Europe. Combine this tour with A Festival of Music in Prague, 13–19 June 2018 – see page 52.
Itinerary Day 1: Hluboká. Fly at c. 9.45am from London Heathrow to Prague. Drive southwards to the Gothic Revival castle at Hluboká, summer home of the Schwarzenbergs, wealthiest landowners in South Bohemia, and richly furnished and
decorated. Continue to our neighbouring hotel for the first of three nights. Day 2: Staré Město pod Landštejnem, Slavonice, Samosoly, Červená Lhota. Walk: Staré Město to Slavonice, 8 km. Ascent: 88m, descent: 181m. The walk begins with wonderful views of unspoiled, hilly countryside marking the boundary of the Czech Republic and Austria. Continue through forests of fir and pine, passing defences which the Czech army was obliged to relinquish as a consequence of Chamberlain’s acquiescence to Hitler’s demands in 1938. Lunch in the beautiful little town of Slavonice, its two squares lined with 16th-century houses, arcaded and gabled. Drive to Samosoly for a short afternoon walk to the raspberry-pink castle of Cervena Lhota set in the middle of a lake and surrounded by a landscaped park, 3 km. Ascent: 38m, descent: 37m. Day 3: Jindřichův Hradec, Spolí, Třeboň. Morning visit to Jindřichův Hradec castle with arcades and an exquisite Renaissance rotunda. Afternoon walk: Spolí to Lake Svet, 7 km. Ascent: 52m, descent: 60m. From the village of Spolí we ascend gently, affording views of the surrounding diverse landscape before entering a pine tree forest to Lake Svet. Visit the Schwarzenberg mausoleum on the edge of the delightful small town of Třeboň and remain here for dinner before returning to Hluboká. Day 4: Krtely, Kratochvíle, Kladné, Český Krumlov. Walk: Krtely to Kratochvíle, 3 km. Ascent: 38m, descent: 100m. A gentle walk through meadows and forest until the Renaissance castle of Kratochvíle gradually appears in the distance. After a visit and lunch, drive to Kladné for the afternoon walk into Český Krumlov: 6 km. Ascent: 154m, descent: 198m. This is a varied and picturesque walk of forested hills, carpeted with blueberries and hayfields, through the decaying remains of a Baroque estate into the formal gardens of the castle, from where we capture a first and glorious view of this exceedingly pretty town. First of two nights in Český Krumlov.
Day 5: Český Krumlov, Vyssí Brod. Return to the castle on a hilltop above Český Krumlov, Mediaeval in origin, with Renaissance and Baroque additions. See the hall, painted with a masked ball. Drive to Vyssí Brod, once a major Cistercian monastery with 13th-century church. Circular walk from Vyssí Brod: 6 km. Ascent: 214m, descent: 201m. Skirting the monastery, we follow an extremely scenic route via the waterfalls of Menší Vltavice and a neo-Romanesque chapel with lovely views of the Šumava foothills. Day 6: Český Krumlov, Prague. Visit Český Krumlov’s 18th-century castle theatre, one of the few of its kind to have survived, and the Gothic church of St Vitus. Drive to Prague for the flight arriving at London Heathrow at c. 6.30pm. Some of the places on this itinerary require special permission to visit. The order may therefore vary a little from the description above.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,260 or £2,050 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,410 or £2,200 without flights. Included meals: 4 lunches (including 1 packed lunch) and 5 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Štekl, Hluboká nad Vltavou (hotelstekl.cz): 4-star hotel converted from an auxiliary building belonging to the neighbouring mansion. Hotel Latrán Český Krumlov (latran.hotely-krumlov.cz): small 4-star hotel near the castle. How strenuous? This is a walking tour: it is essential for participants to be in good physical condition and to be used to country walking, including hill walking. Average distance by coach per day: 82 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Illustration: Hluboká, Schwarzenberg Castle.
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MAINLAND EUROPE: CZECH REPUBLIC
The beauty of Bohemia is two-fold: exquisite towns and villages, and countryside as beguiling as any in Central Europe. In its southernmost reaches low-lying pastures give way to the foothills of the Šumava mountains on the Austrian border. Walking here delves deep into a gentle landscape, much of it farmland, predominantly arable, even more of it woodland and coniferous forest. Water is a constant with innumerable man-made lakes dating from the Middle Ages and the mighty River Vltava. There are no mountain peaks to scale or deep valleys to traverse. Some views are panoramic, others are snatched in forest clearings, some stretches are enclosed with no vistas at all. Nevertheless, walking here offers an intense experience with its own set of charms. Firstly, solitude: a careful construction of waymarked paths is woefully neglected by walkers, with just the occasional cyclist or mushroompicker to sidestep. Then there is ever-changing texture and colour, through dry and practically alpine forest to low-lying, damp, dark woods; across maize and wheat farmland to fallow fields and meadows: a paint chart of greens, soft and musty or intense and clean. Finally, the chief focus of the tour: walks into (or away from) buildings and built environments of beauty, charm or magnificence, a sequence of country houses, monasteries, town palaces and castles. The tour is co-led by an art historian and a Czech guide who talks about the recent past. For much of its history, but especially in the sixteenth century, Bohemia was one of the most prosperous regions in Europe. Many of the great magnates of the Habsburg Empire established summer residences here, constantly rebuilding, extending and refurbishing. Reception of Italian Renaissance architecture was precocious, and in the era of Baroque there was a veritable mania for building. Many parks and gardens later succumbed to the fashion for the English landscaped style, and also partly of British inspiration was the nineteenth-century Gothic Revival.
Treasures of Moravia Town and country 6–13 June 2018 (me 900) 8 days • £2,820 Lecturer: Dr Jarl Kremeier A little-known corner of Europe with a fascinating architectural patrimony. Unspoilt historic towns, Renaissance palaces, extraordinary Baroque churches. Led by Dr Jarl Kremeier, specialist in 17th- to 19th-century architecture and decorative arts. Enchanting landscape and historic gardens. Combine this tour with A Festival of Music in Prague, 13–19 June 2018 (see below).
For a couple of decades in the ninth century the Great Moravian Empire encompassed not only Czech and Slovak lands but also parts of what are now Austria, Hungary and Poland. This agglomeration of territories rapidly disintegrated, and neighbouring Bohemia began to take shape and take priority. Ever since then Moravia has been the lesser member in an enduring partnership with Bohemia. Yoked together, they fell together under Habsburg suzerainty in 1526, emerged together in 1920 to form (with Slovakia) the new Czechoslovakia, and stayed together in 1993 to form the Czech Republic (shorn of Slovakia). It may have been politically provincial but it was a prosperous area and quite close to the chief metropolis of Central Europe, Vienna. Its rich architectural and artistic patrimony includes fine Renaissance country houses, outstanding Baroque palaces and churches, bizarre buildings by Jan Santini-Aichel, historic gardens both formal and landscaped, galleries of fine and decorative art, much beautiful streetscape in towns and villages, and rolling landscape. Moravia gets better every year. Architectural conservation proceeds apace, towns are smartened up, hotels and restaurants are improving, and more and more museums and historic buildings are refurbished and better presented. In spite of these developments Moravia is much less on the tourist track than Bohemia and remains fairly unspoilt.
Itinerary Day 1: Zd’ár nad Sázavou, Brno. Fly at c. 9.45am from London Heathrow to Prague (British Airways) and drive south into Moravia. Visit the pilgrimage church at Zd’ár nad Sázavou, a Baroque-Gothic creation by the maverick architect Santini-Aichel and among the most bizarre and fascinating buildings of the 18th century. Continue to Brno where the next five nights are spent.
Day 2: Brno. The present capital of Moravia, and the second largest Czech city, Brno has a wealth of Gothic and Baroque churches and fine architecture of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. A walk includes the mediaeval town hall, the fine Gothic church of St James and the Baroque Minorite church, among other treasures. Villa Tugendhadt is a superb house by modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Day 3: Slavkov, Kroměříž. Alias Austerlitz, Slavkov gave its name to Napoleon’s 1805 victory against Austro-Russian armies. After surveying the battlefield, visit the imposing Baroque mansion, which contains a fine art collection. The Bishop’s Palace at Kroměříž with magnificent Rococo hall and fine art collection (Titian, van Dyck, Brueghel). The 17th-century walled garden with pavilion and immense colonnade is an astounding survival. Day 4: Lednice, Rajhrad. On a vast estate straddling the Austrian border once owned by the Liechtensteins, the richest magnates in the Habsburg Empire, Lednice has a superbly crafted Gothic Revival mansion, magnificent Baroque stables and a landscaped park dotted with architectural follies. Rajhrad monastery was built in the eighteenth century on a vast scale, and has a magnificent church by Santini-Aichel, the genius of Bohemian Baroque. Day 5: Olomouc, Bučovice. Olomouc, former capital of Moravia, has many fine churches, a Romanesque episcopal palace and Renaissance town hall. Several magnificently sculpted fountains are spread through a highly attractive historic townscape, surely the loveliest little city in Europe which is not yet on the tourist trail. Bučovice has a splendid Renaissance mansion with arcaded courtyard and stucco interiors of a quality virtually without equal in northern Europe.
MAINLAND EUROPE: CZECH REPUBLIC
A Festival of Music in Prague 13–19 June 2018 (me 905) Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com Ten private concerts of music from the Czech lands in magnificent and appropriate historic buildings, with musicians of the highest calibre, from the Czech Republic and Britain. Music from Renaissance to 20th century, with plenty of Baroque, and Smetana and Dvořák well represented. Professor Jan Smaczny gives talks on the music, and Professor Tim Blanning on history. Choose from a range of 4-star and 5-star hotels in the centre of the city. Free time to explore Prague, one of the most picturesque cities of Europe, and optional walks with specialists. 52
book online at www.martinrandall.com
Danish Castles & Gardens North Sealand and the Danish Riviera Day 6: Naměst nad Oslavou, Telč. Dramatically sited above a little town in the valley below, the fabric of the castle at Naměst nad Oslavou dates largely to the later 16th century. There is a large Baroque hall with frescoes by Carpoforo Tencalla, 1670–73. Telč is a tiny town with the loveliest square in the Czech Lands, lined with Renaissance and Baroque façades above a meandering Gothic arcade. First of two nights in Telč. Day 7: Vranov nad Dyji, Jaroměřice. Perched high above a gorge close to the Austrian border, the great oval Hall of Ancestors at Vranov is one of the most impressive Baroque creations in Central Europe, the creation of the greatest architect and greatest painter in the region at the time. The splendid mansion at Jaroměřice sprawls irregularly, but contains some wonderful 18thcentury interiors and an enormous chapel. Day 8: Telč. The castle in Telč was extended in stages during the 16th century with a series of halls of brilliant, eccentric decoration around elegant, arcaded courtyards; a jewel of the Northern Renaissance. Free time before driving to Prague for the flight to Heathrow, arriving c. 6.15pm. Many of the houses on this itinerary require special permission to visit. The order may therefore vary a little from the description above.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,820 or £2,610 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,060 or £2,850 without flights. Included meals: 4 lunches, 6 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Grandezza Hotel, Brno (grandezzahotel.cz/): a newly opened boutique hotel, the luxurious Grandezza is located in the heart of Brno’s historic centre The Green Market. Hotel U Hraběnky, Telč (hotel-uhrabenky.cz/en): the only usable hotel in the area, this 4-star is fairly old-fashioned, if adequately equipped.
Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
The Iron Curtain September 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Illustrations. Far left: Brno, 1930s coloured etching. Left: Prague, Old Town Square, lithograph by Samuel Prout 1839. Right: Hillerød, Frederiksborg Castle, engraving c. 1880.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Privileged access to royal residences and gardens, some not generally open to the public. Based in Copenhagen and Elsinore (of Hamlet fame), with an excursion by ship to Sweden. Lectures by garden historian Dr Margrethe Floryan, curator at the Thorvaldsen Museum. This is an opportunity to appreciate North Sealand’s natural environment and its architectural highlights, in particular where the two artfully combine in a series of beautiful gardens. A special ingredient of the tour is the opportunity to meet some of those involved in their planning, planting and conservation. Stretching from Copenhagen to Elsinore, thirty-five miles to the westernmost shore of Øresund, the Danish Riviera is celebrated for the quality of its produce (it is also known as ‘Denmark’s kitchen garden’) as well as for its beaches, woodlands and attractive fishing harbours. The region is also home to the country’s greatest royal residences. Their interiors and art collections are as impressive and fascinating as the landscapes and gardens in which they are set. An outward looking attitude is traceable in both Danish architecture and horticulture. Dutch Renaissance, Italian Baroque and French Classicist styles are easily detectable influences in the properties visited. Kronborg, Frederiksborg and Rosenborg castles, built under the patronage of King Christian IV (r. 1588-1648), are cases in point. Scandinavia’s longest reigning monarch pushed through an extensive civic programme that reflected his cosmopolitan outlook and economic aspirations for Denmark, and included the foundation of new towns and ports and the enlargement of the royal shipyards as well as monumental residences for himself.
Rosenborg Palace was begun in 1606 as a summer pavilion and stylistically is Dutch in inspiration. A plan of 1649 shows how Renaissance principles also governed the design of the gardens, created both for pleasure and for provisioning the royal household with vegetables, fruit, fish and flowers. Large-scale conservation projects have recently been implemented here, and also at Frederiksborg and Fredensborg, respectively palace and hunting lodge built for Frederik IV (r. 1699–1730). Mile-long lime alleys have been renewed, parterres replanted with historically accurate specimens, fountains and pavilions restored and pathways returned to their original tracery. In contrast to these grandiose schemes, there are more modest and modern gardens too. Given to Copenhagen in 1983 by the shipping magnate A.P. Møller, Amaliehaven is on the site of a shipyard and faces the opera house across the water. Strandpark Hellerup is a public park laid out in 1912 to the pioneering design of G.N.Brandt, Denmark’s leading landscape architect and gardener of the time. Our lecturer, Dr Margrethe Floryan, is curator of Copenhagen’s Thorvaldsen Museum, the creation of the Neoclassical sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844), and has written books on gardens and garden history.
Itinerary Day 1: Copenhagen. Fly at c. 10.00am from London Heathrow to Copenhagen (British Airways). Walk to Rosenborg Palace, royal residence from the early 17th to the late 18th century in the heart of Copenhagen. It is set in the King’s Garden and contains original furnishings as well as the Crown Jewels and the royal regalia. The garden features lime alleys, historic pavilions and a sunken rose garden. First of three nights in Copenhagen. Day 2: Copenhagen. Walk via Frederiksstaden, a waterfront district built by Frederick V in 1748 Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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How strenuous? Quite a lot of walking, some of it up slopes or up steps. To be able to enjoy the tour it is essential to manage walking and stair-climbing without difficulty. There is a fair amout of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 100 miles.
2–8 July 2018 (me 944) 7 days • £3,070 Lecturer: Dr Margrethe Floryan
Danish Castles & Gardens continued
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to commemorate the tercentenary of his family’s ascent to the throne. Home to many Danish monarchs since the 1760s, Amalienborg is an exceptional complex of four matching Rococo palaces around a public square, the finest of its kind outside France. Christiansborg Palace, on the site of Copenhagen Castle, is seat of the Danish Parliament and is used today for Queen Margrethe’s public audiences and other state events. Overnight Copenhagen. Day 3: Copenhagen outskirts. Situated on the waterfront, the gardens at Hellerup are renowned for their roses and reflect the adoption of British planting schemes of the early 20th century. Bernstorff Palace is an exquisite mid-18th-century French-inspired manor house, later acquired by the Royal family. Accompanied by the head gardener, we explore the extensive landscaped grounds, with orchards, vines and a historic rose garden, before lunching in the palace. Visit the Hermitage in Jægersborg Deer Park, recently restored to its 17th-century glory, and still used by the Danish court. Overnight Copenhagen. Day 4: Elsinore. Drive along the coast from Copenhagen to Elsinore. Visit the commanding Renaissance castle of Kronborg, long a symbol of Danish power due to its position on the narrow strait between Denmark and Sweden. The newly restored Baroque gardens at Fredensborg Palace (the present royal couple’s favourite) represent the 54
summit of the French tradition in Denmark. The private garden, orangery and kitchen garden are at their peak in July, and we meet the head gardener. First of three nights in Elsinore. Day 5: North Sealand. The Renaissance Frederiksborg Castle was restored after a fire in 1859 and now houses the National Museum of History (500 years of paintings, portraits and furniture). Italian and French influences lie behind the cascades and richly ornamented parterres of the gardens. The Marienlyst Palace and Garden trace their history to the 16th century. Optional visit to the famously beautiful Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk. Overnight Elsinore. Day 6: Sofiero (Sweden), North Sealand. Take the ferry between Elsinore and Helsingborg to visit Sofiero Palace, which for more than a century was one of the Swedish Royal family’s country mansions. The garden has more than 500 rhododendron varieties. Free afternoon in Elsinore, which became rich from taxes on shipping, as the medieval churches and convents testify. Opened in 2014, the shipyard has been transformed by Bjarke Ingels Group as a cultural complex including a Maritime Museum. Overnight Elsinore. Day 7: Copenhagen. The view from Frederiksberg Palace stretches over the sea. Italian Mannerist villas are the source of inspiration for the layout
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of this early 18th-century royal palace, but a century later the scheme also accommodated winding waters, meandering paths and Classical and Chinese garden pavilions, to which we have special access. Some free time in the afternoon, perhaps to explore the garden of the Royal Danish Horticultural Society. Return to London Heathrow at c. 7.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,070 or £2,860 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,520 or £3,310 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Phoenix Copenhagen (phoenixcopenhagen.dk): traditional 4-star hotel close to the Amalienborg Palace. Beach Hotel Marienlyst (marienlyst.dk/en): comfortable and contemporary 4-star hotel, rooms have a sea view. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking and standing in historic properties and gardens. Average distance by coach per day: 21 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: French Gothic, 9–15 July 2018 (p.60). Illustrations. Above: Kronborg Castle, wood engraving c. 1880. Right: watercolour by A.R. Hope Moncrieff, publ. 1920.
Vikings & Bog Bodies Ancient Denmark 3–10 July 2018 (me 946) 8 days • £3,340 Lecturer: Dr Gareth Williams The most important Viking sites in Denmark including Roskilde, Copenhagen and Jelling. See some of the best-preserved ‘bog bodies’: Tollund Man and Grauballe Man. Stay in central Copenhagen, the charming mediaeval town of Ribe and the important regional city of Aarhus. Journey through idyllic countryside and visit the environmentally precious wilderness of the Wadden Sea. Led by Dr Gareth Williams, an author, researcher and leading expert in Viking history, and curator at the British Musuem.
Day 2: Roskilde. Excursion to the small historic city of Roskilde to see the Viking Ship Museum, where several original vessels and reconstructions can be viewed. There is an opportunity to be part of the crew and sail a reconstructed Viking long ship into the Roskilde Fjord. Day 3: Trelleborg, Ribe. The well-preserved circular military fortress at Trelleborg is part of a network of similar ‘command and control’ sites across Denmark. Picturesque mediaeval Ribe is Denmark’s oldest town, and one of the earliest in post-Roman Europe. First of two nights in Ribe. Day 4: Wadden Sea, Ribe. Spend the morning at the environmentally precious wilderness of the Wadden Sea. In the afternoon visit the excellent Viking Museum in Ribe. Some free time. Day 5: Ravning, Jelling, Silkeborg. A short walk to Ravning, site of the Viking bridge built by Harold Bluetooth across the Vejle valley, 760 metres long and over five metres wide. The small eastern Jutland town of Jelling, now a World Heritage Site, preserves a vast stone ship-setting, two immense burial mounds and the rune-stones of Gorm and Harold which record the early history of their dynasty. These stand outside a stone church, emblematic of the rise of Christianity. In Silkeborg see the best-preserved Iron Age bog body known as Tollund Man. First of three nights in Aarhus. Day 6: Moesgaard, Aarhus. In charming countryside, the state-of-the-art museum at Moesgaard, designed by Henning Larsen Architects, opened in 2014. It houses exhibitions on prehistory, including Grauballe Man who was
discovered in a peat bog in 1952 and dates to the 3rd century bc. Return to Aarhus for free time. Day 7: Lindholm Høje, Aalborg, Fyrkat. Head north to Lindholm Høje, a major late-Viking burial site. Rare ship monuments (burial sites demarcated by stones in the shape of ships) are found as well as hundreds of burial sites marked with stones or mounds. Stop in the pleasant market town of Aalborg for lunch before visiting the Viking fortress of Fyrkat. Day 8: Ladby, Copenhagen. The only ship burial discovered in Denmark, the Ladby boat is a Viking chieftain’s burial vessel. The wood of the 22-metre ship has long since rotted away but left a perfect impression in the earth. Buried with 11 horses and many valuables and possessions, the skeletal remnants of the animals are all that remain of the contents. Fly from Copenhagen to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 6.20pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,340 or £3,190 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,790 or £3,640 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 5 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Phoenix Copenhagen (phoenixcopenhagen.dk): traditional 4-star hotel close to the Amalienborg Palace. Hotel Dagmar, Ribe (hoteldagmar.dk): characterful 3-star hotel on the town square with views of the cathedral. Hotel Royal, Aarhus (hotelroyal.dk): 4-star in the centre of Aarhus, public rooms are opulent and luxurious; bedrooms are classic and comfortable. How strenuous? Walking is necessitated over the uneven terrain of Viking sites. There is quite a lot of standing in museums. There are two hotel changes. The optional boat trip in Roskilde involves manning the oars. Average distance by coach per day: 92 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
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A country with a fierce and proud national history, but which today is renowned for its excellent food, world-class museums and high standards of art, architecture and design, Denmark is a pleasure to visit. Its archaeological treasures include the collections of the National Museum in Copenhagen, the Viking ships at Roskilde and the exceptionally well-preserved Iron Age ‘bog bodies’ known as Tollund Man and Grauballe Man. The peaceful and prosperous image of modern Denmark belies its roots as northern Europe’s first, and most aggressive, nation state. Between the eighth and the eleventh centuries ad, Danes attacked, conquered and colonised a wide swath of Europe. Bands of well-armed warriors spread out from its fjords and islands in ships of unrivalled quality and effectiveness. They travelled the northern seas, wreaking terror on indigenous populations and causing political chaos. Treaties and buy-offs, such as ‘Danegeld’ paid by the English under Æthelred ‘The Unready’, consolidated their power. The keys to understanding Denmark’s rise as a centralised state are its compact geography and the ease of communication across its waterways and gently contoured landscape. Emerging from warring Iron Age tribes, a succession of ambitious and successful rulers established national defences, roads, bridges, canals and a network of towns. Trade and the new religion of Christianity prospered. The high-point of the Viking Age occurred under the Jelling dynasty, which began with the reign of Gorm the Old in the early decades of the tenth century. Gorm’s son Harold Bluetooth, his grandson Svein Forkbeard and his great-grandson Cnut the Great presided over a ‘golden age’ of Danish achievement, marked by the construction of spectacular dynastic monuments and accompanied by astonishing artistic endeavour. Under Cnut, Denmark’s conquests extended to parts of Norway, Sweden, Germany and, its greatest prize, the Kingdom of England.
Museum, Copenhagen. One of the great museums of the world, it hosted the first stage of the Vikings: Life and Legend exhibition, which subsequently went on to the British Museum and Berlin. The National Museum’s prehistoric exhibits are also exceptional, and it has played a key role in the history of European Archaeology. First of two nights in Copenhagen.
Itinerary Day 1: Copenhagen. Fly at c. 9.00am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Copenhagen. Much of the surviving artistic finery of Denmark’s Viking Age, in metal, wood, bone and semiprecious stone, can be found in the National Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Opera in Copenhagen The Barber of Seville and The Magic Flute Dr John Allison Writer and music critic. He is Editor of Opera magazine, music critic for the Daily Telegraph and former critic for the Sunday Telegraph and the Times. He has written two books and served on the juries of various music competitions.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,990 or £1,860 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,270 or £2,140 without flights. Included meals: 1 light lunch and 3 dinners with wine. Music: tickets for 2 operas are included, which cost c. £215. Accommodation. Phoenix Copenhagen (phoenixcopenhagen.dk): traditional 4-star hotel close to the Amalienborg Palace.
9–12 March 2018 (me 776) 4 days • £1,990 (including tickets for 2 performances) Lecturer: Dr John Allison Two performances at Copenhagen’s extraordinary opera house: The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini and Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Talks on the operas by Dr John Allison, editor of Opera magazine. We include a private tour of the opera house and a walk in the historic centre with a local guide. Time is allowed for the city’s outstanding museums. Combine this tour with Opera in Stockholm, 6–9 March 2018. Transport between the two tours is provided for a supplement – see page 184.
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Scandinavia has long played a distinguished role in the history of music. Denmark has intensified its commitment to this heritage and increasingly offers world-class standards of music, as well as one of the most exciting new opera houses created in recent years. Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) has always been Rossini’s most enduringly popular work, and deservedly so; for all the strengths of the other once neglected operas that have returned to the repertoire in recent decades, it is a brilliant mix of elegance and buffoonery, boasting irresistible music. Copenhagen’s new production, by the award-winning theatre director Martin Lyngbo, is set in the golden age of silent movies. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) is not only the last of Mozart’s operas but perhaps his most endlessly fascinating masterpiece, a blend of deep philosophical seriousness and enchanting entertainment. Marco Arturo Marelli’s colourful staging was created in 2015 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Henning Larsen’s dazzling opera house, one of the best equipped in the world. 56
This tour allows us to experience both Denmark’s musical excellence and explore one of northern Europe’s most beautiful cities; Copenhagen is an exciting hub of contemporary culture and design, with a string of world-class art collections and museums.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at 1.45pm from London Heathrow to Copenhagen (British Airways). There is time to settle into the hotel before dinner. Day 2. Morning lecture on this evening’s performance. An introductory walk reveals the post-mediaeval history of the city: pass the 1750s palaces of the Amalienborg, the finest such group outside France; the English church; Gefion Fountain; the Little Mermaid; the bastions of the Kastellet and (across the water) the opera house. Free afternoon; recommended is the National Museum, a collection of excellent artefacts, prehistoric to contemporary, with the Viking era the highlight, or one of the city’s many museums (included in the cost of the tour is a Copenhagen Card granting free admission to museums and galleries). Dinner before the performance at the Copenhagen Opera House: The Barber of Seville (Rossini), Michael Hofstetter (conductor), Martin Lyngbo (director), cast to be confirmed. Day 3. Lecture on the evening’s opera. Cross the water by boat for a private tour of the opera house. Lunch at the Copenhagen Opera House before an afternoon opera: The Magic Flute (Mozart), Joana Mallwitz/Perry So (conductor), Marco Arturo Marelli (director), Petri Lindroos (Sarastro), David Danholt (Tamino), Vassiliki Karayanni (Queen of the Night), Gisela Stille (Pamina), Palle Knudsen (Papageno). Cross the water again and return to the hotel for some free time before dinner. Day 4. The morning is free. Fly to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 4.15pm.
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How strenuous? We reach the opera house on foot and by boat. Participants need to be fit enough to cope with city walks and with stair-climbing. Average distance by coach per day: 5 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Copenhagen Modern 21–25 June 2018 (me 928) 5 days • £2,310 Lecturer: Professor Harry Charrington Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com An invigorating insight to one of the world’s most carefully designed and vital cities, with walks in the historic centre balanced by excursions out along the Øresund shore. Follows the city’s development from the Renaissance to the present day with the emphasis on the great 20th-century modern tradition. Visits include Jørn Utzon’s Bagsværd Church and PV Jensen-Klint’s expressionist Grundtvig Church, two of the great modern ecclesiastical buildings. Among the domestic architecture: Finn Juhl’s home, Utzon’s Fredensborg courtyard houses and Arne Jacobsen’s Bellevue complex. The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is world-class, see also Bindesbøll’s unparalleled Thorvaldsen Museum and Bjarke Ingels’ extraordinary Danish Maritime Museum. Led by Professor Harry Charrington, architect and architectural historian and a specialist in Modernism. Photograph: Copenhagen Opera House ©Royal Danish Opera.
Ballet in Copenhagen August Bournonville and the Royal Danish Ballet 31 May–4 June 2018 (me 890) 5 days • £2,280 (including tickets for 3 performances) Lecturer: Jane Pritchard mbe
Itinerary
Three performances by the Royal Danish Ballet, at the Old Stage (1874) and the Opera House (2005).
Day 2. Morning lecture. A guided walk reveals the post-mediaeval history of the city: pass the 1750s palaces of the Amalienborg, the finest such group outside France, the English church, Gefion Fountain, the Little Mermaid, bastions of the Kastellet. Free afternoon; we recommend the remarkable Viking collections at the National Museum or the Danish painting at the Hirschsprung Collection. Dinner. Evening performance at the Old Stage: Napoli with the Royal Danish Ballet, Nikolaj Hübbe (choreographer), Graham Bond (conductor).
Napoli and Swan Lake are choreographed by Nikolaj Hübbe, and Bournonville repertoire is showcased in Bournonvilleana. The lecturer is Jane Pritchard MBE, Curator of Dance at the V&A. Private tours of the Opera House and the court theatre at the Christiansborg Palace. A walk with a local guide and free time for the city’s outstanding museums.
Jane Pritchard mbe Curator of Dance for the V&A and co-curator of the exhibition Diaghilev & the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes 1909–1929. She was Archivist for Rambert Dance Company and English National Ballet. Books include Anna Pavlova: Twentieth-Century Ballerina, and she has curated and written for BFI Southbank and the British Council.
Practicalities
Day 3. The morning is free. We suggest a visit to the Rosenborg Palace, a fully furnished royal residence from the 17th century, or the Ny Carlsberg Glyptoteket for its Danish, French and ancient art. An afternoon lecture precedes a guided tour of the court theatre at the Christiansborg Palace. Dinner. Evening performance at the Old Stage: Bournonvilleana with Royal Danish Ballet.
Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,280 or £2,110 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,630 or £2,460 without flights.
Day 4. Morning lecture. Cross by boat for a private tour of the beautiful Operaen (Copenhagen Opera House), built 2000–2005 to the designs of Henning Larsen and others. Lunch here before an afternoon performance: Swan Lake with the Royal Danish Ballet, Nikolaj Hübbe & Silja Schandorff (choreography), Jakob Hultberg (conductor). Return to the hotel for free time before dinner.
Accommodation. Phoenix Copenhagen (phoenixcopenhagen.dk): traditional 4-star hotel close to the Amalienborg Palace.
Day 5. Break the journey to the airport at Frederiksberg Gardens, a lovely landscaped park of the early 19th century. Return to London Heathrow at c. 4.15pm.
Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Included meals: 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine. Music: top-category tickets to 3 ballet performances are included costing c. £255. At the time of going to print not all tickets were confirmed.
How strenuous? We reach the opera houses on foot and by boat. Participants need to be fit enough to manage this, the city walk and to cope easily with stair climbing. .
Below: Copenhagen, Rosenborg Palace, lithograph c. 1850.
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Copenhagen is a strikingly attractive capital, and a relatively small one. It has a wealth of museums and art galleries, palaces and theatres. These range from the court theatre at the Christiansborg Palace to the Peacock theatre staging commedia-dell’arte-inspired pantomimes in the pleasure gardens of Tivoli. The Royal Danish Ballet, founded in 1784, is not only one of the longest established dance companies in the world but also one of the most enjoyable of those performing today. It combines a rich heritage repertory with contemporary creativity. International impact came after the Second World War, with growing awareness that Denmark was producing dancers of the highest calibre and awareness also of the ballets by the nineteenth-century choreographer August Bournonville, whose work had been virtually unknown outside Copenhagen. Bournonville (1805–79) was trained in the French Romantic style of the time which was characterised by a lightness and flow of movement. Footwork was fast and springy with high quick jumps and beaten steps. Pirouettes would be controlled whether the turns were fast or slow. The stage on which he created his ballets was relatively small so changes of direction were necessary for flow to be maintained and these became a hallmark of his choreography. Today the Royal Danish Ballet performs at a range of theatres. We will be seeing them at the recently refurbished Old Stage, which dates to 1874, and at the amazing Opera House on the harbour which opened in 2005. Napoli as staged by Nikolaj Hübbe and Sorella Englund in 2009 is a version of Bournonville’s 1842 masterpiece, updated to the world of Federico Fellini’s Dolce Vita and La Strada while the best of Bournonville’s choreography, notably the third act celebration, is retained. Hübbe, the company’s director, together with Silja Schandorff, are responsible for the modern staging of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, memorable for its abstract but impressive designs by Mas Stensgaard and lighting by Mikke Kunttu. The third programme (for one special performance only) is Bournonvilleana which showcases highlights from the traditional Bournonville repertoire which has been summed up as ‘primarily an expression of joy, ease, naturalness, grace and beauty.’
Day 1. Fly at c. 1.45pm from London Heathrow to Copenhagen (British Airways). There is time to settle into the hotel before dinner.
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Estonia 100 years after its Declaration of Independence Itinerary Day 1: Tallinn. Fly at 10.20 from London Heathrow via Helsinki to Tallinn (Finnair) for the first of three nights. Day 2: Tallinn. Morning walk to the Museum of Russian Icons, remarkable for what has survived during so many wars, and to the Occupation Museum, a grim chronicle of WWII and of the 46-year Soviet era which followed. Afternoon in the Upper Town, the oldest part, to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, to the Dome Church, for centuries the religious centre for the Baltic Germans, and along the city walls, to finish at the 15th-century Town Hall, still used for ceremonial events. Overnight Tallinn. Day 3: Tallinn. Coach to Tallinn Synagogue, a new building opened in 2007, and to the Jewish Museum beside it. Now, as so often in the past, Tallinn provides a sanctuary for those persecuted elsewhere. Then to the massive Song Festival Grounds, so crucial for keeping alive Estonia’s national consciousness in Soviet times and still a major choral centre. Afternoon to Kumu Art Gallery, the repository for the best of 200 years of Estonian painting in totally modern surroundings. Continue to Maarjamae Palace, reopening in spring 2018 as Estonia’s early 20th century museum, on the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Behind it are many of the communist statues hurriedly removed from the streets in 1991. Overnight Tallinn. Day 4: Tallinn, Tartu. Morning drive to Tartu, with a stop en route at Paide, with its limestone tower and outdoor sculpture exhibition. Afternoon drive to the National Museum, opened in 2016 in a completely new building outside the town at a former military base and manor house. Its architecture, lighting and space leave as powerful an impression as any of the exhibits, covering life in towns and in the countryside over 2000 years. First of two nights in Tartu.
6–14 August 2018 (me 976) 9 days • £2,870 Lecturer: Neil Taylor MAINLAND EUROPE: ESTONIA
Picturesque towns and cities, an appealing mix of architectural styles. Gentle landscapes of farmland and forests and sandy Baltic coasts. Still unspoilt, but perhaps the most successful, progressive and attractive of ex-Soviet states. Few visitors venture beyond the capital. The lecturer, Neil Taylor, is a leading expert on the Baltic countries. Estonia and the Estonians have recently recovered from seven hundred years of conquest. Estonians are their own masters now, excelling in the use to which they put both town and country. Their eclectic tastes and diverse skills, just as evident in a piece of fabric, glass or juniper as in a skyscraper, can finally enjoy free expression. Their art galleries and concert halls offer variety which a country ten times its size would find hard to match. With a history of constant warfare, the towns and countryside still show the stamp of the various occupations. Those that left the most obvious 58
architectural legacy were the Baltic Germans, with their red-brick fortresses and their ubiquitous manor houses. These, their contents and what has been bequeathed from town residences, are a testimony to both wealth and to good taste. As one would expect, the Swedish legacy is more modest, mainly some town houses in Tartu and Kuressaare. The Tsarist Russian one is more obvious, with the late nineteenth-century Orthodox Cathedral dominating the Tallinn skyline, although ironically the regime would collapse twenty years later. The Soviet legacy is largely restricted to the outskirts of Estonia’s larger towns so intrudes little on what visitors see. Estonians themselves were experts with wood throughout their centuries of occupation, and much remains of this, particularly in the coastal spa town of Parnu which became rich in the 1920s and 1930s. On Saaremaa Island, wood has often been the major material for the local churches. Forests clothe much of the gently undulating landscape, interspersed with picturesque farmland. The countryside and seashore have always played as important a role in Estonia as any town. It is where local people enjoy space, time and colour, and when occupied, where they enjoyed relative freedom.
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Day 5: Tartu, Lake Peipsi. Morning walk through Estonia’s university capital to the aula where students receive their degrees and the lock-up where in the 19th century they could be confined for not returning library books or for abusing women. Many 18th- and 19th-century buildings in Tartu have survived the War: the Jaani Church (St John’s), with its unique rows of terracotta sculptures, was restored soon after re-independence in 1991. Afternoon drive to Lake Peipsi; the villages along the shore are still inhabited by Old Believers, driven into exile here because of their unwillingness in the 17th century to accept changes in the Russian Orthodox Church. Dinner at Alatskivi Castle, modelled on Balmoral in Scotland, which houses a museum in honour of the composer Eduard Tubin. Day 6: Viljandi, Pärnu, Saaremaa Island. Visit the Paul Kondas Gallery in Viljandi to see work he was never allowed to exhibit during his lifetime in the Soviet period. Drive to Pärnu, a spa town known for its functionalist buildings and its turn of century flamboyance along the coast. Ferry to Muhu Island where many of the pleasures of rural Estonia remain, wooden cottages, windmills and wild seacoasts, then drive across a causeway to Saaremaa Island. First of two nights in Kuressaare.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania Art, architecture and history of the Baltic States Day 7: Saaremaa Island. Spend the morning in Kuressaare, the capital of Saaremaa island with its Swedish town houses and intact castle, the only one remaining in Estonia, which now houses the island museum and an extensive natural history collection. An afternoon tour of the 13th-century island churches and the ruins of Pöide. The artistry of the wall paintings, stone carvings and masonry show the links between the island across the Baltic and even to Western Europe. Nowadays the link is provided with stained glass. Overnight Kuressaare. Day 8: Muhu Island, Haapsalu, Tallinn. Before taking the ferry back to the mainland, visit Muhu Church in the village of Liiva, a 13th-century building with 14th-century mural paintings. Haapsalu owes everything to royal patronage in the 19th century, when Tsars Nicholas I and Alexander II were frequent summer visitors, as was Tchaikovsky. The railway station, with appropriate elegance, dates from that time. Overnight Tallinn. Day 9: Tallinn. Fly from Tallinn via Helsinki to London Heathrow, arriving c. 3.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,870 or £2,530 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,210 or £2,870 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 7 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Palace, Tallinn (tallinnhotels.ee/hotel-palace-tallinn): comfortable 4-star hotel on the edge of the old town, recently reopened after a smart refurbishment. London Hotel, Tartu (london.tartuhotels.ee): modern, centrally located 4-star hotel with a good restaurant; decor is quite bright. Georg Ots Spa Hotel, Kuressaare (gospa.ee/eng): plain but comfortable 4-star spa hotel on the waterfront. How strenuous? There is a reasonable amount of walking each day and some long coach journeys, which are broken en route. Outdoor terrain is good but there are few steep slopes. Average distance by coach per day: 75 miles. Group size: between 12 and 22 participants.
Three countries with different languages, diverse histories and distinct cultural identities.
Music in Savonlinna
An extensive legacy from German, Polish, Russian and Swedish occupations.
July 2018 Details available in August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
The focus of the tour is history, politics and general culture, rather than art and architecture.
Kuhmo Music Festival July 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Illustrations. Left: Tallinn, view from Castle Hill, 20th-century etching. Right: Vilnius, 20th-century etching.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania: the regaining of independence in 1991 by these three countries was a happy outcome of the demise of the Soviet Union. Of all the fragments of that former superpower, the Baltic countries have perhaps the brightest future and the least clouded present. Though geographical proximity leads the countries to be conventionally thought of together as a single entity, the degree of difference between them is surprisingly great in terms of ethnicity, language, historical development and religion.
The Estonians are of Finno-Ugric origin and their language has nothing in common with their Latvian or Russian neighbours. Lithuanian history has for much of the post-mediaeval era been linked with Catholic Poland, whereas Estonia and Latvia were early recipients of Protestantism. In the eighteenth century these states succumbed to the bear-hug of the Russian Empire – and only after the First World War did they achieve full independence. In 1940, with the annexation by the Soviet Union, they once more fell under Russian rule. Between 1941 and 1944 they had the additional suffering of the German Occupation. Yet the Baltic States were always among the most prosperous and liberal of the Soviet republics, and among the most independent-minded. Surprise ranks high among the responses of the visitor now – surprise that there is so much of interest and beauty, and surprise that the Iron Curtain was indeed so opaque a veil that most of us in the West could remain so ignorant of these countries and their heritage. Surprise, perhaps, that on the whole the region functions with considerable efficiency and sophistication. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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22 July–4 August 2018 Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com
French Gothic The great cathedrals of northern France Day 3: Reims, Soissons. Reims Cathedral, the coronation church of the French monarchy, begun 1211, is a landmark in the development of High Gothic with the first appearance of bar tracery and classicising portal sculpture. At the church of St Rémi the heavy Romanesque nave contrasts with the light Early-Gothic choir. Soissons Cathedral is a fine example of the rapid changes which took place in architecture at the end of the 12th century. Day 4: St-Denis. On the outskirts of Paris, the burial place of French kings, St-Denis was an abbey of the highest significance in politics and in the history of architecture. In the 1140s the choir was rebuilt, and the pointed arches, rib vaulting and skeletal structure warrant the claim that this was the first Gothic building. 100 years later the new nave inaugurated the Rayonnant style of Gothic with windows occupying the maximum possible area. First of two nights in Chartres. Day 5: Chartres. The cathedral at Chartres, begun in 1145 and recommenced in 1195 after a fire, is the finest synthesis of Gothic art and architecture. Sculpture and stained glass are incorporated into an elaborate theological programme. The full day here provides time for unhurried exploration of the building and space to reflect and absorb. See also the church of St Pierre. Day 6: Mantes-la-Jolie, Beauvais, Amiens. Visit the 12th-century collegiate church at Mantes-laJolie. Beauvais Cathedral, begun 1225, was, with a vault height in the choir of 157 feet, the climax in France of upwardly aspiring Gothic architecture and the highest vault of mediaeval Europe. Overnight Amiens.
9–15 July 2018 (me 955) 7 days • £2,210 Lecturer: Dr Matthew Woodworth The cradle of Gothic, northern Europe’s most significant contribution to world architecture.
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Nearly all the most important buildings in the development of Early and High Gothic, with an entire day at Chartres. Unparalleled examples of stained glass, sculpture and metalwork. First class travel by Eurostar. Gothic was the only architectural style which had its origins in northern Europe. It was in the north of France that the first Gothic buildings arose, it was here that the style attained its classic maturity, and it is here that its greatest manifestations still stand. From the middle of the twelfth century the region was the scene of unparalleled building activity, with dozens of cathedrals, churches and abbeys under construction. Architects stretched their imaginations and masons extended their skills to devise more daring ways of enclosing greater volumes of space, with increasingly slender structural supports, and larger areas of window. But Gothic is not only an architectural phenomenon. Windows were filled with brilliant 60
coloured glass. Sculpture, more life-like than for nearly a thousand years yet increasingly integrated with its architectural setting, was abundant. The art of metalwork thrived, and paint was everywhere. All the arts were coordinated to interpret and present elaborate theological programmes to congregations which included both the illiterate lay people and sophisticated clerics. Nearly all the most important buildings in the development of the Early and High phases of Gothic are included, and the order of visits even follows this development chronologically, as far as geography allows. A whole day is dedicated to the cathedral at Chartres, the premier site of the building arts of the mediaeval world.
Itinerary Day 1. Travel by Eurostar at c. 11.00am from St Pancras to Lille. Continue by coach to Laon and the hotel, in an attractive lakeside setting. First of three nights near Laon. Day 2: Noyon, Laon. One of the earliest Gothic cathedrals (c. 1150), Noyon’s four-storey internal elevation marks the transition from the thickwalled architecture of the Romanesque to the thinwalled verticality of Gothic. Laon is spectacularly sited on a rock outcrop. Begun c. 1160, the cathedral is the most complete of Early-Gothic churches and one of the most impressive, with five soaring towers.
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Day 7: Amiens. The cathedral in Amiens is the classic High-Gothic structure, its thrilling verticality balanced by measured horizontal movement. Drive to Lille for the Eurostar to London St Pancras, arriving c. 7.15pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,210 or £2,070 without Eurostar. Single occupancy: £2,470 or £2,330 without Eurostar. Included: 5 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hôtel du Golf de l’Ailette, Chamouille (ailette.fr): comfortable 3-star located a short drive from Laon in an attractive position by a lake. Hotel Le Grand Monarque, Chartres (legrandmonarque.com): centrally located 4-star hotel. Hotel Mercure Amiens (mercure.com): modern 3-star hotel near the cathedral. How strenuous? There is a fair amount of walking and standing around. Some long coach journeys. You should be able to lift your luggage on and off the train and wheel it within the station. Average distance by coach per day: 89 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Danish Castles & Gardens, 2–8 July 2018 (p.53); Western Ireland, 2–8 July 2018 (p.34).
Illustration: Chartres Cathedral, lithograph c. 1860.
Le Corbusier Through France and Switzerland 14–22 October 2017 (me 614) 9 days • £3,480 Lecturer: Dr Richard Plant A wide survey of works by one of the greatest architects of all time. From Paris through the east of France and the Swiss Jura to Lyon and Marseille. Lecturer Dr Richard Plant is an architectural historian with a keen interest in the modern. First-class rail travel by Eurostar and TGV.
Itinerary Day 1: Paris. Travel by Eurostar at c. 11.00am from London St Pancras to Paris. Paris is the site of Corb’s purest statements and of his first large commissions. Visit Villa la Roche-Jeanneret which now houses the Fondation Le Corbusier, and the Immeuble Molitor (1934) in which Le Corbusier created the top floor apartment for himself. First of two nights in Paris. Day 2: Paris. On the western outskirts, at Poissy, is Le Corbusier’s lyrically beautiful Villa Savoye
Marseille (1945–52), though dogged by opposition and delays, is the most monumental embodiment of these theories. Overnight in Marseille.
Day 3: Paris, Besançon. At the Cité Universitaire, the Pavillon Suisse (hall of residence, 1930) became one of the most influential buildings of International Modernism. The Pavillon Brésilien (1959) attempts an expression of national style while the Atelier Ozenfant (1922, exterior) was the studio-residence of painter-critic and fellow purist. Take the TGV (high speed train) from Paris to Besançon. First of three nights in Besançon.
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Day 4: La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland). The son of a watchmaker, Le Corbusier’s home town for thirty years was La Chaux-de-Fonds, and here he built his first houses. See exteriors of The Villa Fallet (1908), a commission obtained by Le Corbusier when he was only 18, and the Villas Stotzer and Jacquemet when he was still under the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement and Ruskin. Classicism, rationalism and modern building techniques began to prevail in the Villas Jeanneret (1912, for his own family, enter by special arrangement) and Schwob (1916, exterior). See also Le Corbusier archive material in town library (by special arrangement). Day 5: Ronchamp, Besançon. Drive into the countryside to the Benedictine monastery at Ronchamp, whose hill-top chapel, Nôtre-Damedu-Haut (1950), resulted in charges of treachery from hard-line modernists but has proved prophetic in embracing organic, sculptural values. Some free time in Besançon, a lovely hill town dominated by a massive citadel.
Day 9: Marseille. Some free time in Marseille or join the lecturer for a walk through the old town. Return home by plane (British Airways), arriving at London Heathrow at c. 5.45pm.
Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,480 or £3,270 without international travel. Single occupancy: £3,860 or £3,650 without international travel. Included meals: 6 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel du Louvre, Paris (parishoteldulouvre.hyatt.com): 5-star hotel near the Louvre, recently renovated. Hotel de Paris, Besançon (besanconhoteldeparis.com): 3-star hotel in the historic centre. Hotel le Royal, Lyon (lyonhotel-leroyal.com): stylish 5-star hotel, wellsituated on the Presqu’île. Hotel la Résidence du Vieux-Port, Marseille (hotel-residence-marseille. com): 4-star hotel in a 1950s building overlooking the harbour. Bright, modernist décor. How strenuous? A tiring tour with a lot of travel, several hotel changes and quite a lot of walking. For train journeys you will need to be able to lift your own luggage. Average distance by coach per day: 38 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Essential Andalucía, 23 October–2 November 2017 (p.178). Photograph: Ronchamp, Nôtre-Dame-du-Haut, used under license from shutterstock.com.
Day 6: Arc et Senans, L’Arbresle. The route turns southwest, with a break at La Saline Royale, the remarkable industrial complex in romantic Neo-Classical style (1775) by Ledoux, one of Le Corbusier’s inspirations. His second monastic commission, the hillside Couvent de La Tourette at l’Arbresle, was obtained because his agnosticism was regarded as of less significance than the sacred values of his architecture. Continue south to Lyon. First of two nights in Lyon.
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Le Corbusier has left later generations of architects a problem. It sometimes seems that whatever design solutions they may dream up, Corb arrived there before. And that is without conscious imitation of the master, though no architect has been more imitated. His energy, his gimlet intelligence and his ambition would have made him master of whatever profession he had chosen, but the fertility of his artistic genius and joy in creation turned him into one of the greatest architects of all time, and the most influential of the twentieth century. The exploration of the origins of the look of the modern world is a fascinating aspect of this tour, but it is likely that the dominant impression will be of the sheer beauty of Le Corbusier’s buildings. There is far more of subtlety, nuance, sophistication and variety than might be expected of someone often simplistically classed as one of the instigators of International Modernism. He was an individual, not merely a representative of a style or movement. His impact was felt not only through his buildings – which are scattered across four continents – but also through numerous unexecuted projects, voluminous writings, and lecture tours. This tour concentrates on the rich seam of his works to be quarried in Paris and in an arc out to the east of France, through the Swiss Jura and down through Lyon to Marseille – much of it passing fine natural scenery. It covers a considerable distance, but does give as complete a picture of Le Corbusier’s architecture as can be expected in a tour of this duration. Begin in Paris where Le Corbusier settled when he was thirty and emerged as a central figure in what became the intellectual capital of Europe in the inter-war years. End in Marseille where Le Corbusier finally realised his collectivist vision of the Mediterranean good life. Some buildings are in private hands and we see them from the outside, others are public and accessible and a few will be entered by special arrangement.
(1929), one of the icons of the 20th century. Back in central Paris see Jean Nouvel’s Institut du Monde Arabe, a remarkable building with splendid views of the city. Walk through the Quartier Masséna, home to the Bibliothèque National de France (Dominique Perrault, 1996) and a development that includes the Jardin des Grands-Moulins, created in 2011.
Day 7: Lyon, Firminy-Vert. The new town at Firminy-Vert (1956–70) was one of the few pieces of Corbusian town planning actually executed with the master’s involvement and the site became the largest ensemble of his buildings outside Chandigarh. Also designed by Corbusier are the Maison de la Culture, with its dramatically canted side wall, the sports stadium, and the Unité d’Habitation. The astonishing church of St Pierre was finally completed in 2007, and there is a revelatory Le Corbusier museum. Free afternoon in Lyon to explore the historic centre or some of Lyon’s striking modern buildings (Tony Garnier, Renzo Piano) or the Jean Nouvel opera house. Day 8: Marseille. Travel south by TGV. All his life Corb had been concerned with issues of housing, urbanism and community, and the fruits of his thinking are to be found in the ‘Unité d’Habitation’ apartment blocks. The one at Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Monet & Impressionism Paintings and places in Paris and Normandy Monet made frequent trips to the Normandy coas, where Impressionism was developing in tandem with tourism and the new fashion for sea bathing. Water, fresh or salt, was an important ingredient of Impressionist pictures, its fleeting, changing, evanescent qualities similar to the transient effects of light they sought to capture on canvas. The Impressionist emphasis on the importance of painting en plein air makes a tour that includes sites where painters set up their easels particularly rewarding. The Impressionists were also masters of figure painting and invigorated the genre of portraiture in their depictions of family, friends, and the wider Parisian circle. While Degas recorded the women of the city – dancers, milliners and washerwomen– Pissarro preferred to focus on rural workers. Influenced by photography and Japanese art these artists recorded the society of their time: from critics and political figures to singers at the café concert, capturing a snapshot of life in France at the end of the nineteenth century.
15–20 April 2018 (me 816) 6 days • £2,230 Lecturer: Dr Frances Fowle The finest collections of Impressionism in France and places associated with the artists. Led by Dr Frances Fowle, Senior Curator of French Art at the National Gallery of Scotland. First-class rail travel by Eurostar from London and good hotels in Paris and Rouen.
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Far more Impressionist pictures can be seen in the region covered by this tour than in any other territory of comparable size. This should be no surprise, as this is the region where Impressionism was born and where it was most practised, and the tour visits some of the key sites in that development. Attention is also paid to the precursors – pre-Impressionists such as Eugène Boudin and Jongkind – and to some PostImpressionist successors. As it was for mainstream artists, so it was for rebels and innovators: throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, Paris was the centre of the art world. All the French Impressionists spent time here, many lived here for most of their lives. Yet the essence of their art – the recording of the world about them as it presented itself in its immediate, transitory aspect – required them to spend time in the countryside. And the countryside they frequented most was in the north and north-west of Paris, the broad valley of the meandering Seine and of its tributaries the Oise and the Epte, and on to the coast with its vast skies and dramatic limestone cliffs. The focus of this tour is Claude Monet, the major exponent of Impressionism. He was born in Paris in 1840 and was brought up in Le Havre on the Normandy coast, where he was encouraged by Boudin to paint out of doors. Returning to Paris in 1859, he encountered the artists who would form the Impressionist group. From 1871 he made his home in the suburbs, often working from his studio boat and progressing downstream from Argenteuil to Vétheuil and Poissy, before settling in Giverny in 1883. 62
Itinerary Day 1. Paris. Leave London St Pancras at c. 10.30am by Eurostar. In Paris visit the Musée Marmottan which, through a donation by Monet’s son, has one of the world’s largest collections of Impressionists including Impression: Sunrise. Continue to Rouen in Normandy where four nights are spent. Day 2. Honfleur, Le Havre. Honfleur is an utterly delightful fishing village at the mouth of the Seine, now crammed with art galleries and antique shops. In the museum are many works by Eugène Boudin, a major influence on the Impressionists. Cross the Seine estuary to Le Havre. After a recent donation and refurbishment, the Musée André Malraux has become the second largest collection of Impressionists in France.
Dr Frances Fowle Senior Curator of French Art at the Scottish National Gallery, Reader in History of Art at the University of Edinburgh and Senior Trustee of the Burrell Collection. She has curated many exhibitions including Inspiring Impressionism: Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh (2016). Her publications include Soil & Stone: Impressionism, Urbanism Environment. des Beaux Arts in the Petit Palais, an underappreciated collection for which space has recently been expanded. Overnight Paris. Day 6. Paris. Walk through the Tuileries Gardens to the Orangerie where an excellent collection of Impressionists, Monet’s famous water-lilies and 20th-century paintings are housed. Cross the river to the Musée d’Orsay; here are displayed not only the world’s finest collection of Impressionism but also masterpieces by important precursors such as Courbet and Millet. Return to London by Eurostar, arriving St Pancras at c. 5.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,230 or £2,040 without Eurostar. Single occupancy: £2,570 or £2,380 without Eurostar. Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Mercure Rouen Centre Cathédrale (mercure.com): modern, functional 4-star hotel in the historic centre. Hotel Édouard 7, Paris (hoteledouard7-paris.com): comfortable 4-star, 5 minutes walk from the Opéra Garnier.
Day 3. Giverny. The morning is devoted to the premier site in the history of Impressionism, Monet’s house and garden at Giverny where he lived from 1883 until his death in 1926, designing and tending the gardens which grew in size as his prosperity increased. Also at Giverny is the newly reconstituted Musée des Impressionnismes. Return mid-afternoon for some free time in Rouen, perhaps to study the cathedral, the subject of over 30 of Monet’s paintings.
How strenuous? This is a fair amount of walking as well as standing in the art galleries. You need to be able to lift your luggage on and off the train and wheel it at stations.
Day 4. Rouen, Étretat. Spend the morning in Rouen at the Musée des Beaux Arts, a collection of painting, sculpture, drawing and decorative art, which date from the Renaissance to present day. Impressionist works are in the François Depeaux gallery, named after the local donor. Either spend a free afternoon in Rouen, architecturally and scenically one of France’s finest cities, or join an excursion to Étretat, a little seaside town flanked by dramatic chalk promontories scooped into arches by wind and sea, painted by Monet and many others.
Paintings in Paris: Autumn exhibitions
Day 5. Auvers, Paris. Auvers-sur-Oise was a popular artists’ colony, frequented by Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. See sites associated with Van Gogh, who spent the last few weeks of his life here, and the studio of Daubigny. Return to Paris for an optional visit of the Musée
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Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Romans in the Rhône Valley, 23–29 April 2018 (p.71); Modern Art in Sussex, 24–28 April 2018 (p.29).
24–27 October 2017 (me 633) This tour is currently full October 2018 Details available in November 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Illustration: Étretat, wood engraving c. 1880.
Music & Ballet in Paris Pergolesi, Gluck, Berlioz, Bach 27–31 March 2018 (me 799) 5 days • £2,570 (including tickets to 4 performances) Lecturer: Dr Michael Downes Franco Fagioli and Julia Lezhneva sing Pergolesi’s exquisite Stabat Mater. Two celebrated staged productions: Pina Bausch’s Orphée et Eurydice at the Opéra Garnier and Terry Gilliam’s Benvenuto Cellini at the Opera Bastille. A new realisation of J.S. Bach’s lost St Mark Passion by composer, conductor and scholar Jordi Savall. Visits to the Palais Garnier, the Musée de la Musique and the Musée Jacquemart André. Talks by Dr Michael Downes, director of music at the University of St Andrews. First class travel by Eurostar.
Fagioli (counter-tenor). Concerto grosso No.10 after Corelli (Platti), Nisi Dominus (Vivaldi), Salve Regina (Porpora). Day 2. Morning lecture before a guided tour of the sumptuous Palais Garnier opera house. Some free time before dinner and returning to the Palais Garnier for: Orphée et Eurydice (danced version), performed by the Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris. Choreography by Pina Bausch to music by Gluck, with Manlio Benzi (director), The Balthasar Neumann Choir, Maria Riccarda Wesseling (Orphée), Yun Jung Choi (Eurydice) and Chiara Skerath (Amour).
Itinerary
Day 3. The morning is free for independent exploration. In the afternoon a lecture followed by a drive to Porte de la Villette to visit the Cité de la Musique concert hall, designed by Christian de Pontzamparc, and the music museum. Dinner preceeds an evening opera at the Opera Bastille: Benvenuto Cellini (Berlioz), Philippe Jordan (conductor), Orchestre et Choeurs de l’Opéra de Paris, José Luis Basso (chorus master), John Osborn (Benvenuto Cellini), Maurizio Muraro (Giacomo Balducci), Audun Iversen (Fieramosca), Marco Spotti (Pope Clement VII), Vincent Delhoume (Francesco), Luc Bertin-Hugault (Bernardino), Rodolphe Briand (Pompeo), Se-Jin Hwang (Cabaretier), Pretty Yende (Teresa), Michèle Losier (Ascanio).
Day 1. Travel by Eurostar at c. 10.30am from London St Pancras to Paris. An early evening lecture and dinner preceeds an evening concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées: Stabat Mater (Pergolesi), with Cappella Gabetta, Andres Gabetta (director), Julia Lezhneva (soprano) and Franco
Day 4. Morning lecture followed by a visit with the lecturer to the Jacquemart André museum. This lavish residence, built in 1875 for the banker Edouard André, houses the collection he made with his wife, Nélie Jacquemart, a painter. It contains a fine collection of 18th-cent. paintings,
Dutch, Flemish and Italian masters. Some free time before dinner in the panoramic restaurant at the Philharmonie de Paris and the evening concert: St Mark Passion (J.S. Bach), with La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall (director), Emöke Barath (soprano), Reinoud Van Mechelen (tenor) and Konstantin Wolff (bass). Day 5. Eurostar to St Pancras, arriving c. 2.45pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,570 or £2,450 without Eurostar. Single occupancy: £2,910 or £2,790 without Eurostar. Included meals: 4 dinners with wine. Music: tickets to 4 performances are included, costing c. £440. At the time of going to print not all tickets were confirmed. Accommodation. Hotel Édouard 7, Paris (hoteledouard7-paris.com): comfortable 4-star hotel, five minutes on foot from the Opéra Garnier. How strenuous? One of the performances is reached on foot. Visits require a fair amount of walking and standing around. There are some late nights but starts are leisurely. You need to be able to lift your luggage on and off the train. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Vienna 1918, 21–25 March 2018 (p.44). Illustration: Paris, Palais Garnier, watercolour by Y. Markino, publ. 1908.
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During each of the last five centuries, music, opera and ballet, and the buildings that house them, have been subjects of intense public debate in Paris, perhaps more than in any other city. This tour offers the chance to witness some of the world’s most brilliant interpreters – including singers, a choreographer, a director and a conductor-scholar – bring to life four beautiful but controversial masterpieces, in buildings that have themselves helped to shape the city’s history. The opening of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater was praised by no less a critic than Jean-Jacques Rousseau as ‘the most perfect and touching duet to come from the pen of any composer’. In this performance the intertwined voices will be those of Franco Fagioli, the hugely admired young counter-tenor, and the fast-rising Russian soprano Julia Lezhneva. The performance will take place in the art deco Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, which saw the notorious premiere of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Visits to Paris’s two iconic but very different opera houses follow. In the sumptuous Palais Garnier Pina Bausch’s reinterpretation of Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice will bring out both the physicality and the delicate ambivalence of the music. Meanwhile at the Bastille, one of the grandest projects of the Mitterand era, we see a production by Terry Gilliam that revels in the exuberance and eccentricity of Benvenuto Cellini, one of the revolutionary works with which the young Berlioz confounded the interpreters of his day. Few musicians are better equipped to tackle the daunting challenge of animating the libretto of Bach’s lost St Mark Passion than Jordi Savall, who brings to the task a composer’s insight as well as a lifetime’s experience as a leading proponent of period performance. This concert takes place in the newest addition to Paris’s impressive array of musical spaces, the Philharmonie, opened in 2015.
Poets & The Somme Poetry of the Great War in battlefield context Day 2: Beaumont Hamel, Mesnil, Thiepval. Explore to the north of the Albert to Bapaume Road. Start at Beaumont Hamel and visit Newfoundland Park for an introduction to the trenches through the poetry of Richard Aldington, Robert Graves and John Edgell Rickwood. Move along the line through Auchonvillers, along the Ancre Valley, with Edmund Blunden, Wilfred Owen and A. P. Herbert. At Thiepval is the Memorial to the Missing, the most monumental of the many Great War memorials, which bears over 72,000 names. Today’s poems include A Soldier’s Funeral by John William Streets, read at his graveside, Binyon’s For the Fallen and, at Thiepval, Charles Sorley’s When you see the millions of the mouthless dead / Across your dreams in pale battalions go.
7–10 September 2018 (mf 115) 4 days • £1,430 Lecturer: Andrew Spooner First World War poetry in the context of the Battle of the Somme. A presentation of the poetry through a study of events, landscapes and the wartime lives of individual poets. An actor reads the poems. Commemorating the centenary of the death of Wilfred Owen. Led by military historian Andrew Spooner.
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Blending history and poetry, this tour reveals the true landscape of war: locations, topography, events, but also hope, fear, anger, pain and love, all viscerally manifest in the poetry of the First World War. The opening day of the Battle of the Somme, 1st July 1916, is taken as the starting point for the tour, with an exploration of the front line area and a study of the events of that day and subsequent weeks. A sprinkling of poetry from 1914 and 1915 adds to the modern contextual understanding of the enormous sense of loss. During 1917 and 1918, other war poets became embroiled in later battles and their poetry will be placed into context on ‘the old 1916 battlefield’. This leads on to a wider examination of the nature of trench warfare and of the course of the war as a whole. Much has survived: trenches, shell holes and mine craters. The tangible remains of warfare and the pattern of cemeteries are now woven into the fabric of the modern landscape. What sets this tour apart is the parallel exploration of the lives of those regular soldiers, volunteers and civilians who bequeathed to us the most emotionally potent body of poetry in English literature. This is not an exercise in literary analysis, however, but poems are placed 64
in the context of the battlefield and of the lives (and deaths) of the many and varied individuals who wrote them. Led by the military historian who devised the tour, Andrew Spooner, it is also accompanied by an actor who reads the poems – sometimes at the site where they were composed (often identifiable to within a few yards), sometimes at the scene of the poet’s grave, sometimes at the place of his death or disappearance. The tour is very much ‘in the field’ with a series of short walks on each day, averaging from a few hundred metres to a maximum distance of 1.5 miles, and set to follow the events on particular sections of the front line. The fourteen miles of front line are neatly divided by the Roman road from Albert to Bapaume. Poets whose works are included are (in alphabetical order) Richard Aldington, Lawrence Binyon, Edmund Blunden, Vera Brittain, Richard Budworth, Eleanor Farjeon, Wilfrid Gibson, Robert Graves, Sir Alan P. Herbert, William Noel Hodgson, Roland Leighton, Wilfred Owen, Margaret Postgate Cole, John Edgell Rickwood, Isaac Rosenberg, Siegfried Sassoon, Alan Seeger, Charles Sorley, Edward Thomas, May Wedderburn Cannan, Arthur Graeme West.
Itinerary Day 1: Pozières, Agny. Travel by coach at 9.00am from central London to Folkestone for the 35 minute Eurotunnel crossing. Continue by coach, arriving in the field mid-afternoon. Drive the length of the front line for an initial orientation of the Somme battlefield, identifying the exact positions of the opposing trenches. The lecturer gives an introduction at the windmill site at Pozières, the highest part of the battlefield. Visit Agny Military Cemetery for poetry by Edward Thomas and Eleanor Farjeon. Continue to the hotel in Arras.
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Day 3: Longueval, Mametz, Ors. Start in the area south of the Albert to Bapaume Road where some battalions were more successful and gained their objectives on the first day, before the arduous struggle of attrition moved into the ‘Horseshoe of Woods’. The site of Siegfried Sassoon’s HQ dugout is near the village of Fricourt, ‘while time ticks blank and busy on their wrists’. At Mametz, on William Noel Hodgson’s ‘familiar hill’, read Before Action: ‘Must say goodbye to all of this / By all delights that I shall miss, / Help me to die, O Lord.’ In the afternoon, visit Ors to follow the attack route of Wilfred Owen and the 2nd Manchesters along the canal, and visit Owen’s grave. Day 4: Contay, Louvencourt, La Boisselle. Stray behind the lines, visiting areas associated with the Casualty Clearing Stations. Louvencourt for Vera Brittain and Roland Leighton, and Contay as an appropriate location for the choice of women’s poetry, May Wedderburn Cannan and Margaret Postgate Cole. At La Boisselle, astride the Roman road, follow the fortunes of two battalions of the 34th Division. The poetry of Wilfred Owen, Edward Thomas and Alan Seeger features (I have a rendezvous with death). Final lunch before driving to Calais for the Eurotunnel journey home, arriving in central London at c. 7.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,430. Single occupancy: £1,570. Included meals: all meals with wine. Accommodation. Hôtel de l’Univers, Arras (univers.najeti.fr): traditional 3-star hotel installed in a 17th-century building, with a good restaurant. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of standing around and walking on this tour, most of it over rough ground. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 143 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Illustrations. Above: British troops on the Western Front, 1916. Right: Château de Chenonceau, 19th-century engraving.’
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235.
Châteaux of the Loire The Renaissance in France 27–30 May 2018 (me 886) 4 days • £1,640 Lecturer: Steven Desmond Only the best of the houses and gardens in the region. Stay at a château hotel in the centre of the area. Led by Steven Desmond, landscape consultant and architectural historian, specialist in the conservation of historic parks and gardens. First-class rail travel on Eurostar.
Day 2: Azay-le-Rideau, Langeais, Villandry. Lapped by the River Indre, Azay-le-Rideau is a jewel of the French Renaissance, replete with angle turrets, elaborate gables, classicising pilasters and evocative interiors. With its formidable defensive towers Langeais, reconstructed from the 1470s, is scarcely affected by Renaissance taste and has a good collection of mediaeval furniture and tapestries.Villandry is an excellent 1530s château with three arcaded wings but its chief glories are the tiers of formal gardens, recreated in the 20th century according to 16thcentury designs and principles. We visit in the late afternoon, when the crowds have subsided, and return to the hotel at c. 7.00pm. Day 3: Beauregard, Blois, Chambord. Beauregard has a unique 17th-century gallery lined with 327 portraits of historical persons. The three wings of the castle at Blois were built in the latest fashion respectively for Louis XII from 1498, François I from 1515 and, the brother of Louis XIII (by Mansart) from 1635. There is time in the delightful town of Blois to see its gardens,
churches and museums. The creation of François I and the most ambitious of the Loire châteaux, Chambord startles by its vast size. Outstanding are the double helix stairway and the fantastical roofscape of cones, wedges, elaborate gables and chimney stacks. Day 4: Cheverny. Built in the 1630s, Cheverny is as elegant and restrained as Baroque can get and is unmistakably French with its chiselled façade and dramatic roofline, and sumptuously decorated and furnished interiors. Drive to Paris and then continue by Eurostar to London St Pancras, arriving c. 7.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,640 or £1,510 without Eurostar. Single occupancy: £1,900 or £1,770 without Eurostar. Included meals: 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Château de Pray, Chargé (chateaudepray.fr): 4-star hotel in a converted château on the river Loire; excellent restaurant. How strenuous? Although a short tour there is quite a lot of standing around and walking. You need to be able to lift your luggage on and off the train. Average distance by coach per day: 119 miles (most driving is on days 1 & 4). Group size: between 12 and 22 participants.
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The region around the lower reaches of the Loire was exceptional in a country still dominated by over-mighty French monarchs and riven by factionalism until well into the seventeenth century. The relative stability of a territory submissive to royal writ, the prosperity arising from highly productive agricultural land and river-borne trade, and the excellent hunting, all provided the conditions for a building boom. Especially towards the end of the fifteenth century and during the first half of the sixteenth, a plethora of palaces, hunting lodges and country retreats were erected at the behest of members of the royal family, their mistresses and their loyal followers. These beautiful residential buildings have become paradigmatic in popular culture for furnishing the world-wide image of a fairy-tale palace. More importantly they were seminal in architectural history by constituting the first significant ultramontane manifestation of the Italian Renaissance. The sudden and whole-hearted admiration for all things Italian documented by the châteaux of the Loire was stimulated, ironically, by French invasions of Italy which began under Charles VIII in 1494 and came to an end under François I thirty years later. The distinctive and affecting feature of these buildings was that Italianate motifs were grafted onto what were essentially Flamboyant Gothic forms. Round-headed arches, square-headed windows, classical pilasters and ancient Roman candelabra decoration blend with cylindrical towers and turrets, conical spires, high-pitched roofs and elaborate dormers to produce an effect which is Italianate but unmistakably French. It was not a case of importing wholesale the principles of Brunelleschi and Bramante but the creation of an original – and highly influential – synthesis. Most of the châteaux are well furnished and much decoration survives or has been well recreated (contrary to the widespread myth that French châteaux are empty). Several of them have gardens, among which are some extraordinarily fine recreations of the original Renaissance design. This itinerary provides a balanced and varied selection, and aims to side-step the crowds.
treasured sights. Transformation of the castle began in 1515 and continued intermittently for much of the 16th century.Stylistically it leads from an embellished castle keep to the supremely successful Mannerism of the long galleries across the river. Continue to the hotel in Chargé where all three nights are spent.
Itinerary Day 1: Chenonceau. Travel by Eurostar at c. 9.30am from London St Pancras to Paris. Continue south by coach to Chenonceau.Of surpassing beauty and surmounting a bridge across the River Cher, the Château of Chenonceau (‘des Dames’) is deservedly one of France’s most Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Berry & Touraine Central France, Romanesque to Renaissance Its subsequent emergence as a fortified chivalric palace, the stuff of the calendrical illustrations to Jean, Duc de Berry’s Très Riches Heures, finds its most complete expression here, in buildings such as the Logis Royal at Loches and Gilles Bertholot’s château at Azay-le-Rideau. The frame of the church was subject to equally inventive shifts of form and identity. The fundamental Romanesque research was probably conducted at St-Benoît-sur-Loire, and in its nave and choir one might see the monumental strategies of twelfth-century Europe mapped out. Even the smaller churches of the region took up the call to make the Christian message vivid and, falling back on simpler and cheaper methods, invested in breathtakingly lucid cycles of wall paintings, as at Brinay-sur-Cher and Vicq. In the west, at centres such as Loches, an extraordinarily distinctive version of twelfthcentury architecture was developed, adjusting domes, rib vaults and pyramidal roofs to fit aisleless church frames. Gothic thus arrived early and in two different forms, sparking off a second wave of experimentation, tentative at first but blossoming at Bourges cathedral into one of the finest essays on the possibilities of architecture the western world has produced.
Itinerary Day 1. Take the Eurostar at c. 10.30am from London St Pancras to Paris and then continue by coach to Tours. First of four nights in Tours.
28 May–5 June 2018 (me 887) 9 days • £2,730 Lecturer: John McNeill Travels through charming and relatively unexplored areas of central France. A good mix of secular and sacred buildings including some outstanding ones. An important and influential area for mediaeval and Renaissance architecture.
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Led by renowned architectural historian John McNeill. To many a nineteenth-century English traveller, Berry and Touraine offered a vision of French art and culture that was not only exemplary, but unrivalled outside Paris – as central to the identity of France as is Tuscany to Italy. While this view has been modified by more recent commentators, who criticise relative stagnation of the region during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it remains the case that Berry and Touraine were responsible for some of the most significant cultural initiatives to grace mediaeval and Renaissance Europe. One might see this at a number of levels: in the early development of the feudal system, for instance, in Thibaud le Tricheur and Foulques Nerra, feudalism found its pioneers along the banks of the Loire. The most visible symbol of this, the castle, also has its roots in the region, and was developed here from donjon and domicilium into the vast integrated structures one finds at Chinon. 66
Day 2: Tours, Loches. The morning is spent in Tours, visiting the superb, largely 13th-century cathedral, with its virtually complete programme of choir glass, and the Tour Charlemagne, a mournful relic of the mighty pilgrimage church of St-Martin. Afternoon excursion to Loches, a stunning mediaeval hill-town punctuated by the rising accents of the Logis Royal, St-Ours and the Donjon. Day 3: Azay-le-Rideau, Chinon, L’Île Bouchard. Gilles Berthelot’s château at Azay-le-Rideau is one of the great Renaissance buildings of France. Continue to Chinon, home to the recently excavated St-Mexme as well as Henry II’s beloved ‘castle in the middle of France’. Return to Tours via Cravant-les-Coteaux and the 11th-century ruins of St-Léonard in l’Île Bouchard. Day 4: Vendôme, Loir Valley. La Trinité in Vendôme has a flamboyant west front, 11thcentury chapter house painting, 14th-century stained glass and early-16th-century choir stalls; all in all one of the most complete and heterogeneous ensembles of mediaeval work still to be found in a French monastic complex. Drive along the Loir Valley, with stops in Montoire (St-Gilles), Lavardin (St-Genest) and St-Jacquesdes-Guerets. Day 5: Blois, Selles-sur-Cher, Brinay-sur-Cher, Bourges. In the morning visit Blois for the former abbey church of St-Nicolas and the royal château, residence of several French kings. Drive along the Cher valley to Selles and Brinay, site of one of two truly great cycles of Romanesque wall paintings in Berry. First of four nights in Bourges. Day 6: Bourges. In the morning, visit Bourges cathedral, a building it is inappropriate to eulogize
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John McNeill Architectural historian and a specialist in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. He lectures for Oxford University’s Department of Continuing Education and is Honorary Secretary of the British Archaeological Association, for whom he has edited collections of essays on mediaeval Anjou, King’s Lynn and the Fens, Cloisters, and Romanesque and the Mediterranean. here, save to suggest that as an architectural experience it rests in a very select league indeed. Free afternoon. Day 7: Noirlac, Nohant-Vic, Issoudun. This is a varied and fundamentally rural day measured out among the smaller centres of southern Berry. Noirlac has an unusually intact Cistercian monastery (church, cloister, refectory, storerooms). St-Martin in Nohant-Vic displays the other magnificently orchestrated cycle of Romanesque wall paintings. Day 8: Nevers, La Charité-sur-Loire, Donzy-le-Pré. The cathedral of Nevers is a national monument to Saints Cyricus and Julitta, the present building a combination of Romanesque and Gothic styles. In the afternoon drive to La-Charité-sur-Loire to visit the unesco-listed church of Sainte-Croix-NotreDame and the almost entirely ruined Benedictine priory of Donzy-le-Pré. Day 9. The major Benedictine abbey in St-Benoîtsur-Loire houses the relics of St Benedict, with work ranging from the celebrated capitals of its early tower-porch to the sublime columnar arcade of its Romanesque choir. Take the Eurostar from Paris arriving at London St Pancras c. 6.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,730 or £2,540 without Eurostar. Single occupancy: £3,150 or £2,960 without Eurostar. Included meals: 5 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hôtel Oceania L’Univers, Tours (oceaniahotels.co.uk): central, 4-star hotel opposite the town hall. Hôtel de Bourbon Mercure Bourges (mercure.com): recently renovated 4-star hotel in a 17th-century abbey. How strenuous? A considerable amount of walking and standing around is involved. You will need to lift your own luggage on and off the train and wheel it within stations. Average distance by coach per day: 98 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Northumbria, 6–14 June 2018 (p.17); Wellington in the Peninsula, 15–27 May 2018 (p.182).
Illustration: Loches, St-Ours, watercolour by A.B. Atkinson, publ. c. 1910.
Mediaeval Burgundy Abbeys and churches of the high Middle Ages 9–16 June 2018 (me 902) 8 days • £2,790 Lecturer: John McNeill A superb collection of Romanesque and early Gothic buildings, and exceptionally well-preserved historic towns. Rural drives through beautiful landscapes. Led by renowned architectural historian John McNeill.
Day 1. Take the Eurostar at c. 11.00am from London St Pancras to Paris and then onwards by TGV (high-speed train) to Mâcon. Continue by coach to Tournus where two nights are spent. Day 2: Cluny, Berzé-la-Ville, Tournus. Cluny is the site of the largest church and most powerful monastery in mediaeval France. Study the magnificent remains of the church and monastic buildings. The tiny chapel at Berzé-la-Ville was perhaps built as the abbot of Cluny’s private retreat, and is embellished with superb wall paintings of c. 1100. At Tournus see the striking and influential early 11th-century monastery. Day 3: Beaune, Autun, Dijon. The 15thcentury Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune houses Rogier van der Weyden’s Last Judgement. The stalwart Romanesque church of Notre-Dame has fine tapestries. At Autun the cathedral of St Lazare is celebrated for its sublime sequence of Romanesque capitals and relief sculptures by Gislebertus. First of three nights in Dijon. Illustration: Vézelay, Abbey of La Madaleine, after a drawing by René Piot, c. 1920.
Day 4: St Thibault, Semur-en-Auxois, Fontenay. The church of the market town of St Thibault has a 13th-cent. choir that is the most graceful Burgundian construction of the period. The fortified hill town of Semur-en-Auxois has a splendid Gothic collegiate church. The tranquil abbey of Fontenay is the earliest Cistercian church to survive and has an exceptionally well-preserved monastic precinct. Day 5: Dijon. A day dedicated to Burgundy’s capital and one of the most attractive of French cities with many fine buildings from the 11th to 18th centuries. St Bénigne has an ambitious early Romanesque crypt. Notre-Dame is a quite stunning early Gothic parish church. The palace of the Valois dukes now houses a museum with extensive collections of work from the period of their rule (1364–1477). Day 6: Saulieu, Avallon, Vézelay. Visit the Basilique St-Andoche in Saulieu, with carved capitals depicting flora, fauna and biblical stories. Drive north to Avallon, whose fine Romanesque church is spectacularly situated above the river Cousin. Vézelay, a picturesque hill town whose summit is occupied by the abbey of La Madeleine, was one of the great pilgrimage centres of the
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The key to understanding mediaeval Burgundy is its situation, a cradle of wooded hills drained by three great river systems flowing, respectively, to the north, south and west. Not only did this lend the area the status of a lieu de passage, but it guaranteed its importance, ensuring that the mediaeval duchy was open to the forms and traditions of far-flung regions. Remarkably, much of Burgundy’s mediaeval infrastructure survives. Even extending back as far as the ninth century, for in the interlocking spaces of the lower church at St-Germain d’Auxerre one might catch a glimpse of western Carolingian architecture and painting, a glimpse that presents this most distant of periods at its most inventive and personal. It is equally the case that while the great early Romanesque basilicas which once studded the underbelly of the Ile-de-France are now reduced to a ghost of their former selves, what survives in Burgundy is sublimely impressive, as one might see in that great quartet of crypts at Dijon, Auxerre, Flavigny and Tournus. As elsewhere, the twelfth century is well represented, though the depth of exploratory work undertaken here cannot fail to impress. The fundamental Romanesque research was probably conducted to the south, at Cluny and in the Brionnais, but the take-up in central Burgundy was immediate, and in the naves of Vézelay and Autun one might see two of the most compelling essays on the interaction of sculpture and architecture twelfth-century Europe has produced. Nor were Cistercians slow to tailor Burgundian architecture to suit their needs, and though her great early monasteries have now perished at least Fontenay survives, ranking among the most breathtaking monastic sites of mediaeval France. Gothic also arrived early, and there began a second wave of experimentation, tentative at first but blossoming in the centre (where the new choir at Vézelay is the first intimation we have that Gothic architecture had a future outside northern France) into perhaps the most lucid of all architectural styles. It is thus no surprise that the thirteenth century saw the region at the cutting edge of Europe. At Auxerre a definitive account of space as illusion took shape, and at Semur-en-Auxois a theatre of stone clambered aboard the church. Moreover, the patrons invested heavily in glass. No thirteenth-century church was without it - and most have retained it, blazing the interior with a heady combination of light, meaning and colour. This sublime vigour even continued into the later middle ages, where under the Valois dukes of Burgundy, Dijon became a major artistic centre, attracting artists of the calibre of Rogier van der Weyden and Claus Sluter.
Itinerary
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Mediaeval Alsace Both sides of the Rhine in France and Germany
Middle Ages, and has one of the most impressive of all 12th-century churches for both its architecture and its sculpture. First of two nights in Auxerre. Day 7: Auxerre. The morning includes the magnificent Carolingian crypt of St Germain and the cathedral, a pioneering 13th-century building with exceptional glass and sculpture. The afternoon is free. Day 8: Sens. The striking cathedral of Sens is among the earliest Gothic churches of Europe, housing important glass and an exquisitely carved 12th- and 13th-century west front. The diocesan museum also houses an extensive collection of Roman and mediaeval antiquities. Take the Eurostar from Paris arriving at London St Pancras c. 6.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,790 or £2,620 without Eurostar and TGV. Single occupancy: £3,150 or £2,980 without Eurostar and TGV. Included meals: 6 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hôtel Le Rempart, Tournus (lerempart.com): 4-star hotel formerly a 15thcentury guard house, located on the ramparts of the town. Hostellerie du Chapeau Rouge, Dijon (chapeau-rouge.fr): centrally located, comfortable 4-star hotel furnished to a high standard. Hôtel Le Parc des Maréchaux, Auxerre (leparcdesmarechaux.com): 3-star hotel in a delightful 18th-century hôtel particulier. There are no twin rooms at the Hôtel Le Parc des Maréchaux. We can provide a quote for two single rooms at this hotel only, if you usually require a twin-bedded room – please contact us. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking, some of it on steep hillsides, and standing around. There is plenty of coach travel and you stay in three hotels. You will need to be able to lift your luggage on and off the train and wheel it within stations. Average distance by coach per day: 72 miles.
3–10 October 2017 (me 594) This tour is currently full 16–23 October 2018 (mf 250) 8 days • £2,980 Lecturer: Dr Alexandra Gajewski Architecture, art and history around the Upper Rhine in France and Germany. Exceedingly lovely towns and villages, amid lush landscapes of vineyards, rolling farmland and wooded hills.
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Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Stay in one hotel throughout, a beautifully restored, 16th-century Alsatian Inn.
Combine this tour with: Walking to Derbyshire Houses, 18–23 June 2018 (p.13).
Led by Alexandra Gajewski, specialist in mediaeval architecture.
The Beaune Music Festival July 2018 Details available in December 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Illustrations. This page: Colmar, rue des Marchands, etching by Charles Pinet (1867–1932). Opposite: Aix, Cathedral of St Sauveur, after a drawing by H.P. Clifford from ‘The Studio: Special Winter Number 1900–1901: Modern Pen Drawings’.
What else is included in the price? See page 7. 68
It is one of the oddities of modern Europe that Alsace belongs to France. Historically, culturally and linguistically, the region has had more in common with its German neighbour to the east of the Rhine. Alsace is a hybrid. The region was settled by Teutonic tribes in the fifth century. In the Middle Ages most of the region, along with a chunk of Switzerland, formed part of the German duchy of Swabia, which owed allegiance to the Holy Roman Empire. Two of the imperial families, the Hohenstaufen and the Habsburgs, had their principal domains in the region, on both sides of the Rhine. The major cities – Strasbourg, Colmar and Freiburg – were among the greatest of the independent free cities of the Rhineland, the economic powerhouse of transalpine Europe. Only in relatively recent history has the Upper Rhine become a disputed border between antagonistic powers. In the Middle Ages and for long after the river was not a divisive factor but a
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unifying highway, the meeting place for goods, peoples and ideas from both sides. The acquisition by France in 1648 of the left bank – modern-day Alsace – paid no heed to linguistic, religious or cultural considerations. Indeed, it reverted to the German Empire for 47 years after the FrancoPrussian war of 1871. This tour ignores modern national boundaries. This way the immensely rich artistic and cultural heritage can be fully appreciated, and stylistic variations be seen as regional inflections rather than national differences. Among the highlights of the tour are Romanesque churches, the Gothic cathedral, and an exceptionally rich collection of late-mediaeval altarpieces. Alsace is also rich in mediaeval church architecture, both Romanesque and Gothic.
Itinerary Day 1: London to Strasbourg. Leave London St Pancras by Eurostar at c. 9.30am for Paris, and continue by TGV (high-speed train) to Strasbourg. Arriving before 5.00pm, there is plenty of time to settle into the hotel, for an introductory talk and dinner. All seven nights are spent in Strasbourg. Day 2: Strasbourg. Since the High Middle Ages, Strasbourg has been one of the most important intellectual and cultural centres of Europe, and is now seat of the European parliament. The cathedral, constructed and adorned over several centuries, is one of the greatest monuments of Gothic art and architecture in Europe. Visit also the cathedral museum and the church of St Thomas (extravagant tomb of Maréchal de Saxe) and enjoy the picturesque streets and canals. Day 3: Colmar. Colmar is an exceedingly attractive mediaeval town with richly ornamented half-timbered and stone buildings lining the streets and canals. The Gothic church of St
Provence & Languedoc Art and architecture in the Midi Martin contains the Virgin of the Rose Garden, an altarpiece by Schongauer (1473). The Musée d’Unterlinden has an outstanding collection of 15th- and 16th-century pictures, chief of which is Grünewald’s Issenheim altarpiece, the most searing of all images of the Crucifixion. Day 4: Molsheim, Rosheim, Obernai. A day of small places. Molsheim has a Jesuit church and a Carthusian monastery. The chapel of St Ulrich in Avolsheim was built in the 10th century and contains 13th-century frescoes. In Obernai, visit the Romanesque church of St Pierre. Rosheim possesses a number unspoilt mediaeval houses and the 12th-century church of St Pierre et Paul. In the heart of wine-producing countryside, Obernai is partly surrounded by fine ramparts. Day 5: Kaysersberg, Murbach. Kaysersberg is a remarkably unchanged mediaeval village with delightful houses, castle, bridge, and a church with a very fine carved altarpiece. In the afternoon drive south through the lovely hill scenery of the Massif du Ballon d’Alsace. Nestling in wooded hills, the Romanesque abbey at Murbach was the most important in the region, and its Romanesque church is correspondingly magnificent. Day 6: Niederrotweil, Freiburg, Breisach. Cross the Rhine to Germany. The parish churches at Breisach and Niederrotweil each have a most beautiful late Gothic altarpiece carved by the socalled Master HL with an extraordinary swirling design. Freiburg im Breisgau is one of the best preserved old towns in Germany. At its centre is the minster, a magnificent Gothic construction with the tallest spire completed in the Middle Ages. The excellent city museum has recently reopened after major restoration.
27 September–6 October 2018 (mf 186) 10 days • £3,480 Lecturer: Dr Alexandra Gajewski Fine Roman remains that had a decisive impact on mediaeval architecture and sculpture. Truly great secular buildings, including the papal palace at Avignon, and pre-eminent Romanesque churches. Superb modern art at the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence and at the Fine Arts Museum in Marseille. A natural setting of exceptional attractiveness. Dr Alexandra Gajewski specialises in mediaeval architecture and is a resident of the Languedoc.
The picture of Mediterranean France as an exotic land subject to a wide range of foreign influences is borne out by a glance at the region’s complex history. This tour traces the wide-ranging influences on Provence and eastern Languedoc throughout the centuries. Provence was the first province established by the Romans outside Italy and impressive Roman work survives at Nîmes, St-Rémy and Arles. In Arles, as one moves into Late Antiquity, one is also witness to the most significant Early Christian city of Mediterranean Gaul. This Roman infrastructure is fundamental, and the pre-eminent Romanesque churches of Provence may come as something of a surprise. The sculpture is more skilfully and self-consciously antique than any outside central Italy, and is often organised in a manner designed to evoke either fourth-century sarcophagi or Roman theatres and triumphal arches. The Italian connection was strengthened when, for much of the fourteenth century, the papacy came to reside in Avignon, one of the loveliest cities in France. We spend five nights here. The complete circuit of walls is an impressive survival from this time, as is the Palais des Papes, perhaps the finest Palace to have survived from the Middle Ages, and several Gothic churches.
Day 7: Strasbourg. Free morning followed by a visit to the Palais Rohan and its museums of fine and decorative arts in the afternoon. Day 8. Leave Strasbourg at c. 10.45am by TGV for Paris and continue by Eurostar to London St Pancras, arriving c. 4.45pm.
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Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £2,980 or £2,700 without Eurostar and TGV. Single occupancy: £3,560 or £3,280 without Eurostar and TGV. Included meals: 1 lunch and 5 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Cour du Corbeau, Strasbourg (cour-corbeau.com): beautifully restored 4-star hotel, located close to the cathedral and the Palais Rohan. Rooms contain many original features, though décor is contemporary. How strenuous? There is a fair amount of walking and standing around within the towns. Many town centres are only accessible on foot, and paving may be cobbled or uneven. You need to be able to wheel your own luggage, and lift it on and off the train. Average distance by coach per day: 55 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Ravenna & Urbino, 10– 14 October 2018 (p.115); Siena & San Gimignano, 10–14 October 2018 (p.122); Walking in Eastern Sicily, 8–15 October 2018 (p.146). Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Pont du Gard, an astonishing feat of engineering over the River Gardon. The Romanesque tower of Uzès cathedral sits against a backdrop of picturesque mediaeval streets and baroque houses. Day 7: Arles. The amphitheatre at Arles is a justly famous early 2nd-cent. structure of a type developed from the Colosseum. The Romanesque Cathedral of St-Trophime is home to one of the greatest cloisters of 12th-cent. Europe. The Musée Départmental Arles Antique houses a quite spellbinding collection of classical and early Christian art. Day 8: Villeneuve-lez-Avignon, Marseille. In the morning see Pope Innocent VI’s now ruined Charterhouse at Villeneuve-lez-Avignon and the Musée Pierre de Luxembourg, displaying works from the 14th–17th cents. in a former Cardinal’s palace. Continue to Marseille. Visit first the Basilique St Victor, which has a 5th-cent. crypt. First of two nights in Marseille. Day 9: Marseille. A walk through the Vieux Port and Panier districts, including the remains of the city’s ancient Greek then Roman port at the Jardin des Vestiges and La Vieille Charité, 17–18th cent. almshouses with a fine Baroque chapel. The Musée des Docks Romains illustrates the importance of Marseille in Mediterranean maritime trade. In the afternoon visit the Musée des Beaux Arts, where the highlight is a fine collection of 19th-cent. French art.
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Despite the upheavals of the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when Provence lost its independence and the whole region was riven by religious wars, local patrons, such as the Duke of Uzès, began to employ artists capable of creating Italian Renaissance motifs. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, at Nîmes and Aix, Parisian Baroque architecture became the dominant model. The intensity of the light, the brightness of the colours and the raw beauty of the Midi purified palettes, dissolved form and changed the course of western art. Van Gogh and Gauguin sojourned in Arles in 1888, Cézanne returned to his birthplace, Aix-en-Provence, in 1886. Signac, Matisse, Derain, Marquet, Camoin, Dufy, Bonnard and Braque also set up in productive propinquity along the coast and their art has remained in the region’s collections. Time is spent in Aix, the attractive old capital of Provence and the new capital, Marseille, handsome and vibrant and at times gritty. Oscillating between small provincial town and big city, Marseille was propelled into the 21st century by Norman Foster, Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid who all contributed to the civic improvements and architecturally striking new museums for its year as European Capital of Culture in 2013.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 1.00pm (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Marseille. Drive to Aix-enProvence for two nights. Day 2: Aix-en-Provence. Morning walk through the old town, including the Cathedral of St Sauveur with 5th-cent. baptistry, cloisters and a 15th-cent. triptych of The Burning Bush by Nicolas Froment. The Musée Granet has a good 70
permanent collection of French painting from the 16th-cent. onwards and a room dedicated to works by Cézanne. Cézanne’s studio remains as he left it on his death in 1906, and a short drive away is a fine view of the Mont Sainte-Victoire, the most recognisable motif in modern art. Day 3: Les Baux, St Rémy. Morning walk through the delightful mediaeval and Renaissance town of Les Baux, whose citadel sits on top of a rocky spur in the Alpilles. Continue to St Rémy, Glanum of old, and proud possessor of one of the truly great funerary memorials of the Roman world, the cenotaph erected by three Julii brothers in honour of their forebears. See also the former monastery where Van Gogh was hospitalised, including the Romanesque cloister and scenes that he painted. Continue to Avignon for the first of five nights. Day 4: Avignon. The Palais des Papes is the principal monument of the Avignon papacy, one-time site of the papal curia and by far the most significant 14th-cent. building to survive in southern France. The collections of late Gothic sculpture and painting in the Petit Palais act as a splendid foil to the work at the papal palace. Day 5: Pernes-les-Fontaines, Vaison, Venasque. Gentle stroll through Pernes, a fortified river town with an important Romanesque church and 13thcent. frescoed tower. Continue over the Dentelles de Montmirail to the stunning early mediaeval baptistery at Venasque. Free afternoon in Avignon. Day 6: Nîmes, Uzès, Pont du Gard. Nîmes has two of the most famous of Roman monuments: the amphitheatre and the Maison Carrée, a perfectly preserved temple. The Jardin de la Fontaine is a beautiful 18th-cent. garden around the terminus of an aqueduct – the water brought here across the
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Day 10: Marseille. Free morning. Suggestions include the modern and contemporary collections of the Musée Cantini or the new Musée des Civilisations d’Europe et de la Méditerranée, containing collections previously at the former Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires in Paris. Fly from Marseille, arriving at London Heathrow at c. 5.45pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,480 or £3,320 without flights. Single occupancy: £4,000 or £3,840 without flights. Included meals: 7 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Grand Hotel Roi René, Aix-enProvence (mgallery.com): 4 star, centrally located. Hôtel d’Europe, Avignon (heurope.com): central 5-star hotel in a former 16th-cent. residence. Grand Hotel Beauvau, Marseille (mgallery.com): 4-star hotel in the old port area with sea views. How strenuous? Quite a lot of walking is involved, particularly in the town centres. The tour is not suitable for anyone who has difficulties with everyday walking and stairclimbing. There are some long days and coach journeys. Average distance by coach per day: 32 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Above: Avignon, Palais des Papes, aquatint by Sir Francis Barry.
Bilbao to Bayonne, 3–10 September 2018 – see page 165.
Romans in the Rhône Valley Spectacular remains of Provincia Romana 23–29 April 2018 (me 833) 7 days • £2,490 Lecturer: Professor Simon Esmonde Cleary
Nîmes, Arena, after a drawing by René Piot, publ. 1922.
A group of the finest Roman monuments surviving anywhere in the empire, with some of the most famous examples of Roman architecture and engineering. The theatres, amphitheatres and temples of Arles, Lyon, Orange and Vienne are spectacular survivals, with the Pont du Gard near Nîmes the most renowned Roman aqueduct of all. Led by Professor Simon Esmonde Cleary, specialist in Roman archaeology and culture. Beautiful Provençal landscapes, towns, colours and scents. In the late Roman period Arles became one of the most important cities of Roman Europe and a fine set of baths built under the first Christian emperor Constantine I (306–37) survives along with evidence for the growth of Christianity in its churches and cemeteries. With the fall of the western Roman empire in the fifth century and the troubled times that followed, what had been great public monuments, such as the amphitheatres of Arles and Nîmes or the theatre at Orange, became instead fortified redoubts, filled with houses and churches sheltering within their massive Roman walls. As well as the monuments there are museums, some recently created to the highest international standards, housing the sculptures, mosaics, carved marble sarcophagi and humbler items of daily life recovered from excavations in and around the cities.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 2.15pm (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Lyon. Overnight Lyon. Day 2: Lyon, Vienne. The theatre and odeon on Lyon’s Fourvière hill are accompanied by a museum where highlights include an impressive mosaic depicting a circus race. After free time for lunch in Lyon’s old town, continue to Vienne and its stunning temple as well as other Roman remains. Overnight in Vienne. Day 3: Vienne, Arles. Morning visit to Vienne’s Gallo-Roman museum, where remains include domestic and commercial buildings as well as the intriguing wrestlers’ baths. Lunch at the museum’s restaurant before continuing to Arles via Orange, site of the greatest of all Roman theatres to survive in the West. First of four nights in Arles. Day 4: Arles. At Arles the amphitheatre is a justly famous, early 2nd-century structure of a type developed from the Colosseum. See also Constantine’s baths, walls and a cryptoporticus built as foundation for the forum and possibly to house slaves. In the afternoon visit the Alyscamps Roman necropolis and the Musée de l’Arles et de la Provence Antiques’ spellbinding collection of classical and early Christian art. Day 5: Nîmes. See first the perfectly preserved Roman monuments in Nîmes: La Maison Carrée and amphitheatre. Continue to the Jardin de la
Fontaine, once a Roman spring sanctuary and now a beautiful 18th-century garden around the terminus of an aqueduct – the water brought here across the Pont du Gard. Nestled here are the Temple of Diana, part of the Roman sacred complex, possibly used as a library, and the Tour Magne watchtower, at the highest point of the city. Day 6: Pont du Gard, Arles. Spend the morning at the Pont du Gard, an astonishing feat of engineering over the River Gardon. Return to Arles for a free afternoon, perhaps to visit the Van Gogh foundation with temporary exhibitions, or the Romanesque Cathedral of St-Trophime with one of the greatest cloisters of 12th-century Europe. Day 7: Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Drive to StRémy-de-Provence, Glanum of old, and proud possessor of one of the truly great funerary memorials of the Roman world, the cenotaph erected by three Julii brothers in honour of their forebears. Continue to Marseille airport for the afternoon flight arriving at Heathrow at c. 5.45pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,490 or £2,300 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,840 or £2,650 without flights. Included meals: 2 lunches, 4 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Le Royal, Lyon (lyonhotel-leroyal.com): on the main square of the Presqu’île; elegant, welcoming with restaurant and bar. Locally rated 5-star but comparable to a good 4-star. Hotel La Pyramide, Vienne (lapyramide. com): 4-star close to the town centre; renovated 2015. Contemporary with modern furnishings; two restaurants and a boutique. Hotel Jules César, Arles (hotel-julescesar.fr): former 17th-century Carmelite Convent, now a 5-star boutique hotel. Rooms are recently refurbished and have modern fittings. There is a pool, bar, and restaurant. How strenuous? Quite a lot of walking is involved, particularly in the town centres. There are some long days and coach journeys. Average distance by coach per day: 29 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Monet & Impressionism, 15–20 April 2018 (p.62); Mediaeval Saxony, 30 April– 8 May 2018 (p.84). Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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‘More like Italy than a province’ was the verdict of the elder Pliny in the middle of the first century AD, speaking of Provence. Two thousand years later his words still hold true. The Rhône valley between Lyon and the Mediterranean was the part of Gaul where Roman influence was most deeply felt. Nature had endowed the region with agricultural riches (grain, vines, olives – the ‘Mediterranean triad’) and the Rhône corridor was the main trade route from Mediterranean lands into Gaul. This wealth allowed the construction of great cities and monuments in the Roman style. Arles, Nîmes and Orange form a tight group of cities at the southern end of the valley, all of them Roman coloniae (privileged cities) with exceptional series of monuments. Nîmes houses perhaps two of the best-preserved structures in the Roman world: the ‘Maison Carrée,’ a classical temple built under the first Roman emperor Augustus, and a late 1st-century ad amphitheatre.Most famously, Nîmes was supplied by a long aqueduct which included the world-famous, triple-tiered Pont du Gard aqueduct. Arles rivalled Nîmes, with an amphitheatre of similar dimensions, a theatre and a great circus for chariot-racing. Orange is famous for its theatre with a huge 37m-high stage wall and the exceptionally complete, early 1st-century ad triumphal arch. Further north, the coloniae of Vienne and Lyon also housed great theatres, and at Lyon there is a rare odeon, or covered theatre. Vienne is second only to Nîmes in the quality of its surviving Roman temple and, like Arles and Lyon, boasted a circus. St-Rémy near Arles and Vaison near Orange show how local communities reacted to the examples set by the neighbouring Roman cities. At St-Rémy, the narrow valley in the Alpilles shows Mediterranean influence before the arrival of Rome, with buildings clearly derived from the Hellenistic city of Marseille. In the Roman period construction of amenities such as a forum and public baths, along with a triumphal arch and a splendid family tomb on the main road, were public benefactions by local wealthy families, some of whom had become Roman citizens. A similar pattern can be seen at Vaison, where there is also exceptional evidence of how these Gaulish aristocrats adopted houses that would not have looked out of place at Pompeii.
The Wines of Bordeaux Châteaux and vineyards, tradition and innovation Day 4: St Émilion, Pomerol. A Merlot day. Drive east to the charming, mediaeval town of St Émilion and visit the traditional Premier Grand Cru Clos Fourtet, acclaimed for its terroir. After some free time for an independent lunch and exploration in the town, it is a short journey to the smaller, but celebrated appellation of Pomerol and its opulent and velvety wines. The compact, modern Château Petit-Village is located at the highest point of the gravel plateau, neighbouring le Pin and Pétrus. Day 5: St Estèphe, Pauillac. Drive north through the expanse and beauty of the Haut-Médoc to reach St Estèphe and specifically the privatelyowned Cos d’Estournel. The extensive and exotic 19th-century exterior is mirrored in the ultramodern interior where we taste deep-coloured, long-lived wines. Returning south through Pauillac, Château Pichon Baron Longueville plays host in the 19th-century fairytale turrets, but makes its superb Cabernet-dominated wines in modern, neo-Egyptian cellars.
23–29 October 2017 (me 638) 7 days • £2,860 • Flights not included Lecturer: Roderick Smith MW 22–28 October 2018 (mf 269) 7 days • £3,090 • Flights not included Lecturer: Roderick Smith MW Tutored tastings and visits to eight châteaux from St Estèphe to Sauternes. Stay in a five-star hotel in Bordeaux. Accompanied throughout by a Master of Wine, expert in Bordeaux wines. Free time to visit the recently-opened museum of wine, la Cité du Vin.
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Bordeaux stands proud on the banks of the Garonne, with its glorious eighteenth-century architecture testament to the golden age of trade with far-flung destinations, at one time only rivalled in Europe by its northern former-ruler, London. But Bordeaux is firmly situated in the south, its long hours of sunshine conducive to sitting at open-air cafés in grand squares, and drinking wine. For wine and its trade are at the heart of Bordeaux’s prosperity. The Gironde estuary north of the city is not only a positive influence on the temperature and soils of the nearby châteaux, but has been the conduit for their wines to be shipped to foreign markets for centuries. The vine was introduced to the region by the Romans in the first century ad, but it was the 1855 classification of the Médoc and Sauternes which firmly established its burgeoning worldwide reputation for quality. In spite of more recent international competition, the eyes of the world are still drawn to these top appellations for their expertise and complex wines. It is thrilling to travel by road between neat rows of vines punctuated by fairytale châteaux, their familiar names such as Pichon Baron or d’Yquem discreetly inscribed over imposing gateways, so imposing as to discourage the casual visitor. But the facades belie the welcome 72
and enterprise that await us behind the closed doors we are opening on this tour. Ancient, or occasionally starchitect, walls surround modern, shiny, squeaky-clean stainless-steel tanks, and vast temperature-controlled underground halls of newoak casks are designed to make these renowned wines consistently ‘précis’. It is said that to make a small fortune in the wine business, you need to start with a large one. Bordeaux is no exception, with many châteaux owned by large corporations, or more boutique wineries run as vanity projects for their individual proprietors. But all of the wonderful wines tasted on this tour are made by teams of people passionate about what they do, many of whom we shall meet, and who bring to life the story behind the science.
Itinerary Day 1: Bordeaux. Leave Bordeaux Airport following the arrival of the flight from London Gatwick (for both 2017 and 2018: easyJet, currently 9.25pm) (flights are not included – see ‘Practicalities’). Transfer to the hotel. All six nights are spent in central Bordeaux. Day 2: Bordeaux. A morning introductory lecture and tutored tasting in Bordeaux of representative white and red wines. After lunch visit the contemporary Château les Carmes Haut-Brion designed by Philippe Starck and the architect Luc Arsène-Henry on the outskirts of the city. Day 3: Pessac-Léognan, Sauternes. Today’s journey south is to Pessac-Léognan to appreciate its white wines. The appellation was created in the 1980s largely by the revered André Lurton of Château la Louvière where we taste wines from the estate and elsewhere. The influence of the river Ciron, near the diminutive village of Sauternes, is key to the development of noble rot. Château d’Yquem opens its doors to us for a tour of its spectacular cellars which culminates in a tasting. In order to enjoy more personal visits, the group is required by Château d’Yquem to divide in two today, and travels by minibus.
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Day 6: Bordeaux, Margaux. Free morning to visit la Cité du Vin or for independent exploration of Bordeaux. In the afternoon return north to Château Kirwan for a visit, tasting and dinner. Day 7. Drive to Bordeaux Airport in time for the flight to London Gatwick (in 2017: easyJet, currently departing 11.50am; in 2018: British Airways, currently departing 10.05am). This gives a fair picture of the tour, but there may be substitutes for some places mentioned and the order of the visits will possibly differ.
Practicalities Price, per person in 2017. Two sharing: £2,860. Single occupancy: £3,310. Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £3,090. Single occupancy: £3,570. Included meals: 3 lunches, 3 dinners, with wine. Flights are not included in the price because the most convenient outbound flight is with easyJet and we cannot make a booking without knowing the passenger name. We can book flights on your behalf, quoting the fare at the time of booking, or you can make the bookings yourself. Full suggested flight details are provided to all participants in due course, but please contact us if you require details now. Accommodation. Intercontinental Le Grand Hôtel, Bordeaux (bordeaux.intercontinental. com): majestic, neo-classical 5-star hotel welllocated opposite le Grand Théâtre in the centre of Bordeaux. Rooms are ornate and traditional. How strenuous? There is a considerable amount of walking and standing in possibly muddy vineyards and cool cellars. Average distance by coach per day: 39 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Dark Age Brilliance, 14–21 October 2018 (p.116).
Illustration: Bordeaux, steel engraving c. 1850.
Gardens of the Riviera In and around Menton and Nice 11–17 April 2018 (me 810) 7 days • £2,290 Lecturer: Caroline Holmes
provided). The garden at Clos du Peyronnet is still owned by an Englishman who continues to develop it, blending plants from around the world in a setting of terraces, pools and pergolas.
Inspiring historic gardens in spectacular settings, with exceptional growing conditions.
Day 3: Grasse. West of Grasse, the gardens of the Villa Noailles were made during the postwar years in a distinctive blend of English, classical and other influences in a refreshing rural setting. Drawing on its inspiration, to the east lies La Mouissone, a former olive grove, where the terraces are being developed, rooted in the scents of Grasse’s history but planted with contemporary verve.
Includes visits to some gardens not normally open to the public. Led by gardens historian Caroline Holmes. Based in Menton throughout.
Itinerary Day 1: Cagnes-sur-Mer, Menton. Fly at c. 11.30am from London Heathrow to Nice (British Airways). Renoir spent his last years in the farmhouse at Les Collettes near Cagnes-sur-Mer, painting and sculpting from the olive terraces around the garden. Transfer by coach to Menton where all six nights are spent. Day 2: Menton. Visit a private garden in Menton, not normally open to the public (details will be
Day 4: Monaco, La Mortola (Italy). The astonishing outdoor collection of cacti and succulents at the Jardin Exotique in Monaco overlooks the Principality and the sea from its clifftop walks. The Hanbury Botanic Gardens at La Mortola have been famous since their establishment in the 19th century. An unparalleled collection of specimens festoon the steep site. Curtains of plumbago and bougainvillea, perfumed parterres, pergolas, exotic pavilions and citrus orchards adorn this garden paradise on a private headland. Day 5: Menton. Lawrence Johnston’s great garden La Serre de la Madone was made between the wars, and though much of the detail has gone, a romantic atmosphere still pervades the dramatic layout. Opportunity for independent time in Menton; a chance to see the Musée Cocteau or his Salle des Mariages. Afternoon tour of Fontana Rosa whose tiled benches still evoke the ‘Writers’ Garden’ created in 1921 by Vicente Blasco Ibaňez, successful playwright and novelist of Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse fame. Literary threads are drawn in from across the world, the surviving rotunda decorated with 100 tiles illustrating Cervantes’s Don Quixote encapsulates the mood perfectly. Dinner is at 2-Michelin star restaurant, Mirazur. Day 6: St Paul de Vence, Menton. The Fondation Maeght near St-Paul provides a rare opportunity to view modernism in a garden context. Return to Garavan, the hillside quarter of Menton to visit Val Rahmeh, an early early 20th-century villa surrounded by gardens of exceptional richness created by Maybud Campbell in the 1950s. Day 7: St Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Sited in an exceptional position on Cap Ferrat, the gardens at the Villa Ephrussi Rothschild, established by Beatrice de Rothschild, are rich and varied. Her Palazzo contains an eclectic, wealthy art collection. Transfer to Nice airport for the flight to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 4.30pm. Some of the gardens can only be visited by special arrangement and are subject to confirmation.
Practicalities Price, per person: rear view room. Two sharing: £2,290 or £2,160 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,570 or £2,440 without flights. Price, per person: sea view room, two sharing £2,370 or £2,240 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,720 or £2,590 without flights. Included meals: 2 picnic lunches and 4 dinners with wine.
Caroline Holmes Garden historian, autor and consultant. Lectures for Cambridge University’s ICE, The Arts Society and RHS. Her eleven books include Water Lilies & Bory Latour Marliac and The Genius behind Monet’s Water Lilies. She has been a consultant for the Royal Opera House’s New Production Campus for the Performing Arts and Notre-Dame-de-Calais. Accommodation. Hotel Napoléon, Menton (napoleon-menton.com): modern, comfortable 4-star hotellocated near the border with Italy, looking back on Vieux Menton. Sea view rooms have balconies but suffer some noise from the busy coastal road and availability is limited. Rooms at the rear are quieter. How strenuous? A lot of walking and standing. Several gardens are on steep sites and paths are often slippery and uneven, without handrails. Sure-footedness is essential. Average distance by coach per day: 42 miles. Group size: between 10 to 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur, 5–11 April 2018 (p.74). Illustration: Menton, watercolour by William Scott, publ. 1907.
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When Tobias Smollett arrived on the Riviera in 1763, he found himself ‘enchanted’ by a landscape ‘all cultivated like a garden’. A century later Dr Bennett’s discovery of the miraculous winter climate at Menton established the town as a haven for prosperous foreigners in need of climatic therapy. By 1900 this narrow strip of land between the Maritime Alps and the Mediterranean had been transformed into a paradise of villas, palatial hotels, seafront promenades and exotic vegetation. The migratory nature of the moneyed population meant that the region developed a character quite separate from local cultural traditions. In a landscape of olive and lemon groves, the villa gardens seem an eclectic collection, disconcerting for those who look for patterns of continuity, but best viewed as separate incidents taking advantage of the exceptional growing conditions. The Hanbury family famously made the steep Italian cliffs of La Mortola a garden of beauty and experiment. Lawrence Johnston, the maker of Hidcote, established himself in the hills above Menton where his romantically sited garden at La Serre de la Madone provided a home for his huge collection of exotics. The gardens of the villas in Garavan continue to evince the private pleasures of past and present owners of many nationalities and design persuasions. The French have added their own distinctive contribution to this artificial enclave. Renoir found new inspiration, as well as some relief from pain, in his garden at Cagnes-sur-Mer. Marguerite and Aimé Maeght established a magnificent modern art collection in a garden setting at St-Paul-de-Vence. Art of a different character adorns the rooms of the Villa Ephrussi Rothschild at St Jean-Cap-Ferrat where the gardens take advantage of an incomparable setting, viewing the Mediterranean through a filter of pines, palms and cypresses. Charles, Vicomte de Noailles, made a garden drawing together a rich variety of cultural influences at the Villa Noailles, Grasse, providing inspiration for the most recent English horticultural creations at nearby La Mouissone.
Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur Picasso, Matisse, Chagall and their contemporaries 11–17 October 2017 (me 600) 7 days • £2,480 Lecturer: Monica Bohm-Duchen Christmas departure: 21–27 December 2017 (me 728) 7 days • £2,780 Lecturer: Lydia Bauman 5–11 April 2018 (me 806) 7 days • £2,560 Lecturer: Mary Lynn Riley 18–24 October 2018 (mf 252) 7 days • £2,560 Lecturer: Monica Bohm-Duchen Europe’s greatest concentration of classic modern art in the idyllic Mediterranean setting where it was created. Old and new collections, with outstanding work by Renoir, Bonnard, Braque, Léger, Miró, Giacometti, Cocteau, Chagall, Matisse, Picasso.
makes it a work of outstanding sympathy to its natural surroundings, in gardens enlivened by Miró’s Labyrinthe and other sculptures.
The lecturers are experts on 19th- and 20thcentury art.
Itinerary: Christmas 2017
Visits to the coastal towns and villages which inspired the artists.
Day 1: Nice. Fly at c. 11.45am, London Heathrow to Nice. An afternoon visit to the Musée des Beaux Arts Jules Chéret, concentrating on their 19th- and early 20th-century holdings (Monet, Renoir, Dufy, etc.). Stay all six nights in Nice.
Stay in Nice throughout.
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Natural resources and climate have drawn invaders and visitors to Nice and its surroundings from the Greek colonists of classical times to the jet-set of today. But from the late nineteenth century a special category of visitor – and settler – has transformed the Côte d’Azur into the greatest concentration of modern art in Europe. Monet first visited Antibes in 1883; Signac bought a house in the fishing village of St-Tropez in 1892. Matisse’s first visit to the Midi in 1904 transformed his art, and from 1918 he spent more time on the Côte d’Azur than in Paris. Matisse, Chagall and Picasso are merely among the most illustrious of the artists who chose to live in the South of France. Many of their fellow modernisers followed suit: Braque, Bonnard, Dufy, Picabia. This tour is an extraordinary opportunity to see how modernity relates to the past as well as the present, and how gallery displays can be centred on the art, the location or the patron/collector. In Matisse’s Chapelle du Rosaire at Vence, traditional arts and crafts have been revived by a modern genius, as in the monumental mosaic and glass designs of Léger which can be seen at Biot. There are also echoes of collecting habits of earlier eras in the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild. The mixture of past and present and the juxtaposition of the Goût Rothschild with the beauty of its location are breathtaking. (Graham Sutherland drew exotic flowers and plants in the extraordinary gardens.) At Antibes the Picasso Museum is housed in the Château Grimaldi, lent to Picasso as studio space in 1946 where he produced lifeaffirming paintings. Old and new galleries abound, such as the Fondation Maeght, St-Paul-de-Vence, whose building (chapel designed by José Luis Sert, 1963) 74
Day 2: Nice, Vence, Cagnes-sur-Mer. The Musée Matisse unites a wide range of the artist’s work: sculpture, ceramics, stained glass as well as painting. Vence, an artists’ colony, has the Chapel of the Rosary, designed and decorated by Matisse. Renoir’s house at Cagnes-sur-Mer is set amidst olive groves, a memorial to the only major Impressionist to settle in the south. Day 3: Nice. The Marc Chagall Museum has the largest collection of the artist’s works, notably the seventeen canvases of the Biblical Message, set in a peaceful garden in a salubrious Nice suburb. Free afternoon in Nice; there is an optional visit to the Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain with its excellent collection of post-war art. Day 4, Christmas Eve: Antibes, Vallauris. Most of the paintings Picasso produced in his studio in the Château Grimaldi in 1946 have been donated to the town of Antibes. Vallauris is a centre of contemporary pottery revived by Picasso, whose masterpiece War and Peace is here. Day 5, Christmas Day: St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, StPaul-de-Vence. Drive east to St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat to see the paintings, sculpture and furniture of the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, a mansion set in attractive gardens. The Maeght Foundation at St-Paul-de-Vence is renowned for its collections (Picasso, Hepworth, Miró, Arp, Giacometti, but not all works are shown at once) and for its architecture and setting. Day 6: St-Tropez, Biot. Drive west to St-Tropez, which has been popular with artists since Paul Signac settled here in 1892. The Musée de l’Annonciade is one of France’s finest collections of modern art (Signac, Maillol, Matisse, Bonnard, Vlaminck, Braque). Continue to Biot and visit the
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Nice, etching c. 1925 by Frederick Farrell.
renovated Musée National Fernand Léger, built to house the artist’s works bequeathed to his wife. Day 7: Le Cannet, Nice. The first museum dedicated to the works of Bonnard opened in Le Cannet in 2011. Fly from Nice arriving at London Heathrow at c. 5.00pm.
Itinerary: all other departures Day 1. Nice. Fly at c. 11.40am from London Heathrow to Nice. There is an afternoon visit to the Musée des Beaux Arts Jules Chéret, concentrating on their 19th- and early 20th-century holdings. Day 2. Nice. The Musée Matisse unites a wide range of the artist’s work: sculpture, ceramics, stained glass as well as painting. In the afternoon, visit the Marc Chagall Museum which has the largest collection of the artist’s works, notably the seventeen canvases of the Biblical Message, set in a peaceful garden in a salubrious Nice suburb. Day 3. Antibes, Vallauris, Cagnes-sur-Mer. Most of the paintings Picasso produced in his studio in the Château Grimaldi in 1946 have been donated to the town of Antibes. Vallauris is a centre of contemporary pottery revived by Picasso, whose
masterpiece War and Peace is here. Renoir’s house in Cagnes-sur-Mer is set amidst olive groves, a memorial to the only major Impressionist to settle in the south.
Day 5. Villefranche-sur-Mer, St Jean Cap Ferrat, Nice. In Villefranche is the small Chapelle St-Pierre, decorated by Cocteau. Continue to St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat to see the paintings, sculpture and furniture of the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, a mansion set in attractive gardens. The afternoon is free in Nice or there is an optional visit to the Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain with its excellent collection of post-war art. Day 6. St-Paul-de-Vence, Vence. The Maeght Foundation at St-Paul-de-Vence is renowned for its collections (Picasso, Hepworth, Miró, Arp, Giacometti, but not all works are shown at
Day 7. Le Cannet. The first museum dedicated to the works of Bonnard opened in Le Cannet in 2011. Fly from Nice arriving at London Heathrow at c. 4.30pm. In recent years, renovation work has led to museum closures. At the moment all visits listed are possible but we cannot rule out the possibility of changes.
Practicalities Price, per person in 2017 (except Christmas). Two sharing: £2,480 or £2,330 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,770 or £2,620 without flights.
Accommodation. Hotel La Pérouse, Nice (leshotelsduroy.com): stylish 4-star hotel partially built into the cliff and overlooking the Promenade des Anglais. Rooms are furnished in modern Provençal style. For our Christmas 2017 departure, all rooms have sea views. For all other departures, rooms are at the back of the hotel as standard, and rooms with sea views are available on request (please contact us for a quote). How strenuous? There is a fair amount of walking and standing around in museums. Average distance by coach per day: 40 miles Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine the April departure of this tour with: Gardens of the Riviera, 11–17 April 2018 (p.73).
Price, per person: Christmas 2017. Two sharing: £2,780 or £2,650 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,090 or £2,960 without flights. Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £2,560 or £2,430 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,890 or £2,760 without flights. Included meals: 4 dinners with wine (except for Christmas 2017, where we include 5 dinners).
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Day 4. St-Tropez, Biot. Drive west to St-Tropez, which has been popular with artists since Paul Signac settled here in 1892. The Musée de l’Annonciade is one of France’s finest collections of modern art (Signac, Maillol, Matisse, Bonnard, Vlaminck, Braque). Continue to Biot and visit the Musée National Fernand Léger, built to house the artist’s works bequeathed to his wife.
once) and for its architecture and setting. In the afternoon visit Chapelle du Rosaire, a Dominican chapel by Matisse.
Georgia Uncovered Treasures of the Southern Caucasus
8–17 September 2018 (mf 117) 10 days • £3,470 Lecturer: Ian Colvin Churches and monasteries dating from the sixth century and earlier. Exquisite jewellery and metalwork from the Bronze Age and Antiquity. Spectacular mountain landscapes.
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A delicious and varied regional cuisine in a land that is the cradle of wine. The tour is led by Ian Colvin, a historian and Byzantinist specialising in Late Antiquity and the South Caucasus. Georgia is a country that evokes many mythical and historical associations and yet, paradoxically, is little known in the West. This is partly geopolitical circumstance. For centuries Georgia was cut off from Europe, first by the Islamic caliphate and the Ottoman Turks, and then by Imperial Russia and the USSR. Opportunities for travel there were few. Set on the borders of Europe and Asia, a Christian country surrounded by Muslim neighbours, it is an heir to the civilizations of both continents, and at the same time preserves its own language and a rich cultural heritage that is peculiar to the South Caucasus. An ancient land, its past, like that of neighbouring Armenia, is deeply intertwined 76
with the history of the empires and civilizations that surround it. Georgia appears in the stories of the earliest peoples of the Fertile Crescent and Anatolia. It is linked closely with the Iranian empires to the southeast. They fought the Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans to the west for hegemony in this borderland. And the Georgian kings, according to their inclination and strategic necessity, backed one side or the other, and called in aid from the nomads to the north, or laboured to bar the mountain passes to them: Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Huns, Khazars, Turks, Mongols and Timurids – and finally their geographical heirs, the Russians. Even today, Russia, America, Turkey, Iran and the EU play a complex game in the South Caucasus, competing for political and economic influence in a region of vital oil wealth. Georgia has frequently found itself in the vanguard of global history. The metal ages came early in the South Caucasus, and the exquisite archaeological finds displayed in the gold rooms of the Tbilisi Museum confirm the reputation of its ancient smiths. Its kings adopted Christianity early in the fourth century ad; and its beautiful and unique alphabet was created in the early fifth century to help evangelize the people. Georgian and Armenian architects evolved a distinctive South Caucasian religious architecture in the sixth and seventh centuries, even as their churches fell out over Christological differences. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries the Bagratid kings unified Georgia and built a multiethnic empire that extended from the Caspian to
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the Black Sea, and from the Armenian highlands to the North Caucasus. It was demolished by the Mongols and Timurids and the country was again divided into a series of fractious principalities, preyed on by Ottoman Turks, Safavid Persians and Lezgi raiders from the north Caucasus. Georgians greeted the Russians as their Christian saviours on their first arrival at the end of the eighteenth century, but soon fell out with their colonial masters. The Tsars’ viceroys brought European fashions to Tbilisi, remodelling the city with a European quarter to stand alongside the Asiatic Old Town. At the beginning of the oil age, English, international and local investors, including Rothschilds, Nobels, Gulbenkians and Mantashevs built fortunes investing heavily in the Transcaucasus to bring Baku’s oil to world markets. The Art Nouveau palaces of this first age of globalisation still adorn Tbilisi and Batumi. In the same period, Stalin first impressed Lenin with his organising of the workers of Batumi, Tiflis and Baku and with the notorious Tiflis bank robbery of 1907. When war and the Bolsheviks brought the whole edifice crashing down, it was Stalin who built it up again at huge human cost. Nationalism and a longing for ‘freedom’ brought the end of the Soviet Union. It brought civil war too, economic collapse and stagnation, finally ended in 2003 by the first of the ‘colour revolutions’ and a new oil boom. Georgia’s new confidence is conspicuous, its promise great, its challenges evident.
Itinerary Day 1: London to Tbilisi. Fly at c. 12.00 midday from London Gatwick to Tbilisi via Istanbul (Turkish Airlines). Arriving at c. 10.30pm. Transfer to hotel in the heart of the city. First of four nights in Tbilisi. Day 2: Tbilisi. The Asiatic Old Town set beneath the Narikala fortress remains a twisting maze of streets, caravanserais and ancient churches, adding contrast to the subsequent architecture erected by the tsars’ viceroys, by merchant princes, Bolsheviks and post-Soviet presidents’ favourite modern architects (the vast post-Soviet Sameba – Holy Trinity – Cathedral, rivals the ambition of the great cathedrals of the Middle Ages). Past the ancient bath district built on Tbilisi’s thermal springs, the church at Metekhi is set on cliffs above the Mtkvari River. Day 3: Kakheti. Drive over the scenic Gomburi mountains to Tsinandali in fertile Kakheti, the country estate of the princely Chavchavadze family. Built by Alexandre (1786-1846) diplomat, poet and general, raised at the court of Catherine the Great – and one of the first to introduce enlightenment ideas and modern agricultural methods to Georgia – in 1854 the house was the scene of a notorious raid by the Imam Shamil’s Daghestani fighters. Today it is a small museum affording a glimpse of 19th-century Georgian noble life. Gremi the 16th-century capital of Kakheti, illustrates the trading wealth of this east Georgian kingdom.
Day 5: Mtskheta, Gudauri. Just north of Tbilisi is the old capital, Mtskheta, scene of the country’s fourth-century conversion and still the religious heart of this strongly Christian country. Its spiritual landmarks include: the sixth-century Jvari (Holy Cross) Church, perched high above the town; the tiny 5th-century Antioch church; and the 11th-century Cathedral of Svetitskhoveli (the Living Column), symbol of Georgia’s Conversion. We follow the Georgian Military Highway, the route the Russians constructed at the turn of the 19th century to secure their hold on their Transcaucasian possessions. First of two nights at Gudauri in the high Caucasus Mountains. Day 6: Gudauri. Drive over the Jvari pass to Stepantsminda on the headwaters of the Terek. The 14th-century Gergeti Sameba Church on the slopes of volcanic Mount Kazbek is in perhaps the most dramatic setting in Georgia. Then to the Darial Gates, a natural gorge, where the Terek cuts a narrow passage beneath cliffs
Day 7: Gori, Kutaisi. The cult of Joseph Stalin, Georgia’s most famous son, was officially abolished by Khrushchev in 1956, but at his birthplace in Gori the Stalin Museum continues to operate. Although Stalin is a source of embarrassment to many modern Georgians, this museum has been preserved as it was at the fall of the Soviet Union, a fascinating museum of the museum built by his henchman Beria. At Kutaisi we visit the world heritage sites of the 12th-century academy and monastery of Gelati, with its frescoed interiors, and the controversially restored 11th-century Bagrat Cathedral. Overnight Kutaisi. Day 8: Nokalakevi, Batumi. The imposing ruins at Nokalakevi are the remains of the ancient capital of the west Georgian kingdoms of Colchis and Egrisi-Lazika, whose massive fortifications date to a period when the region was a focus of ByzantineSasanian rivalry, but the site overlooking the Colchian plain, the ‘Land of the Golden Fleece’, has a much longer history. Excavations have been on-going since the 1970s and have uncovered buried remains through the Hellenistic period to the Late Bronze Age. Since 2001 our lecturer Ian Colvin has led an international team in a joint project with the Georgian National Museum. First of two nights at Batumi. Day 9: Batumi. The Bathus Limen, or deep water port, of Greek settlers of the 6th to 5th centuries bc was a sleepy provincial backwater under the Ottomans, until the Russians annexed it in 1878. Subsequently international investment brought a railway and pipelines to bring Baku oil to an eager European market. While Nobels, Rothschilds and Mantashev’s invested in Batumi’s oil infrastructure, Stalin cut his teeth organizing their oil workers’ strikes. The elegant 19th-century seafront boulevard is undergoing an investment boom, but the architecture of the first great period of globalization pre-First World War remains, alongside the post-Soviet towers. The wellpreserved Roman fortress of Apsarus at Gonio, is a site of such continuous strategic importance that one can see concrete WWII machine gun embrasures cut into the masonry of the secondcentury Roman, then Byzantine, Genoese and Ottoman refortifications.
Ian Colvin Historian and Byzantinist specialising in Late Antiquity and the South Caucasus. Trained at Oxford, he is now a researcher at Cambridge. He has directed an ongoing archaeological expedition to ancient Archaeopolis in the South Caucasus since 2001.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,470 or £3,140 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,990 or £3,660 without flights. Included meals: 8 lunches, 8 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Marriott Tbilisi (marriott. co.uk): 5-star hotel behind a 19th-century facade that is within walking distance of Tbilisi’s central attractions. Marco Polo Hotel, Gudauri (marcopolo.ge): 4-star spa hotel with spectacular views of the mountains. Bagrati 1003, Kutaisi: modern hotel, adequately comfortable and the best available. Radisson Blu, Batumi (radissonblu. com/Batumi): large hotel with good amenities and views of the Black Sea. How strenuous? You will be on your feet for long periods. Many of the sites are reached by steep, uneven steps sometimes without handrails. The tour would not be suitable for anyone who has difficulties with everyday walking and stairclimbing. There are some long coach journeys (average distance by coach per day: 56 miles). Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes, 20–26 September 2018 (p.95).
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Day 4: Tbilisi. Tbilisi’s Ethnographic open air House Museum conserves and displays examples of the architecture and ethnographic traditions of Georgia’s 14 different regions in a hillside park above the city. The National History Museum preserves its archaeological treasures, while its subterranean treasury is a highlight, demonstrating the remarkable skill of its smiths from the Bronze Age through to Antiquity. There is free time to explore Tbilisi’s pleasures: the enamels and icons of the Fine Art Gallery, the modern paintings of the Art Gallery, or perhaps Prospero’s Books, Tbilisi’s English language bookstore.
that tower nearly 1,000 metres above. Legend has it that Alexander the Great set iron gates here to protect the settled lands of the Near East from the rapacious nomads beyond.
Day 10: Batumi to London. Fly at c. 10.30am from Batumi Airport to London, via Istanbul, arriving at Gatwick at c. 6.00pm (Turkish Airlines).
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235. Illustration: Tblisi, mid-19th-century engraving.
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The House of Hanover Duchies, electorate and kingdom in Germany 16–22 May 2018 (me 868) 7 days • £2,570 Lecturer: Dr Jarl Kremeier Studies the German territories ruled by the dynasty from which came the Hanoverian kings of Great Britain 1714–1837. Led by anglophile German art historian Dr Jarl Kremeier. Includes well-preserved small towns, mediaeval monuments, some good art collections, city palaces, country houses and gardens. History as well as art history and architecture. Great-grandson of James I and VI, consistently through the female line, George Ludwig Elector of Hanover (1660–1727) might have been fifty-second in line to the thrones of Great Britain at the death of Queen Anne. But a combination of premature deaths and, much more devastatingly, the Act of
Settlement of 1702 which barred the throne to Roman Catholics, enabled him to succeed as King George I in 1714. The House of Hanover was to reign in Britain until 1837. This tour travels to the territories the Hanoverians ruled before, during and after this episode. The Guelphs, or Welfen, are one of the great dynasties of Europe. The attempt of Henry the Lion (1129–95) to bring himself in line for the possible election of Holy Roman Emperor eventually failed, but as dukes of BraunschweigLüneburg (since 1235) the family played a decisive role in German politics and patronage of the arts. Both activities were greatly enhanced by Duke, and from 1692 Elector, Ernst August (1629–98) and Duchess Sophie, parents of the future George I. When George moved his residence from Hanover to London, the sudden loss of the court was a severe blow to arts patronage, but there is still a great deal to see in the area of the former duchies. The erstwhile residences at Celle and Wolfenbüttel have large palaces set in charming cities; the ‘Großer Garten’ at Herrenhausen near Hanover and the landscaped parts next to it rank among the finest in the history of gardening; Braunschweig (Brunswick) has a magnificent collection of old master paintings and bronzes assembled by George I’s cousin. The tour also includes a number of mediaeval places connected to the Guelphs, as well as some nineteenth-century buildings erected by the then kings of Hanover after the union-by-king of Great Britain and Hanover. The union came to an end in 1837 because the electorate submitted to the Salic law which did not permit a female monarch, and the kingdom became extinct after it backed the losing side in the war between Austria and Prussia in 1866; Hanover was absorbed into Prussia.
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Day 1: Lüneburg. Fly at c. 10.40am from London Heathrow to Hamburg then drive to Lüneburg, capital of the eponymous duchy until 1373 when the city expelled the ducal family. See the important town hall with original interiors, St Michael’s Church (where J.S. Bach went to school) and St Johannes (magnificent organ). On the market square is the 1690 dowager palais of Duchess Eleonore (aunt by marriage of George I and widow of the last duke of BraunschweigLüneburg, who was succeeded by George I in 1705). Overnight Lüneburg. Day 2: Lüneburg, Medingen. Drive south to Kloster Medingen, convent then girls’ school, which burnt down in 1781; George III as Elector of Hanover contributed to the cost of re-building. Drive to Hanover for the first of five nights. Day 3: Hanover, Marienburg. Visit the Historisches Museum, where a permanent exhibition illustrating the development of Hanover over 750 years includes the golden carriages of the Guelfs. Drive out to Marienburg, a strikingly situated castle commissioned by Georg V in 1857 with some good interiors, pictures and furniture. Return to Hanover for a visit to the Landesmuseum, which houses a good collection of paintings from the former royal collection. Day 4: Celle. Celle is another of the most charming of smaller German cities with a well 78
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preserved centre with much half timbering. The Schloß, residence of the dukes (Lüneburg branch) since the 14th century, has a wonderfully decorated Renaissance chapel and apartments rebuilt by Georg Wilhelm (George I’s uncle) with Italian stucco and a tiny court theatre. See the house and garden used by George III’s brotherin-law, the duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and the church with tombs of George I’s uncles and aunt. Celle also served briefly as residence of George III’s sister Caroline Mathilde. Day 5: Herrenhausen. The small Fürstenhaus palace on the Herrenhausen estate is still owned by the Prinz von Hannover (and Duke of Cumberland!) and has good furniture and portraits and one of the grandest complexes of historic gardens in Europe. A vast formal, FrancoDutch layout was started by George I’s uncle, enlarged by his parents and finished by himself (waterworks). There is also a magnificent orangery with frescoed interiors, a botanical garden and landscaped gardens with the summer house of Graf Johan Wallmoden, illegitimate son of George II. The Welfenschloss was started in 1858 for Georg V but not quite finished by the end of the Hanoverian monarchy in 1866. Day 6: Braunschweig (Brunswick), Wolfenbüttel. Drive to territories of George I’s cousins, the dukes of Braunschweig-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel. The recently renovated Herzog Anton-Ulrich Museum in Braunschweig has most of the collections of the eponymous duke (died 1714), Rubens, van Dyck, Rembrandt, Vermeer, etc. Schloss Richmond is a delightful villa built in 1768 for Duchess Augusta (sister of George III, mother of Queen Caroline), surrounded by landscaped gardens. Continue to Wolfenbüttel, residence of the Wolfenbüttel branch of Guelf dukes (1432–1753). The town is very wellpreserved with a Schloss of various periods, one of the few major purpose-built Protestant churches (started 1604) and the important and famous Herzog-August-Bibliothek, a library which in the 17th century was perhaps the largest in Europe. Day 7. Fly to Heathrow arriving at c. 12.00 midday.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,570 or £2,380 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,950 or £2,760 without flights. Included meals: 2 lunches, 5 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Bergström, Lüneburg (bergstroem.de): 4-star hotel on the banks of the river. Kastens Luisenhof, Hanover (kastensluisenhof.de): 5-star in the heart of the city. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking on this tour, some over uneven ground. Average distance by coach per day: 93 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Footpaths of Umbria, 7–14 May 2018 (p.118); Barcelona, 8–12 May 2018 (p.170); Tudor Power in South & West, 8–13 May 2018 (p.27). Illustrations. Left: Brunswick, town hall, lithograph by Samuel Prout 1839. Right: Berlin, Schloss Charlottenburg, wood engraving c. 1880.
Gardens & Palaces of Berlin & Potsdam 15–20 May 2018 (me 875) 6 days • £2,220 Lecturer: Steven Desmond Surveys one of Europe’s finest concentrations of palaces, historic gardens, parks and pavilions. Led by Steven Desmond, Chartered Horticulturist and specialist in the conservation of historic parks and gardens. Includes an excursion to Wörlitz, a key early landscape garden in Germany.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 8.45am from London Heathrow to Berlin (British Airways). The afternoon is spent at Schloss Charlottenburg, the earliest major secular building in the Berlin area, an outstanding Baroque and Rococo summer palace with excellent interiors of the 1690s and 1750s (with Frederick II’s collection of paintings by Watteau). The first French-style formal garden in Germany extends into landscaped areas with a villa and mausoleum by Schinkel. Continue to Potsdam where all five nights are spent.
Day 2. Intimacy and opulence jostle for space in Sanssouci. A full day is devoted to the 300 ha site which was in continuous additive development between 1744 and 1913. A string of contrasting palaces, the famous terrace garden and a series of ornamental buildings reflecting Italian, Chinese, Greek, Roman and Rococo tastes follow one another in this huge park. Day 3. Wörlitz. 90 km to the south, Wörlitz was the creation of Prince Franz of Anhalt-Dessau, his libertarian idealism contrasting with Frederick the Great’s expansionism. An extravagant homage to the Enlightenment, he created this earliest of English parks on the continent as the centrepiece of his new social order. His models in this great enterprise were Palladio, Brown and Rousseau, and the magnificent park is studded with mementos of Stourhead, Coalbrookdale and the idea of the ferme ornée. Even Vesuvius is here, overlooking its own Bay of Naples. Day 4. Today we explore the parks which gather around the River Havel and dependent lakes between Potsdam and Berlin which, though created independently, took into account views of the other gardens. The great landscape designer Peter Josef Lenné (1789–1866) had a hand in all of them; Peacock Island, with its ‘ruined’ castle folly, is ‘the most peaceful and enchanted landscape… in the whole of Germany’; the gloriously Gothic garden of Babelsberg, where Lenné collaborated with Prince Pückler, evolved around a WindsorCastle style Schloss and is as different as can be imagined from Sanssouci; the villa of KleinGlienicke is a dream of Italy, its gardens strewn with Neoclassical garden buildings. Day 5. The Neuer Garten, laid out from 1786 by Friedrich Wilhelm II, embraces the artfully informal, English landscaped style, while the lakeside Marble Palace at its centre is modest and playful and interestingly furnished. The Elizabethan-style Schloss Cecilienhof (1913–17) was site of the Potsdam Conference 1945. Free
afternoon, opportunity perhaps to explore the town of Potsdam with its lively Dutch Quarter and Schinkel cathedral. Day 6. Walk once more though Park Sanssouci to the delicious Neo-Classical retreat of Charlottenhof and the adjoining Roman Baths. A sequence of Roman and Renaissance style rooms, patios and baths, this part was once a separate estate and was laid out by Lenné and Schinkel. Depart for Berlin Airport at midday, arriving Heathrow c. 3.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,220 or £1,980 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,360 or £2,120 without flights. Included meals: 2 lunches, 3 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Hotel am Luisenplatz, Potsdam (hotel-luisenplatz.de): comfortable 4-star hotel on the edge of Sanssouci park, overlooking the town square. How strenuous? The parks are large and the tour would not be suitable for anyone who has any difficulties with everyday walking. Average distance by coach per day: 26 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Music in the Cotswolds, 21–24 May 2018 (p.15).
Opera in Hamburg April 2018 Details available in August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest What else is included in the price? See page 7. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Perhaps in compensation for nature’s parsimony, one of the greatest concentrations of landscape gardens in continental Europe is to be found in an area of unproductive sandy heathland, scrub forests and marshy plains. Poorly endowed with natural resources, Brandenburg was a minor German state when in the seventeenth century it acquired the much bigger and more prosperous state, which was then known as Prussia. But by dint of ruthless and energetic rule, backed by military prowess for which it became a byword, Brandenburg-Prussia became one of the most powerful states in Germany. By the middle of the eighteenth century, with Frederick the Great at the helm, it was successfully challenging the great powers of Europe. Before the landscape movement came Baroque formality, the perfect expression of the absolutism of the time. Most of the innumerable princes of the highly disunited Germany had aspirations to magnificence manifested in the building of palaces and the creation of gardens – regarded as an indispensable extension of the other. As the most ambitious of all dynasties, with most to prove, the Kings of Prussia bestowed on posterity some of the grandest schemes in Europe. As well as being one of the most able of rulers and soldiers, Frederick was also a lover of art, music and gardening. Sanssouci, his retreat from the affairs of state at Potsdam, is a uniquely extensive and well-preserved complex of gardens and palaces, extended and embellished by his successors. Sanssouci is the Mecca for all lovers of historic gardens, but there are also other outstanding parks, gardens and palaces close by. Based for all five nights in Potsdam, this tour surveys the superb and elaborate gardens and palaces from Baroque to Romanticism created by the Hohenzollern royal family. There is also a day in the neighbouring state of Sachsen-Anhalt to see Wörlitz, the first and most important landscape garden in Germany.
Berlin, Potsdam, Dresden Art and architecture in Brandenburg and Saxony 6–14 September 2018 (mf 167) 9 days • £2,920 Lecturer: Dr Jarl Kremeier Chief cities of Brandenburg-Prussia and Saxony, rich in fine and decorative arts. Internationally important historic and contemporary architecture. Rebuilding and restoration continues to transform the cities. Led by Dr Jarl Kremeier, an art historian specialising in seventeenth- to nineteenth-century architecture and decorative arts. Berlin is an upstart among European cities. Until the seventeenth century it was a small town of little importance, but by dint of ruthless and energetic rule, backed by the military prowess for which it became a byword, the hitherto unimportant state of Brandenburg-Prussia became one of the most powerful in Germany. By the middle of the eighteenth century, with Frederick the Great at the helm, it was successfully challenging the great powers of Europe. Ambitious campaigns were instituted to endow the capital with grandeur appropriate to its new status. Palaces, public buildings and new districts were planned and constructed. At nearby Potsdam, Frederick’s second capital, he
created the park of Sanssouci, among the finest ensembles of gardens, palaces and pavilions to be found anywhere. Early in the nineteenth century Berlin became of international importance architecturally when Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the greatest of Neo-Classical architects, designed several buildings there. Berlin has museums of art and antiquities of the highest importance. The Bode Museum and Gemäldegalerie are among the best of their kind and the recently opened Neues Museum, designed by David Chipperfield, provides an excellent setting for the Egyptian collection. The reunited city is now one of the most exciting in Europe. A huge amount of work has been done to knit together the two halves of the city and to rebuild and restore monuments which had been neglected for decades. Dresden was the capital of the Electorate of Saxony. Though it suffered terrible destruction during the War, rebuilding and restoration allow the visitor to appreciate once again something of its former beauty. The great domed Frauenkirche has now been triumphantly reconstructed. Moreover, the collections of fine and applied arts are magnificent. The Old Masters Gallery in Dresden is of legendary richness, the Green Vault is the finest surviving treasury of goldwork and objets d’art, and the Albertinum reopened in 2010 to display a fine collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century art.
Itinerary Day 1: Dresden. Fly at c. 10.45am from London Heathrow to Berlin (British Airways) and drive to Dresden. Introductory lecture before dinner. First of four nights in Dresden. Day 2: Dresden. The Zwinger is a unique Baroque confection, part pleasure palace, part arena for festivities and part museum for cherished collections. Visit the excellent porcelain museum and the fabulously rich Old Masters Gallery, particularly strong on Italian and Netherlandish painting. The Green Vault of the Residenzschloss displays one of the world’s finest princely treasuries. Day 3: Dresden, Pillnitz. Visit the great domed Frauenkirche, the Protestant cathedral. Drive to Pillnitz, a summer palace in Chinese Rococo style, with park, gardens and collections of decorative art. Take a boat trip back along the Elbe to Dresden for an optional afternoon visit of the New Masters Gallery in the Albertinum. Day 4: Dresden, Potsdam. In the morning drive on to Potsdam. The enclosed park of Sanssouci was created as a retreat from the affairs of state by Frederick the Great. It consists of gardens, parkland, palaces, pavilions and auxiliary buildings. In the afternoon visit his relatively modest single-storey palace atop terraces of fruit trees and the exquisite Chinese teahouse. Overnight in Potsdam. Day 5: Potsdam, Berlin. Spend the morning on the Alter Markt, seeing the Nikolaikirche, a Classiciststyle, Lutheran church. The Museum Barberini was built on the site of the original Barberini Palace, which was largely destroyed by bombing in 1945 and then demolished three years later. Walk through the city’s historical Dutch Quarter. After lunch travel to Berlin by coach. The villa of Klein-Glienicke is a dream of Italy; visit its gardens strewn with Neoclassical garden buildings. First of four nights in Berlin.
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Day 6: Berlin. A walk to see a selection of the historic and new architecture of Berlin, passing Bebelplatz, the Gendarmenmarkt with its twin churches and concert hall, and the Humboldt-Forum, a new museum project on the site of the former City Palace, due for completion in 2019. Spend the afternoon on ‘Museums Island’: the Bode Museum houses a splendid, comprehensive collection of European sculpture, including works by Riemenschneider, as well as Byzantine art, and the Alte Nationalgalerie houses an excellent collection of 19th-century paintings and sculptures. Day 7: Berlin. A morning walk includes Unter den Linden, Peter Eisenmann’s controversial Holocaust Memorial and the unmistakeable symbol of the city, the Brandenburg Gate. End at the Reichstag, a ponderous 1880s structure scarred by the vicissitudes of the 20th century, the shell now brilliantly rehabilitated by Norman Foster and topped by the famous glass dome. Lunch is at the rooftop restaurant.Visit the Kunstgewerbemuseum, the Museum of Decorative Arts, one of the many museums scattered around the ‘Kulturforum’. The Gemäldegalerie houses one of Europe’s major collections of Old Masters. 80
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Frederick the Great Controversial King of Prussia Day 8: Berlin. Drive to Schloss Charlottenburg, the earliest major building in Berlin, an outstanding summer palace built with a Baroque core and Rococo wings, fine interiors, paintings by Watteau, extensive gardens, pavilions and a mausoleum. The Berggruen Collection of Picasso and classic modern art is also here and has recently reopened after extensive renovation works.
13–17 August 2018 (me 978) 5 days • £1,980 Lecturer: Professor Tim Blanning
Day 9: Berlin. Take a coach to Kreuzberg, passing Cold War related landmarks such as the Oberbaumbrücke and Karl-Marx Allee. Pass also the Jewish Museum, Daniel Libeskind’s jagged, lacerated, powerfully emotive extension to a Baroque palace. Pause at the Prussian National Monument for the Liberation Wars, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1821. Fly from Berlin to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 3.30pm.
Based in Berlin for all four nights with excursions to palaces at Rheinsberg, Charlottenburg and Potsdam.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,920 or £2,790 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,280 or £3,150 without flights. Included meals: 3 lunches, 5 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Gewandhaus Hotel, Dresden (gewandhaus-hotel.de): traditional 5-star hotel in a reconstructed Baroque building. Steigenberger Hotel Sanssouci, Potsdam (steigenberger.com): 4-star hotel on the edge of Potsdam’s old town, very close to Sanssouci Palace. Regent Hotel, Berlin (theregentberlin.de): elegant 5-star hotel decorated in Regency style, located close to Unter den Linden. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking required and standing around in museums. Average distance by coach per day: 44 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Sardinia, 15–23 September 2018 (p.148).
The Hanseatic League
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Illustrations. Left: Dresden, Zwinger Palace, wood engraving c. 1880. Right: Berlin, statue of Frederick The Great (Christian Daniel Rauch) mid-19th-century engraving.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235.
Led by one of the leading experts on eighteenthcentury Europe whose biography of Frederick (2015) won widespread praise. Frederick II of Prussia acquired the sobriquet ‘the Great’ within four years of the commencement of his 46-year reign. One of the sharpest minds ever to grace a European throne, he was impressively well read, passionately engaged as a connoisseur of music, art and architecture and a prolific writer of prose and verse. These are qualities which are unusual but not unknown among hereditary rulers; in Frederick, quite exceptionally, they were combined with fierce executive energy, indomitable will and ruthlessness of action in the service of both civil governance and military matters. To his contemporaries, Frederick was the most salient and divisive ruler of the eighteenth century, abhorred and adored in equal measure. Subsequent students of German history have also been divided, and controversy continues. Was he one of the greatest generals of all time, or merely the lucky beneficiary of an army he inherited? (Blanning’s verdict: ‘he was an indifferent general but a brilliant warlord.’) Apostle and friend of Voltaire and insistent on equality before the law, he has been lauded as the Enlightenment enthroned; but he was also absolutist, capricious, vindictive and cruelly disdainful of the common people. What is beyond controversy is that he turned Brandenburg and Prussia from a third-rate power into one that was feared and respected throughout Europe. There is somewhat less wholehearted agreement that he began the process which, if not exactly lineal, led to a united Germany under Prussian leadership becoming the dominant power in continental Europe. That Frederick seems to be at the source of developments that led to the Third Reich still adds a frisson to the mention of his name. This is one of the many themes the tour will explore. Tim Blanning is the author of a biography of Frederick which has received accolades from all quarters. Formerly Professor of Modern European History at the University of Cambridge, and a renowned lecturer, he has spent a lifetime studying the eighteenth century and the German speaking lands. His depth of understanding of music and the visual arts adds a dimension which is not often provided by political historians. Any study of Frederick must begin with his monstrous bully of a father, Frederick William I, to whom his intellectual and aesthetic interests as well as his sexual preferences were an anathema (most biographers have drawn a discreet veil over the latter). The son attempted to exorcise the ghost of his uncouth, foul tempered and militaristic parent by exceeding him in agression, beginning
Itinerary Day 1: Berlin. Fly at c. 11.00am from London Heathrow to Berlin Tegel (British Airways). A walk along Unter den Linden passes buildings erected during Frederick’s reign – opera house, Catholic cathedral, library, Prince Henry’s palace – and the famous statue unveiled 1851. All four nights are spent in Berlin. Day 2: Rheinsberg, Ravensbrück. Frederick later said of his years at Schloss Rheinsberg, his court from 1736 until his accession, that they were the happiest of his life. It has been restored after subsequent vicissitudes. Visit the memorial and museum at the site of Ravensbrück concentration camp for discussion of the relationship between the Nazis and Prussian history. Day 3: Charlottenburg. The palace and gardens at Charlottenburg originated at the end of the 17th century, but Frederick added a wing with his favoured Rococo decoration and installed
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September 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
A study of the life, achievements and artistic patronage of the most prominent and divisive king of the eighteenth century.
within weeks of becoming king by seizing Silesia, the Austrian monarchy’s richest province. For the twenty-first-century traveller, however, Frederick’s legacy consists most strikingly of a series of palaces – Rheinsberg, Charlottenburg, Sanssouci and the New Palace at Potsdam – which are exquisitely decorated and filled with furniture and works of art.
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Frederick the Great continued
Music in Berlin at New Year Art, architecture and music in the German capital
Professor Tim Blanning Emeritus Professor of Modern European History at the University of Cambridge, Fellow of Sidney Sussex College and Fellow of the British Academy. Among his many books are The Culture of Power & the Power of Culture, The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648–1815, and The Triumph of Music in the Modern World. His most recent is Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, awarded the British Academy Medal 2016. there his collection of paintings by Watteau and his followers. There is free time to visit the other museums at Charlottenburg including the collection of Berlin porcelain whose production Frederick encouraged. Day 4: Potsdam. Created by Frederick as a retreat from the affairs of state, the extensive, park of Sanssouci consists of gardens, parkland, palaces and pavilions. Visit his relatively modest single-storey palace atop terraces of fruit trees, the exquisite Chinese teahouse and the large and imposing Neues Palais. Drive through Potsdam town centre with its Dutch quarter and Nikolaikirche by Schinkel. Day 5: Berlin. The German Historical Museum is a fascinating and unflinching display of the sort which Germany does well. Some free time for the museums on Museums Island. Fly to Heathrow, arriving c. 4.45pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,980 or £1,840 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,240 or £2,100 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine.
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Accommodation. Regent Hotel, Berlin (theregentberlin.de): elegant 5-star hotel decorated in Regency style; close to Unter den Linden. How strenuous? Quite a lot of walking is required and standing around is unavoidable. Average distance by coach per day: 42 miles (primarily on two days of the tour). Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: King Ludwig II, 20–25 August 2018 (p.90).
Illustrations. Top centre: Berlin, Unter den Linden, watercolour by E. Harrison Compton, publ. 1912. Right, this page: from ‘The Foreign Tour of Messrs Brown, Jones & Robinson’ by Richard Doyle, Publ. 1854. Opposite page: Berlin, Staatsoper, copper engraving c. 1750.
What else is included in the price? See page 7. 82
27 December 2017–2 January 2018* Lecturer: Tom Abbott Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com Performances at the Deutsche Oper, the Staatsoper im Schillertheater, and Philharmonie. Numerous excellent collections of fine and decorative arts and first-rate architecture. Day excursion to Charlottenburg and Potsdam. Berlin possesses some of the finest art galleries and museums in the world and offers the highest standards of music and opera performance. It is endowed with a range of historic architecture and is also the site of Europe’s greatest concentration of first-rate contemporary architecture. Once again a national capital, it is also one of the most exciting cities on the Continent, recent and rapid changes pushing through a transformation without peacetime parallel. One of the grandest capitals in Europe for the first forty years of the last century, it then suffered appallingly from aerial bombardment and Soviet artillery. For the next forty years it was cruelly divided into two parts and became the focus of Cold War antagonism, a bizarre confrontation between an enclave of western libertarianism and hard-line Communism. Since the Wall was breached in 1989 the city has been transformed beyond recognition. From being a largely charmless urban expanse still bearing the scars of war, it has become a vibrant, liveable city, the very model of a modern major metropolis. The two halves have been knitted together and cleaning and repair have revealed the patrimony of historic architecture to be among the finest in Central Europe.
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The art collections, formerly split, dispersed and often housed in temporary premises, are now coming together in magnificently restored or newly-built galleries. Berlin possesses international art and antiquities of the highest importance, as well as incomparable collections of German art. The number and variety of museums and the quality of their holdings make Berlin among the world’s most desired destinations for art lovers. With three major opera houses and several orchestras, Berlin is a city where truly outstanding performances can be virtually guaranteed. *Dates are subject to change.
Opera in Berlin March 2018 Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com
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Mediaeval Saxony Carolingian, Ottonian, Romanesque Magdeburg, cathedral, wood engraving c. 1880.
Dr Ulrike Ziegler Specialist in mediaeval art and architecture. She studied art history and archaeology at the University of Regensburg and King’s College Aberdeen. Her PhD focused on art exhibitions and the cultural politics of post-war Germany. She lectures for various cultural institutions and organises her own study days and trips in Germany and Austria.
30 April–8 May 2018 (me 840) 9 days • £2,740 Lecturer: Dr Ulrike Ziegler One of the most fascinating areas of early mediaeval art and architecture. Straddling the former border between East and West Germany and still relatively unfrequented. Some delightful landscape and attractive towns. Led by Dr Ulrike Ziegler, specialist in mediaeval art and architecture.
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In amassing territory which stretched from the Atlantic to Bohemia and from the Baltic to central Italy, Charlemagne believed that he was recreating the ancient Roman Empire. Vivid expression was given to this belief by the attempts to emulate Roman forms by the builders and artists who worked on his innumerable projects of construction and embellishment. Few of these survive, but some of the most enlightening are to be seen in Saxony. The election of Henry of Saxony in 919 to the royal throne of Germany brought to an end a century of disunity and baronial misrule and ushered in a period during which the Saxon kings – two Henrys and three Ottos – achieved a partial reconstitution of Charlemagne’s empire and brought about the emergence of a nation state, arguably the first in Europe. ‘Old’ Saxony, which comprised the Harz mountains and the undulating plains to the north, became the most powerful of the German duchies as well as forming the kernel of the German nation. Subsequently the region gradually lost its pivotal role in national and international affairs; even the name slid across the map to denominate another part of Germany. A consequence of the region’s central importance in the early Middle Ages is that Old Saxony has no peers in northern Europe for the wealth of Ottonian and early Romanesque architecture, sculpture, precious metalwork and other arts. A consequence of subsequent decline is that much of this heritage is situated in some amazingly lovely and unspoilt little towns amidst a 84
largely rural landscape of wooded hills and rolling farmland. Split after the war between West and East, the region is still far from recovering the popularity it had with travellers in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Itinerary Day 1: London to Paderborn. Fly at c. 10.45am from London Heathrow to Düsseldorf (British Airways). Overnight in Paderborn. Day 2: Paderborn, Corvey. At Paderborn, see the fascinating archaeological remains of Charlemagne’s palace and a modern reconstruction of the Ottonian replacement. The 13th-century cathedral has a western tower and spire similar to its pre-Romanesque predecessor. See the treasury in the Diocesan Museum. The westwork of the Abbey at Corvey is among the most important of Carolingian buildings. Drive to Hildesheim for the first of two nights. Day 3: Hildesheim. Hildesheim is of enormous importance in the history of Romanesque art and architecture. The cathedral has some of the earliest and best bronze sculpture of that era and the treasury is one of the finest in Germany; both reopened in August 2014 after extensive renovations. A pinnacle of Ottonian achievement embodying many influential innovations, the sixtowered church of St Michael was begun in 1010. Day 4: Hildesheim, Goslar. Goslar is a lovely little town with outstanding Ottonian art and architecture, of which the palace is a rare secular survival. Works of art including a bronze altar are in the museum. First of five nights in Quedlinburg. Day 5: Quedlinburg, Gernrode. Quedlinburg is not only a wonderfully preserved mediaeval town but has the authentic feel of a place not spruced up for the tourist trade. The castle hill is crowned by the collegiate church of St Servatius, begun 1070, and contains another of Germany’s finest treasuries. The Wipertikirche has a 10th-century crypt. St Cyriakus at Gernrode is a church of exceptional beauty; begun 961, it is the oldest large-scale Ottonian building surviving.
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Day 6: Halberstadt. Halberstadt was a major city in the Middle Ages. The Romanesque Church of Our Lady contains life-size reliefs of apostles. The cathedral is the largest French-style Gothic church in Germany after Cologne, and has a very rich treasury, which is particularly good for mediaeval textiles. Some free time in Quedlinburg. Day 7: Magdeburg. Magdeburg was the favoured residence of Otto the Great. The cathedral, standing on a bluff above the River Elbe, is the first Gothic building in Germany and a veritable museum of mediaeval sculpture. Day 8: Königslutter. Königslutter am Elm has a very fine church and cloister from the abbey founded in 1135 and built by Lombard masons; the sculpture is superb. Visit the Monastery and church of St Pankratius in Hamersleben, a hidden gem of Romanesque architecture. Day 9: Braunschweig. Braunschweig (Brunswick) was residence of Henry the Lion, one of the most powerful princes in 12th-century Europe. The Romanesque cathedral has extensive frescoes of c. 1220, a rare survival. Opposite stands Henry’s castle; now a museum, it displays the Lion Monument, the first free-standing monumental bronze sculpture since Roman times. Fly from Hanover and arrive at Heathrow at c. 9.05pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,740 or £2,560 without flights. Single occupancy £2,950 or £2,770 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 5 dinners with wine. Accommodation: Hotel zur Mühle, Paderborn (hotelzurmuehle.de): modern 3-star hotel in the centre. Van der Valk Hotel, Hildesheim (hildesheim.vandervalk.de): modern 4-star hotel with a historical façade. Romantik Hotel am Brühl, Quedlinburg (hotelambruehl.de): comfortably furnished 4-star hotel in a restored heritage building near the historical heart. How strenuous? This tour involves a lot of walking in the town centres where vehicular access is restricted. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 91 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Romans in the Rhône Valley, 23–29 April 2018 (p.71).
The Ring in Leipzig Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung 10–16 April 2018 (me 812 ) 7 days • £2,930 (including tickets to 4 performances) Lecturers: Dr John Allison & Tom Abbott Wagner’s monumental Ring of the Nibelung cycle in the composer’s birthplace. Talks on the operas by Dr John Allison, editor of Opera magazine and music critic for The Daily Telegraph. Guided walks to explore the architecture and museums of this historic and lively city with Tom Abbott, a Berlin-based art historian. Day excursion to Halle, birthplace of Handel.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 10.50am from London Heathrow airport to Berlin (British Airways). Drive to Leipzig. Dinner in the hotel. Day 2. A morning lecture is followed by a guided walk around the city centre, including the Marketplace and Old City Hall, Stock Exchange and the churches of St Nicholas and St Thomas (where J.S. Bach was choir master). The tour ends at the Bach Museum. Free afternoon. The Fine Arts Museum has a good collection of European Old Masters in a striking new building. Leipzig Opera House, 5.00pm: Das Rheingold: Ulf Schirmer (conductor), Rosamund Gilmore (director), Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Karin Lovelius /Kathrin Göring (Fricka), Gal James (Freia), Claudia Huckle (Erda), Magdalena Hinterdobler (Woglinde), Wallis Giunta /Sandra Maxheimer (Wellgunde), Sandra Fechner (Flosshilde), Iain Paterson (Wotan), Kay Stiefermann (Donner), Sven Hjörleisson (Froh), Thomas Mohr (Loge), Rúni Brattaberg (Fasolt), James Moellenhoff (Fafner), Jürgen Linn (Alberich). Day 3. A second walk concentrating on Leipzig’s musical heritage includes Haus zum Roten und Weißen Löwen (site of Wagner’s birth house), the Gewandhaus (concert hall), opera house and the Wagner memorial. Leipzig Opera House, 5.00pm: Die Walküre: Meagan Miller (Sieglinde), Christiane Libor (Brünnhilde), Karin Lovelius /Kathrin Göring (Fricka), Gal James (Gerhilde), Magdalena Hinterdobler (Ortlinde), Monica Mascus (Waltraute), Sandra Fechner (Schwertleite), Daniela Köhler (Helmwige), Sandra Maxheimer (Sigrune), Karin Lovelius (Grimgerde), Wallis Giunta (Rossweisse), Robert Dean Smith (Siegmund), Rúni Brattaberg (Hunding), Iain Paterson (Wotan).
Day 7. Fly from Berlin to London Heathrow airport, arriving c. 3.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,930 or £2,790 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,320 or £3,180 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine. Music: 4 opera tickets (second category, dress circle) are included, costing c. £350. Accommodation. Steigenberger Grandhotel Handelshof (steigenberger.com): 5-star hotel in the centre, 10 minutes’ walk from the Opera House.
Day 4. Halle. All-day excursion to Halle, another historic trading town, and the birthplace of Handel. At its centre is the Marktkirche, an outstandingly beautiful example of the very last phase of Gothic, with coevil paintings and furnishings. After lunch visit the Handel Museum which documents his life before returning to Leipzig for an independent evening.
How strenuous? Vehicular access is restricted in the city centre and participants are expected to walk to the opera house. Average distance by coach per day: 45 miles (although only on the first and last days of the tour between Leipzig and Berlin Tegel airport and on day 4 for the excursion to Halle).
Day 5. Morning visit to the Grassi Museum for a guided tour of the collection of musical instruments, one of the most important of its kind in the world, and the museum of decorative arts. Leipzig Opera House, 4.00pm: Siegfried: Claudia Huckle (Erda), Christiane Libor (Brünnhilde), Danae Kontora (the voice of the forest bird), Christian Franz (Siegfried), Dan Karlström (Mime), Iain Paterson (Der Wanderer), Jürgen Linn (Alberich), Rúni Brattaberg (Fafner).
Music in the Saxon Hills
Day 6. There is a free morning for further independent exploration of the city. Possible visits include the Bach Archive, which has a good public display. Leipzig Opera House, 4.00pm: Götterdämmerung: Christiane Libor (Brünnhilde), Gal James (Gutrune), Karin Lovelius (Waltraute), Kathrin Göring (Waltraute), Magdalena Hinterdobler (Woglinde), Sandra Maxheimer (Wellgunde), Sandra Fechner (Flosshilde), Thomas Mohr (Siegfried), Tuomas Pursio (Gunther), Jürgen Linn (Alberich), Rúni Brattaberg (Hagen).
Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
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It is fair to say that Der Ring des Nibelungen, the greatest achievement of a composer who probably influenced the course of music more than any other, occupies a unique place in musical history. Indeed, some would claim the Ring to be the mightiest single achievement in the history of Western art. Wagner believed in the power of myth, and the Ring is timeless—it is of course about more than the giants, gods, dwarfs and humans it portrays, and has been interpreted in many different ways. While on one hand it seems to be a warning against the abuse and retention of power in which love ultimately triumphs, on the other hand it has been taken as a manifesto for German nationalism and unsavoury racial views. The Ring has also been viewed on the industrialization of Wagner’s time, a warning against ecological disaster, as a socialist allegory, even in terms of Jungian psychology – all of which testifies to the fascination it holds over people. However it is interpreted – the production at Oper Leipzig is by the English-born, Germantrained choreographer and director Rosamund Gilmore – there is a special frisson in experiencing Wagner in the city of his birth. Many great composers have had associations with the Saxon city, but Leipzig has made a special effort to reclaim Wagner. In 2013, the bicentenary of his birth, its slogan was ‘Richard ist Leipziger’. And although Wagner pilgrims will find no birthhouse (it was knocked down just three years after his death), Leipzig is the city of many projects connected with the composer, including the founding of the first Wagner Society (1909), now a worldwide phenomenon. Leipzig was also the first place – after Bayreuth – to see a complete Ring, in 1878, just two years after the cycle had been premiered at Wagner’s own Festspielhaus. The musical history of Leipzig encompasses not only Wagner but also Strauss, J.S. Bach, Telemann, Robert and Clara Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Mahler. Morning walks and visits investigate this heritage, and also take in the art and architecture of the city. Leipzig is now, again, a handsome and lively city, following an almost miraculous transformation during the 1990s and beyond. Cleaning, restoration and rebuilding went hand in hand with the emergence of cafés, smart shops and good restaurants. There are excellent museums, including the Fine Arts Museum in spectacular
new premises, the radically refurbished Museum of Musical Instruments and the Bach Museum.
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The Leipzig Bach Festival June 2018 Details available in July 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Illustration: ‘Instantly a stream of fire gushed forth’, watercolour from ‘The Stories of Wagner’s Operas’, publ. 1915.
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Baroque & Rococo In Southern Germany sphere, the creed of absolutism, which imposed few constraints on the power of the prince or local lord, was at its height. The Baroque style was the perfect expression both for the Church Triumphant and for the temporal ruler who, taking his cue from Louis XIV at Versailles, wished to overawe his subjects and impress on all visitors the might and magnificence of his person. The Rococo, which arrived in Germany in the 1730s, was delicate and light-hearted by comparison with the imposing magnificence of High Baroque, but produced some of the most exquisite interiors in the history of art.
Itinerary Day 1: Zwiefalten, Weingarten. Fly at c. 8.00am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Stuttgart. Visit the double-towered church of Zwiefalten by J.M. Fischer followed by a visit to the magnificent Baroque basilica of Weingarten Abbey, ‘the St Peter’s of Germany’. First of two nights in Weingarten. Day 2: Steinhausen, Bad Schussenried, Birnau. Begin with a visit to the oval church at Steinhausen, built and decorated by the Zimmermann brothers then on to the glorious library hall at Bad Schussenried convent with abundant imagery. Finally, to Birnau, among vineyards above Lake Constance and one of the most delectable of Rococo churches. Day 3: Ottobeuren, Wies. A pinnacle of Baroque and Rococo emotional power is achieved at J.M. Fischer’s church and abbey at Ottobeuren. The pilgrimage church of Wies in the foothills of the Alps, created by the Zimmermann brothers, is of astounding beauty. First of three nights in Munich.
8–16 August 2018 (me 977) 9 days • £2,790 Lecturer: Tom Abbott Some of the most uplifting and spectacular buildings in Europe.
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Glorious countryside, unspoilt towns, charming villages, all well maintained. Led by Tom Abbott, a specialist in architectural history from the Baroque to the 20th century. Baroque and Rococo reached a triumphant fulfilment in the churches and palaces of southern Germany, and the styles are manifested in the region. It is astonishing that these marvels are not better known, but the artistic heritage of Germany continues to be sadly undervalued. Moreover, many of the choicest items on this tour are not easily accessible, being situated deep in the countryside. Around the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there was something of an economic miracle in the German lands, accompanied by a frenetic upsurge in building activity. This followed nearly a whole century which was blighted by wars and economic collapse. At the end of it the Catholic Church emerged revitalised, wealthier than ever and triumphant in its defeat of Protestantism. In the temporal 86
Day 4: Nymphenburg, Augsburg. On the outskirts of Munich, the palace, pavilions and gardens of Nymphenburg, summer residence of the Electors of Bavaria; the Amalienburg pavilion is the apogee of secular Rococo interiors. Continue to the magnificent Schaezlerpalais in Augsburg. Its gilded, mirrored, ballroom, built between 1765–70, has survived in its original condition. Day 5: Munich. Visit the Italian-built Theatinerkirche, one of the first Baroque churches north of the Alps. The little church of St John Nepomuk, created by the Asam brothers for their own use. The Residenz, palace of the Electors of Bavaria, with sumptuous Rococo interiors and recently restored theatre by the architect Cuvilliés. Free afternoon. Overnight Munich. Day 6: Weltenburg, Rohr, Pommersfelden. Two abbey churches by the Asam brothers: Rohr, with the altar of The Assumption, highpoint of Baroque sculpture, and Weltenburg, with controlled lighting and rich decoration suggestive of transcendental theatricality. Take a short cruise along the Danube. Visit Schloss Pommersfelden, a country house with one of the grandest of Baroque staircases. First of three nights in Bamberg. Day 7: Bamberg. One of the loveliest of German towns, Bamberg has fine streetscape, riverside walks and picturesque upper town around the Romanesque cathedral. The Diocesan Museum has outstanding mediaeval textiles, the Baroque
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former town hall built on a bridge houses a porcelain collection. Free afternoon. Day 8: Bayreuth, Vierzehnheiligen. An enchanting version of Rococo decoration developed in Bayreuth in the town palace and at the Hermitage, a complex of gardens, palaces and pavilions and the wonderful Baroque opera house (by Giuseppe Bibbiena). Visit the pilgrimage church of Vierzehnheiligen (Balthasar Neumann), perhaps the greatest of Rococo churches. Day 9: Würzburg. Visit the Residenz in Würzburg, the Archbishop’s palace, the finest Baroque palace in Germany, designed by Balthasar Neumann with frescoes by G.B. Tiepolo. Fly from Frankfurt, arriving Heathrow c. 6.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,790 or £2,670 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,190 or £3,070 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 6 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Altdorfer Hof, Weingarten (altdorfer-hof.de): quiet 4-star hotel; good restaurant. Hotel Torbräu, Munich (torbraeu.de): well-located 4-star, traditional in style. Hotel Villa Geyerswörth, Bamberg (villageyerswoerth.de): 4-star; elegant and quiet. How strenuous? There is a fair amount of walking on this tour. The average distance covered by coach per day is 86 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Illustrations. Left: Bamberg, Rathaus, watercolour by E. Harrison Compton, publ. 1912. Below: a Wagnerian audience by Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898).
The Ring in Munich July 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Franconia Little-known gems of southern Germany 8–15 September 2018 (mf 108) 8 days • £2,810 Lecturer: Dr Jarl Kremeier A neglected region of southern Germany which has an exceptional heritage of art and architecture, enchanting streetscape and natural beauty. Mediaeval art including Romanesque sculpture (the Bamberg Rider) and late mediaeval wood carving by Tilman Riemenschneider.
Venetian painter Tiepolo. In the afternoon walk around the largely post-war reconstruction of the old centre, with its vast and sombre Romanesque cathedral, delicate Gothic church and flamboyant Baroque churches. Day 3: Creglingen, Rothenburg, Pommersfelden, Bamberg. Drive through gently undulating countryside to the little pilgrimage church near Creglingen; here see The Assumption by Riemenschneider, his finest work. Rothenburg-
ob-der-Tauber is an exceedingly picturesque little town scarcely changed in appearance for hundreds of years; the church of St James has Riemenschneider’s Last Supper. Visit Schloss Weissenstein in Pommersfelden, an early 18thcentury country house with one of the grandest of Baroque staircases. Continue through lovely landscape to Bamberg. First of four nights here. Illustration: Nuremberg, St Sebaldus’ tomb (in the church of the same name), wood engraving 1893.
Baroque and Rococo palaces, churches and paintings (including Tiepolo’s masterpiece). The tour is led by Dr Jarl Kremeier, an art historian resident in Germany.
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Once the very heart of the mediaeval German kingdom, Franconia possesses some of the loveliest towns and villages in Germany, beautiful countryside and a variety of art and architecture of the highest quality. Yet remarkably few Britons find their way here – or could even point to the region on a map. Würzburg, with its vine-clad riverbanks and Baroque palaces, is a delight. The tour stays here for two nights. One of the loveliest and least spoilt of German towns, Bamberg has fine streetscape, riverside walks and picturesque upper town around the Romanesque cathedral. Nuremberg, the home of Dürer, was one of the great cities of the Middle Ages, and its churches and museums are filled with outstanding sculpture and painting. Bayreuth was a centre of Rococo culture and a mecca for Wagnerians. The end of the Middle Ages was artistically one of the most creative in Franconia, with Tilman Riemenschneider and Veit Stoss, perhaps Germany’s greatest sculptors, evoking the fraught spirituality of the age in works of remarkable virtuosity. The Romanesque sculpture in Bamberg’s cathedral is also of the highest importance. The eighteenth century also bequeathed much artistic wealth. The Prince-Bishop’s palace in Würzburg and the pilgrimage church of Vierzehnheiligen (both designed by Balthasar Neumann) are consummate achievements of Baroque and Rococo art and architecture. Moreover, the greatest achievement of eighteenthcentury Venetian painting is here: Tiepolo’s ceiling fresco in the Würzburg Residenz.
Itinerary Day 1: Würzburg. Fly at c. 9.30am from London Heathrow to Frankfurt (Lufthansa). Drive to Würzburg, and check in to the hotel. An afternoon walk to the oldest mediaeval bridge to survive and visit the Marienburg, the formidable fortress dominating the city from across the River Main. Visit the vast museum within, with its sizeable collection of Riemenschneider sculpture. First of two nights in Würzburg. Day 2: Würzburg. The Residenz (Prince-Bishop’s Palace), designed partly by Balthasar Neumann and extended over time, is one of the finest 18thcentury palaces in Europe, with magnificent halls, state apartments, exquisite chapel and ceiling frescoes which are the masterpieces of the Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Franconia continued
Day 4: Bamberg. Morning walk taking in the riverside town. Visit the Gothic Church of our Lady with its Tintoretto altarpiece and the splendid Romanesque cathedral with some of Germany’s finest mediaeval sculpture, including the Bamberg Rider, a potent image of knightly values. The Diocesan Museum has outstanding mediaeval textiles. In the afternoon visit the Neue Residenz, palace of the Prince-Bishops. Day 5: Bayreuth. All-day excursion. Bayreuth developed as a minor court city in the 18th century, and a varietal of Rococo decoration evolved in the town palace and at the Hermitage, a complex of gardens, palaces and pavilions, under the patronage of the Markgraf. Visit Wagner’s Festspielhaus, built to the composer’s specifications on a hill outside the town. Day 6: Coburg, Vierzehnheiligen. At Coburg visit the formidable fortress above the city, now a museum with good paintings and furnishings. Schloss Ehrenburg, in the centre of town was the home of Prince Albert. Across the valley, the pilgrimage church of Vierzehnheiligen by Balthasar Neumann is perhaps the greatest of all Rococo churches. Day 7: Nuremberg. An immensely rich trading and manufacturing city in the Middle Ages, Nuremberg is girt by massive walls and possesses much art and architecture of the 15th and 16th centuries. A walk through the old town includes the church of St Sebaldus, which contains outstanding sculpture by Veit Stoss and others, and the Albrecht Dürer House. St Lorenz is the city’s other great church, and is likewise laden with major artworks including Veit Stoss’s Annunciation (1517/18). Day 8: Nuremberg. Visit the German National Museum, home to the finest collection of German mediaeval and Renaissance art in the country. Fly from Munich, arriving Heathrow at c. 5.00pm.
Practicalities
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Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,810 or £2,680 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,110 or £2,980 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 5 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Rebstock, Würzburg (rebstock.com): well-located, comfortable 4-star hotel. Hotel Villa Geyerswörth, Bamberg (villageyerswoerth.de): elegant, quiet 4-star hotel, conveniently located close to the old town. Le Méridien Grand Hotel, Nuremberg (lemeridiennuernberg.com): modern 4-star hotel in a late 19th-century building, a 10-minute walk from the centre. How strenuous? There is a fair amount of walking on this tour, as vehicular access in the town centres is restricted. It would not be suitable for anyone with difficulties with everyday walking and stair climbing. There are several long drives. Average distance by coach per day: 55 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Tastes of Le Marche, 17–24 September 2018 (p.128); History of Medicine, 17–23 September 2018 (p.114). 88
The Rhine Valley Music Festival 20–27 June 2018 Details available in August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest The eleventh Rhine Valley Music Festival includes eight private concerts, all taking place in historic palaces, churches, concert halls and country houses along the Rhine Valley. Musicians of the highest calibre, from Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and England. Artists confirmed so far include: Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Stephan Loges and The Cardinall’s Musick. All of the concerts are private, admission being exclusive to the 140 people who take a package that also includes accommodation, flights, meals, talks, coach transfers and much else besides. Most of the audience stays aboard a comfortable river cruiser for the duration of the festival, travelling from Basel to Amsterdam. A small number stays in hotels and mixes attendance at the concerts with country walks along selected stretches of the Rhine Valley and its hinterland.
Illustrations. Top: A view on the Rhine (at St Goar and Rhinefels), steel engraving c. 1850. Above: Cologne, cathedral, wood engraving from ‘The Magazine of Art’ 1881. Opposite page: Munich, Frauenkirche, watercolour by E. Harrison Compton, publ. 1912.
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Rhine Masterpieces June 2018 Details available in August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Courts & Palaces of Rhine & Main June 2018 Details available in August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Munich’s Masterpieces Art and architecture in the capital of Bavaria 1–5 September 2018 (mf 114) 5 days • £1,780 Lecturer: Patrick Bade A short, sharp study of the best of the art in the city – painting, sculpture and decorative arts. Also the key architectural monuments and characteristic streetscape. Led by Patrick Bade, art historian and writer. Combine this tour with A Festival of Music in Franconia, 25 August–1 September 2018 (below). Munich is everyone’s favourite German city. Not only is it the most prosperous in the country, but the attractiveness of the cityscape, the abundance of cultural activity, the relatively relaxed lifestyle and generally amenable ambience make it the most sought-after place to live and work in Germany. The seat of the Wittelsbachs, who ruled Bavaria from 1255 until 1918 as Counts, Dukes, Electors and, from 1806, as Kings, Munich was a city which grew up around a court, not one spawned by trade or industry. Consequently, artistically and architecturally it is still one of the best-endowed centres in Europe. There are fine buildings of every period, and it is also a city of museums. The Alte Pinakothek has one of the finest collections of Old Masters in the world, and the Treasury in the Residenz and the classical sculpture in the Glyptothek are among the best collections of their kind. The accompanying lecturer, Patrick Bade, is an art historian with a wide range of knowledge and a deep understanding of contemporary Germany.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 9.00am from London Heathrow to Munich (British Airways). An afternoon walk passes through the core of the historic city. See the Marienplatz, dominated by the
19th-century city hall, and the little Baroque church of St John Nepomuk created by the Asam brothers. Day 2. By coach along some of the principal streets and boulevards of the city to see architecture of the 19th and 20th centuries. Disembark in the vicinity of the main art galleries and visit the Alte Pinakothek, one of the world’s greatest collections of Old Masters. After lunch continue to Königsplatz, a noble assembly of Neoclassical museums, and visit the Glyptothek, an outstanding collection of Greek and Roman sculpture. The Lenbachhaus has an outstanding collection of German Expressionist paintings. Day 3. The morning is spent in the Residenz, rambling palace of the Wittelsbach dynasty, Dukes, Electors and Kings of Bavaria, with sumptuous interiors of the highest art-historical importance from Renaissance to Romantic, and a marvellous Rococo theatre. After lunch visit the excellent collections of sculpture and decorative arts at the Bavarian National Museum. Day 4. On the edge of Munich, Nymphenburg is one of the finest palace complexes of the 17th and 18th centuries, with main palace, park, gardens and pavilions. The delightful Amalienburg represents the apogee of secular Rococo interiors, and the carriage museum has sleighs made for King Ludwig II. Return to the centre of Munich and visit the Neue Pinakothek, which houses paintings from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. Day 5. A morning walk includes the vast Gothic cathedral and the Town Museum which displays among many other artworks the famous Gothic Morris dancers, created by Erasmus Grasser for the festival hall of the Altes Rathaus. Some free time. After lunch a guided tour of the Villa Stuck, a museum and historic Art Nouveau house dedicated to the works of the Bavarian painter, Franz Stuck. Fly from Munich to London Heathrow arriving at c. 5.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,780 or £1,600 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,090 or £1,910 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Torbräu (torbraeu.de): friendly, family-run, 4-star hotel in the city centre. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking and standing around. Participants need to be able to keep up with a group of averagely fit people. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
25 August–1 September 2018 Details available in August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Eight private concerts in beautiful and appropriate historic buildings with outstanding musicians from Austria, Germany and the UK. Artists so far confirmed include La Serenissima, Barocksolisten München, Dorothee Oberlinger and Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca, The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble and the Amphion Wind Octet. Daily talks on the music. Accommodation on board a comfortable modern river cruiser; all meals are included. Time to explore three wonderful historic cities, Regensburg, Nuremberg and Bamberg.
This MRT music festival follows the highly successful model we have pioneered since 1994: a succession of concerts in beautiful and appropriate historic buildings, with the audience accommodated on board a comfortable river cruiser where they dine, sleep, relax and listen to lectures while sailing or moored. In this case, there are two rivers and a canal: the Danube, the Main and the Rhine-MainDanube Canal. The attempt to link the two greatest rivers of Europe via an artificial waterway was first attempted by Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, in the eighth century. The canal finally opened to traffic in 1992, passing through a region which is one of the scenically most alluring and artistically best endowed in Germany, particularly with great houses. In mediaeval and early modern times Franconia was at the heart of the Germanspeaking world, but by the time it was added to
the Electorate of Bavaria in 1803 it was already slipping into backwater status. Strictly speaking, the festival is more than Franconia: Regensburg lies elsewhere in Bavaria, but we hope readers (and Bavarians) will allow us to stretch a point for the sake of simplicity of nomenclature. In Regensburg, there will be concerts in a magnificent seventeenth-century warehouse of timber construction beside the Danube, in an impressive Baroque church and in the exquisite ballroom of Schloss Thurn and Taxis. Just outside Bamberg, a delightful Rococo hall in the bishop’s summer residence. There is the great Festsaal in the princely Residenz in Ansbach, childhood home of Queen Caroline of Great Britain, and the hall of Schloss Pommersfelden, one of the most magnificent country houses in all Germany. In Nürnberg there is a concert in the splendid mediaeval town hall and a Lieder recital in the Schloss Faber-Castell, a Jugendstil treasure in the outskirts. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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A Festival of Music in Franconia
King Ludwig II and the Wittelsbach palaces of Bavaria 20–25 August 2018 (me 985) 6 days • £2,360 Lecturer: Tom Abbott Explore eight royal palaces and castles set against the breathtaking backdrop of Germany’s most beautiful state. Learn about the lives, loves and legacies of King Ludwig II and the House of Wittelsbach, rulers of Bavaria for over 700 years. Art and architecture from the Renaissance through to Late Romanticism, much of it opulent and theatrical. Led by Tom Abbott, specialist in architectural history from the Baroque to the 20th century with a wide knowledge of the performing arts. Germany’s large and beautiful south-eastern state of Bavaria is an established destination for Martin Randall Travel, with a number of tours over the years dedicated to a variety of themes. This tour has a different focus, that of the legendary ‘Swan King’ Ludwig II and the House of Wittelsbach from which he hailed, and his extraordinary architectural and cultural legacy. Architecturally and artistically, the tour encompasses outstanding examples of Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-Classical and Romantic styles as well as Ludwig’s fairytale follies. Historically it examines the eccentric world of one of Europe’s most controversial monarchs and the story of what, until German unification, counted as one of the continent’s most important little states. It is true that Ludwig II’s predilection for aesthetic absorption over political and legal leadership gained him fierce opposition and criticism, but this handsome young king and his
elaborate castles are responsible for a considerable proportion of Bavaria’s appeal today. Ironically, the dream world into which the sovereign retreated in order to escape the responsibilities of state now benefits Ludwig’s former kingdom in a way it never did when he inhabited it. Was he, to quote one of his more defamatory labels, insane? Or simply weak, of solitary disposition, and therefore tragically unsuited to the role imposed upon him at a time of Bavaria’s considerable political fragility and conflict with Prussia, Austria and France? Once deposed in 1886, what was the cause of his untimely death? Was it suicide, or did it take place at the hand of murderous detractors? Or was it mere accident? Was he an impotent and irresponsible sybarite or a luminous benefactor of the arts?
Itinerary Day 1: Schleissheim, Munich. Fly at c. 9.00am from London Heathrow to Munich (British Airways). Between airport and city, the palace and garden at Schleissheim form a rare ensemble of Baroque taste from an early 17th-century retreat, through the 1684 Lustheim pavilion at the far end of a canal of absolutist straightness, to the magnificent Neues Schloss, begun 1701 but whose progress continued haltingly into the Rococo period. There is a gallery of Baroque art, sculpted stucco of exceptional quality in the state apartments, Hofgarten (Court Garden) and a collection of Meissen porcelain in Schloss Lustheim. First of two nights in Munich. Day 2: Munich. The Residenz in the centre of the city was the principal Wittelsbach palace and seat of government; a magnificent sprawl of buildings,
Linderhof, wood engraving from ‘The Magazine of Art’ 1887.
courtyards, state apartments and museums of every period from Renaissance to the end of the 19th century. There are fine works of art and sumptuous interiors of the highest importance, especially the Rococo interiors and the Cuvilliés Theatre (subject to confirmation as the theatre can close for rehearsals at short notice). Free afternoon. Day 3: Nymphenburg, Linderhof, Murnau. Drive to the city’s outskirts and the palace and park of Nymphenburg, birthplace of Ludwig II. An extensive complex including bathhouses and the Rococo Amalienburg lodge. After lunch drive to Ettal, site of the only one of Ludwig II’s commissioned castles to have been completed. 1870s Linderhof was reputed to have been the King’s favourite castle; it draws, like Herrenchiemsee, on French influences, lavish interiors in Renaissance and Baroque styles, extravagant terrace gardens including grottos and Oriental adornments. First of three nights in Murnau am Staffelsee. Day 4: Hohenschwangau, Neuschwanstein. Drive south to Hohenschwangau castle, site of Ludwig II’s childhood, owned by his parents Maximilian II of Bavaria and Princess Marie of Prussia. Majestic lakeside Alpine location, frescoes featuring medieval Swan-Knight Lohengrin which led to Ludwig II’s obsession with Wagner. Then continue to Neuschwanstein, the famous fairytale turreted castle ordered by Ludwig II in homage to Wagner though never completed. Day 5: Herrenchiemsee. In the countryside southeast of Munich and surrounded by a park, woodland and a great lake, Schloss Herrenchiemsee is a copy of Versailles. Ludwig II’s megalomaniac hymn of homage to the absolutism of Louis XIV, his final folly, brought the Bavarian state to the brink of bankruptcy.
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Day 6: Berg, Starnberg. Leave Murnau, drive to Berg and the mock Gothic castle to which Ludwig II retreated from his ministers, and where he was placed under house arrest after his forced abdication in 1886 on grounds of insanity. Lake Starnberg surrounds the castle and is the scene of Ludwig II’s death and that of his doctor, officially by drowning. Visit the Memorial Chapel and have lunch in Starnberg. Fly from Munich, returning to London Heathrow at c. 5.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,360 or £2,190 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,690 or £2,520 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation: Hotel Torbräu, Munich (torbraeu.de): well-located 4-star, traditional in style and decor. Hotel Alpenhof, Murnau (alpenhof-murnau.com): rambling 5-star hotel on the outskirts of Murnau with a country house feel. How strenuous? This is a strenuous tour with long coach journeys and a lot of walking and standing around in the castles and gardens. Average distance by coach per day: 65 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: A Festival of Music in Franconia, 25 August–1 September 2018 (p.89). 90
book online at www.martinrandall.com
Classical Greece The Peloponnese, Attica and Athens 12–21 May 2018 (me 862) 10 days • £3,340 Lecturer: Professor Antony Spawforth 15–24 September 2018 (mf 150) 10 days • £3,340 Lecturer: Dr Andrew Farrington A comprehensive survey of the principal Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic sites in mainland Greece. Highlights include Mycenae, Olympia, Delphi. The lecturers both have expert knowledge of ancient Greece. In Athens, a full day on the Acropolis and in the ancient Agora.
Illustration: Athens, the Acropolis, watercolour by Jules Guérin, publ. 1913.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly late morning (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Athens. The little port of Nauplion is one of the most attractive towns in mainland Greece. Arrive here in time for dinner. First of three nights in Nauplion. Day 2: Nauplion, Tiryns, Mycenae. Today’s theme is the Mycenaean civilisation of the Argolid Plain, the Greece of Homer’s heroes (16th–13th centuries bc). Visit Tiryns, a citadel with massive Cyclopean walls of enormous blocks of masonry, and Mycenae, reputedly Agamemnon’s capital, with Treasury of Atreus (finest of beehive tombs) and Acropolis (Lion Gate). Day 3: Corinth, Epidauros. The site of Ancient Corinth has the earliest standing Doric temple on mainland Greece, and a fine museum with evidence of Greece’s first large-scale pottery industry. Epidauros, centre for the worship of Asclepios, god of medicine, where popular magical dream cures were dispensed, includes the bestpreserved of all Greek theatres. Day 4: Arcadia, Bassae. There are spectacular views of Nauplion from the 18th-century Venetian Fortress of Palamidi. Drive across the middle of the Peloponnese, through the beautiful
plateau of Arcadia and past impressive mountain scenery. A stunning road leads to the innovatory and well-preserved 5th-century Temple of Apollo (in a tent for protection) on the mountain top at Bassae (3,700 feet) and through further breathtaking scenery to Olympia. Overnight Olympia. Day 5: Olympia. Nestling in a verdant valley, Olympia is one of the most evocative of ancient sites; never a town, but the principal sanctuary of Zeus and site of the quadrennial pan-Hellenic athletics competitions. Many fascinating structures remain, including the temples of Hera and Zeus, the workshop of Phidias and the stadium. The museum contains fragments of pediment sculpture, among the most important survivals of Classical Greek art. First of two nights in Delphi. Day 6: Delphi. Clinging to the lower slopes of Mount Parnassos, Delphi is the most spectacularly evocative of ancient Greek sites. Of incalculable religious and political importance, the Delphic oracle attracted pilgrims from all over the Hellenic world. The Sanctuary of Pythian Apollo has a theatre and Athenian Treasury, and the Sanctuary of Athena has a circular temple. The museum is especially rich in Archaic sculpture. Some free time amidst the austere beauty of the valley. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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The Ancient Greeks had far greater influence on western civilization than any other people or nation. For two and a half millennia, philosophy and ethics, the fundamentals of science and mathematics, prevailing notions of government and citizenship, literature and the visual arts have derived their seeds, and a large amount of their substance, from the Greeks. In the words of H.D.F. Kitto ‘there gradually emerged a people not very numerous, not very powerful, not very well organized, who had a totally new conception of what human life was for, and showed for the first time what the human mind was for.’ Whatever the depth of our Classical education, there is a deep-seated knowledge in all of us that the places visited on this tour are of the greatest significance for our identity and way of life. A journey to Greece is like a journey to our homeland, a voyage in which a search for our roots is fulfilled. In no field is the Greek contribution to the modern world more immediately evident than in architecture. The grip upon the imagination that the Greek temple has exerted is astonishing, and in one way or another – ranging from straightforward imitation of the whole to decorative use of distorted details – has dominated nearly all monumental or aspirational building ever since. A striking and salutary conclusion, however, which inevitably emerges from participation on this tour, is that the originals are unquestionably superior. This is also true of sculpture. This tour includes nearly all of the most important archaeological sites, architectural remains and museums of antiquities on mainland Greece. It presents a complete picture of ancient Greek civilization beginning with the Mycenaeans, the Greek Bronze Age, and continuing through Archaic, Classical and, to a lesser extent, Hellenistic and Roman Greece. It also provides a glimpse of the spiritual splendour of Byzantine art and architecture. It is a full itinerary, but the pace is manageable. Plenty of time is available on the sites and in the museums, allowing opportunity both for adequate exposition by the lecturer and time for further exploration on your own.
Classical Greece continued
Minoan Crete History and archaeology
Day 7: Hosios Loukas, Athens. Visit the Byzantine monastery of Hosios Loukas in a beautiful setting in a remote valley, one of the finest buildings of mediaeval Greece with remarkable mosaics. The Acropolis is the foremost site of Classical Greece. The Parthenon (built 447– 438 bc) is indubitably the supreme achievement of Greek architecture. Other architectural masterpieces are the Propylaia (monumental gateway), Temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion. First of three nights in Athens. Day 8: Athens. At the Theatre of Dionysos plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides were first performed. The new Acropolis museum has superb Archaic and Classical sculpture, including some by Phidias and his assistants. The Agora (market place) was the centre of civic life in ancient Athens, with the small Doric Hephaisteion, the bestpreserved of Greek temples. Day 9: Athens. Kerameikos Cemetery was where Athenians were buried beyond the ancient city walls. The refurbished National Archaeological Museum has the finest collection of Greek art and artefacts to be found anywhere. The vast Corinthian Temple of Olympian Zeus was completed by Hadrian 700 years after its inception. Some free time.
19–28 March 2018 (me 787) 10 days • £2,980 Lecturer: Dr Alan Peatfield Concentrates on the extraordinary civilization of the Minoans, but also pays due attention to Classical and later cultures.
Mycenaean, Hellenistic, Classical Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Turkish domination followed. The books written on the island’s World War II history alone fill a bookshelf. And yet throughout these millennia of foreign occupation and domination, Crete remained strong and proud and retained its own unique and captivating character.
Practicalities
Dr Alan Peatfield is an archaeologist specialising in the Minoan Bronze Age civilisation of Crete.
Itinerary
Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,340 or £3,170 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,690 or £3,520 without flights.
Plenty of time for Knossos and the main sites and includes many remote and little-visited ones.
Day 10: Athens. Drive to the 5th-century Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, overlooking the sea at the southernmost tip of the Attic peninsula, visited by Byron in 1810. Fly from Athens, arriving Heathrow c. 4.00pm.
Included meals: 2 lunches, 7 dinners, with wine.
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Accommodation. Hotel Ippoliti, Nauplion (ippoliti.gr): small, comfortable hotel in a converted 19th-century mansion situated close to the harbour. Best Western Hotel Europa, Olympia (bestwestern.com): characterful hotel outside the town. Hotel Amalia, Delphi (amalia. gr/delphi-hotel): modern hotel, a short coach ride from the archaeological site. Electra Palace Hotel, Athens (electrahotels.gr): smart hotel near the picturesque Plaka quarter. How strenuous? This is a long tour with three hotel changes and some long journeys. You will be on your feet for long stretches of time, in some cases on exposed sites and walking over rough ground – sure-footedness and agility are essential. Average distance by coach per day: 70 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine the September departure of this tour with: Provence & Languedoc, 27 September– 6 October 2018 (p.69).
What else is included in the price? See page 7. 92
Wonderful, contrasting landscapes at a beautiful time in the island’s calendar. ‘Land of contrasts’ is the king of clichés, but for Crete it is difficult to avoid, not only because of the variety of natural environments but also because of the influence these have had on the built environment and the history of the island. The contrasts in the landscape, vegetation and people are dramatic. Crete has its ‘deserts and jungles, its arctic and its tropics’. The high mountains and upland plains are bleak and remote; the gorges in the highly erosive limestone are lush. The west provides a retreat from the more developed stretch of north coast between Heraklion and Agios Nikolaos. The south is difficult of access, scored by gorges and with the Asterousia mountains dropping sharply to the sea. The Sphakia region further west on the south coast is one of the most culturally distinct regions. Lying between Europe, Africa and the Near East, variety also marks the island’s cultural legacy. The tour will focus primarily on the Bronze Age civilization of the Minoans. Flourishing in the second millennium bc, the Minoans created the first great palace civilization of Europe. Their art is wonderfully expressive, and its influence spread throughout Greece, Egypt and the Near East. Pottery, sealstones, frescoes and architecture reached peaks of excellence unforeseen in the prehistoric Aegean.
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Day 1. Fly at c. 12.15pm from London Heathrow to Heraklion via Athens (Aegean Airlines). First of four nights in Heraklion. Day 2: Knossos, Heraklion. The capital of Minoan Crete and centre of the Bronze Age Aegean, Knossos is shrouded in myth both ancient and modern. At its peak it comprised a magnificent palace with courts, religious buildings and mansions. Excavated by Sir Arthur Evans at the turn of the century, his reconstructions not only protect the excavated remains but grandly illustrate the splendour of palatial civilization. Visit the Archaeological Museum which houses the island’s largest collection of Minoan art. Overnight Heraklion. Day 3: Gortyn, Phaestos, Agia Triada, Matala. A day in the Mesara, a rich agricultural plain along the south coast. Gortyn was the Roman capital of Crete; a famous 5th century bc inscription has details of Greek law. On a ridge Phaestos is the second largest Minoan palace. Agia Triada, interpreted as the summer resort for Phaestos, has beautifully sited and architecturally elaborate villas. Visit the charming town of Matala, a harbour of Roman Gortyn, with rock-cut tombs in a cliff nearby. Overnight Heraklion. Day 4: Arhanes, Vathypetro, Heraklion. Another pretty town, Arhanes possesses remarkable archaeological remains and one of the best excavated cemeteries on Crete, Phourni (this is a closed site and permission for access can be withdrawn). There is also has a beautiful museum. Free time in Heraklion. Overnight Heraklion.
Hungary Transdanubia and the Great Plain Day 5: Malia, Agios Nikolaos, Gournia. At Malia visit the Minoan Palace and houses belonging to the Minoan town. The Archaeological Museum at Agios Nikolaos houses a fine collection of Minoan art. The largest excavated Minoan town, Gournia’s over seventy cramped houses lie dotted about the hillside with a mini-palace at the top. First of three nights in Sitia. Day 6: Sitia, Toplou, Zákros. The museum at Sitia has a good collection of artefacts from eastern sites of the island. Positioned in the barren low hills of east Crete, Toplou monastery has a history of fierce resistance to the island’s various invaders. Káto Zákros, at the foot of the Gorge of the Dead, is an excavated Minoan palace. Overnight Sitia. Day 7: Agia Photia, Petras. Visit Agia Photia, a collection of early Bronze Age sites including a cemetery and a small settlement. Continue to the Minoan Palace at Petras. Overnight Sitia. Day 8: Knossos, Chania. Second visit to Knossos and a private visit of outer-lying buildings. Drive to Chania, the spiritual capital of Crete, a beautiful town with delightful restaurants and good craft shops. First of two nights in Chania. Day 9: Aptera, Chania. One of the most powerful Graeco-Roman city states, Aptera is a huge site with Roman ruins, a theatre and a Turkish fort. See the British war cemetery at Souda Bay. Moni Agias Triadas on the Akrotiri peninsula above Chania was founded in 1630 by Venetian nobles and has some of the finest monastic architecture on the island. Overnight Chania. Day 10. Fly to London Heathrow via Athens, arriving c. 3.30pm. The opening of sites on Crete is arbitrary and can be influenced by the politics at the time of the tour. This may mean that at short notice not all sites listed can be visited.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,980 or £2,600 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,180 or £2,800 without flights. Accommodation. Lato Boutique Hotel, Heraklion (lato.gr): family-run 3-star hotel with small but well-appointed rooms. Good location by the Venetian port. Sitia Beach Hotel, Sitia (sitiabeach.com): large, 4-star resort hotel on the edge of the town. Kydon Hotel, Chania (kydonhotel.com): 4-star hotel well located close to the old town and port. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking and scrambling over archaeological sites and this tour is not suitable for anyone who is not sure-footed. Average distance by coach per day: 56 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with Israel & Palestine, 6–15 March 2018 (p.188); Johnathan Keates’s Venice, 12–18 March 2018 (p.100). Illustrations. Left: bull’s head from Knossos, after a drawing by John Duncan ARSA, publ. 1917. Right: Veszprém, mid-19thcentury steel engraving.
Historic towns in a part of the country little visited by tourists. Much fine mediaeval, Renaissance and Baroque architecture and art. Led by Hungarian art historian Dr József Sisa. While the magnificence of Budapest and the superb holdings of its museums now attract large numbers of visitors, the cultural riches of the rest of Hungary are still unjustly neglected. Hungary was formed in the tenth century by horsemen from the Central Asian steppes. Emerging as a powerful and prosperous state at the end of the Middle Ages, it was the first country outside Italy to receive Renaissance architecture and to apply it with understanding. The subsequent Turkish conquest resulted in the elimination of nearly all political and cultural achievements, though impressive Romanesque and Gothic monuments remain, as well as tantalising fragments of great fifteenthcentury Italianate palaces. From the eighteenth century there was steady reconstruction as part of the Austrian empire, resulting in some magnificent Baroque and Classical buildings and large-scale decorative painting. In the nineteenth century the accelerating drive towards independence was accompanied by outstanding artistic and architectural creativity. This tour includes historic towns, churches, abbeys and country houses in the west and the north of the country.
Itinerary Day 1: Sopron. Fly at c. 11.30am from London Heathrow to Vienna. Drive through the Austrian province of Burgenland, which was part of Hungary until 1919, and across the border to Sopron, one of the best preserved and most
picturesque towns in Hungary. Around a Fire Tower of mediaeval foundation and Baroque termination crowd dozens of ancient patrician houses, churches and synagogues. First of three nights in Győr. Day 2: Győr, Pápa, Pannonhalma. The spires and domes of the country town of Pápa can be seen from many miles away. Once an important ecclesiastical and administrative centre, it has a splendid late-Baroque church and a magnificent Esterházy palace. Győr has a very lovely and extensive historic centre with buildings of many periods, including a Romanesque-cum-Baroque cathedral with a 15th-century golden reliquary. Pannonhalma has a major Benedictine abbey situated on a hill with bold Neo-Classical tower, church, library and an art gallery. Day 3: Eszterháza, Sárvár, Sümeg. Eszterháza (Fertőd) is the most magnificent of Hungarian country houses; built in the 1770s, Joseph Haydn worked here every summer for thirty years. Episcopal patronage in the little town of Sümeg provided a beautiful 18th-century parish church with frescoes which are the masterpiece of Franz Anton Maulbertsch, the greatest of Austro-Hungarian Rococo painters. Sárvár has a pentagonal Renaissance fortress, with fine rooms of the 16th to 18th centuries. Day 4: Veszprém, Tihany, Székesfehérvár. The episcopal seat of Veszprém has a cluster of fine buildings crowning a ridge among the Bakony mountains and suave 18th-century edifices rise from remnants of the mediaeval citadel. Beautifully sited on a promontory protruding into Lake Balaton is the abbey of Tihany. Székesfehérvár, a former capital of Hungary, has picturesque streetscapes and fascinating Baroque and Neo-Classical architecture. Overnight Székesfehérvár. Day 5: Kecskemét. Kecskemét, the city of the Great Plain, is surrounded by vineyards and orchards, particularly of apricots. The centre is largely composed of fascinating turn-ofTe l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Included meals: 4 lunches, 5 dinners, with wine.
12–19 September 2018 (mf 141) 8 days • £2,260 Lecturer: Dr József Sisa
Hungary continued
Gastronomic Piedmont Some of the finest food and wine in Italy wine – noble, austere and complex; the Nebbiolo grape is used for the elegant, tarry Barbaresco, and various other DOCs. We meet makers, chosen as much for their charm and communicativeness as for their wines, in some cases study their vines and the wine-making process, and taste the results. Among the foods we investigate, truffles are significant – Alba is something of a truffle capital – but the mountain cheeses such as Tomino and Castelmagno make an equally powerful impression. Landscape is another great pleasure of this tour. As its name suggests, Piedmont reaches from high pastures to alluvial plains, and much of it is used for agriculture (or small family-run farms). The Langhe hills are among the most beautiful in Italy, the flanks almost entirely carpeted with vineyards, the summits sporting castles, little mediaeval towns or ancient farmsteads.
Dr József Sisa Art historian specialising in the 19th century. He is Head of Department at the Research Institute for Art History at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. A native Hungarian with fluent English, he lectures in the UK, across Europe and the USA and co-edited The Architecture of Historic Hungary. the-century architecture by Ödön Lechner and others. Continue to Eger, perhaps architecturally the finest 18th-century city in Hungary. First of three nights in Eger. Day 6: Eger, Noszvaj. Begin with a morning walk through Eger, including a visit to the massive Neo-Classical cathedral. Afternoon excursion to Noszvaj to visit the De la Motte Mansion, a country house with Rococo decoration. Day 7: Eger, Bélapátfalva. The splendid former university built 1765–85 has a Maulbertsch fresco in the chapel and a magnificent library with the ceiling painted by J.L. Kracker. Then on to the Baroque County Hall with outstanding wrought-iron gates, the Gothic Bishop’s Palace and 18th-century Archbishop’s Palace and finally the splendid Minorite church designed by K.I. Dientzenhofer. There is an afternoon excursion into the countryside to see the Romanesque Cistercian church at Bélapátfalva. Day 8. Fly to Heathrow, arriving at c. 3.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,260 or £2,070 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,400 or £2,210 without flights. Included meals: 7 dinners with wine.
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Accommodation. Hotel Capitulum, Győr (capitulum.hu/en): comfortable 4-star hotel located in the historical centre. Novotel Székesfehérvár (accorhotels.com): functional business hotel, locally rated as 4-star. Hotel Park, Eger (hotelegerpark.hu): clean and comfortable, ideally located in the heart of the old town; rated as 4-star. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking and some long coach journeys. This tour should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty climbing stairs. Average distance by coach per day: 96 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
The Iron Curtain September 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
What else is included in the price? See page 7. 94
Itinerary
21–27 October 2017 (me 634) 7 days • £2,870 Lecturer: Marc Millon One of the most celebrated gastronomic regions in Italy, centre of the ‘Slow Food’ revolution. Wine and food production studied at source, including visits to Alba, white truffle capital of the world, and a number of Barolo wineries. Superb restaurants, from simple trattorias to the Michelin starred. Beautiful landscapes: upland pasture, rolling hills, sloping vineyards and hazelnut woods. Led by Marc Millon – wine, food and travel writer, and author of The Food Lover’s Companion to Italy. Gastronomically, Piedmont is undoubtedly one of Italy’s most interesting regions. Its wines are superb, the food produced there is varied and the delicious cooking ranges from traditional country fare to creatively modern cuisine. Moreover, the region is the centre of the Slow Food revolution, which is transforming gastronomy in Italy and beyond. There is also another winning feature: many Piedmontese in the food and wine business have a desire to share their passion, and welcome interested visitors with generous amounts of their time and produce. In part this may be because visitors are relatively few, despite the high reputation which Piedmont enjoys. For this tour we have bypassed Turin in favour of spending time in the countryside, seeing the origins of the food and wine and meeting the producers. This bucolic exile is not at the expense of culinary excellence; you will find superb restaurants, from simple rustic trattorias where Granny’s recipes are still gospel, to Michelinstarred and innovative establishments, all serving some of Italy’s finest food. The study and enjoyment of wines is a large part of the tour. Barolo is the dominant
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Day 1. Fly at c. 9.15am from London Heathrow to Milan Linate (British Airways) and drive north to Bra, an attractive market town with some fine architecture, where the first four nights are spent. In the evening study the local wine-making process at the Ascheri winery adjacent to the hotel. Day 2: Alba, Grinzane Cavour. Drive to Alba, chief town of the Langhe, for a truffle seminar and lunch. In the afternoon there is a wine tasting in the Castle of Grinzane Cavour, a spectacularly situated unesco heritage site, home of the first regional enoteca to open in Piedmont, now almost 50 years old. Dinner is at a Slow Food restaurant. Day 3: Piozzo, Monforte d’Alba. The landscape between Dogliani and Murazzano is a patchwork of vineyards and rumpled hills, woods and pasturage. There is a truffle hunt (real, not simulated) this morning in the woods around Piozzo, then a wine tasting and lunch at a small, family-run estate. Day 4: Bra or surrounding countryside, Asti. Choose either a wine tasting in the Ascheri winery and visit to a traditional sausage maker, or a guided walk through orchards, vineyards and hazelnut groves, for the entire morning (c. 3 hours). Reconvene for lunch and a cooking demonstration at an outstanding restaurant. In the afternoon visit the lovely little city of Asti, centre of another famous wine and food area, set amidst the gently undulating Monferrato hills. Day 5: Pollenzo, Serralunga d’Alba. In the morning there is a visit and wine tasting at the fascinating wine bank in nearby Pollenzo, which stores and ages wines from all over Italy in order to keep a historical record of the very best vintages. Lunch is at a restaurant in Serralunga d’Alba at a Michelin-starred restaurant. In the castle at Manta there are some marvellous mediaeval frescos. Continue to Cuneo where two nights are spent. Day 6: Castelmagno, Sampeyre. The steep-sided valley of the river Grana is the sole source of one of Italy’s finest cheeses, Castelmagno. Visit a farm to see aspects of its production. Drive to Sampeyre in the mountains for lunch and a cooking demonstration with one of Italy’s rising stars.
Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes Como and Maggiore Marc Millon Wine, food and travel writer. Born in Mexico, he was raised in the USA and then studied at the University of Exeter. He lives in Devon where he is closely involved with the food scene of the West Country. He is author of The Wine Roads of France, The Wine Roads of Italy, The Food Lover’s Companion to Italy and The Taste of Britain.
‘In a week I doubt we could have covered more as we explored this beautiful region.’ Day 7: Rivoli. Drive to Castello di Rivoli, one of the palaces of the royal house of Savoy established in hunting grounds around Turin. Rebuilt in the 18th century, though never finished, a museum of contemporary art has been installed here. Lunch here at one of the best restaurants in Piedmont, Combal Zero. Fly from Turin, arriving London Gatwick at c. 5.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,870 or £2,730 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,070 or £2,930 without flights.
19–25 April 2018 (me 829) 7 days • £3,090 Lecturer: Steven Desmond 20–26 September 2018 (mf 170) 7 days • £3,090 Lecturer: Steven Desmond Among the loveliest and most romantic spots on earth – the summer retreat of the wealthy, aristocratic and intellectual since the time of Pliny. Some of the finest gardens in Europe, glorious in their design and range. Led by Steven Desmond, landscape consultant and specialist in the conservation of historic parks and gardens. Sublime mountain scenery, the inspiration of Bellini and Stendhal. Historic lakeside hotels. The gardens of the Italian lakes fall into two categories: formal, terraced, parterred, allegoried and enclosed summer residences of native landowners, and the expansive, landscaped villa grounds of the rich and splendid. Some are small, others huge; some ostentatious, others retiring; some immaculate, others picturesquely mouldering. Many are the former homes of Austrian aristocrats, Napoleonic grandees, bel canto composers or British seasonal emigrants. All respond to the setting, gazing out
across bays and peninsulas, or up to mountain scenery of heroic dimensions. The tour is divided between Lake Como and Lake Maggiore. Lake Como, the home of Pliny, is intensely romantic: Shelley, Bellini and Stendhal found inspiration here on the shores of a long and slender lake divided in three parts. The little town of Bellagio surveys all three from its glittering headland, and provides a convenient (and luxurious) base for visiting the lakeside villa gardens. Lake Maggiore is altogether broader and more open, extending northwards into Switzerland, with the air of an inland sea. The great western bay includes the famous Borromean Islands, among them the contrasting garden retreats of Isola Bella and Isola Madre. As early as 1686 Bishop Burnet gushed that these were ‘certainly the loveliest spots of ground in the World, there is nothing in all Italy that can be compared to them’. Our tours are scheduled at times of the year when there is the possibility of clear, brilliant sunshine. Each lake, each shore, each promontory and island, has its own character, but everywhere is pervaded by the abundance of light, perfume and natural beauty.
Itinerary Day 1: Bellagio. Fly at midday (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Milan. Drive to Bellagio on Lake Como. First of three nights in Bellagio. Day 2: Bellagio. The neoclassical Villa Melzi at Bellagio was built in 1810 for Francesco Melzi
Included meals: 6 lunches, 4 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Albergo Cantine Ascheri, Bra (ascherihotel.it): 4-star hotel refurbished in a very modern but enjoyable design using some locally made materials. Service is enthusiastic and rooms are comfortable. Hotel Palazzo Lovera, Cuneo (palazzolovera.com): excellently situated 4-star hotel just off the ancient arcaded Via Roma. Décor is traditional and tasteful with dark wood and faux-Rococo wall paintings.
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How strenuous? There is a fair amount of walking involved. Participants need to be used to walking unaided on uneven terrain, and surefootedness is also essential for truffle hunting in the woods. Participants on the optional walk on Day 4 need to be used to hiking up and down hills. Average distance by coach per day: 65 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Wines of Piedmont October 2018 Details available in October 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Illustrations. Left: ‘A Valley in Piedmont’ by Frank Fox, publ. 1913. Right: Isola Bella, rotunda of Hercules, wood engraving c. 1880.
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d’Eril, vice-president of Napoleon’s Italian Republic. It overlooks the lake in an undulating English landscape park, richly planted and decorated with ornamental buildings. The Villa Serbelloni, probably built on the site of one of Pliny the Younger’s two villas on Lake Como, occupies the high ground above Bellagio. The woods offer magnificent views to all parts of the lake. The mediaeval remnants, 16th-century villa and later terraces are the setting for planting schemes in a backdrop described by Stendhal as ‘a sublime and enchanting spectacle’. Day 3: Lake Como. Villa Carlotta on the western shore of Lake Como, built as a summer residence for a Milanese aristocrat, combines dramatic terracing, parterre and grottoes with an extensive landscape park and arboretum. The house contains notable collections from the Napoleonic period. The Villa Balbianello occupies its own headland projecting into the middle of Lake Como. This glorious site is terraced to provide sites for lawns, trees, shrubs and a chorus of statuary. The villa stands among groves of oak and pine. Day 4: Renaissance villa gardens. At the Villa Cicogna Mozzoni at Bisuschio, north of Varese, the 16th-century house and garden are thoroughly intertwined; the courtyard of pools and parterres leads to a water staircase, grottoes and giochi d’acqua. Lunch is served at the villa. The Villa della Porta Bozzolo, tucked away in a mountain
valley near Lake Maggiore, is a hidden treasure of a garden, shooting straight up a dramatic hillside from the village street of Casalzuigno. The beautiful 17th-century villa is unexpectedly set to one side to increase the visual drama. First of three nights in Pallanza.
Practicalities
Day 5: the Borromean Islands. Isola Bella is one of the world’s great gardens (and correspondingly popular), a wedding cake of terraces and greenery floating improbably in Lake Maggiore. The sense of surrealism is enhanced by the symbolic statuary and the flock of white peacocks. Isola Madre is the ideal dessert to follow Isola Bella: a relaxed, informal landscape garden around a charmingly domestic villa. Visual entertainments include the marvellous plant collection, revitalized by Henry Cocker in the 1950s, the chapel garden, puppet theatre and ambulant aviary.
Accommodation. Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, Bellagio (villaserbelloni.com): on the edge of the lake, a historic 5-star hotel with lavishly decorated public rooms and well-appointed bedrooms, varying in size. Rooms with a lake view are available for a supplement (please request). Grand Hotel Majestic, Pallanza (grandhotelmajestic.it): recently renovated, privately owned 4-star Belle Epoque hotel with lakeside gardens; bedrooms vary in size and all have lake views.
Day 6: Pallanza, Brissago. The Villa Taranto at Pallanza is an extravagant piece of 20th-century kitsch created by Henry Cocker for his patron, the enigmatic Neil McEacharn. The alarmingly gauche design is superbly planted and maintained with loving zeal by the present staff. In the afternoon cross to the Swiss part of Lake Maggiore to visit the botanical gardens on the island of San Pancrazio, home to c. 1700 different plant species. Day 7. Fly from Milan to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 5.00pm.
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book online at www.martinrandall.com
Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,090 or £2,960 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,490 or £3,360 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine.
How strenuous? Quite a lot of walking – some of the gardens are extensive, and all have uneven ground. Participants need to be fit and sure-footed. Average distance by coach per day: 23 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. In April, combine this tour with: The Ring in Leipzig, 10–16 April 2018 (p.85). Or in September with: Provence & Languedoc, 27 September–6 October 2018 (p.69). Illustrations. Below: Lake Como, mezzotint by J. Alphege Brewer c. 1910. Right: Genoa, Palazzo in the Strada Balbi, wood engraving c. 1880.
Genoa & Turin Palaces and galleries in north west Italy 6–12 May 2018 (me 851) 7 days • £2,440 Lecturer: Dr Luca Leoncini Two cities, often unaccountably overlooked. One, a leading republic of mediaeval Italy and birthplace of Columbus; the other developed on a grand scale in the 17th and 18th centuries. Magnificent palaces and churches, from mediaeval to Baroque. Led by Dr Luca Leoncini, expert art historian specialising in 15 to 17th-century Northern Italian paintings. Exceptional picture collections with particularly fine examples of Van Dyck and Rubens.
Itinerary Day 1: Genoa. Fly at c. 9.15am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Milan. Upon arrival visit the Villa del Principe with Perin del Vaga frescoes. First of three nights in Genoa. Day 2: Genoa. In the morning visit the Palazzo Reale which has a magnificent stairway, splendidly furnished rooms and a fine collection of pictures. The Cathedral of S. Lorenzo, built 12th–16th centuries, possesses many works of art and a fine treasury. See the Via Garibaldi, lined with magnificent palazzi, most from the 16th century.
Day 3: Genoa. Visit the church of S. Luca with its beautifully decorated interior. Palazzo Spinola has good pictures, Van Dycks in particular, and Palazzo Rosso has fine furnishings and excellent pictures. See also the adjacent church of the Annunciation and the Piazza S. Matteo, formed by the imposing palaces of the Doria family, which overshadow the small family church of S. Matteo. Day 4: Cherasco, Venaria. Leave Genoa and take a cross-country route through the beautiful countryside and wine-producing area of Le Langhe. Stop in Cherasco which has a 14thcentury Visconti castle for a typical Piedmontese lunch. En route to Turin is the magnificent royal palace of Venaria (Amedeo Castellamonte, 1659) reopened in 2007 following extensive renovation work. First of three nights in Turin. Day 5: Turin. A morning walk through the beautiful Piazza S. Carlo, with arcades and 18thcentury churches, is followed by a visit to the Royal Palace, built 1660, with wonderful interiors from the 17th–19th centuries. The Galleria Sabauda, housed in the Palace, has an excellent picture collection. In the afternoon visit the cathedral, with Guarini’s Chapel of the Holy Shroud. Day 6: Turin. Morning visit to the Palazzo Madama in the centre of Piazza Castello, now housing the City Art Museum, and the little church of S. Lorenzo, a Guarini masterpiece. Some free time in Turin.
Day 7: Superga, Turin Lingotto. Visit the votive church of Superga, a magnificent hilltop structure by Juvarra, and the Pinacoteca Giovanni and Marella Agnelli at Lingotto which has a small but excellent quality collection in a building designed by Renzo Piano. Fly from Milan Malpensa, returning to London Heathrow c. 8.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,440 or £2,110 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,790 or £2,460 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Grand Hotel Savoia, Genoa (grandhotelsavoiagenova.it): 5-star hotel close to the Palazzo Reale. Grand Hotel Sitea, Turin (grandhotelsitea.com): 4-star hotel, comfortable, elegantly furnished and very central. How strenuous? The tour involves a lot of walking in town centres where vehicular access is restricted and standing in museum. The transfer days between Milan’s airports and the hotels and between Genoa and Turin involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 51 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Courts of Northern Italy, 13–20 May 2018 (p.108); Savouring Lombardy, 14–20 May 2018 (p.109). Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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‘Secret cities’ would have been an absurd subtitle for two such major places, but did seem to suggest itself because of the rarity with which Britons find themselves there. But every art lover should go. The prevailing images are perhaps still predominantly commercial and industrial, but not only do both Genoa and Turin have highly attractive centres but both are distinguished by the preservation of a large number of magnificent palaces and picture collections. Genoa lays claim to the largest historic centre of any European city. It was one of the leading maritime republics of mediaeval Italy (with Marseilles it remains the largest port in the Mediterranean), and enjoyed a golden age during the seventeenth century. In the 1990s civic improvements and building restorations were undertaken to prepare the city for celebrations connected with the quincentenary of Columbus’s first voyage to the Americas, and the cultural momentum has continued. In the earlier seventeenth century, Genoa was artistically the equal of almost anywhere in Italy except for Rome and Naples. More than any other Italian school of painting, the Genoese was indebted to the Flemish school: Rubens made a prolonged visit to Genoa in 1605 and Anthony Van Dyck was based there from 1621 to 1627. Many of his paintings remain here. Turin, the leading city of Piedmont, was formerly capital of Savoy and later of the kingdom of Sardinia. Developed on a grand scale in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the historic centre is laid out on a regular plan with broad avenues and spacious piazzas. Architecture is mainly Baroque and classical. Guarino Guarini and Filippo Juvarra, among the best architects of their time, worked here for much of their lives.
Art History of Venice Painting, sculpture and architecture in the world’s most beautiful city incomparable Doge’s Palace with pink Gothic revetment and rich Renaissance interiors. Day 4. Cross the lagoon by motoscafo to the island of Torcello, once the rival of Venice but now scarcely inhabited. Virtually all that remains of the city is the magnificent Veneto-Byzantine cathedral with its 12th-century mosaics. Continue to the pretty glass-making island of Murano. Day 5. Visit the vast Gothic church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo and the early Renaissance Sta. Maria dei Miracoli with its multicoloured stone veneer. Cross the Grand Canal to Dorsoduro, to visit the church of S. Sebastiano with decoration by Veronese.
13–19 November 2017 (me 695) 7 days • £2,630 Lecturer: Dr Susan Steer Wide-ranging survey of art and architecture with an emphasis on the Renaissance. Led by Dr Susan Steer, art historian specialising in Venice, with a PhD focused on Venetian Renaissance altarpieces. Includes a private, after-hours visit to the Basilica di San Marco to see the transcendental splendour of the Byzantine mosaics.
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For the world’s most beautiful city, Venice had an inauspicious start. The site was once merely a collection of mudbanks, and the first settlers came as re fugees fleeing the barbarian destroyers of the Roman Empire. They sought to escape to terrain so inhospitable that no foe would follow. The success of the community which arose on the site would have been beyond the wildest imaginings of the first Venetians. By the end of the Middle Ages Venice had become the leading maritime power in the Mediterranean and possibly the wealthiest city in Europe. The shallow waters of the lagoon had indeed kept her safe from malign incursions and she kept her independence until the end of the eighteenth century. ‘Once did she hold the gorgeous East in fee, and was the safeguard of the West, Venice, eldest child of liberty.’ Trade with the East was the source of that wealth and power, and the eastern connection has left its indelible stamp upon Venetian art and architecture. Western styles are here tempered by a richness of effect and delicacy of pattern which is redolent of oriental opulence. It is above all by its colour that Venetian painting is distinguished. And whether sonorous or poetic, from Bellini through Titian to Tiepolo, there remain echoes of the transcendental splendour of the Byzantine mosaics of St Mark’s. That Venice survives so comprehensively from the days of its greatness, so little ruffled by modern intrusions, would suffice to make it the goal of everyone who is curious about the man-made world. Thoroughfares being water and cars nonexistent, the imagination traverses the centuries with ease. And while picturesque 98
qualities are all-pervasive – shimmering Istrian limestone, crumbling stucco, variegated brickwork, mournful vistas with exquisitely sculpted details – there are not half-a-dozen cities in the world which surpass Venice for the sheer number of major works of architecture, sculpture and painting.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 12.30pm (British Airways) from London Gatwick to Venice. Cross the lagoon by motoscafo (water taxi) to the hotel. Day 2. The morning walk includes S. Zaccaria and S. Giovanni in Bragora, two churches with outstanding Renaissance altarpieces by Vivarini, Bellini and Cima. The Scuola di S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni has a wonderful cycle of painting by Carpaccio. In the afternoon cross the bacino to Palladio’s beautiful island church of S. Giorgio Maggiore and then to the tranquil Giudecca to see his best church, Il Redentore. Day 3. Cross the Grand Canal to the San Polo district, location of the great Franciscan church of Sta. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari with outstanding artworks including Titian’s Assumption, and the Scuola Grande di S. Rocco, with dramatic paintings by Tintoretto. In the afternoon see the
Day 6. The morning is free. Spend the afternoon in the Accademia, Venice’s major art gallery, where all the Venetian painters are well represented. In the evening there is a special after-hours private visit to the Basilica di S. Marco, an 11th-century Byzantine church enriched over the centuries with mosaics, sculpture and various precious objects. Day 7. The Ca’ Rezzonico is a magnificent palace on the Grand Canal, now a museum of 18thcentury art. Travel by motoscafo to Venice airport. Fly to London Gatwick, arriving c. 6.15pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,630 or £2,510 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,210 or £3,090 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Splendid, Venice (starhotels.com): 4-star hotel located between Piazza San Marco and the Rialto bridge. Quiet; rooms are decorated in a light, contemporary style and overlook side canals or a central courtyard. There is a good restaurant. How strenuous? The nature of Venice means that the city is usually traversed on foot. Although part of her charm, there is a lot of walking along the flat and up and down bridges; standing around in museums and churches is also unavoidable. Group size: between 8 and 18 participants. Illustration: ‘The Circumcision’, engraving c. 1820 after Giovanni Bellini (detail).
Vivaldi in Venice 6–11 November 2017 (me 672) Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com A unique and unprecedented festival of the music of Antonio Vivaldi in the city where he was born and worked for most of his career.
Sardelli), La Serenissima (Adrian Chandler), Sonatori della Gioiosa Marca (Giorgio Fava). Soloists include: Mary Bevan, Lucy Crowe, Charles Daniels, Ann Hallenberg, Rowan Hellier, Elizabeth Karani, Dorothee Oberlinger, Ashley Riches, Hilary Summers, Peter Whelan.
Seven private concerts, from small-scale concerti to an opera and an oratorio, in appropriate and beautiful halls and churches in Venice.
Talks on music and 18th-century Venice by Richard Wigmore and Professor Tim Blanning. There are also optional walks in the company of art historians.
Participating ensembles are among the world leaders in performance of Vivaldi and Italian Baroque – Il Giardino Armonico (Giovanni Antonini, director), Modo Antiquo (Federico
The price includes accommodation in a choice of six carefully selected hotels, flights between London Heathrow or Gatwick and Venice (optional), transfers by water taxi, and more.
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Venice Revisited From prison to palazzo: art and life in historic Venice 13–18 November 2018 (mf 345) 6 days • £2,710 Lecturer: Dr Susan Steer Explores treasures which are lesser-known, rarely accessible or simply off the beaten track. Access to many is by special arrangement; some are still in private hands. Also an after-hours visit to the Basilica di San Marco. Revised itinerary for 2018, with visits to the islands of Murano and San Lazzaro. Led by Dr Susan Steer, art historian specialising in Venice who lives near the city. This is a tour for those who are familiar with the main buildings and museums of Venice and who now want to explore some of the lesserknown places. ‘Lesser-known’ does not imply less beautiful or interesting; the riches of Venice are so profuse that few visitors, even the most regular, have seen all that is worth seeing. A glance at the itinerary will show that some of the places are by no means obscure, merely a little off the beaten track or difficult to get into. Others are indeed alluringly arcane. But perhaps the greatest attraction of the tour is that there will be several visits to places not generally open to the public. Some are private institutions, one is a private home; all are accessible only by special arrangement. There will also be some free time in which to revisit places not included on the tour or just to relax.
Venetian State Archives are the repository of a millennium of history, stored on some 60km of shelving (special arrangement). The afternoon is dedicated to Venice’s confraternities: the Scuola Grande dei Carmini with paintings by Tiepolo, the Scuola Grande di S. Giovanni Evangelista with its grand Renaissance stairway and a magnificent hall, and the Scuola Grande di S. Rocco, with compelling paintings by Tintoretto. Day 5. Cross the bacino to the island of San Giorgio Maggiore to see the church, cloisters and conventual buildings of the Benedictine monastery. Here is the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, an impressive cultural centre, and the new glass museum, the ‘Stanze del Vetro’. Continue to the tranquil Giudecca to see Palladio’s most sophisticated church, Il Redentore, before a free afternoon. In the evening visit Palazzo Albrizzi, which has some of the finest stucco decoration in Venice (special arrangement). Day 6. The morning is dedicated to Armenian Venice. Head in the direction of the Lido by motoscafo to visit San Lazzaro, the Armenian monastery island and temporary residence of Lord Byron. Return to the Dorsoduro to see the grand ballroom of the 17th-century Collegio Armeno in Palazzo Zenobio. Travel by motoscafo to the airport; fly to London Gatwick, arriving c. 6.00pm.
The tour is dependent on the kindness of individuals and organisations, some of whom are reluctant to make arrangements far in advance, so the order of visits outlined here may change and there may be substitutions for some places mentioned.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,710 or £2,550 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,190 or £3,030 without flights. Included meals: 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Splendid (starhotels. com): delightful 4-star hotel situated half-way between Piazza San Marco and the Rialto bridge. How strenuous? Mainly, we travel on foot; the nature of Venice makes no other mode feasible. So there is a lot of walking along the flat, and also up and down bridges. Standing around in museums and churches is also unavoidable. Group size: between 10 and 18 participants. Combine this tour with: Venetian Palaces, 6–10 November 2018 (p.101); Florentine Palaces, 7–11 November 2018 (p.125); Florence & Venice, 19–26 November 2018 (p.121).
Venice, after a drawing by Joseph Pennell, publ. 1897.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 12.30pm from London Gatwick to Venice (British Airways). Cross the lagoon by motoscafo (water taxi); luggage is transported separately by porters.
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Day 2. The morning walk looks at the identity and social make-up of the Castello sestiere. See two of the orphanages renowned as centres of musical excellence, the Ospedaletto and its church of Sta. Maria dei Derelitti, and the Pietà, where Vivaldi was director of music; private visit to its museum. Outstanding Renaissance paintings are seen in San Giovanni in Bragora (Cima da Conegliano’s Baptism) and in the Scuola di S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni (Carpaccio’s stories of saints). In the supremely beautiful Palazzo Ducale visit areas only seen by special arrangement where prison cells rub shoulders with the Doge’s apartments. Day 3. Head off the beaten track for a guided tour of the Ghetto and its synagogues, around the markets and former trading houses of the Rialto district, and Cannaregio, a tranquil area of the city little known to visitors. Cross to the glass-making island of Murano by private motoscafo to see SS. Maria e Donato with 12th-century mosaics and pavement, and S. Pietro Martire with paintings by Bellini and Tintoretto. After-hours visit to the Basilica di San Marco where the mosaic-encrusted interior is illuminated exclusively for your benefit. Day 4. Visit the great Franciscan church of Sta. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari with outstanding artworks including Titian’s Assumption. The Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Jonathan Keates’s Venice History, literature, art and architecture in La Serenissima collection in its original setting above a modern ground floor by Carlo Scarpa, while Palazzo Grimani, a Renaissance connoisseur’s Romanstyle house with enchanting ‘natural history’ frescoes and magnificent Tribuna, has recently been recovered from its ruinous state. The Scuola di San Giorgio has the delightful cycle of paintings by Carpaccio, and San Francesco della Vigna an innovative façade by Palladio and works by Veronese and Bellini. The Basilica of San Giovanni e Paolo, the pantheon of Venetian doges, brings the afternoon to a close. Day 5: San Marco. In Campo Santo Stefano we look at the making of a Venetian ‘square’; the eponymous church has a roof like an upturned boat. Detour to Museo Fortuny for a Venice of early 20th-century art and fashion, and climb the unique Scala Contarini del Bovolo for a stunning roofscape. San Salvador offers outstanding High Renaissance architecture, while little San Lio contains beautiful sculpture of the same period. Explore the area around the home of Marco Polo and Teatro Malibran, and at San Giovanni Grisostomo see two of the city’s finest altarpieces, by Sebastiano del Piombo and Giovanni Bellini.
12–18 March 2018 (me 778) 7 days • £2,780 Lecturer: Jonathan Keates Novel itinerary which reaches parts rarely visited as well as seeing major items. Led by Jonathan Keates, historian, writer and distinguished Venetianist, Chairman of the Venice in Peril Fund. Experience ‘village Venice’: every sestiere is examined through a personalised lens. Includes a donation to the Venice in Peril Fund.
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For all its abiding grandeur, Venice is a small city. A walk from Piazzale Roma in the west to Sant’Elena on its eastern edge takes barely an hour. Yet each of its districts, the seven sestieri represented by the prongs of the metal forcola on a gondola’s prow, has its own indelible character and identity. Such robust individuality is mirrored by Venice’s past experience as a place of cultural ‘firsts’ in everything from the invention of the portable printed book and opera as a public art form to the use of forks at the dining table. This distinctive world of ‘village Venice’, a unique urban narrative with the sestieri as its chapters, fascinates Jonathan Keates, a noted expert on matters Venetian and currently chairman of the Venice in Peril Fund – and a companion of staggering erudition on many matters historical, literary and artistic. As a walker in the city he loves to share his passion for the deeper townscape beyond Piazza San Marco, the Doge’s Palace and the Rialto. In this quieter, less crowded world, mapped out by fifty-odd parish churches, he focuses on the wealth of detail which personalizes each cluster of campi and calli. We learn how to read the mesmerising Venetian text amid cloisters, courts and boatyards, in decorated well-heads, Byzantine paterae, Baroque ceilings and the essential physicality of brick and marble. 100
Fortunate indeed would be a participant on this tour who was a first-time visitor to Venice, given the mix of major masterpieces and rarelyseen crannies, all with the commentary of so distinguished a Venetianist. Equally it would suit people who already have some familiarity with the city. With this in mind, we would consider requests for this tour without accommodation for a small reduction in price.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 12.30pm (British Airways) from London Gatwick to Venice. Cross the lagoon by motoscafo (water taxi) to the hotel. Day 2. The Dorsoduro, smallest and smartest of the sestieri. Starting from the great Baroque church of Santa Maria della Salute, visit the church of the Gesuati (Tiepolo ceiling), its Renaissance neighbour the Visitazione, San Trovaso (Tintoretto’s Last Supper and Michele Giambono’s St Chrysogonus) and a gondola boatyard. Campo Santa Margherita offers the complete story of Venice in buildings from the 12th to 20th centuries. Veronese adorned the church of San Sebastiano. Finally, Sant’Angelo Raffaele and San Nicolò dei Mendicoli, set in what was traditionally Venice’s poorest quarter. Day 3: Santa Croce. Antonio Fumiani’s amazing ceiling at San Pantalon, the world’s biggest painted canvas, begins the day. Then study the magnificent works by Tintoretto in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco before visiting the Franciscan basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari with its masterpieces by Titian, Bellini and Donatello. In the Scuola di San Giovanni examine the work of Renaissance sculptor-architects Mauro Codussi and Pietro Lombardo. Continue to San Giacomo dell’Orio, one of Venice’s oldest churches, and finish with the Baroque saloni in Palazzo Mocenigo. Day 4: Castello. Two palaces tell contrasting stories: Querini Stampalia offers a patrician art
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Day 6: Cannaregio. The flamboyant Gesuiti church, with its mock-brocade marble draperies, is the prelude to a walk in the quiet Cannaregio district and a visit to Venice’s Jewish ghetto. At the Madonna dell’Orto we admire epic Tintoretto canvases and enjoy the contrast, at Sant’Alvise, between works by Tiepolo and oddly moving 16thcentury panels by primitive painters. The buildings of the Ghetto tell their own story of Jewish life in Venice over seven centuries. End at Ca’ d’Oro, the florid Gothic palace on the Grand Canal containing an important art collection. Day 7. Free morning. Travel by motoscafo to the airport. Fly to Gatwick, arriving at c. 6.15pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,780 or £2,610 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,210 or £3,040 without flights. Included meals: 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Palazzo Sant’Angelo (palazzosantangelo.com): 4-star hotel in an excellent location on the Grand Canal near Campo Sant’Angelo and the Rialto Bridge. How strenuous? Getting around Venice is mostly on foot. Unavoidably therefore, there is a lot of walking – frequently up and down bridges. Standing around in churches, museums and palaces is also inevitable. The tour should not be attempted by anyone who has any difficulty with everyday walking and stair-climbing. Fitness is essential. Group size: between 8 and 18 participants. Combine this tour with: Florence, 5–11 March 2018 (p.123). Illustrations. Above: watercolour of Venice by Sir Alfred East RA, publ. 1914. Opposite: Venice, Palazzo Ferbo, wood engraving c. 1880.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235.
Venetian Palaces The greatest and best-preserved palaces of La Serenissima 1–5 November 2017 (me 720) This tour is currently full 20–24 March 2018 (me 789) 5 days • £2,480 Lecturer: Dr Michael Douglas-Scott 6–10 November 2018 (mf 303) 5 days • £2,480 Lecturer: Dr Michael Douglas-Scott Explores many of the finest and best-preserved palaces, once homes to the wealthiest nobles and merchants in Venice (some of which are still in private hands). Access is mainly by special arrangement. Also a private after-hours visit to St Mark’s Basilica. Led by Dr Michael Douglas-Scott, specialist in 16th-century Italian art and architecture. Stays in a 4-star hotel on the Grand Canal.
Associate Lecturer in History of Art at Birkbeck College, specialising in 16th-century Italian art and architecture. He studied at the Courtauld and lived in Rome for several years. He has written articles for Arte Veneta, Burlington Magazine and the Journal of the Warburg & Courtauld Institutes. occupants. Some of these cannot be confirmed until nearer the time. A private, after-hours visit to the Basilica San Marco, the mosaic interior illuminated for your benefit, is a highlight of this tour. As is an opportunity to see up close ‘the most beautiful street in the world’, the Grand Canal, from that most Venetian of vantage-points, a gondola.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 12.30pm (British Airways) from London Gatwick to Venice. Cross the lagoon by motoscafo (water taxi) and travel up the Grand Canal to the doors of the hotel. Luggage is transported separately to the hotel by porters. There is an evening visit to a privately-owned palace, the 16th-century Palazzo Corner Gheltoff Alverà (by special arrangement). Day 2. See the palazzi on the Grand Canal from the viewpoint of a gondola. The former Casino Venier is a uniquely Venetian establishment that was part private members’ bar, part literary salon, part brothel (by special arrangement). Designed by Longhena (c. 1667) and Giorgio Massari (c. 1751), the Ca’ Rezzonico is perhaps the most magnificent of Grand Canal palaces, and contains frescoes by Tiepolo; it is now a museum of 18th-century art. Visit the grand ballroom of late 17th-century Palazzo Zenobio (by special arrangement). Day 3. Visit the Palazzo Ducale, supremely beautiful with its 14th-century pink and white revetment, late Renaissance gilded halls and paintings by Tintoretto and Veronese. The Palazzo Grimani at Santa Maria Formosa became in the mid-16th century the purpose-built site of the family collection of antiquities, which were then bequeathed to the Venetian Republic. There is an after-hours private visit to the Basilica San Marco, an 11th-century Byzantine-style church enriched over the centuries with mosaics, sculpture and various precious objects. Day 4. With its elegant tracery and abundant ornamentation, the Ca’ d’Oro, also on the Grand Canal, is the most gorgeous of Venetian Gothic palaces; it now houses the Galleria Franchetti. The 13th-century Fondaco dei Turchi is a unique survival from the era; today it is the natural history museum. In the afternoon visit a privately-owned palace, the Palazzo Contarini dal Zaffo-Polignac (by special arrangement). Day 5. Visit the privately-owned 17th-century Palazzo Albrizzi which has some of the finest stucco decoration in Venice (by special
arrangement). Travel by motoscafo to the airport. Fly to London Gatwick, arriving c. 6.15pm. The tour is dependent on the kindness of individuals and organisations, some of whom are reluctant to make arrangements far in advance, so the order of visits outlined here may change and there may be substitutions for some palaces mentioned.
Practicalities Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £2,480 or £2,340 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,820 or £2,680 without flights. Included meals: 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Palazzo Sant’Angelo, (palazzosantangelo.com): 4-star hotel in an excellent location on the Grand Canal near Campo Sant’Angelo and the Rialto Bridge. How strenuous? The nature of Venice means that the city is more often than not traversed on foot. Although part of her charm, there is a lot of walking along the flat and up and down bridges; standing around in museums and palaces is also unavoidable. The tour should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stair-climbing. Fitness is essential. Group size: between 8 and 18 participants. In April, combine this tour with: Jonathan Keates’s Venice, 12–18 March 2018 (opposite). Or in November with: Civilizations of Sicily, 12–24 November 2018 (p.142); Venice Revisited, 13–18 November 2018 (p.99). Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Just as Venice possesses but a single piazza among dozens of campi, it has only one building correctly called a ‘palazzo’. The singularity is important: the Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale), like the Piazza San Marco, was the locus of the Serenissima’s public identity and seat of her republican government. Unlike her rivals in Florence and Milan she had no ruling dynasties to dictate polity, by contrast developing a deep aversion to individual aggrandizement and over-concentrated power. While the person and Palazzo of the Doge embodied their municipal identity, it was in their private houses that Venice’s mercantile oligarchs expressed their own family wealth and status. These case (in Venetian parlance ca’) were built throughout the city. In the absence of primogeniture, many branches sprung from the two hundred-odd noble families, leading to several edifices of the same name – an obstacle for wouldbe visitors. These houses were unlike any other domestic buildings elsewhere in the world: erected over wooden piles driven into the mud flats of the lagoon, they remained remarkably uniform over the centuries in their basic design, combining the functions of mercantile emporium (ground level) and magnificent residence (upper floors). They were however built in a fantastic variety of styles, Veneto-Byzantine, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo. Sometimes there is a touch of Islamic decoration. As new families bought their way into the aristocracy during the long period of the Republic’s economic and political decline, they had their residences refurbished in Rococo splendour by master artists such as Giambattista Tiepolo. Many of these palaces have survived the virtual extinction of the Venetian aristocracy and retain their original, if faded, glory. Palaces for nobles will be considered in conjunction with those for the non-noble cittadino (wealthy merchant) class and the housing projects for ordinary Venetian popolani, which rise cheek by jowl in the dense urban fabric. Some of the places visited are familiar and readily accessible to the public. Others are opened only by special arrangement with the owners, whether a charitable organisation, branch of local government, or descendants of the original
Dr Michael Douglas-Scott
The Venetian Terra Ferma A spectrum of north-east Italy’s finest art and architecture 2–9 June 2018 (me 893) 8 days • £2,530 Lecturer: Dr Michael Douglas-Scott Mediaeval frescoes (Giotto), Renaissance paintings (Titian), 18th-century interiors (Tiepolo), Neoclassical sculpture (Canova). Rich artistic and architectural centres from the Adriatic to Lake Garda: Padua, Verona, Vicenza, Treviso, and many others. Spans an entire region from one base, Vicenza, Palladio’s home town. Led by Dr Michael Douglas-Scott, specialist in 16th-century Italian art and architecture. For centuries the Veneto comprised the heartland of Venice’s terra ferma empire, stretching from the Adriatic to Lake Garda, and from the plain of the Po to the foothills of the Dolomites. But the Veneto is no mere subordinate appendage to La Serenissima, culturally or politically. The region is too large and varied for such relegation, and has a history which is far longer than that of the upstart maritime republic. The towns and cities on this tour are among the most illustrious and art-historically important places in Italy, as well as being some of the most attractive. Most have Roman or pre-Roman origins; at many the mediaeval circuit of walls is still intact. In the fields of painting and sculpture the Trecento (fourteenth century) is particularly well represented, with Giotto’s finest fresco cycle heading the list. From the fifteenth century are masterpieces by Pisanello, Donatello, Mantegna and Bellini; great paintings by Titian, Giorgione and Veronese show the High Renaissance to advantage, and the eighteenth century is represented by Tiepolo, the consummate master of the age.
Architecture ranges from Roman through Romanesque to Gothic, and on to Renaissance and Neoclassical. There are some great buildings here, but the appeal of the tour lies as much in the vernacular and the streetscape as in monumental set pieces. A recurring theme is the genius of Andrea Palladio. To this one man is owed the appearance of most of the villas in the countryside, and indeed of much of eighteenth-century England, for he became the most internationally influential of all Italian architects. Work by another Italian architect also makes repeated appearances: Carlo Scarpa created some of the most affecting designs of the twentieth century, blending old with new.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 11.30am (British Airways) from London Gatwick to Venice and drive to Vicenza, where all seven nights are spent. Day 2: Vicenza. The beautiful little city of Vicenza is architecturally the noblest and most homogenous in northern Italy, much of the fabric consisting of Renaissance palaces. Andrea Palladio spent most of his life there, and his buildings include the town hall (Basilica Palladiana), an epoch-making theatre (Teatro Olimpico) and several aristocratic residences, one of which, the Palazzo Chiericati, houses an excellent art gallery. Day 3: Verona. A major Roman settlement, Verona also flourished in the Middle Ages under the tyrannical rule of the Scaligeri dynasty. A sequence of interconnecting squares lie at the heart of the city, lined with magnificent mediaeval palazzi. The vast Gothic church of Sta. Anastasia has a fresco by Pisanello and S. Zeno is a splendid Romanesque church with an altarpiece by Mantegna. The elegant red-brick castle contains a very fine art gallery.
Day 4: San Vito, Asolo, Possagno. The Brion cemetery complex at San Vito by Carlo Scarpa is 20th-century architecture at its most beautiful and moving. There is a lunch break at Asolo, a lovely hilltop town with a Lorenzo Lotto altarpiece in the cathedral. Possagno was birthplace of the leading Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova and he rebuilt the church as his memorial, a cross between the Pantheon and Parthenon. Full-scale models for many of his sculptures have been assembled in a museum. Day 5: Padua. Giotto’s fresco cycle in the Arena Chapel is one of the greatest achievements in the history of art and marks the beginning of the modern era in painting. Further outstanding 14th-century fresco cycles are by Giusto de’ Menabuoi in the Baptistry and by Altichieri in the vast multi-domed Basilica of St Anthony. The Renaissance is represented by Donatello’s altar panels here and the bronze equestrian statue outside, the Gattamelata. The mediaeval town hall and surrounding squares are among the finest of such ensembles in Italy. Day 6: Vicenza, Vicentine villas. There is free time in Vicenza in the morning. The afternoon excursion is to places just outside the city: the hilltop ‘La Rotonda’, the most famous of all Palladian villas, and the adjacent Villa Valmarana ‘ai Nani’, with superb frescoes by Giambattista Tiepolo and his son. Day 7: Treviso. Once an important fortress city, Treviso has a fine historic centre with imposing public buildings and many painted façades. The cathedral has a Titian Annunciation, but the hero of the day is the 14th-century painter Tommaso da Modena: his frescoes of learned monks in the chapter house of St Nicholas are extraordinary, as is the St Ursula cycle in the church of Sta Caterina. Day 8: Castelfranco Veneto. Drive to the delightful little walled town of Castelfranco. The cathedral has Giorgione’s wonderful Madonna Enthroned and a museum in his house next door. Explore one of Palladio’s most evolved, most beautiful and most influential buildings, the Villa Cornaro at Piombino Dese. Fly from Venice, returning to Gatwick at c. 6.30pm.
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Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,530 or £2,310 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,920 or £2,700 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Campo Marzio, Vicenza (hotelcampomarzio.com): just outside a city gate of Vicenza, this 4-star hotel is well located and comfortable, with decent-sized rooms. How strenuous? The tour involves a lot of walking, sometimes uphill and over unevenly paved ground. The coach can rarely enter town centres. Fitness and sure-footedness are essential. Average distance by coach per day: 50 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: A Festival of Music in Prague, 13–19 June 2018 (p.52). Illustration: Asolo, engraving from ‘The Magazine of Art’, 1887.
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Gastronomic Veneto From Verona to the Adriatic, the Po Valley to the Dolomites 16–23 May 2018 (me 871) 8 days • £3,430 Lecturers: Marc Millon & Dr R. T. Cobianchi One of Italy’s most varied regions, both gastronomically and geographically. Some of Italy’s greatest and best-known wines including Amarone and Prosecco, at their absolute best in historic wineries and Michelinstarred restaurants. Artistic riches are not ignored, with time spent in the dazzlingly picturesque Verona, architecturally spectacular Vicenza and charming smaller towns such as Bassano del Grappa and Asolo. Two lecturers: an expert art historian and a gastronomic specialist, author of The Food Lover’s Companion to Italy.
Itinerary Day 1: Verona. Fly at c. 1.30pm (British Airways) from London Gatwick to Verona. Dinner at an historic restaurant. First of three nights in Verona. Day 2: Verona, Sant’Ambrogia di Valpolicella. A major Roman settlement, Verona also flourished in
the Middle Ages under the tyrannical rule of the Scaligeri dynasty. A sequence of interconnecting squares lie at the heart of the city, lined with magnificent mediaeval palazzi. Outside Verona, visit the atmospheric Villa di Serego Alighieri, surrounded by Valpolicella vineyards, for a private wine tasting and lunch. 21 generations after Dante Alighieri’s son bought the estate, the house and surrounding land still belong to his direct descendants, the Counts Serego Alighieri.
Day 7: Treviso, Castelfranco Veneto. Once an important fortress city, Treviso has a fine historical centre with imposing public buildings and many painted façades. The cathedral has a Titian Annunciation, but the hero of the day is the 14thcentury painter Tommaso da Modena: his frescoes of learned monks in the chapter house of S. Nicolò are extraordinary. Return to Asolo. In the evening drive to Castelfranco Veneto for the final dinner of the tour (1-star Michelin).
Day 3: Isola della Scala, Verona. Drive south to the rice fields near Isola della Scala to visit the historic rice mill at Riseria Ferron, which dates to 1650. There is a cooking demonstration here of typical rice dishes, and lunch. In the afternoon visit an olive oil producer near Verona, which uses artisanal harvesting methods to create only the highest-quality oils, tasted during the visit.
Day 8: Mazzorbo. Drive to the coast and cross the lagoon by motoscafo (water-taxi) to the island of Mazzorbo, with wide vistas of breathtaking stillness. Visit the beautiful orti (kitchen gardens) of the acclaimed Venissa restaurant (1-star Michelin), taste wine produced from grapes grown here, and lunch. Fly from Venice, returning to Gatwick at c. 7.00pm.
Day 4: Vicenza, Breganze. Leave Verona for the beautiful little city of Vicenza, architecturally the noblest and most homogenous in northern Italy, much of its fabric consisting of Renaissance palaces. Andrea Palladio spent most of his life here, and his buildings include the town hall (Basilica Palladiana) and an epoch-making theatre (Teatro Olimpico). Continue to the lovely hilltop town of Asolo where the next four nights are spent. Day 5: Valdobbiadene. Spend the morning at the renowned Bisol winery in the Cartizze hills, family-run for over 500 years. Visit the cellars and have a Prosecco tasting here, before a rustic lunch nearby overlooking the vineyards, each hill’s contours finely etched by parallel lines of vines. Some free time in Asolo before a wine tasting led by the lecturer. Day 6: Canove di Roana, Bassano del Grappa. Drive into the mountains to a cheese-maker on the Altopiano, a high Alpine plain on the northern edge of the Veneto, past brightly-coloured houses, pines and meadows. Taste Asiago cheese and see where it is produced. Return to the plain to visit the charming town of Bassano del Grappa for a lunch of the celebrated local asparagus. Grappa tasting in the most eminent distillery in town, overlooking the bridge designed by Palladio.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,430 or £3,270 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,810 or £3,650 without flights. Included meals: 6 lunches, 4 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Due Torri Hotel, Verona (hotelduetorri.duetorrihotels.com): luxurious 5-star, excellently located near Piazza delle Erbe. Hotel Al Sole, Asolo (albergoalsoleasolo.com): small 5-star hotel, full of charm, with wonderful views from the terrace and a good restaurant. How strenuous? The tour involves a lot of walking, sometimes uphill and over unevenly paved ground. The coach can rarely enter town centres. Fitness and sure-footedness are essential. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 45 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Foothpaths of Umbria, 7–14 May 2018 (p.118).
Illustration: Verona, market place, watercolour by W.W. Collins, publ. 1911.
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While the opulence of the Doges and the abundant feasts depicted in the paintings of Veronese may be less evident today, Venice’s influence still extends over a vast region, from Padova, Vicenza and Verona, all the way to the banks of Lake Garda; and to the north, over vine-covered foothills leading up to the jagged peaks of the Dolomites. This region, known as the Veneto, later came under the influence of the Austro-Hungarians, who similarly left their mark on a cucina with middle-European accents and a coffee culture that rivals Vienna. La Serenissima’s enduring influence is evident in a love of fish and shellfish from the lagoon and the Adriatic, while, even though transport and refrigeration render the process unnecessary, baccalà – air-dried (not salted) cod – remains a favourite today. Mountain traditions, meanwhile, are steadfastly safeguarded through cheeses produced from fragrant alpine milk, smoked meats, and the art of distillation. Corn was first introduced into the Italian diet some five hundred years ago and polenta remains the staple. Vialone nano rice, cultivated near Verona, is the favoured variety for making deliciously soupy risotti. Fruits and vegetables abound: asparagus from Bassano del Grappa, radicchio from Treviso and Castelfranco Veneto, cherries from Marostica, and tiny violet artichokes from Sant’Erasmo. Grapes grow almost everywhere, producing some of the country’s greatest wines, as well as more accessible if no less satisfying everyday ones. Our tour begins in Verona with visits to churches and Roman monuments, small producers and outstanding restaurants. We travel through the wine hills of Breganze to Asolo, striking out in search of outstanding mountain cheese, gorgeous sparkling wines, fiery grappa. And we end on the Venetian lagoon with lunch on a private island with its own vineyard.
Palladian Villas The greatest house builder in history Day 6. Drive along a stretch of the canal between Padua and the Venetian Lagoon, which is lined with the summer retreats of Venetian patricians. The Villa Foscari, ‘La Malcontenta’, is one of Palladio’s best known and most enchanting creations. Explore one of Palladio’s most evolved, most beautiful and most influential buildings, the Villa Cornaro at Piombino Dese. Fly from Venice to London Gatwick, arriving c. 6.30pm. Many of the villas on this itinerary are privately owned and require special permission to visit. The selection and order may therefore vary a little from the description here.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,160 or £1,980 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,460 or £2,280 without flights. Included meals: 2 lunches, 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Campo Marzio, Vicenza (hotelcampomarzio.com): just outside a city gate of Vicenza, this 4-star hotel is well located and comfortable, with decent-sized rooms.
3–8 April 2018 (me 804) 6 days • £2,160 Lecturer: Dr Michael Douglas-Scott 2–7 October 2018 (mf 205) 6 days • £2,160 Lecturer: Dr Sarah Pearson A survey of various surviving villas and palaces designed by Andrea Palladio (1508–80), the world’s most influential architect. Stay throughout in Vicenza, Palladio’s home town and site of many of his buildings. Led by expert art and architectural historians. With many special appointments, this itinerary would be impossible for independent travellers.
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Utility is the key to understanding Palladio’s villas. In sixteenth-century Italy a villa was a farm, and in the Veneto agriculture had become a serious business for the city-based mercantile aristocracy. As the Venetian maritime empire gradually crumbled before the advancing Ottoman Turks, Venetians compensated by investing in the terra firma of their hinterland. But beauty was equally the determinant of form, though beauty of a special kind. Palladio was designing buildings for a clientele who, whether princes of commerce, traditional soldieraristocrats or gentlemen of leisure, shared an intense admiration for ancient Rome. They were children of the High Renaissance and steeped in humanist learning. Palladio was the first architect regularly to apply the colonnaded temple fronts to secular buildings. But the beauty of his villas was not solely a matter of applied ornament. As can be seen particularly in his low-budget, pared-down villas and auxiliary buildings, there is a geometric order which arises from sophisticated systems 104
of proportion and an unerring intuitive sense of design. It is little wonder that Andrea Palladio became the most influential architect the western world has ever known. Many of his finest surviving villas and palaces are included on this tour, as well as some of the lesser-known and less accessible ones.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 2.00pm (British Airways) from London Gatwick to Venice. Drive to Vicenza where all five nights are spent. Day 2. See in Vicenza several palaces by Palladio including the Palazzo Thiene and the colonnaded Palazzo Chiericati. His chief civic works here are the Basilica – the mediaeval town hall nobly encased in classical guise – and the Teatro Olimpico, the earliest theatre of modern times. Day 3. The Villa Pisani at Bagnolo di Lonigo, small but of majestic proportions, is considered by many scholars to be Palladio’s first masterpiece. The Villa Poiana, another early work, has restrained but noble proportions. The Villa Badoer at Fratta Polesine, from the middle of his career, is a perfect example of Palladian hierarchy, a raised residence connected by curved colonnades to auxiliary buildings. Day 4. The hilltop ‘La Rotonda’, a 10-minute drive from Vicenza, is the most famous of Palladio’s buildings, domed and with four porticoes. In the foothills of the Dolomites, Villa Godi Malinverni is an austere cuboid design with lavish frescoes inside. Some free time in Vicenza. Day 5. At the lovely town of Bassano there is a wooden bridge designed by Palladio. The Villa Barbaro at Maser, built by Palladio for two highly cultivated Venetian brothers, has superb frescoes by Veronese, while the Villa Emo at Fanzolo typically and beautifully combines the utilitarian with the monumental.
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How strenuous? The tour involves a lot of walking, sometimes uphill and over unevenly paved ground, as the coach can rarely get close to the villas or enter town centres. There is a lot of standing outside and inside villas. Fitness is essential. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 58 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. In April, combine this tour with: Gardens & Villas of Campagna Romana, 9–14 April 2018 (p.131); Pompeii & Herculaneum, 9–14 April 2018 (p.140). Or in October with: Walking in Eastern Sicily, 8–15 October 2018 (p.146); Siena & San Gimignano, 10–14 October 2018 (p.122); Walking to Cornish Houses, 24–30 September 2018 (p.14).
Verona Opera 17–21 July 2018 Turandot, Aida, Nabucco Lecturer: Dr Luca Leoncini 16–20 August 2018 Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Nabucco, Aida Lecturer: Dr Michael Douglas-Scott Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com Tickets to three operas, performed on consecutive evenings, in the setting of a Roman amphitheatre, the most famous of open-air opera festivals. Accommodation in a 5-star hotel in the historic centre, with an optional minibus to the operas. Accompanied by art historians who lead walks and visits during the day, rather than by a musicologist.
Illustration: The Villa Foscari ‘La Malcontenta’, from an 18th-century etching.
The Venetian Hills Renaissance art in the foothills of the Dolomites 5–9 October 2017 (me 596) 5 days • £1,830 Lecturer: Dr Kevin Childs Ravishingly beautiful landscapes from vine-clad foothills to the peaks of the Dolomites. Altarpieces and frescoes by Venetian masters, mediaeval to Rococo. Some of the loveliest hill towns in Italy, including the birthplace of Titian. The lecturer is Dr Kevin Childs, an expert in Italian Renaissance art. Combine this tour with Friuli-Venezia Giulia, 9–14 October 2017 – see page 106.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 1.00pm (British Airways) from London Gatwick to Venice. Drive through the hills to Follina where all four nights are spent. Day 2: Vittorio Veneto, Conegliano. The tiny city of Serravalle (now joined with Cèneda to form Vittorio Veneto), occupying a gorge scoured by the River Meschio, has a fine group of mediaeval and Renaissance buildings, 15th-century frescoes in the chapel of S. Lorenzo and a Titian in the cathedral. In the church of Santa Maria in Cèneda
Day 3: Pieve di Cadore, Belluno. Titian was born in the little town of Pieve di Cadore; see here the family home and the parish church with paintings by Titian and family. In the afternoon drive north along the valley of the Piave into an ever more dramatic mountain landscape. Sitting athwart a promontory looped by the Piave, Belluno is a beautiful little city with a Renaissance cathedral and Venetian-style palaces. Among the fine paintings is an exquisite Madonna & Child by Cima in the Museo Civico. Day 4: Bassano, Feltre. Bassano del Grappa is a highly attractive town in the foothills of the Dolomites with a series of picturesque squares with painted façades. Home of the prolific Bassano family of painters, there are several of their works in the civic museum. Stacked up along the ridge of a hill, Feltre is another architectural
outpost of Venice with striking buildings in various styles. See the Rizzarda collection of early 20th-century arts and crafts and the 1802 theatre in the town hall. Day 5: San Fior, Treviso. Descend to San Fior, a little town on the densely populated plain at the foot of the hills. Riven by canals and streams, San Fior has an altarpiece by Cima. Once an important fortress city, Treviso has a fine historic centre with imposing public buildings and many painted façades. Selective visits here include the extraordinary frescoes of learned monks in the chapter house of St Nicholas by 14th-cent. painter Tommaso da Modena. Fly from Venice airport, arriving at Gatwick c. 7.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,830 or £1,670 without flights. Single occupancy: £1,900 or £1,740 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel dei Chiostri (hoteldeichiostri.com): 4-star hotel in the little hill town of Follina; in former abbey buildings. How strenuous? The tour involves quite a lot of walking, some of it uphill or in town centres where vehicular access is restricted. Streets are often cobbled, and the tour should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stair-climbing. Agility, stamina and surefootedness are essential. Many of the historical buildings visited are sprawling and vast. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 62 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Illustration: The Dolomites and the Cadore Valley, wood engraving 1893 after John McWhirter.
Dr Kevin Childs Writer and lecturer on culture and the arts with a focus on the Italian Renaissance. He obtained his doctorate from the Courtauld and has been a Fellow of the Dutch Institute in Florence and the British School at Rome. He blogs for The Huffington Post and has published in The New Statesman.
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‘Hills’ and ‘Venice’ are not accustomed to finding themselves in the same sentence; sited on (and sometimes under) an estuarial lagoon, elevation above (or below) sea level in Venice is measured in centimetres. But on a clear day a range of hills can be seen rising to the north. On a very clear day the snowy peaks of the Dolomites come into view. Towards the end of the Middle Ages the proud little communities which populated these hills one by one submitted to the rule of La Serenissima, as did much of northern Italy. Political hegemony was followed by cultural influence, clearly manifested still in the disorientating sight of Venetian-style Renaissance palazzi set against precipitous pineclad hillsides. But the cultural forces did not flow only in one direction. As is often the case with an artistically flourishing metropolis, many of the creators were outsiders. Titian was born in the rugged Cadore mountains, Cima from the gentler hillside town of Conegliano, Marco Ricci from hilltop Belluno. These and many other artists enjoyed successful careers in Venice, but most kept in contact with their natal towns, accepting commissions for, or donating paintings to, their parish church. These hill towns are among the loveliest in Italy, and they are set in ravishing landscapes which range from vine-clad foothills to soaring limestone peaks. Most of them are quite small, but the architectural ambitions of their inhabitants were otherwise: the historic centres are dense with fine buildings and arcaded streets which give protection from mountain downpours and summer sun. The ostensible theme of this tour is painting of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but other aspects of the art and history of the region will not be ignored. The base is Follina, a tiny community which grew up around a monastery in the mountains.
there is an exquisite Annunciation by Previtali. Drive to the birthplace of Giambattista Cima del Conegliano, the lovely town from which the artist took his name, that spreads down a hillside below the remains of a castle. Visit Cima’s house and the cathedral to see one of his greatest works (1492).
Friuli-Venezia Giulia The border lands of north east Italy a fine collection of paintings by artists from the region. See also S. Maria di Castello, the oldest church in Udine, and S. Giacomo with its Renaissance façade. Day 3: Aquileia, Grado. See two of Italy’s best early mediaeval churches, the Basilica at Aquileia, rebuilt in the 11th century but retaining a 4thcentury mosaic floor, and S. Eufemia at Grado with mosaics, pulpit and silver altar frontal. Aquileia was a major Roman city and seat of the patriarchate while Grado was its outer port. Day 4: Trieste. Before 1919 Trieste was the principal seaport of the Habsburg Empire and the busiest port in the Mediterranean, and its broad straight streets and 19th-century buildings have a distinctly Viennese cast. After a troubled 20th century its fortunes have revived since 1989, demonstrated through grand seafront architecture. Towering above, the ancient Capitol has remains of the Roman forum, castle and the cathedral of S. Giusto, an agglomeration of buildings from the 5th century onwards with Byzantine mosaics. Also see ceramics dating from the middle ages to the nineteenth century in the Museo Sartorio, as well as the civic museum of history and art.
9–14 October 2017 (me 598) 6 days • £1,730 Lecturer: Dr Kevin Childs A wide variety of art and architecture: Roman, Byzantine, Gothic, Renaissance, Palladian. Tiepolo is a recurrent theme and the tour is based in Udine where he worked early in his career.
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The lecturer is Dr Kevin Childs, an expert in Italian Renaissance art. Combine this tour with The Venetian Hills, 5–9 October 2017 – see page 105. Cumbersome by name, complex by history, the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia is tucked within the north-eastern borders of Italy and bound by Austria, Slovenia, the Veneto and the Adriatic. Much of the region was ceded to Italy by Austria only after the First World War; a border dispute with Yugoslavia rumbled into the 1970s. Understandably, it is marked by variety – ethnic, linguistic, cultural, gastronomic and topographical. The south and centre consist of a broad alluvial plain whose glistening fecundity is fed by rivers descending from the Julian Alps and the Dolomites. The mediating foothills produce some of the finest white wines in the world. Populous and prosperous, there are many towns with historic kernels where virtually every period of Italian art and architecture is represented, from Roman to modern. Some of the early mediaeval 106
buildings are particularly striking and important – Aquileia, Grado and Cividale. There is much fine Renaissance painting and architecture: Palladianism was the dominant creed for a couple of centuries after Palladio’s death, and in addition to painters who established themselves in Venice there are several figures of talent who are not well known outside the region. Painting reached another climax in the eighteenth century as Tiepolo spent the years of his early maturity in Udine. Udine is the base for the tour. A lively city, it has an extensive historic centre with a succession of enchantingly picturesque streets and squares and a central piazza as fine as almost any in Italy. The other big city visited is Trieste, for centuries the principal AustroHungarian outlet to the sea and one of the most important ports in the Mediterranean.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 2.00pm (British Airways) from London Gatwick to Venice. Drive to Udine where all five nights are spent. Day 2: Udine. In Udine, visit the main piazza with its Gothic and Renaissance loggias, and the cathedral, basically Gothic but much augmented later. The main theme is Tiepolo, the greatest painter of the 18th century, who created several major works in the cathedral, the Oratorio della Purità and the Archbishop’s Palace. A hillock at the centre is the site of the castle, an imposing 16th-century residence housing the art gallery,
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Day 5: San Daniele, Spilimbergo, Pordenone. Three towns in the broad valley of the River Tagliamento. The Renaissance frescoes by Pellegrino di San Daniele in the church of Sant’Antonio at San Daniele are the finest in the region. Spilimbergo has a Gothic cathedral with 14th-century frescoes, and a castle courtyard with painted façades. Snaking through Pordenone an arcaded street widens towards the town hall and cathedral, which contains fine paintings including some by G.A. Sacchis, called Il Pordenone. Day 6: Cividale. Cividale is in the hills bordering Slovenia. Founded by Julius Caesar and capital of the first Lombard duchy in Italy, the Tempietto Longobardo possesses the finest 8th-century sculpture to survive in Europe. Fly from Venice, arriving at London Gatwick at c. 6.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,730 or £1,570 without flights. Single occupancy: £1,850 or £1,690 without flights. Included meals: 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Astoria Hotel Italia, Udine (hotelastoria.udine.it): 4-star hotel located on one of the principal squares in the centre of town. How strenuous? The tour involves quite a lot of walking, some of which is uphill and some of which is in the town centres where vehicular access is restricted. Streets are often cobbled, and the tour should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stairclimbing. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 53 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Illustrations. Above: Cividale, etching by F. Hamilton Jackson 1906. Right: Trieste, gardens at Miramar Castle, watercolour by Mima Nixon, publ. 1916.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
The Imperial Riviera Trieste, Ljubljana and the Istrian Peninsula 10–16 September 2018 (mf 124) 7 days • £2,290 Lecturer: Richard Bassett
the foundations of Austria’s greatest seaport, ending on the Molo Audace from where in the 19th and 20th centuries several Habsburgs sailed to violent deaths in faraway lands.
is underlined by a special section devoted to the opening of the Suez Canal, an event with profound consequences for the development of Trieste. Free afternoon.
Follow in the footsteps of the Habsburgs, Europe’s leading imperial dynasty.
Day 2: Trieste. The morning is spent climbing the cathedral hill through this old Venetian town and visiting the grave of the 19th-century scholar of Neoclassicism, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who is buried in a picturesque lapidarium beyond the former English church. In the afternoon visit the Miramar castle, the dream of the ill-fated Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, whose last moments alive were devoted to planning the atmospheric gardens of the castle’s park.
Day 6: Pola, Brioni. Return to the picturesque Istrian peninsula. At the tip lies Pula (Pola) – former headquarters of the Imperial Habsburg Navy and a city rich in Roman remains including the 3rd-century Arena built of white Istrian stone. From Pola, take a boat (45 minutes) to the island of Brioni where Archduke Franz Ferdinand spent his last family holiday before his assassination in 1914. With pleasant promenades, this once malarial islet was transformed by the Rothschilds 120 years ago into an Adriatic paradise.
Explore three countries from one hotel, crossing between Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. All six nights are spent in Trieste. Led by Richard Bassett, historian specialising in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and author of For God and Kaiser.
Day 3: Ljubljana. The capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana is a city formed in the Imperial Austrian tradition, but following the collapse of the Habsburg empire it was vigorously reconstructed by the architect Jože Plečnik. See the fine Baroque churches which are the city’s older glories; Neo-Renaissance government buildings; and the enchantingly picturesque riverside with its incomparable nexus of Plečnik’s bridges. Walk in the Tivoli park where Marshal Radetzky had his summer residence. Day 4: Hrastovlje, Opatija, Piran. A trip across the limestone carso of Istria, taking in the beautiful mediaeval church of Hrastovlje before reaching Opatija (Abbazia), the jewel of the old Austrian Riviera with its fin-de-siècle hotels, rocky promenade and views across the Quarnero. Visit also Piran, a formerly Venetian coastal town, with a fine campanile and view across the lagoons towards Venice. The Istrian coastal towns were established first as fishing villages before, in early mediaeval times, Venice developed them into centres of civilization which have contributed such composers as Tartini and other notable figures. Day 5: Trieste. In the Museo Revoltella the importance of the city’s trade with the orient
Day 7. Fly from Venice to London Heathrow, arriving c. 7.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,290 or £2,070 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,610 or £2,390 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Savoia Excelsior Palace, Trieste (starhotels.com): 4-star hotel overlooking the bay, set in a 19th-century building. How strenuous? The tour involves quite a lot of walking, some of which is uphill and some of which is in the town centres. Streets are often cobbled. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 78 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Walking in Slovenia, 3–10 September 2018 (p.162); History of Medicine, 17–23 September 2018 (p.114); The Etruscans, 17–23 September 2018 (p.135); Civilizations of Sicily, 17–29 September 2018 (p.142).
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The Habsburg Empire vanished barely a hundred years ago but nowhere is its legacy more apparent than in the once great seaport of Trieste, its hinterland and the adjoining coastline. The region was once a progressive and prosperous international melting pot, but in the twentieth century it was riven by borders, often contested. The result was that the territory became peripheral and dropped from mainstream tourist itineraries – despite the hoard of extraordinarily handsome cities and settlements, sensationally interesting history and outstanding natural beauty. This tour evokes the memory of a multinational and multi-confessional empire. Under Vienna’s tutelage, Trieste became not only the third largest city of the Austrian Empire but also one of the greatest ports of the world. Through it came most of central Europe’s coffee, fruit and colonial wares. A multi-national plutocracy took advantage of light regulation and low taxation to establish fortunes in Trieste which have survived well into our times. To the east of Trieste, the Adriatic coast was developed to accommodate the wishes of a newly prosperous imperial middle-class who sought refuge from metropolitan life; the coastline rejoiced in the name Imperial and Royal Riviera. The thermal springs and bathing facilities of Opatija (Abbazia) along the Quarnero peninsula were one such attraction. With its turn-of-thecentury villas and hotels the town still exudes the atmosphere of Edwardian elegance. Inland from these charming resorts lies the Slovene capital Ljubljana. Here the architectural heritage is stamped by imperial Austrian tradition but also by the unique stylistic vocabulary of the greatest of all Slovene architects, Jože Plečnik, a pupil of Otto Wagner in Vienna but a man determined to express the culture of the newly emerging southern Slavs in a vivid and original language. The result is one of the most enchanting of European capitals, if one of the smallest. The tour also explores the relatively unknown interior of nearby Istria. Here crumbling villages marked by beautiful limestone churches punctuate a karst landscape which, ravaged in winter by the fierce north-easterly Bora wind, remains one of the wildest and least known in Europe.
Itinerary Day 1: Trieste. Fly at c. 9.00am from London Heathrow to Venice (British Airways). Drive to Trieste, where all six nights are spent. Afternoon walk through the quarters of the Borgo Teresiano where the great Empress Maria Theresa established Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Courts of Northern Italy Princely art of the Renaissance 22–29 October 2017 (me 635) 8 days • £2,310 Lecturer: Dr Michael Douglas-Scott 13–20 May 2018 (me 864) 8 days • £2,380 Lecturer: Dr Michael Douglas-Scott 9–16 September 2018 (mf 109) 8 days • £2,380 Lecturer: Professor Fabrizio Nevola 21–28 October 2018 (mf 268) 8 days • £2,380 Lecturer: Dr Michael Douglas-Scott Northern Italy’s independent city states: Mantua, Ferrara, Parma, Ravenna and Urbino. Some of the greatest Renaissance art and architecture, commissioned by the powerful ruling dynasties: Gonzaga, Este, Sforza, Farnese, Montefeltro and others. Led by Dr Michael Douglas-Scott, specialist in 16th-century Italian art and architecture, and Professor Fabrizio Nevola, specialist in the urban and architectural history of Early Modern Italy. Highlights include the most glorious concentration of Byzantine mosaics and important works by Alberti, Mantegna, Piero della Francesca and Correggio.
Illustration. Ferrara, Castello Estense, wood engraving c. 1880.
After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Italy gradually fragmented into numerous little territories. The city states became fiercely independent and were governed with some degree of democracy. But a debilitating violence all too often ensued as the leading families fought with fellow citizens for dominance of the city council and the offices of state. A common outcome from the thirteenth century onwards was the imposition of autocratic rule by a single prince, and the suspension of democratic structures: but such tyranny was not infrequently welcomed with relief and gratitude by a war-weary citizenry. Their rule may have been tyrannical, and warfare their principal occupation, but the Montefeltro, Malatesta, d’Este and Gonzaga dynasties brought into being through their patronage some of the finest buildings and works of art of the Renaissance. Many of the leading artists in fifteenth- and sixteenth- century Italy worked in the service of princely courts. As for court art of earlier epochs, little survives, though a glimpse of the oriental splendour of the Byzantine court of Emperor Justinian can be had in the mosaic depiction of him, his wife and their retinue in the church of San Vitale in Ravenna. It is not until the fifteenth century, in Mantegna’s Camera degli Sposi at Mantua, that we are again allowed an unhindered gaze into court life.
Itinerary Day 1: Mantua. Fly at c. 8.15am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Bologna. Drive to Mantua where the first four nights are spent. After a late lunch, visit the Ducal Palace, a vast rambling complex, the aggregate of 300 years of extravagant
patronage by the Gonzaga dynasty (Mantegna’s frescoes in the Camera degli Sposi, Pisanello frescoes, Rubens altarpiece). Day 2: Mantua, Sabbioneta. In the morning visit Alberti’s highly influential Early Renaissance church of Sant’Andrea, the Romanesque Rotonda of S. Lorenzo and Giulio Romano’s uncharacteristically restrained cathedral. In the afternoon, drive to Sabbioneta, an ideal Renaissance city on an almost miniature scale, built for Vespasiano Gonzaga in the 1550s; visit the ducal palace, theatre, and one of the world’s first picture galleries. Day 3: Parma, Fontanellato. Parma is a beautiful city; the vast Palazzo della Pilotta houses an art gallery (Correggio, Parmigianino) and an important Renaissance theatre (first proscenium arch). Visit the splendid Romanesque cathedral with illusionistic frescoes of a tumultuous heavenly host by Correggio. Also by Correggio is a sophisticated set of allegorical lunettes in grisaille surrounding a celebration of Diana as the goddess of chastity and the hunt in the Camera di S. Paolo. In the afternoon, visit the moated 13thcentury castle in Fontanellato, seeing frescoes by Parmigianino. Day 4: Mantua. After a free morning, an afternoon walk takes in the exteriors of Alberti’s centrally planned church of S. Sebastiano, and the houses that court artists Mantegna and Giulio Romano built for themselves. Also visit Palazzo Te, the Gonzaga summer residence and the major monument of Italian Mannerism, with lavish frescoes by Giulio Romano. Day 5: Ferrara was centre of the city-state ruled by the d’Este dynasty, whose court was one of the most lavish and cultured in Renaissance Italy. Pass Castello Estense, a moated 15th-century stronghold, and the cathedral. Palazzo Schifanoia is an Este retreat with elaborate astrological frescoes. First of three nights in Ravenna.
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Day 6: Ravenna, Classe. The last capital of the western Roman Empire and subsequently capital of Ostrogothic and Byzantine Italy, Ravenna possesses the world’s most glorious concentration of Early Christian and Byzantine mosaics. Visit the Basilica of S. Apollinare Nuovo with its mosaic Procession of Martyrs. Drive to Classe, Ravenna’s port, once one of the largest in the Roman world; virtually all that is left is the great Basilica di S. Apollinare. In the evening, a private visit to the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, with its 5th-century mosaics, and the splendid centrally planned church of S. Vitale with 6th-century mosaics of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora. Day 7: Urbino. Drive into the hills to Urbino, the beautiful little city of the Montefeltro dynasty. See the exquisite Gothic frescoes in the Oratorio di S. Giovanni. In the afternoon, visit the Palazzo Ducale, a masterpiece of architecture which grew over 30 years into the perfect Renaissance secular environment. See the beautiful studiolo of Federico of Montefeltro and excellent picture collection here (Piero, Raphael, Titian). Day 8: Cesena, Rimini. The Biblioteca Malatestiana in Cesena is a perfectly preserved Renaissance library established by Malatesta 108
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Savouring Lombardy Opera, food, wine, art and architecture in northern Italy Dr Michael Douglas-Scott Associate Lecturer in History of Art at Birkbeck College, specialising in 16th-century Italian art and architecture. He studied at the Courtauld and lived in Rome for several years. He has written articles for Arte Veneta, Burlington Magazine and the Journal of the Warburg & Courtauld Institutes.
Professor Fabrizio Nevola Chair and Professor of Art History and Visual Culture at the University of Exeter. His research focuses on the urban and architectural history of early modern Italy and he has published widely including Siena: Constructing the Renaissance City. He obtained his PhD at the Courtauld. Novello, and contains over 300 valuable manuscripts. In Rimini visit the outstanding Tempio Malatestiano, designed by Leon Battista Alberti for the tyrant Sigismondo Malatesta, which contains superb decoration by Agostino di Duccio and particularly fine sculptural detail. Fly from Bologna, arriving at London Heathrow c. 8.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person in 2017. Two sharing: £2,310 or £2,140 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,570 or £2,400 without flights. Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £2,380 or £2,180 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,660 or £2,460 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine.
How strenuous? There is a lot of walking, much of it on steep and roughly paved streets. Coaches are not allowed into the historic centres. Many of the buildings visited are vast. Some days involve a lot of driving; average distance per day: 88 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. In May, combine this tour with: Genoa & Turin, 6–12 May 2018 (p.97). Or in September with: History of Medicine, 17–23 September 2018 (p.114); The Etruscans, 17–23 September 2018 (p.135); Tastes of Le Marche, 17–24 September (p.128); Civilizations of Sicily, 17–29 September 2018 (p.142). Or in October with: Memories of Monte Cassino, 12–18 October 2018 (p.136).
Illustration, right: Como, Brotello and Cathedral, watercolour by W.W. Collins, publ. 1911.
May 2018 Details available in July 2017 Please contact us to register your interest A spectacular range of geography – the Italian Alps, Lake Como, the city of Milan and the Po Valley – yields diverse, superb food and wine. In 2017, includes a ticket to Verdi’s Nabucco at the renowned Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the very theatre in which it was premièred in 1842. Visits to the charming cities of Bergamo and Cremona, to the magnificent Certosa di Pavia, and Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper in Milan. Lecturer Fred Plotkin is a world-famous Italy expert, author of Italy for the Gourmet Traveller and former director at the Teatro alla Scala. Lombardy – Lombardia – is the region of Italian excellence, the place that sets modern standards for much of what Italy is admired for around the world. It is one of Italy’s most geographically diverse areas and with that comes a remarkable variety of food and wines that make its cucina among the most sophisticated in all of Italy. The region contains the famous Lake District, including Lake Como, the deep blue jewel that is the most beautiful of them all, as well as the nearby Valtellina, a glorious and undiscovered swath of the Italian Alps that produces the region’s best wines and rustic mountain food. Noble cities such as Milan, Cremona and Bergamo each have their own rich traditions, and in Lombardy one also finds hill towns and broad fertile plains. Its southern border is the Po, the largest river in Italy. Such geographic diversity provides a feast of ingredients to cook with, including wild mushrooms; berries; rice; corn for polenta; wheat for pasta and baking; fish from lakes and rivers; prized cattle; and more cow’s milk cheeses than any other region of Italy, including Parmesan, Stracchino, Taleggio, Bitto and Gorgonzola. Lombardy has known its share of geniuses. Leonardo da Vinci lived in Milan, the region’s capital, for 25 years and introduced engineering, design, canals and modern irrigation for agriculture. He also wrote his codexes, those precious volumes that reflect his restless imagination and contain his innovative inventions. And he painted, including the world-famous Last Supper in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Claudio Monteverdi, the first great opera composer, was born in Cremona, and Giuseppe Verdi, Italy’s titan of opera and the man who led the battle for national unification with his opera Nabucco, lived much of his life in Milan and made the Teatro alla Scala a temple of opera. Gaetano Donizetti, whose operas often depicted royals and nobles from the United Kingdom, was from Bergamo. This tour is a unique combination of the very best elements the region has to offer, whether musical, gastronomic or artistic. To savour Lombardy is to experience all the pleasures of life, gratifying the eye, ear, nose, palate and soul. It is the region of cultivated sensuality.
Itinerary in 2017 The tour in 2017 is currently full, but the itinerary in 2018 should be almost identical (other than the opera performance) – please contact us to register your interest. Day 1. Fly at c. 12.00 noon (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Milan Linate. Drive to Bellagio, among the loveliest and most romantic spots on earth. First of three nights in Bellagio. Day 2: Lake Como. Spend the day on land and water, travelling exclusively by boat. Visit Como and the city’s grand cathedral, and see two glorious lakeside villas. The Villa Balbianello occupies its own headland projecting into the middle of Lake Como. This glorious site is terraced to provide sites for lawns, trees, shrubs and a chorus of statuary. Day 3: The Valtellina. Just north of the lake is a the Valtellina, a valley that opens to Lombardy’s alps. Some of Italy’s top red wines come from here, and there is a tasting at one of the region’s best producers, as well as delicious local cheeses. This zone is famous for numerous local foods, among them pizzoccheri, a buckwheat pasta served with cheese, greens, potatoes and garlic – ideal paired with local red wine. Visit the Castello Grumello, situated overlooking the valley, with a wonderful view of the mountain scenery. Day 4: Bergamo. Leave Bellagio to travel to an exceptional family-run trattoria near Bergamo. With its own herb garden, vegetables and fruit, this restaurant is beloved for the freshness of its flavours and fidelity to local food traditions. Continue to Bergamo, birthplace of Gaetano Donizetti, and visit the Donizetti Museum, before Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Accommodation. Hotel Casa Poli, Mantua (hotelcasapoli.it): 4-star hotel a short walk from the historic centre. Hotel Palazzo Bezzi, Ravenna (palazzobezzi.it): a new 4-star superior hotel, located on the edge of the historic centre.
30 October–5 November 2017 (me 636) This tour is currently full
Savouring Lombardy continued
Gastronomic Emilia-Romagna Food and art along the Via Emilia
some time to explore the ancient hill town that is the city’s heart. Travel on to Milan for the first of three nights. Day 5: Certosa di Pavia, Cremona. In the morning visit the Certosa di Pavia, perhaps the most richly endowed monastic foundation in Italy, before travelling on to Cremona. This glorious town in the Po River Valley gave the world Claudio Monteverdi, the first great opera composer, as well as the Stradivari, Amati and other families of luthiers whose stringed instruments have been the world’s best for more than 300 years. Learn about the violin and Monteverdi in situ and then discover another Cremona speciality, torrone, the city’s famous nougat.
7–13 April 2018 (me 805) 7 days • £2,890 Lecturers: Marc Millon & Dr R. T. Cobianchi One of the most famous food-producing regions. A food-lover’s paradise: source of the best ham, cheese, vinegar, fresh pasta. See how they are made and meet their producers. Two lecturers: an expert art historian and a gastronomic specialist, author of The Food Lover’s Companion to Italy.
Day 6: Milan. Morning lecture by Fred Plotkin on Verdi’s Nabucco and its unique role in the formation of the Republic of Italy in the mid19th century, followed by a backstage visit to the greatest Italian opera house (subject to change depending on rehearsal schedules) and to its remarkable museum. Some free time in Milan. Dinner at one of Milan’s temples of gastronomy, situated inside the opera house. Evening opera at the Teatro alla Scala: Nabucco (Verdi) with Nello Santi (conductor), Teatro alla Scala Chorus and Orchestra, Leo Nucci (Nabucco), Stefano La Colla (Ismaele), Mikhail Petrenko (Zaccaria), Martina Serafin or Anna Pirozzi (Abigaille). Day 7: Milan. Visit Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, one of the greatest achievements in the history of art. Fly from Milan Linate, arriving London Heathrow at c. 3.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person in 2017. Two sharing: £3,560 or £3,450 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,980 or £3,870 without flights. Included meals: 4 lunches, 3 dinners, with wine. Music: opera ticket (top category) for one performance is included, costing c. £350.
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Accommodation. Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, Bellagio (villaserbelloni.com). Rosa Grand Hotel, Milan (starhotels.com/en/our-hotels/rosagrand-milan). How strenuous? Visits require a fair amount of walking and standing around. There is one late night after the opera but the start is leisurely the following day. Some days involve a lot of coach travel. Average distance by coach per day: 58 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Caravaggio: Lombardy to Naples 15–22 October 2018 Details available in October 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235. 110
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Emilia-Romagna, shaped like a wedge of its renowned Parmesan cheese, is rich in every way – artistically, culturally, economically and, by no means least, gastronomically. To journey along the Via Emilia, the long, straight Roman road from Milan to the Adriatic coast, is to immerse oneself in a gloriously hedonistic garden of Eden that is the source of some of the greatest foods in the world. The lovely cities of Parma and Bologna are the ideal bases from which to explore some of the masterpieces of Italian gastronomy, including the two jewels in the region’s crown; sweet Prosciutto di Parma, air-cured by dry mountain winds that sweep down from the Apennines, and
Parmigiano-Reggiano, the king of cheeses. Here, within their strictly defined areas of origin, there is a rare opportunity to see the production of these protected foods and to taste them in the company of the producers themselves. We also visit a family-run acetaia to discover the mysterious art of producing traditional balsamic vinegar, the rich, complex condiment that must be aged for a minimum of twelve years. Vast oceans of inferior imitations may be found on tables all around the world, but the real thing, aged in batteries of wood, unctuous and thick, is known as ‘black gold’: an incredibly concentrated elixir that is part of the region’s great gastronomic patrimony. The trademark of Bologna is its hand-made egg pasta, which appears in many guises from filled tortellini to rich, luscious lasagne. A visit to Bologna’s food market with its vast array of fresh pasta, mortadella and salami, breads, cakes and ice cream explains why this city is known as la grassa (the fat one). Wine, too, is an important feature throughout. We discover expressions of the grape that may not be as exalted as the region’s foods but which are perfect accompaniments, made from ancient grapes such as Malvasia, Trebbiano and Sangiovese. We also discover the real Lambrusco, foaming wildly, raspingly dry and rich in acidity. Although the main focus of this tour is gastronomy, both Parma and Bologna have a wealth of artistic treasures and time is allowed to explore these in the expert company of an art historian. Feeding the body, feeding the mind: this is the gastronomy of Emilia-Romagna.
Itinerary Day 1: Parma. Fly at c. 10.30am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Milan. Drive to Parma and in the late afternoon see the astonishingly vital and illusionistic frescoes by Correggio, Parma’s finest painter, in the cathedral and the church of S. Giovanni Evangelista. The first four nights are spent in Parma. Day 2: Parma, Polesine Parmense. Parma is of great importance in particular for its High Renaissance school of painting. See the good art collection in the Palazzo della Pilotta, and also the exquisite Camera di S. Paolo. At the 13th-century Antica Corte Pallavicina in Polesine Parmense discover the rare and prestigious culatello di Zibello, made from the rump of a specially bred pig and cured for over a year in cellars to a nearunbelievable intensity of flavour and sweetness. Lunch is in the family-run restaurant here. In the afternoon visit the nearby Villa Verdi, which the composer built for himself. Day 3: Parma and surroundings. ParmigianoReggiano has been made in the area around Parma using the same methods for over 700 years. Watch the process at a modern caseificio, with tasting. Then visit a family-run acetaia to see the hand production of traditional balsamic vinegar and to have a rustic lunch. In the early evening the lecturer leads a wine tasting in the hotel.
Day 4: Torrechiara, Langhirano. In the morning visit the 15th-century castle in Torrechiara. Continue to a producer of Prosciutto di Parma and see the age-old process of curing and drying, before tasting it later with wines and lunch at a good winery. Day 5: Modena. In Modena visit the cathedral, among the finest Romanesque buildings in the region, and also the market. Continue to Bologna for a visit to the vast Gothic church of S. Petronio, with sculpture by Jacopo della Quercia. The last two nights of this tour are spent in Bologna. Day 6: Bologna, Dozza, Imola. The famous food market in Bologna sprawls through a maze of streets where shops and stalls display an overwhelming array of fresh pasta, artisanal mortadella, hams and salamis, cheeses, fresh fruit and vegetables, and an irresistible variety of bread and pastries. Taste these products in some of the city’s historic food shops. See also the enchanting early mediaeval church complex of S. Stefano. In the evening drive to Dozza for a tasting of wines from Romagna, before continuing to Imola for dinner at another of the finest restaurants in Italy (two Michelin stars). Day 7: Forlimpopoli. Forlimpopoli is the birthplace of Pellegrino Artusi, the author of the original Italian national cookbook. A demonstration of fresh pasta-making is followed by lunch. To see pasta being made by hand is to witness a near miraculous transformation of the simplest ingredients, flour and eggs, into the most ingenious collection of shapes and forms. Fly from Bologna, arriving Heathrow at c. 8.15pm.
Practicalities
A Festival of Music in Bologna 7–12 October 2018* Details available in October 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Concerts in beautiful historic buildings, some of which are rarely open to the public.
Bologna is one of the loveliest Italian cities, as well as one of the most important centres in the country’s musical history. The musicians are among the finest in Britain and Italy, leading specialists in their repertoire.
Included meals: 4 lunches, 4 dinners, with wine Accommodation. Hotel Stendhal, Parma (hotelstendhal.it): a quiet 4-star hotel, the best located in the middle of the historic centre, run by Mercure. Hotel Corona d’Oro, Bologna (hco.it): an elegant 4-star hotel in the heart of Bologna. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking and standing on this tour, and it would not be suitable for anyone who has difficulties with everyday walking or stair-climbing. Coaches cannot enter some of the historical town centres. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 65 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Admission to the concerts is exclusive to those who take a package which includes accommodation, some meals, receptions, return flights from London (optional), coach transfers and much else. Professor John Bryan gives daily lectures on the music, art historians lead walks and pianist William Howard gives a musically illustrated talk. Suits independent-minded travellers as well as those who like the social aspect of these events. *Note that these dates are subject to change.
Illustrations. Opposite page: Bologna, Fountain of Neptune, wood engraving c. 1880. Left: Bologna, Fountain in the Palazzo Bevilacqua, engraving from ‘The Story of Bologna’, 1923.
What else is included in the price? See page 7. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Music by composers who lived or worked in Bologna from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century.
Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,890 or £2,740 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,200 or £3,050 without flights.
Art in the Po Valley Romanesque & Renaissance architecture in the Val Padana Day 4: Modena, Nonantola, San Benedetto Po. Modena cathedral is one of the great buildings of Romanesque Europe, and was highly influential in Lombardy-Emilia; begun in 1099, it possesses the earliest and most famous of the region’s programmes of elaborate relief sculpture, Willigelmo’s magnificent Genesis frieze. In the afternoon visit two Benedictine monasteries to the north of the Po, San Silvestro at Nonantola, reconstructed after the earthquake of 1117, and San Benedetto Po, greatest of the Cluniac houses of northern Italy. Both monasteries were partially damaged in the 2012 earthquake, restoration work is slowly progressing. Continue to Verona where four nights are spent.
30 September–7 October 2018 (mf 199) 8 days • £2,610 Lecturer: John McNeill
Stays in just two centres, Parma and Verona, with excursions to hill villages as well as to other great historic cities.
Europe. And other art forms were not neglected – as is beautifully illustrated by the stunning wall paintings of the baptistery at Parma, while the treasuries of Modena and Brescia house some of Italy’s greatest metalwork. Full dress Gothic never arrived in the Po Valley, though there is another type of building – a rather chaste, elegant, almost modular Renaissance architecture – that constitutes the second of the tour’s main themes, brilliantly realised in the interlocking cloisters of San Giovanni at Parma, the Casa Romei at Ferrara or the magnificent interiors of the new monastery of San Benedetto, Po.
Tour led by renowned architectural historian John McNeill.
Itinerary
An enthralling compendium of architecture and the building arts from the end of Antiquity to the beginning of the Renaissance. A core of Romanesque work, including much of the greatest sculpture of the 12th century.
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The Po Valley, or Val Padana, consists of a great alluvial plain formed by the river Po, bounded to the south by the Apennines and to the north by the foothills of the Alps. Its historical development owes most to Roman settlement, when the cities were established and the fertile and well watered land between them was farmed from substantial rural villas. Matters changed with barbarian settlement, and though it is rare to find material from this period surviving, the eighth-century royal nunnery at Brescia stands as one of the most compelling structures of Longobardic Italy. By contrast, the major Romanesque buildings are twelfth century, and the quality and quantity of work that survives here is impressive. The crucial first step was taken at Modena cathedral, and its combination of architectural scale and narrative relief sculpture exerted a profound influence on later building across the region. Capitals, corbels, arches and stringcourses were embellished with new and unexpected forms – developing into vehicles of mesmerising virtuosity as designers and patrons sought to create buildings of unparalleled richness and expressive power. By the second quarter of the twelfth century public spaces were enlivened by costly and ambitious facades: those at San Zeno in Verona, and the cathedrals of Piacenza and Fidenza ranking among the most exciting essays on the interaction of sculpture and architecture of twelfth-century 112
Day 1. Fly at c. midday (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Milan, then transfer by coach to Parma. First of three nights in Parma. Day 2: Parma, Fidenza, Fornovo. Though superb, Parma’s Romanesque cathedral is excelled by its free-standing octagonal baptistry, one of the architectural triumphs of its time (begun 1196) and richly ornamented with sculpture and paint outside and in. Visit the Benedictine Abbey, whose three interlocking cloisters were exquisitely rebuilt towards the end of the 15th century. In the afternoon visit Fidenza, whose cathedral possesses the greatest assemblage of late Romanesque sculpture in northern Italy, and the stunning early Romanesque parish church at Fornovo di Taro. Day 3: Piacenza and environs. Situated on a terrace above the southern bank of the River Po, Piacenza was a strategic Roman city and an important bishopric. Visit San Savino, a remarkable parish church with 11th-century capitals. The interior of the 12th-century cathedral vies with Pisa for complexity and majesty. In the afternoon visit the wonderfully well preserved Cistercian monastery of Chiaravalle della Colomba. Continue on to see the delightful complex of hexagonal baptistry and church at Vigolo Marchese and the breathtaking juxtaposition of collegiate church and 14thcentury castle (exterior only) at Castell’Arquato.
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Day 5: Verona. A morning walk leads across the River Adige to the well preserved Roman theatre for views of one of the most architecturally enthralling cities of Europe. Nearby Santo Stefano embodies the standard features of Veronese mediaeval architecture. The ravishing display of Romanesque sculpture on the west front of the cathedral is in exhilarating contrast to the Late Gothic élan of its interior. In the afternoon visit the great Benedictine church of San Zeno, begun c. 1120, which features a dramatic two-tier east end and bronze doors with narrative scenes. See the 14th-century Castelvecchio with an excellent collection of mediaeval painting and sculpture. Day 6: Verona. An astonishing clutch of palaces and loggie that housed the organs of mediaeval city government are ranged around a sequence of beautiful squares. Situated in the heart of the city’s mercantile quarters, the churches of the Dominicans at Sant’Anastasia and the Franciscans at San Fermo Maggiore were effectively transformed into funerary basilicas, and their chapels are a virtual primer of Italian late mediaeval painting. The afternoon is free. Day 7: Brescia. The historic core of Brescia is perhaps the most extensively excavated of any in Italy, and consequently it is possible to demonstrate the importance of the Roman city, the impact of Barbarian invasions and the reorientation of the settlement away from the forum and around the cathedral and bishop’s palace. The Museo della Città reveals an 8th-century nunnery built on top of Imperial Roman courtyard houses and displays many precious early mediaeval artworks. Also seen are Vespasian’s Capitoline temple, the centrally planned Romanesque cathedral and its rebuilt predecessor, the mighty Duomo Vecchio. Day 8: Ferrara. The outer shell of Ferrara cathedral remains largely of the 12th century, with a majestic portal composition by Master Niccolò, but with its late-mediaeval/early-Renaissance palaces the city brings the tour to a fitting end. The Casa Romei and Palazzo Schifanoia both retain impressive painted interiors, the breathtaking Cycle of the Months at the Schifanoia surviving as one of the most accomplished and intellectually demanding painted interiors of 15th-century Europe. Fly from Bologna, arriving at London Heathrow c. 8.00pm.
Illustrations. Left: Brescia, watercolour by W.W. Collins, publ. 1911. Right: Sant’Agata, Verdi’s Villa, wood engraving c. 1880.
Verdi in Parma & Busseto Falstaff and La Traviata in historic theatres Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,610 or £2,430 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,040 or £2,860 without flights. Included meals: 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Stendhal, Parma (hotelstendhal.it): quiet 4-star hotel, the best located in the middle of the historic centre, run by Mercure hotels. Due Torri Hotel, Verona (hotelduetorri.duetorrihotels.com): luxurious 5-star, excellently located near Piazza delle Erbe. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking, much of it on steep and roughly paved streets; agility, stamina and sure-footedness are essential. Coaches are not allowed into historic centres. Many of the historical buildings visited are sprawling and vast. The tour should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stairclimbing. Fitness is essential. Some days involve a lot of driving; average distance per day: 71 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Pompeii & Herculaneum, 24–29 September 2018 (p.140); Lucca, 24–30 September 2018 (p.127); A Festival of Music in Bologna, 7–12 October 2018 (p.111); Walking in Eastern Sicily, 8–15 October 2018 (p.146); Siena & San Gimignano, 10–14 October 2018 (p.122); Ravenna & Urbino, 10–14 October 2018 (p.115).
Christmas in Emilia-Romagna 21–27 December 2017 (me 730) This tour is currently full Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com
Based for all six nights in the opulent Grand Hotel Majestic in Bologna.
Musical Instruments in Cremona September 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Opera in Parma & Bologna October 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Two operas: Falstaff and La Traviata. Performed in a duo of beautiful and historically important theatres. Visits Verdi’s place of birth at Le Roncole and his place of death at Villa Sant’Agata. Time also for the sights of Parma and Cremona. Led by two lecturers: Dr John Allison, editor of Opera magazine, who gives talks on the music, and Dr R. T. Cobianchi, expert art historian. The Festival Verdi takes place on the stretch of country where the composer was born, schooled, learnt his trade, and, despite youthful resentments, where he bought a farm and built a villa as a haven and retreat for the last 50 years of his life. Lying then within the Duchy of Parma, it remains predominantly rural, with the attraction of a kind of unchanging, authentic ordinariness. This was the mise-en-scène which gave rise to an artistic oeuvre displaying a range of tumultuous passions and human empathy equalled perhaps only by Shakespeare. The performances are in two theatres which are of the highest historical importance and beauty. The Teatro Regio in Parma was built in 1829 by ex-Empress Maria-Luisa, modelled on La Scala in Milan. The small horse-shoe Teatro Verdi at Busseto dates to 1856 and was built within what had been the local magnate’s residence. Opening nights at Parma’s Teatro Regio are always exciting occasions – the audience is one of the most knowledgeable and vocal in Italy – and the new production of Falstaff
will surely offer a wonderful opportunity to sample Italian operatic culture at its liveliest. Unquestionably the greatest of all Shakespearian operas, Falstaff was Verdi’s final masterpiece (1893), yet only his second comic opera (the first being the early and minor Un giorno di regno). It concludes with a fugal chorus hymning the ridiculousness of the human condition, ‘Tutto nel mondo è burla’, but right from the opening bars it brims with blazing energy. The title role is one of the peaks of the bass-baritone repertoire, and no other Verdi opera is more sophisticated in its tonepainting and orchestration. Hearing opera in the little Teatro Verdi di Busseto, near the composer’s birthplace, provides a different and much more intimate operatic experience – one well suited to the tragic drama of La Traviata. Dating from Verdi’s middle period, and the final panel in his famous early 1850s trilogy also including Rigoletto and Il Trovatore, La Traviata reflects his engagement with the emerging movement of artistic realism. Verdi even sought – unsuccessfully at first – to have it performed in contemporary dress. The prodigious brilliance of the score has ensured its place as one of Verdi’s most popular operas.
Itinerary Day 1: Parma. Fly at c. 10.30am from London Heathrow to Milan Linate (British Airways). Drive to Parma, one of the loveliest of the smaller cities in Italy and the base for all four nights of the tour. There is time in the afternoon for a visit to the cathedral and baptistry, among the finest Romanesque buildings in Italy, the former with dazzling illusionistic frescoes by Correggio. Day 2: Parma. Court city of the Farnese dynasty, Parma is a treasure house of art and architecture. Morning visits may include a backstage tour of the Teatro Regio, subject to rehearsal schedules. Visit Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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A magnificent range of art and architecture, from spectacular Byzantine mosaics in Ravenna to Correggio’s tumultuous frescoes in Parma, via Bologna’s mediaeval masterpieces.
30 September–4 October 2017 (me 587) 5 days • £2,190 (including tickets to 2 performances) Lecturers: Dr John Allison & Dr R. T. Cobianchi
Verdi in Parma & Busseto continued
History of Medicine Florence, Bologna and Padua in the Age of Humanism
the vast Farnese Palace where an excellent picture collection is displayed. Opera at the Teatro Regio: Falstaff. Riccardo Frizza (conductor), Jacopo Spirei (director), Roberto De Candia (Sir John Falstaff), Giorgio Caoduro (Ford), Juan Francisco Gatell (Fenton), Gregory Bonfatti (Dott. Cajus), Andrea Giovannini (Bardolfo), Federico Benetti (Pistola).
in Europe, it also houses an excellent anatomical section. In the afternoon visit the Museo del Bigallo, a 14th-century orphanotropium, the polychromatic marble cathedral capped by Brunelleschi’s massive dome, and the Piazza della Signoria, civic centre of Florence with masterpieces of public sculpture.
Day 3: Sant’Agata, Cremona. An excursion begins with the villa that Verdi built for himself at Sant’Agata, and continues to Cremona. The birthplace of Monteverdi, Stradivarius and Guarini and still a centre of violin making, Cremona has a splendid central square formed of cathedral, campanile (Italy’s tallest), baptistry and civic palaces. The cathedral is richly embellished with 16th-century paintings, the baptistry with Romanesque sculpture and the municipal fortresses are red-brick Gothic.
Day 3: Pisa. In the High Middle Ages Pisa was one of the most powerful maritime city-states in the Mediterranean, the rival of Venice and Genoa, deriving great wealth from its trade with the Levant. The Campo dei Miracoli is a magnificent Romanesque ensemble of cathedral, monumental burial ground, campanile (‘Leaning Tower’) and baptistery. The Campo Santo, for centuries the burial place of the Pisan upper classes, was built using earth brought back from Golgotha during the crusades and has frescoes depicting death. In the afternoon visit the botanical gardens.
Day 4: Parma, Le Roncole, Busseto. A free morning, followed by an afternoon excursion to the territory where Verdi was born, grew up and lived intermittently for much of his life. Visit his birthplace in the hamlet of Le Roncole, and Busseto, where he lived for the earlier part of his life. Opera at the Teatro Verdi, Busseto: La Traviata. Sebastiano Rolli (conductor), Andrea Bernard (director); artists from the 54th Concorso Internazionale Voci Verdiane “Città di Busseto”. Day 5. Drive mid-morning to Milan Linate for the flight to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 3.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,190 or £2,030 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,450 or £2,290 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine. Music: top-category tickets for 2 performances are included, costing c. £320. Accommodation. Hotel Stendhal, Parma (hotelstendhal.it): quiet 4-star hotel, the best located in the middle of the historic centre. How strenuous? Some walking is unavoidable as coaches are not permitted into historic town centres. Average coach travel per day: 53 miles.
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Groups size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: The Venetian Hills, 5–9 October 2017 (p.105); Memories of Monte Cassino, 6–12 October 2017 (p.136).
17–23 September 2018 (mf 159) 7 days • £2,620 Lecturers: Professor Helen King & Dr Luca Leoncini Italy’s two oldest university towns, Bologna and Padua, where Vesalius and Galileo lectured. Historic anatomical theatres, including the earliest in the world, some of the best scientific museums in Italy, and an exploration of the anatomical studies of Leonardo and Michelangelo. A unique tour, jointly led by a leading professor of classical medicine and an art historian. It is almost impossible to overemphasise the leading role that Italy played in creating the civilisation of the modern world. Developments in the arts of painting, sculpture and architecture during the Italian Renaissance came to dominate the art of the Western world until the beginning of the last century. Humanism, a range of intellectual endeavours which built on the achievements of the classical world, matured into the critical, liberal attitude which underlies current modes of thought and ideas about education. From patisserie to opera, boarding schools to astronomy, in countless areas of human endeavour and intellectual achievement a seminal Italian input can be traced. In no field is the contribution of Italy greater than in the science of medicine. Bologna and Padua are homes to the oldest universities in Italy – indeed, in Europe – and their medical schools have for centuries made important contributions to the study of anatomy and the practice of surgery. Florence also has a good range of historical medical institutions, as well as the finest artistic patrimony of any city in the world.
Itinerary
Illustrations. This page: Bologna University, engraving c. 1900 after Margarite Janes. Opposite: Urbino, engraving 1886 after a drawing by Joseph Pennell.
What else is included in the price? See page 7. 114
Day 1: Florence. Fly at c. 8.45am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Pisa. Visit the Museo Galileo, which covers scientific studies from the Medici right through to current theory. First of three nights in Florence. Day 2: Florence. Visit the Natural History Museum, La Specola. The oldest scientific museum
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Day 4: Florence. See the Ospedale degli Innocenti, a children’s orphanage designed by Brunelleschi, and Michelangelo’s David in the Accademia. Visit also the Casa Buonarroti, house of Michelangelo’s family, which has models revealing his unprecedented knowledge of anatomy. Leave Florence for Bologna, where the following three nights are spent. Day 5: Bologna. The Archiginnasio has an 18thcentury anatomical theatre and écorché figures by Lelli. At the oldest university in Italy visit the Museo di Palazzo Poggi, which has sections devoted to obstetrics and anatomical waxworks. In the afternoon visit the Basilica di San Domenico, with the tomb of St Dominic, and the lateBaroque church of Santa Maria della Vita. Day 6: Padua. A full-day excursion to Padua, an important university city where Galileo once lectured. In the university itself, items include Galileo’s chair, William Harvey’s emblem and, above all, the 16th-century anatomical theatre, the oldest in the world. Visit the new Museum of the History of Medicine, which uses interactive displays. See also Giotto’s fresco cycle in the Arena chapel, one of the landmarks in the history of art. Day 7. Fly to Heathrow, arriving at c. 2.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,620 or £2,310 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,040 or £2,730 without flights. Included meals: 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Santa Maria Novella, Florence (hotelsantamarianovella. it): delightful 4-star hote, centrally-located. Hotel Commercianti, Bologna (en.art-hotelcommercianti.com): charming 4-star hotel in the centre; rooms vary in size and are classically furnished and comfortable. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking on this tour. Average distance by coach per day: 57 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Courts of Northern Italy, 9–16 September 2018 (p.108); The Imperial Riviera, 10–16 September 2018 (p.107); Lucca, 24–30 September 2018 (p.127); Pompeii & Herculaneum, 24–29 September 2018 (p.140).
Ravenna & Urbino Byzantine capital, Renaissance court 11–15 October 2017 (me 597) This tour is currently full 25–29 April 2018 (me 834) 5 days • £1,560 Lecturer: Dr Luca Leoncini 10–14 October 2018 (mf 235) 5 days • £1,560 Lecturer: Dr Luca Leoncini A study in contrasts: one a city with origins as a major Roman seaport, the other an enchanting little Renaissance settlement high in the hills. In Ravenna, some of the greatest buildings of late antiquity with the finest Byzantine mosaics. In Urbino the Ducal Palace, the greatest secular building of the Early Renaissance. Private evening visit to San Vitale, Ravenna’s finest church, and the adjacent Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, to see the magnificent mosaics. Led by art historian Dr Luca Leoncini.
martyrs marching along the nave. In the evening there is a private visit to the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, lined with 5th-century mosaics, and the splendid centrally planned church of S. Vitale with 6th-century mosaics of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora. Day 3: Ravenna. The Cathedral Museum possesses fine objects, including an ivory throne. Visit the Cooperativa Mosaicista, a laboratory for the restoration of mosaics (by appointment only and subject to confirmation) and the Mausoleum of Theodoric. The afternoon is free. Day 4: Urbino. The Palazzo Ducale grew during 30 years of Montefeltro patronage into the perfect Early Renaissance secular environment, of the highest importance for both architecture and architectural sculpture. The picture collection in the palace includes works by Piero della Francesca, Raphael and Titian. There are exquisite International Gothic frescoes by Salimbeni in the Oratory of St John. Day 5: Classe, Rimini. Drive to Classe, Ravenna’s port, which was one of the largest in the Roman
Empire. Virtually all that is left is the great basilica of S. Apollinare. Continue to Rimini and visit the Tempio Malatestiano, church and mausoleum of the Renaissance tyrant Sigismondo Malatesta (designed by Alberti, fresco by Piero della Francesca, sculpture by Agostino Duccio). Drive on to Bologna airport for a late-afternoon flight arriving at Heathrow at c. 8.15pm.
Practicalities Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £1,560 or £1,330 without flights. Single occupancy: £1,770 or £1,540 without flights. Included meals: 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Palazzo Bezzi, Ravenna (palazzobezzi.it): new 4-star superior hotel, located on the edge of the historic centre of town. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking, some of it uphill or over cobbles. There is also a lot of standing. The coach cannot be used within town centres. Average coach travel per day: 65 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Why combine them? Both are somewhat out of the way, yet near to each other. First run almost 30 years ago and still a firm favourite.
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Ravenna was once one of the most important cities in the western world. The last capital of the Roman Empire in the West, she subsequently became capital of the Gothic kingdoms of Italy and of Byzantine Italy. Then history passed her by. Marooned in obscurity, some of the greatest buildings and decorative schemes of the late antique and early mediaeval era were allowed to survive unmolested until the modern age recognised in them not the onset of decadence and the barbarity of the Dark Ages but an art of the highest aesthetic and spiritual power. The Early Christian and Byzantine mosaics at Ravenna are the finest in the world. Urbino, by contrast, is a compact hilltop stronghold with a very different history and an influence on Renaissance culture out of all proportion to her size. The Ducal Palace, built by the Montefeltro dynasty over several decades, is perhaps the finest secular building of its period. Piero della Francesca, Raphael and Baldassare Castiglione were among those who passed through its exquisite halls. The justification for joining in one short tour these two centres of diverse artistic traditions is simple. They are places to which every art lover wants to go but which are relatively inaccessible from the main art-historical centres of Italy, yet are close to each other. For many years this has been one of our most popular tours.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 3.00pm (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Bologna. Drive to Ravenna, where all four nights are spent. Day 2: Ravenna. In the morning see the outstanding National Museum, with excellent Byzantine ivory carvings. The Orthodox baptistry has superlative Early Christian mosaics and S. Apollinare Nuovo has a mosaic procession of Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Dark Age Brilliance Late antique and pre-Romanesque 14–21 October 2018 (mf 216) 8 days • £2,270 Lecturer: Dr Ffiona Gilmore Eaves A journey through north-east Italy to Croatia, via Ravenna, Torcello and Cividale. Private evening visit to San Vitale, Ravenna’s finest church, and the adjacent Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, to see the magnificent mosaics. Includes some of the finest art and architecture of the Early Middle Ages to be found anywhere. Led by Dr Ffiona Gilmore Eaves, whose PhD was written on the early church at Poreč. Byzantine heritage of unique range and richness, with exceptional mosaics.
It is now commonplace to believe, contrary to the assumptions of centuries, that the Dark Ages which succeeded the glories of the Roman Empire were not so dark, and that the later history of the Empire was not so glorious. A concomitant reappraisal has led to the acceptance of Early Christian and Byzantine art not as a regression to primitivism – an aspect of the decline and fall – but as one of the most brilliant chapters in the history of Western art. But it remains true that in the territories of the Western Empire from the fifth to the ninth century there was little in the way of monumental building or large-scale artistic production. Only in a few dispersed pockets was the flame of ambitious artistic and intellectual endeavour kept alive. A string of such pockets are gathered around the northern end of the Adriatic and northeast Italy, the last redoubt of the Empire in the
West. Born of an Umbrian past and raised in Imperial retreat, Ravenna remains anchored in the Adriatic marshes, humbled by the rise of her great neighbours, Bologna and Venice, and unhindered by later political commerce. The effect of this marginal status has been to spare her Early Christian buildings and leave a Byzantine heritage of unique range and richness. Given the intensity with which Ravenna developed between 402, when Honorius chose it as his capital, and 751, when the last of the Exarchs returned to Constantinople, it makes a fitting introduction to Early Christian and early mediaeval culture in north-eastern Italy. Arising from the need to cater for the spiritual requirements of newly emancipated Christianity, the clarity and humanism of the classical tradition were superseded by images and decoration designed to instil a kind of sacred dread, and to intimate the glories of the world to come. Mosaic was the key element in creating church interiors of awesome splendour and intense spirituality. Early Christian forms were endorsed throughout the whole of the Adriatic seaboard, and the second half of the tour embraces Aquileia, Grado, Poreč (Parenzo) in Croatia and Concordia Sagittaria. The theme is rounded off with the astonishing little eighth-century church in Cividale in the foothills of the Julian Alps which preserves the earliest monumental sculpture of the Middle Ages.
Itinerary Day 1: Ravenna. Fly at c. 3.00pm (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Bologna. Drive to Ravenna for the first of three nights. Day 2: Ravenna. Begin with an exploration of the 5th-century forms at the cathedral and Orthodox Baptistery, and the superlative 6thcentury ivory throne of Maximian in the Museo Arcivescovile. In the afternoon study Arian Ravenna at the Arian Baptistery and Theodoric’s great Palatine church of S. Apollinare Nuovo. Investigate the 5th-century basilica design which provided Theodoric’s court with its most immediate models, and Galla Placidia’s splendid ex-voto basilica of S. Giovanni Evangelista.
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Day 3: Ravenna, Classe. In the morning see the outstanding National Museum, with excellent Byzantine ivory carvings. Travel by coach to Theodoric’s superb Mausoleum and to the ancient port of Classe for the great 6th-century basilica of S. Apollinare. Private evening visit to the church of S. Vitale, the greatest 6th-century building of the West; the invention with which form, colour, space and narrative meaning are combined is breathtaking. The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia is the earliest Christian structure in Europe to retain its mosaic decoration in its entirety. Day 4: Pomposa, Concordia Sagittaria. Drive north to the Po delta. Pomposa is an important 8th-century Benedictine abbey, richly extended by Abbot Guido’s magnificent 11th-century porch and campanile. Lunch in Chioggia. The Roman road station at Concordia Sagittaria, whose modest mediaeval cathedral was built alongside a 4th-century basilica and martyrium, is splendidly revealed through archaeological excavation. Stay four nights in Cividale. 116
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Piero della Francesca A pilgrimage from Umbria to Milan Day 5: Cividale. Although founded as Forum Julii in the 1st century bc, Cividale is best known to historians as the site of the earliest Longobard settlement in northern Italy, and most celebrated by art historians for the astonishing quality and quantity of the 8th-century work which has survived here. See the superb ‘Tempietto’ of Sta. Maria in Valle, Longobardic work in the cathedral museum and spectacular early mediaeval collections in the archaeological museum. The afternoon is free in Cividale. Day 6: Poreč (Croatia). Drive south, cross Slovenia and enter the part of Croatia formerly known as Istria. The sole object of the excursion is to visit Poreč (Parenzo), a longish journey justified by the existence of an unusually complete 6th-century cathedral complex: basilican church, baptistery and bishop’s palace. The church proper was built above an earlier basilica c. 540 by Bishop Euphrasius, whose complete episcopal throne is set within an apse which, for once, has retained its full complement of furnishings and fittings. Day 7: Aquileia, Grado. Aquileia was a major Roman city whose influential cathedral was complete by 319. Sections of walls and mosaic pavements were preserved within the present 11thcentury cathedral, a rather wonderful survival. The Longobard sack of 568 resulted in the removal of the see to the more defensible position on the coast at Grado, whose two great 6th-century churches, Sta. Maria della Grazie and the cathedral, also have outstanding floor mosaics. Day 8: Torcello. Drive to the Adriatic and take a water taxi to the island of Torcello in the Venetian lagoon, a major city while Venice was little more than a fishing village. Visit the largely 11th-century cathedral of Sta. Maria Assunta and adjacent Greek-cross reliquary church of Sta. Fosca. Continue to Venice Airport and fly to London Gatwick, arriving at c. 6.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,270 or £2,090 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,380 or £2,200 without flights. Accommodation. Palazzo Bezzi, Ravenna (palazzobezzi.it): new 4-star superior hotel, located on the edge of the historic centre. Hotel Roma, Cividale (hotelroma-cividale.it): simple, functional, friendly 3-star, in the town centre. How strenuous? The tour involves a lot of walking in town centres where vehicular access is restricted and a lot of standing in museums and churches. It should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stair-climbing. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 76 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Illustrations. Left: Ravenna, Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, woodcut by Giulio Ricci c. 1930. Right: Perugia, San Domenico, etching 1925.
A journey to see nearly every surviving work in Italy by the Early Renaissance master. The lecturer is Dr Antonia Whitley, expert art historian and lecturer specialising in the Italian Renaissance. Revised and extended itinerary, with more time in Milan and Florence. Also Urbino, Monterchi, Arezzo, Sansepolcro, Perugia – among the most beautiful towns in central Italy. This tour is an exhilarating study of one of the best-loved and most intriguing artists of the fifteenth century. It also takes you to a select handful of some of Italy’s loveliest places and beststocked galleries, and through some of her most enchanting countryside. Though the theme is a specialised one, the tour is by no means intended only for serious students of the subject. Few art lovers are untouched by the serenity and beauty of the high-key palette of Piero’s works; even fewer would be unmoved by seeing most of his surviving works in the towns and landscapes in which he created them. Born about 1412 in the small town of Sansepolcro on the periphery of Florentine territory, Piero spent little of his life in the Tuscan capital to which most provincial artists flocked. Though he was not without influence, he had no ‘school’ or direct successors. A mathematician, his images beguile with their perfect perspective, architectonic form and monumentality. There is little documentation for his life, and he seems to have been a slow worker. Few works survive, despite the fact that he lived until the age of eighty.
Itinerary Day 1: Monterchi, Città di Castello. Fly at c. 8.45am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Bologna. Drive to Monterchi to see Piero’s beautiful fresco The Madonna del Parto. Continue on to the hotel in Città di Castello for the first of three nights. Day 2: Perugia, Sansepolcro. Perugia, the capital of Umbria, is one of Italy’s most beautiful towns. The National Gallery of Umbria in the mediaeval town hall has a polyptych with The Annunciation by Piero. There is a wealth of other monuments, including a fine merchants’ hall with frescoes by Perugino. In the afternoon visit Borgo Sansepolcro, Piero’s birthplace and home town. Visit the museum in the former town hall, where Piero’s early masterpiece, Madonna della Misericordia, a panel of St Julian, and the marvellous Resurrection fresco are housed. Walk around the town centre, passing Piero’s house and the Romanesque Gothic cathedral. Day 3: Urbino. Drive through mountains to the hilltop town of Urbino. As one of the most enlightened and creative courts of the Renaissance, it has an importance in the history of art out of all proportion to its small size. Piero possibly contributed to the design of the beautiful Ducal Palace, which houses his exquisite Flagellation of Christ and the Madonna di Senigallia. Visit S. Bernardino, where Federigo da Montefeltro was buried. Day 4: Arezzo, Florence. See Piero’s great fresco cycle, The Legend of the True Cross, executed over a 20-year period, at S. Francesco, Arezzo. In the cathedral see his fresco, Mary Magdalene. Continue to Florence where one night is spent. In the late afternoon visit the Uffizi, which contains portrait panels of Federigo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, and his wife Battista Sforza. Day 5: Florence, Milan. In the morning, visit the Brancacci chapel with frescoes by Masaccio and Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Included meals: 1 lunch and 5 dinners with wine.
22–28 October 2018 (mf 278) 7 days • £2,510 Lecturer: Dr Antonia Whitley
Piero della Francesca continued
Footpaths of Umbria Walks, art and wine between Arezzo and Assisi
Masolino. Travel by first class rail to Milan for the first of two nights.
Building work on the Basilica di San Francesco began two years after Francis’s death in Assisi in 1226; the fresco cycles here are some of the most art historically important in Italy. Cimabue, Giotto, Cavallini, Pietro Lorenzetti and Simone Martini are all thought to have been involved in the work and, despite varying degrees of restoration and preservation, they constitute one of the great achievements of western civilization. The early Renaissance painter Piero della Francesca is also associated with the region. Born c. 1412 in Sansepolcro, which lies just over the border in Tuscany, like all artists of his time he led a peripatetic existence, travelling wherever work took him. In many ways, he stands like a lone star, one who did not leave an obvious trail in terms of followers, but one so bright as still to shine today. Our Piero trail also includes The Resurrection, dubbed by Aldous Huxley ‘the best picture’, and the quiet power and subtle beauty of The Legend of the True Cross in Arezzo’s Basilica di San Francesco.
Day 6: Milan. In Milan the Poldi-Pezzoli Museum and the Pinacoteca di Brera contain paintings by Piero. Visit the Renaissance church of S. Maria delle Grazie; the refectory houses Leonardo’s Last Supper. Day 7: Milan. The morning is free. Fly from Milan Linate to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 4.45pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,510 or £2,390 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,890 or £2,770 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Tiferno, Città di Castello (hoteltiferno.it): central 4-star hotel, renovated respecting the original architecture; a successful blend of old and new, with helpful staff. Hotel Santa Maria Novella, Florence (hotelsantamarianovella.it): delightful 4-star hotel in a very central location. Rosa Grand Hotel, Milan (starhotels.com): smart 4-star hotel excellently located directly behind the Duomo. Rooms are well appointed in a clean, modern style. How strenuous? The tour involves a lot of walking in the town centres where vehicular access is restricted, and should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stair-climbing. There is a lot of walking over unevenly paved ground. Fitness is essential. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 62 miles. Train travel. We choose to travel by train from Florence to Milan because it is less harmful to the environment, quicker and more comfortable than by coach. However, trains can be crowded and there is often little room for luggage, even on the Frecciarossa. And buffet cars can run out of food. You will need to be able to carry (wheel) your own luggage on and off the train and within stations. Some train stations do not have escalators or lifts and porters are not always readily available. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
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Combine this tour with: Dark Age Brilliance, 14–21 October 2018 (p.116).
Trasimeno Music Festival July 2018 Details available in January 2018 Please contact us to register your interest
Illustrations. This page: Assisi, Church of St Francis, watercolour by Frank Fox c. 1900. Right: Pisa, Cathedral and Campanile, late-19th-century engraving.
What else is included in the price? See page 7. 118
Itinerary
7–14 May 2018 (me 854) 8 days • £2,610 Lecturer: Dr Antonia Whitley Six walks of between 5 and 7.5 km between Arezzo and Assisi through the inimitable Umbrian countryside. Enjoy the art of Piero della Francesca, Luca Signorelli and Giotto. Visit isolated hermitages, churches and cathedrals associated with St Francis. Led by Dr Antonia Whitley, art historian and lecturer specialising in the Italian Renaissance. Umbria brings together art and architecture of the highest importance, unspoilt countryside of breath-taking beauty and pockets of rare tranquillity. Land-locked, and located more or less in the centre of the peninsula, the region is criss-crossed by ancient paths, used for millennia by myriad travellers, traders, pilgrims and preachers. Two itinerant denizens in particular are encountered time and again on this tour, St Francis of Assisi and Piero della Francesca. Stimulated by the movement of people, goods and ideas along the Via Flaminia, the main route from Rome to Ravenna, the economic and artistic life of Umbria began to flourish in the Middle Ages. Ideas absorbed from Byzantium were encountered and transformed by stylistic novelties from Rome, Florence and Siena. In the early thirteenth century, the son of a rich cloth merchant in Assisi, one Francis, came to prominence in the region; he shunned the material excess and increasing secularization around him and embraced humility, simplicity and harmony with nature as an alternative Christian approach. Perambulating throughout Umbria and central Italy he preached with fervour, touched the hearts of thousands and attracted devoted disciples. Out of this movement the Franciscan Order grew.
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Day 1. Citta di Castello. Fly at c. 8.30am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Bologna. Spend the first of four nights in Città di Castello. Day 2. Montecasale, Sansepolcro. St Francis passed through the Convent of Montecasale in 1213 on his journey to the Adriatic and Jerusalem, and a small community of friars have continued to provide pilgrim accommodation since then. Walk 7.5 km to La Montagna, a high-level walk on paths, tracks and exposed ground, and through woodland. Lunch in Sansepolcro, then visit the museum in the former town hall, where Piero della Francesca’s early masterpiece, Madonna della Misericordia and the marvellous Resurrection fresco are housed. (At the time of going to print, the Resurrection fresco was only partially visible due to restoration work, but should be visible by 2018). Day 3. Arezzo, Monterchi. Drive to Arezzo to see Piero della Francesca’s great fresco cycle, The Legend of the True Cross, painted for the Franciscan order and executed over a twenty-year period. After lunch a 5.5 km afternoon walk to Monterchi on gently undulating farm tracks and country roads. Piero della Francesca’s beautiful Madonna del Parto has its own museum in the village. Day 4. Le Celle, Cortona. Begin the morning’s walk from the immaculately kept Eremo Le Celle, which Francis visited in 1226. Starting gently downhill from the Eremo, this walk (5 km) begins on woodland tracks outside Cortona before joining a cobbled Roman path that leads uphill to the town centre. Cortona is highly attractive and has a good art gallery, notable for paintings by Fra Angelico and Signorelli. Day 5. Collepino, Spello. Drive to Collepino, a restored mediaeval borgo with views of Monte Subasio and, on a fine day, the Monti Sibillini. Walk 6 km downhill and on a level track to Spello, through olive groves running alongside the Roman aqueduct built to supply the ‘splendissima colonia Julia’. Time to enjoy Spello’s harmonious architecture and the richly coloured Renaissance
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany Art, architecture and streetscape in smaller towns and cities Dr Antonia Whitley Art historian and lecturer specialising in the Italian Renaissance. She obtained her PhD from the Warburg Institute, University of London. She has lectured for the National Gallery and has taught in the War Studies department of King’s College, London. She organises adult education study sessions and has led many tours in Italy. frescoes by Pinturicchio in the church of Sta. Maria Maggiore. First of three nights in Spello. Day 6. Assisi. Walk 6 km on strada bianca (rough farm tracks), minor roads and woodland paths to Assisi. The path predominantly descends, although the last section is uphill through the Bosco Francescano. The walk ends through the city gate which leads directly to the Basilica. Here we see one of the greatest assemblages of mediaeval fresco painting, including the cycle of the Life of St Francis which some attribute to Giotto. There is time to walk through the austere mediaeval streets and visit the church of Sta. Chiara. Day 7: Bevagna, Montefalco. Known as the ‘Balcony of Umbria’, Montefalco’s mediaeval church houses 15th-century frescoes of the Florentine and Umbrian school; the town is also well known for its inky and full-bodied Sagrantino wines. Walk (5 km) downhill from Montefalco on country trails and lanes. Drive to Bevagna, the Roman Mevania, home to one of Italy’s most harmonious squares. Day 8. Drive to Rome with a break in Montegiove en route. Fly from Rome Fiumicino to Heathrow, arriving c. 8.30pm.
Practicalities
Included meals: 5 lunches, 4 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Tiferno, Città di Castello (hoteltiferno.it): central, 4-star hotel, renovated respecting the original architecture. Hotel La Bastiglia, Spello (labastiglia.com): well-appointed 4-star hotel at the apex of Spello, with wonderful views from the terrace. How strenuous? This tour should only be considered by those who are used to regular country walking with uphill content. There are six moderate to strenuous walks of 5–7½ km each. Strong knees and ankles are essential, as are a pair of well-worn hiking boots. Walks have been carefully selected but some steep paths are unavoidable (both uphill and downhill) and terrain can be loose underfoot, particularly in wet weather. Average coach travel per day: c. 60 miles. Group size: between 10 and 18 participants. Combine this tour with: Gastronomic Veneto, 16–23 May 2018 (p.103).
Ten-day immersion in a region which is of exceptional artistic and architectural richness. Major centres include Pisa, Lucca and Siena, but many smaller places are included. Led by Dr Flavio Boggi, an art historian specialising in mediaeval and renaissance Italian art, who has published widely on the artistic culture of Tuscany. Were Florence to tumble into the Arno and disappear for ever, Tuscany would continue to be one of Europe’s most alluring destinations for the culture-seeking traveller. Such is the profusion of great art and architecture in the surrounding region. The Renaissance is brilliantly represented, with major works by leading quattrocento artists – Masaccio, Donatello, Ghiberti, Filippo Lippi, Michelozzo, Gozzoli, Ghirlandaio, Pinturicchio and others. But in terms of quantity, spectacularity and variety, the Middle Ages predominate – unsurprisingly, as the term encompasses many hundreds of years of creative ferment. Buildings of magnificence and beauty and astonishing immensity abound, while in the field of painting Siennese artists such as Duccio and the Lorenzetti brothers have no equals. Sculpture is particularly important here, with the Pisani family creating some of the greatest works of the Gothic era. The region is also famous for its landscape, which is among the most beautiful in Europe. Richly textured, consistently undulating, subtly various though invariably punctuated by the blackgreen uprights of cypress trees, the grey-green bobbles of olive trees and the gold-green striations of vineyards. Present-day Tuscany is more or less the territory put together by Duke Cosimo I, who achieved absolute power in 1537 and ruled for the next 37 years. Under him and his successors the region became one of the most significant of the second-tier states in Europe, though despite
relentless canvassing of pope and emperor Cosimo failed to be awarded the status of king and had to make do with the title of Grand Duke. There are two bases for this tour, both utterly lovely and characteristic. Lucca is a small valleyfloor city of Roman origin hemmed in by hills, girded by red-brick ramparts and consisting of a succession of enchanting streets and squares. Colle di Val d’Elsa is a little country town on a hill just south of San Gimignano, overlooking the verdant valley of the Elsa River.
Itinerary Day 1: San Piero a Grado. Fly at c. 11.30am (British Airways) from London Gatwick to Pisa. Isolated on the coastal plain, the Romanesque basilica of San Piero a Grado has one of the finest sets of mediaeval frescoes to be found anywhere. Continue to Lucca. Within the perfectly preserved circuit of Renaissance ramparts lies one of the loveliest stretches of urban scene in Italy. First of four nights in Lucca. Day 2: Lucca. The morning walk takes in enchanting streets and major buildings, including the Romanesque cathedral of S. Martino, home of the extraordinarily beautiful Gothic tomb of Ilaria del Carretto. Walk out to the Villa Guinigi, a rare survival of a 14th-century villa and now a museum housing a choice collection of mediaeval paintings. Day 3: Pistoia, Collodi. The exceptionally attractive town of Pistoia has important art and architecture including an octagonal baptistry, a Renaissance hospital with a ceramic frieze by the della Robbia workshop and a pulpit crowded with expressive figures carved by Giovanni Pisano. In the cathedral there is a unique silver altarpiece which took 150 years to complete. Villa Garzoni at Collodi has one of the finest surviving examples of 17th-century gardens, with terraces excavated out of a steep hillside. Day 4: Pisa. In the Middle Ages Pisa was one of the most powerful maritime city-states in the Mediterranean, the rival of Venice and Genoa, deriving great wealth from its trade with the Levant. The ‘Campo dei Miracoli’ is a magnificent Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,610 or £2,410 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,830 or £2,630 without flights.
19–28 April 2018 (me 830) 10 days • £2,880 Lecturer: Dr Flavio Boggi
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany continued
ensemble of cathedral, burial ground, campanile (‘Leaning Tower’) and baptistery, all of gleaming white marble. Day 5: Volterra. A wonderful drive through Tuscan hills leads to Volterra, a rugged mediaeval hilltop town with an art gallery and a Romanesque cathedral, which again has fine Renaissance sculpture. Continue to the picturesque hilltop town of Colle Val d’Elsa for the first of five nights.
Day 6: San Gimignano. Drive to San Gimignano, which with its fourteen 13th-century, 100-ft tower houses is an amazing sight. Visit the collegiate church which contains two great cycles of trecento frescoes depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments. The town hall also has 14th-century frescoes and houses a small art gallery. Study the development of the city in the streets, alleys and squares, and walk along a stretch of the walls.
Day 7: Siena. The largest of the hilltop towns of Tuscany, Siena is distinguished by architecture and art of exquisite elegance. The scallop-shaped piazza is one of the most beautiful urban spaces in the world; Duccio’s Maestà, housed in the cathedral museum, is the finest of all mediaeval altarpieces. The cathedral is an imposing construction of white and green marble with mediaeval and Renaissance artworks of the highest quality. Day 8: Certaldo, Monteriggioni. The point of visiting these little towns is not to see great art, though there are fascinating buildings and pictures, but to relish the picturesque delights of ancient, and still thriving, hilltop communities. Certaldo, birthplace of the 14th-century writer Boccaccio, has a redoubtable little governor’s palace and a small art gallery; Monteriggioni has an exceptionally intact circuit of walls and towers. Day 9: Montepulciano, Pienza. Montepulciano is distinguished among hill towns for its number of grand buildings of the 16th century, including the cathedral, though excellent works of art inside survive from its predecessor. The Tempio di S. Biagio (Antonio da Sangallo, 1518) is a major work of the High Renaissance. Pienza provides wonderful views of inimitable rolling countryside; its centre – piazza, palace, town hall, cathedral – was built in the 1460s in accordance with Renaissance principles at the behest of a local boy who made good: Pope Pius II. Day 10: Prato. Prato built its wealth on clothworking. The cathedral has outstanding Renaissance sculpture and painting, notably Donatello’s pulpit with dancing putti and frescoes by Filippo Lippi. Visit also the 13th-century Hohenstaufen castle and the Museo di Palazzo Pretorio, recently reopened after restoration, housing works by Filippo and Filippini Lippi among others. Continue to Pisa for the flight to Gatwick, arriving c. 9.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,880 or £2,800 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,220 or £3,140 without flights.
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Included meals: 6 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Ilaria, Lucca (hotelilaria. com): excellently situated 4-star, within the city walls; friendly staff. Hotel Palazzo San Lorenzo, Colle Val D’Elsa (palazzosanlorenzo.it): 4-star hotel in a historic village near San Gimignano. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking, much of it on steep ground and roughly paved streets, as well as standing in churches and galleries. The tour is not suitable for anyone who has difficulties with everyday walking and stair climbing. Average distance by coach per day: 52 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with Gardens of the Riviera, 11–17 April 2018 (p.73); Mediaeval Saxony, 30 April–8 May 2018 (p.84).
Illustration: Siena, etching c. 1920.
What else is included in the price? See page 7. 120
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Florence & Venice The finest and best-known art and architecture in the Western world 19–26 November 2018 (mf 346) 8 days • £2,940 Lecturer: Dr Kevin Childs
Florence, tomb of Lorenzo de Medici by Michelangelo, in the Basilica of San Lorenzo, engraving 1888.
Wide-ranging survey with Renaissance emphasis. Includes a private visit to the Basilica di San Marco to see the transcendental splendour of the Byzantine mosaics. Led by Dr Kevin Childs, writer and lecturer with a focus on the Italian Renaissance. Off-peak dates, smaller group than usual (maximum 18 participants).
Itinerary Day 1: Florence. Fly at c. 11.00am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Pisa. Transfer to Florence in time for a late afternoon visit to the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi chapel which has exquisite frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli. First of four nights in Florence. Day 2: Florence. In the morning visit Piazza della Signoria, civic centre of Florence with masterpieces of public sculpture, then continue
to the church-cum-granary of Orsanmichele, adorned with important Renaissance statuary. Visit the Bargello, a mediaeval palazzo housing Florence’s finest sculpture collection with works by Donatello, Verrocchio and Michelangelo. The cluster of cathedral buildings occupies the afternoon; the baptistry with its Byzantine mosaics and Renaissance sculpture, the polychromatic marble Duomo itself, capped by Brunelleschi’s massive dome, and the excellent collections in the cathedral museum. Day 3: Florence. A Medici morning includes S. Lorenzo, the family parish church designed by Brunelleschi, their burial chapel in the contiguous New Sacristy with Michelangelo’s largest sculptural ensemble, and Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library. See Michelangelo’s David and the ‘Slaves’ in the Accademia. Visit the vast Franciscan church of Sta. Croce, favoured burial place for leading Florentines and abundantly furnished with sculpted tombs, altarpieces and frescoes. Day 4: Florence. In the morning visit Sta. Maria Novella, the Dominican church with many works of art (Masaccio’s Trinità, Ghirlandaio’s frescoed sanctuary). See the Masaccio/Masolino fresco cycle in the Brancacci Chapel, a highly influential work of art which influenced all subsequent generations of Renaissance artists. The afternoon is devoted to the Uffizi, Italy’s most important art gallery, which has masterpieces by every major Florentine painter as well as international Old Masters. Day 5: Florence, Venice. Travel by rail to Venice (first class) for the first of three nights there. Take an introductory walk in the Piazza S. Marco and visit the incomparably beautiful Doge’s Palace with pink Gothic revetment and rich Renaissance interiors. Day 6: Venice. The Accademia is Venice’s major art gallery, where all the Venetian painters are represented. In the afternoon cross the bacino to Palladio’s beautiful island church of S. Giorgio
Maggiore and then to the tranquil Giudecca to see his best church, Il Redentore. In the evening there is a private after-hours visit to the Basilica of S. Marco, an 11th-century Byzantine church enriched over the centuries with mosaics, sculpture and precious objects. Day 7: Venice. Visit the vast gothic church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo and the early Renaissance Sta. Maria dei Miracoli with its multicoloured stone veneer. In the afternoon cross the Grand Canal to the San Polo district, location of the great Franciscan church of Sta. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari which has outstanding artworks including Titian’s Assumption, and the Scuola Grande di S. Rocco, with dramatic paintings by Tintoretto. Day 8: Venice. Cross the lagoon by motoscafo (water taxi) to the airport. Fly from Venice to London Heathrow, arriving c. 2.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,940 or £2,810 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,420 or £3,290 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Santa Maria Novella, Florence (hotelsantamarianovella.it): delightful 4-star hotel in a very central location. Hotel Splendid, Venice (starhotels.com): delightful, quiet 4-star hotel situated half-way between Piazza San Marco and the Rialto bridge. How strenuous? The nature of both Florence and Venice means that the cities are more often than not traversed on foot. Although part of their charm, there is a lot of walking along the flat (and up and down bridges in Venice); standing around in museums and churches is also unavoidable. Group size: between 8 and 18 participants. Combine this tour with: Venice Revisited, 13–18 November 2018 (p.99); Spanish Art in London, 27 November 2018 (p.32). Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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To achieve a proper appreciation of Italian art and civilization, there can be no better way than immersion in the incomparable cities of Florence and Venice. There are similarities between the two city-states: the simultaneity of their periods of greatness (with consequent rivalry); the extraordinary wealth generated by pioneering commercial and manufacturing enterprise; republican and democratic political systems; and, above all, the brilliance of their material culture, both bequeathing a corpus of painting, sculpture and architecture of incomparable quantity, quality and influence. And there are differences. Florence, an inland city, is largely built of local rough-hewn pietra forte, a tough brown stone, with columns and arches of pietra serena, grey and severe. Venice, the greatest maritime power of its time, imported coloured marbles and white limestone from around the Mediterranean and brick from its hinterland. Florentine art is tough, linear and monumental, while in Venice primacy is given to colour, gorgeous and evanescent. Venice’s lagoon location and its myriad canals are beyond different: they are unique. Florence was, of course, the cradle of the Renaissance. Giotto, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo are some of the great names studied on this tour. Today Florence is a vibrant, contemporary city, but the past is omnipresent: from the mediaeval city walls and distant vistas of olive groves to the narrow alleyways, expansive piazzas and imposing palazzi, all reminders of the vast banking wealth which drove its artistic preeminence. Trade with the East was the source of Venice’s wealth, and the eastern connection has left its indelible stamp, with western styles tempered by a richness of effect and delicacy of pattern redolent of oriental opulence. Seeing the highlights of these two cities in succession, with enough time in each to enable some depth of experience, provides one of the great aesthetic journeys the world has to offer.
Siena & San Gimignano Hilltop towns of Tuscany Itinerary Day 1: San Miniato. Fly at c. 8.45am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Pisa. Drive to San Miniato, whose highly strategic location on both the Via Francigena and the main route between Pisa and Florence meant that it was one of the most important imperial centres in Tuscany in the 12th and 13th centuries. See here the church of S. Domenico, before driving to San Gimignano. All four nights are spent in San Gimignano. Day 2: San Gimignano. Visit the Romanesque collegiate church containing two great cycles of trecento frescoes depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments. The town hall also has 14thcentury frescoes and houses a small art gallery. Among the Renaissance works of art seen today are frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli and an altarpiece by Pollaiuolo in the church of S. Agostino. Study the development of the city in the streets, alleys and squares, and walk along a stretch of the walls.
10–14 October 2018 (mf 234) 5 days • £1,640 Lecturer: Dr Antonia Whitley Based in one of the most extraordinary of Italian hill towns, San Gimignano. Visits to nearby places – Volterra, San Miniato and Siena (two visits). Led by art historian Dr Antonia Whitley, whose PhD is on Sienese society in the 15th century. Beautiful landscape, wonderful streetscape, outstanding mediaeval and Renaissance painting, great buildings.
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Towards the end of an autumn afternoon, when the last of the day trippers have departed and the shutters have clattered down on the souvenir shops, an ineffable timelessness descends. While dusk begins to obscure the hills and darken the streets, the inhabitants get on with their lives – shopping, socialising, doing business – amidst the most extraordinary streetscape in Europe. The ordinary within the quite extraordinary – that is the charm of Italy. San Gimignano is not a museum but a living country town. It is also so improbable a phenomenon, with fourteen thirteenth-century hundred-foot stone tower houses, that a day trip does not always suffice to eradicate incredulity, let alone allow the visitor to feel the austere magic of the place. Scarcely changed in appearance for six hundred years, and looking like a balding porcupine in a searingly beautiful Tuscan landscape, the town provides a microcosm of life and art in mediaeval Italy. The towers and circuit of walls were built not only in response to hostilities with neighbouring 122
city-states but also to the incessant conflict between the swaggering, belligerent nobility and the emergent merchants and tradesmen. Nevertheless, the little city flourished. A nodal point on the main north-south road to Rome, hospices and friaries swelled to serve pilgrims, officials and traders. Wealth, pride and piety conspired to attract some of the best artistic talent to embellish the churches. But San Gimignano never recovered from the double blow of the Black Death of 1348 and submission to Florence shortly after. Extending the theme of hilltop towns, visits are made to two of the greatest: Volterra, rugged and dour, and Siena, the largest and the most beautiful of them all. Spilling across three converging hilltops, Siena contains perhaps the most extensive spread of mediaeval townscape in Europe. Culturally the city reached its peak in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. There is plenty of excellent Renaissance art here, but it is mediaeval painting for which the city is best known. Duccio, Simone Martini and the Lorenzetti brothers were among a host of brilliant artists who created the distinctive Sienese style: exquisite delicacy of design, detail and colour, and images which are godly yet humane, numinous yet naturalistic. This tour provides opportunity for a concentrated study of Siena, not only its art and architecture but also its history. Mediaeval sculpture and painting is its main subject matter because of its exceptional quality and quantity, but Renaissance and Mannerist painters such as Pinturicchio, Sodoma and Beccafumi are also surveyed. Illustrations. Above: San Gimignano, watercolour by Walter Tyndale, publ. 1913. Opposite: Florence, Uffizi, the Tribune, engraving 1820.
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Day 3: Siena. Siena is the largest of hilltop towns in Tuscany (it is in fact a city), distinguished by red brick and architectural and artistic design of an exquisite elegance. The cathedral museum contains Duccio’s Maestà, the largest of all mediaeval altarpieces. The 14th-century Palazzo Pubblico has frescoes by Simone Martini and the Lorenzetti brothers. Visit also the cathedral, an imposing Romanesque and Gothic construction of white and green marble with outstanding Renaissance sculpture and painting including Pinturicchio’s brilliant frescoes in the Piccolomini Library and the font by Ghiberti, Donatello and Jacopo della Quercia. Day 4: Volterra, Siena. A wonderful morning drive through Tuscan hills to the episcopal seat of Volterra (which in the early Middle Ages claimed suzerainty over San Gimignano), a rugged mediaeval hilltop town. Visit the art gallery and the Romanesque cathedral, which has fine Renaissance sculpture. Return to Siena to visit the hospital of Sta. Maria della Scala, with its exceptional collection of Renaissance frescoes. Day 5. Drive to Pisa for the flight to London Heathrow, arriving c. 2.35pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,640 or £1,520 without flights. Single occupancy: £1,800 or £1,680 without flights. Included meals: 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Leon Bianco, San Gimignano (leonbianco.com): 3-star hotel in the central square, with fine views. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking on this tour, some of it on uneven ground and much of it uphill. Coaches are not allowed inside the walls of any of the towns visited. Fitness is essential. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 51 miles Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Art in the Po Valley, 30 September–7 October 2018 (p.112); Caravaggio: Lombardy to Naples, 15–22 October 2018 (p.110).
Florence Cradle of the Renaissance Christmas departure: 21–28 December 2017 (me 726) 8 days • £3,010 Lecturer: Dr R. T. Cobianchi 5–11 March 2018 (me 768) 7 days • £2,390 Lecturer: Dr Antonia Whitley The world’s best location for an art-history tour: here were laid the foundations of the next 500 years of western art. Still retains a dense concentration of great works. The Renaissance is centre stage, but mediaeval and other periods also feature. At Christmas, led by Dr R. T. Cobianchi, expert in Italian art and architecture. In March, the lecturer is Dr Antonia Whitley, art historian and lecturer specialising in the Italian Renaissance. Avoids the crowds of busier months, and a smaller group than usual, 8–18 participants.
Day 3. See Brunelleschi’s Foundling Hospital (1419), the first building wholly in Renaissance style. The Early Renaissance is wonderfully and colourfully represented by the enchanting paintings by Fra Angelico in the Friary of San Marco. See Michelangelo’s David and the ‘Slaves’ sculpture in the Accademia. Visit the Uffizi, which has masterpieces by every major Florentine painter as well as international Old Masters. Day 4: Siena. Day trip by coach to Siena, the most beautiful of Italian hill towns. Walk through exquisite streets to Il Campo, the main scallop-shaped ‘square’, and visit the Palazzo Pubblico, the elegant 14th-century town hall, with frescoes by Simone Martini, Ambrogio Lorenzetti and others. Visit the splendid cathedral of white and green marble, many times enlarged, and the baptistry. In the cathedral museum see Duccio’s Maestà, the finest mediaeval painted altarpiece to be found anywhere. Visit the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, which has a rich collection of 15th-century frescoes. Day 5 (Christmas Day). Free morning, with a range of options for a church service, followed by Christmas lunch. Day 6. In Santa Trìnita there are fine frescoes by Ghirlandaio. See the Masaccio/Masolino fresco cycle in the Brancacci Chapel, a highly influential work of art which influenced all subsequent generations of Renaissance artists. Visit Santo Spirito, Brunelleschi’s last great church, and the extensive Boboli Gardens, at the top of which is an 18th-century ballroom and garden overlooking olive groves. In the afternoon
visit the redoubtable Palazzo Pitti, which houses several museums including the Galleria Palatina, outstanding particularly for High Renaissance and Baroque paintings. Day 7. A Michelangelo morning: visit his Laurentian Library, whose architectural components would herald the onset of Mannerism, and the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo, burial chapel of the Medici family and Michelangelo’s enigmatic sculptural ensemble. See the exquisite frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli in the chapel of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi. In the afternoon visit Santa Maria Novella, a Dominican church with many works of art. Day 8. In the morning, visit the vast Franciscan church of Santa Croce, favoured burial place for leading Florentines and abundantly furnished with sculpted tombs, painted altarpieces and frescoes. Fly from Florence airport to London City, arriving at c. 4.15pm.
Itinerary: March 2018 Day 1. Fly at c. 11.15am (British Airways) from London City to Florence. In the late afternoon visit the chapel in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi which has exquisite frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli. Day 2. Visit Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library, whose architectural components would herald the onset of Mannerism. A Medici morning includes S. Lorenzo, the family parish church designed by Brunelleschi and their burial chapel in the contiguous New Sacristy with Michelangelo’s enigmatic sculptural ensemble. In the afternoon see the Byzantine mosaics and Renaissance sculpture in the cathedral baptistry, and the superbly renovated cathedral museum.
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A first visit to Florence can be an overwhelming experience, and it seems that no amount of revisiting can exhaust her riches, or stem the growth of affection and awe which the city inspires in regular visitors. For hundreds of years the city nurtured an unceasing succession of great artists. No other place can rival Florence for the quantity of first-rate, locally produced works of art, many still in the sites for which they were created or in museums a few hundred yards away. Giotto, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masaccio, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo – these are some of the artists and architects whose works will be studied on the tour, fully justifying Florence’s epithet as the cradle of the Renaissance. Florence is, moreover, one of the loveliest cities in the world, ringed by the foothills of the Apennines and sliced in two by the River Arno. Narrow alleys lead between the expansive piazze and supremely graceful Renaissance arcades abound, while the massive scale of the buildings impressively demonstrates the wealth once generated by its precocious economy. It is now a substantial, vibrant city, yet the past is omnipresent, and, from sections of the mediaeval city walls, one can still look out over olive groves. Though the number of visitors to Florence has swelled hugely in recent years, it is still possible during winter, and with careful planning, to explore the city and enjoy its art in relative tranquillity.
Byzantine mosaics and Renaissance sculpture in the cathedral baptistry in the afternoon, and visit a private palazzo.
Itinerary: Christmas 2017 Day 1. Fly at c. 11.15am (British Airways) from London City to Florence. In the late afternoon, study the buildings and sculpture in the Piazza della Signoria, civic centre of Florence with masterpieces of public sculpture. Day 2. Visit the Bargello, housing Florence’s finest sculpture collection with works by Donatello, Verrocchio, Michelangelo and others. The granarycum-church of Orsanmichele has sculpture by Donatello, Ghiberti and Verrocchio. See the Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Florence continued
Day 3. Brunelleschi’s Foundling Hospital, begun in 1419, was the first building to embody stylistic elements indisputably identifiable as Renaissance. See Michelangelo’s David, the ‘Slaves’ in the Accademia and the frescoes and panels of pious simplicity by Fra Angelico in the Friary of S. Marco. In the afternoon visit Piazza della Signoria, civic centre of Florence with masterpieces of public sculpture, then continue to the Uffizi which has masterpieces by every major Florentine painter as well as international Old Masters. Day 4. In the morning visit S. Maria Novella, the Dominican church with many works of art (Masaccio’s Trinità, Ghirlandaio’s frescoed sanctuary). See the Rucellai Chapel in the deconsecrated church of S. Pancrazio, now part of the Museo Marino Marini. Free afternoon. Day 5. Visit the Bargello, housing Florence’s finest sculpture collection with works by Donatello, Verrocchio, Michelangelo and others. Walk to the vast Franciscan church of S. Croce, favoured burial place for leading Florentines and abundantly furnished with sculpted tombs, altarpieces and frescoes. Lunch is at a restaurant on the Piazzale Michelangelo before a visit to S. Miniato al Monte, the Romanesque abbey church with panoramic views of the city. Day 6. In the morning visit the redoubtable Palazzo Pitti, which houses several museums including the Galleria Palatina, outstanding particularly for High Renaissance and Baroque paintings. Visit S. Spirito, Brunelleschi’s last great church, with many 15th-century altarpieces, and the extensive Boboli Gardens, at the top of which is an 18th-century ballroom and garden overlooking olive groves. See the Masaccio/Masolino fresco cycle in the Brancacci Chapel, a highly influential work of art which guided all subsequent generations of Renaissance artists. Day 7. See the Renaissance statuary at the church-cum-granary of Orsanmichele, and there is a second, selective visit to the Uffizi. Fly from Florence, arriving at London City at c. 9.15pm.
Practicalities MAINLAND EUROPE: ITALY
Price, per person at Christmas. Two sharing: £3,010 or £2,800 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,440 or £3,230 without flights. Price, per person in March 2018. Two sharing: £2,390 or £2,260 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,710 or £2,580 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 5 dinners with wine (Christmas); 1 lunch, 4 dinners with wine (March). Accommodation. Hotel Santa Maria Novella (hotelsantamarianovella.it): delightful, recently renovated 4-star hotel in a very central location. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking in the centre where the ground is sometimes uneven and pavements are narrow. It should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stair-climbing. Fitness is essential. Group size: between 8 and 18 participants. In March, combine this tour with: Jonathan Keates’s Venice, 12–18 March 2018 (p.100); Civilizations of Sicily, 12–24 March 2018 (p.142). 124
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Florentine Palaces Defence, humanism, magnificence and beauty 7–11 November 2018 (mf 304) 5 days • £2,280 Lecturer: Dr Kevin Childs An examination of one of the most fascinating aspects of the Florentine Renaissance, the private palace. Mediaeval, Baroque, Neo-Classical and 19thcentury examples as well. Led by Dr Kevin Childs, an expert in Italian Renaissance art. Several special arrangements to see palaces not usually open to the public.
Illustrations. Left: Florence, Orsanmichele, wood engraving 1874 by Gustav Bauernfeind (1848–1904). Right: Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, copper engraving c. 1770.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 11.15am (British Airways) from London City Airport to Florence. Visit the Palazzo Vecchio, a sturdy fortress at the civic heart of the city with outstanding interiors and lavish frescoes by Ghirlandaio in the sala dei gigli and by Bronzino in the Chapel of Eleanor of Toledo. Day 2. Visit Palazzo Davanzati, built in the second half of the 14th century in one of the oldest quarters of Florence. See Palazzo Strozzi, a late 15th-century construction of formidable proportions. In the afternoon visit the privately-owned Palazzo Corsini al Parione (by special arrangement), a vast baroque palazzo with views over the Arno. See the exterior of the 16th-century Palazzo Lanfredini, with handsome sgraffiti on the façade. Visit also the chapel in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi with exquisite frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli, and the Palazzo Budini Gattai, designed by Renaissance architect and sculptor Bartolomeo Ammannati. Day 3. Visit the Bargello, a mediaeval palazzo housing Florence’s finest sculpture collection with works by Donatello, Verrocchio and Michelangelo. Following this visit the Palazzo Corsini al Prato (by special arrangement): begun in 1591 to designs by Bernardo Buontalenti, the palazzo was acquired in 1621 by Filippo Corsini and most of the palace and gardens date to his refurbishment. Lunch here, hosted by the owner. Also see Palazzo Marucelli Fenzi, built in the 16th century for the Castelli family by Gherardo Silvani and later enlarged by the Marucelli family. It contains paintings by Sebastiano Ricci. Day 4. Begin at the Uffizi, which has masterpieces by every major Florentine painter as well as international Old Masters. Walk through the Vasari Corridor (by special arrangement) from the
Uffizi to the Pitti Palace, viewing the collection of artists’ self-portraits. (At the time of going to print, the Vasari Corridor was closed due to restoration work, but should be open by November 2018). In the afternoon, visit the privately-owned Palazzo Gondi (by special arrangement), designed in 1490 by Giuliano da Sangallo, the favourite architect of Lorenzo de Medici. There are remarkable views of the city from the terrace. Dinner is at a Michelinstarred restaurant. Day 5. In the morning visit the redoubtable Palazzo Pitti, which houses several museums including the Galleria Palatina, outstanding particularly for High Renaissance and Baroque paintings. The visit includes rooms not generally open to the public. The afternoon is free. Fly from Florence to London City, arriving at c. 9.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,280 or £2,100 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,520 or £2,340 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Santa Maria Novella, Florence (hotelsantamarianovella.it): delightful 4-star hotel in a very central location. How strenuous? The tour involves a lot of walking in the town centre where the ground is sometimes uneven and pavements are narrow. It should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stair-climbing. Fitness is essential. Group size: between 8 and 18 participants. Combine this tour with: Civilizations of Sicily, 12–24 November 2018 (p.142); Venice Revisited, 13–18 November 2018 (p.99). Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Renaissance Florence experienced one of the most spectacular property booms of all time. From the second half of the fourteenth to the beginning of the sixteenth century as many as 100 private palazzi were built throughout the city. The period was also one of the pivotal moments of western architecture, witnessing a design revolution that was to have an impact on the rest of Europe and the Americas for 500 years. In the preceding couple of centuries, intense clan and class rivalries required palazzi to be highly defensible structures. Like many Italian cities, Florence bristled with tower houses, of which several stubs can still be seen, and the massive Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall, retains its fortress-like aesthetic. While an intimidating monumentality remained a design feature of the Renaissance palace, decreasing lawlessness and increasing wealth fortuitously combined with new humanist concepts of ‘magnificence’ and ‘virtue’, by which the elite were required to demonstrate their greatness with ‘fitting expenditure’. Constructed on a magnificent scale, three times the height of a three-storey building today, the typical palace’s spread was equally expansive, frequently swallowing up a multitude of smaller dwellings. And the design of these high-fashion mansions represented a dramatic shift in architectural language. The credit for their creation, however, remained the patron rather than the architect. A Renaissance palazzo was intended as a statement of dynastic ambition, its façade emblazoned with coats of arms, its interior trumpeting the family name in every visual detail. Fortunes were spent – and lost – keeping up with the Medici. Many palaces remained unfinished through lack of funds (neither the Gondi nor the Rucellai were complete at the time of their founder’s death); and even more – including the Pitti and the Davanzati – changed hands through financial necessity within a generation. By the end of the sixteenth century, the Florentine palazzo was being adapted to accommodate more elaborate households and lifestyles, but splendour remained their defining characteristic. Certainly no Renaissance patron would have felt embarrassed by the endeavours of his seventeenth- and eighteenth-century successors, such as Alessandro Capponi or the Corsini family.
Walking in Southern Tuscany Art, architecture and landscapes in Val d’Orcia and Chianti 9–16 October 2017 (me 601) 8 days • £2,560 Lecturer: Dr Antonia Whitley Five walks of between five and eight kilometres through exquisite landscape of soaring cypress, olives and vines. Art history away from the tourist throngs – mediaeval fortress towns, Romanesque churches, Renaissance palazzi, Sienese painting. Based in two tiny towns in topographically diverse areas of Tuscany. Led by Dr Antonia Whitley, art historian and lecturer specialising in the Italian Renaissance. Three wine tastings, in Montalcino, Chianti and Badia a Coltibuono. To walk through quintessentially Tuscan landscapes, along chalky tracks lined with soaring cypress trees and flanked by neat rows of vines and well-kept olive trees, must surely be one of life’s great pleasures. The walks selected here pass through farmland and woodland, where primrose, violet and cyclamen nestle below chestnut, holm oak and beech. Pine trees grace the higher terrain. Walking is conducive to observing at close quarters the variations of plant, animal and birdlife in this enchanting countryside. But if seeing the artistic and architectural delights in these parts of Tuscany is your aim, this tour also offers opportunity to do so. We avoid the tourist throngs in the larger towns and cities and concentrate on the smaller and less-visited places. Mediaeval fortress towns, Romanesque
churches, Renaissance palazzi and paintings of the Sienese school are particularly in evidence here. Sometimes these are seen at the beginning or the end of a morning’s walk, sometimes during a half day spent in leisurely exploration of one of the enchanting little cities or settlements. All are seen in the enlightening company of an art historian. And while the walks are taxing enough to ensure that hearty evening meals are fully deserved, they are not so strenuous as to detract from enjoying the ever-changing views and natural, agricultural and constructed sights. We take trouble to ensure that much of what you eat is produced from fine local ingredients, including Pecorino cheese (whose pungent flavour is due to the herbs grazed by ewes on the unique clay soils south of Siena) and the prized salami of the cinta senese pigs. The food is often perfectly complemented by a glass of one of the world’s finest red wines. As this tour is based for three nights in Radda in Chianti, today still the nucleus of Tuscan viticulture and where the noble Sangiovese vine is most prevalent, opportunity is allowed for tastings of these robust reds. We also visit a producer of some of the finest Chianti Classico, in a former monastery where thirsty monks made a wine similar to the sophisticated Chianti produced today.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 8.25am from London Heathrow to Pisa (British Airways). Drive to Pienza, a gem of Renaissance architecture created by Pope Pius II as a tribute to his place of birth, which is the base for four nights.
Montepulciano, aquatint c. 1830.
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Day 2: San Quirico, Pienza. Drive to the little walled town of San Quirico d’Orcia. Visit the Collegiata with its splendid portals and the Horti Leonini, public gardens dating to the 17th century. Walk back to Pienza (c. 6 km) through rolling, open farmland of rare beauty, visiting the Romanesque church of Corsignano before the steady climb to Pienza. In the afternoon, explore this little city where at the centre the cathedral, episcopal palace and Pius’s own palazzo form a harmonious group. Day 3: Sant’Antimo, Montalcino. Walk down from near Montalcino through a pretty valley, part vineyard, partially wooded, punctuated by farmsteads, and arrive at the remote and serene monastery of Sant’Antimo (c. 5 km). This most beautiful of Romanesque churches is in part constructed of luminous alabaster. Once an impregnable fortress and now centre of Brunello wines, Montalcino is a hilltop community with magnificent views and a collection of Sienese paintings in the civic museum. There is a wine tasting here. Return by coach to Pienza. Day 4: Monticchiello, Montepulciano. The mediaeval hamlet of Monticchiello, with views across Val d’Orcia, is the starting point for a morning walk through a valley, before continuing uphill to Pienza (c. 6 km). Montepulciano is one of the most picturesque of Tuscan hill towns, with grey stone palaces piled up towards the main square at the apex. The cathedral here is rich in Renaissance works of art, while outside the walls is a centrally planned church, a Renaissance masterpiece.
Lucca Sculpture and architecture in northern Tuscany Day 5: Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Asciano. The monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore is a fine complex of Early Renaissance art and architecture, the cloister having 36 frescoes by Signorelli (1497–1499) and Sodoma (1505–1508). Break the journey in Asciano, a delightful town sitting in the heart of the Crete Senesi, a name referring to the clay crags typical of this area. Radda in Chianti, once the capital of the Chianti League established in 1250, is one of the most attractive of the region’s settlements. Stay three nights in Radda. Day 6: Gaiole in Chianti, Badia a Coltibuono. From Gaiole, walk a pleasantly varied route through Chianti countryside with woodland, vineyards and breath-taking vistas (c. 10 km). Badia a Coltibuono, a former abbey founded by Vallombrosan monks, has an important history of viticulture. Lunch and wine tasting at the estate restaurant before a visit to the abbey’s 16th-century frescoed refectory, gardens and wine cellars. Day 7: Badiaccia Montemuro, Volpaia. An optional morning walk through variegated woods including oak and silver birch (c. 6 km mostly downhill on tracks with some rough patches) to the well-preserved hamlet of Volpaia. The village is dedicated to the arts and wine-making, ensuring its original architectural features remain intact. A further optional walk in the afternoon goes down through the estate’s impressively maintained vineyards to the valley floor before a climb to Radda (c. 4.5 km mostly downhill on grassy tracks and through vineyards). Day 8. Fly from Pisa, arriving London Heathrow at c. 2.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,560 or £2,450 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,890 or £2,780 without flights. Included meals: 2 lunches (both including wine tastings) and 5 dinners wine.
How strenuous? This tour should only be considered by those who are used to regular country walking, with some uphill content. Strong knees and ankles are essential, as are a pair of wellworn hiking boots with good ankle support. Walks have been carefully selected but some steep rises are unavoidable and terrain can be loose under foot, particularly in wet weather, and if you are used to using them, may find walking poles useful. There are five walks of between 3 and 6 miles. Average distance by coach per day: 44 miles
A leisurely exploration of one of the most beautiful and engaging of Tuscan cities. Exceptional ramparts enclosing a city rich in sculpture, painting, and Romanesque architecture. Led by art historian Dr Antonia Whitley, specialist in the Italian Renaissance. Excursions to Prato, Pistoia, Pisa and Barga. Work by renowned masters, including Filippo Lippi, Donatello and Jacopo della Quercia. Nowhere in Tuscany can claim to be undiscovered. Some places are more undiscovered than others, however, and for no good reason Lucca is one of the most underrated of ancient Tuscan cities. Many know of its exceptional attractions, but few allow themselves the opportunity of getting to know it properly. Only by staying for several nights, and by allowing time to absorb, observe and reflect can real familiarity develop – not only with its historic fabric and works of art but also with the rhythm of life of its current inhabitants. For Lucca is not a museum but an agreeable and vital lived-in city. To the approaching visitor, Lucca immediately announces its distinctiveness and its historical importance, while at the same time secreting the true extent and glory of its built heritage. The perfectly preserved circumvallation of pink brick, ringed by the green sward of the grass glacis, is one of the most complete and formidable set of ramparts in Italy. Unlike many Tuscan cities, Lucca sits on the valley floor. This feature and the traces of the grid-like street pattern – albeit given a mediaeval inflection – betray its Roman origin. Within the walls, the city is a compelling masonry document of the Middle Ages. There is a superb collection of Romanesque churches with the distinctive feature of tiers of arcades applied to the façades. There is good sculpture, too, including the exquisite tomb of Ilaria del Carretto, and some quite exceptional (and exceptionally early) panel paintings. Looming over the dense net of narrow streets are the imposing palazzi of the mercantile elite, including some grand ones from the age of Baroque. The Romanesque theme of the tour is continued on the excursions to the nearby cities of Prato, Pistoia and Pisa, where the style has its greatest manifestation in Tuscany in the ensemble of cathedral, baptistery and campanile (the now not-quite-so-leaning tower) at Pisa. Likewise, mediaeval sculpture features prominently in all these places. The Renaissance is represented by some of the best loved works of the Florentine masters – by Filippo Lippi and Donatello at Prato cathedral, for example, and by the della Robbia workshop in Pistoia. There are also visits to small towns and to a country villa of the eighteenth century.
Group size: between 10 and 18 participants. Illustration: Lucca, arch from the façade of S. Michele, etching from ‘The Seven Lamps of Architecture’ by John Ruskin, 1901.
‘The lecturer’s deep knowledge and reflective approach was most stimulating.’ Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 12.00pm from London Gatwick to Pisa (British Airways) and drive to Lucca. On the way visit the Romanesque basilica of S. Piero a Grado. Day 2. Lucca. Visit S. Michele in Foro and the cathedral of S. Martino, Romanesque churches with important sculptures (tomb of Ilaria del Carretto) and paintings, and the Villa Guinigi, a rare survival of a 14th-century suburban villa and now a museum with outstanding mediaeval panel paintings. In the afternoon drive to the Villa Torrigiani which has a 19th-century landscaped garden with a sunken garden from the 17th century. Day 3. Prato. Drive inland to Prato, a city that built its wealth on cloth-working. The mediaeval cathedral has outstanding Renaissance sculpture and painting, notably Donatello’s pulpit with dancing putti and the Filippo Lippi frescoes. Visit also the Museo di Palazzo Pretorio, open after a long period of restoration, housing works by both Lippis, among others. Day 4. Barga, Lucca. Drive up through forested hills to Barga, a delightful little town with a fine Romanesque cathedral at its summit. The afternoon in Lucca is free. Day 5. Pistoia. The exceptionally attractive town of Pistoia has important art and architecture. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Accommodation. Relais Il Chiostro, Pienza (anghelhotels.it): 4-star former friary dating to the 15th century close to the main square; bedrooms vary in size and are simply decorated and furnished; the gardens and terrace have an impressive view and the restaurant serves good Tuscan cooking. Relais Vignale, Radda in Chianti (vignale.it): 4-star 17th-century manor house with historical links to Chianti wine production; several lounges, terrace with valley view, restaurant and outdoor pool; rooms vary in size.
24–30 September 2018 (mf 181) 7 days • £2,180 Lecturer: Dr Antonia Whitley
Lucca continued
Tastes of Le Marche Gastronomy, walks and hilltop towns in undiscovered Italy
Buildings include the octagonal baptistry and the cathedral, both at one end of the main square, and the Renaissance hospital, Ospedale del Ceppo. Sculpture includes the pulpit in Sant’Andrea carved by Giovanni Pisano, one of the finest Gothic sculptures south of the Alps, and a unique silver altarpiece in the cathedral, the product of 150 years’ workmanship. Day 6. Pisa. In the High Middle Ages Pisa was one of the most powerful maritime city-states in the Mediterranean, the rival of Venice and Genoa, deriving great wealth from its trade with the Levant. The ‘Campo dei Miracoli’ is a magnificent Romanesque ensemble of cathedral, monumental burial ground, campanile (‘Leaning Tower’) and baptistery, all of gleaming white marble. Among the major artworks here are the pulpit by Nicola Pisano (1260) and the 14th-century Triumph of Death fresco. Day 7. Lucca. Visit the Romanesque church of S. Frediano, one of the finest in Lucca, with façade mosaics and chapel tombs sculpted by Jacopo della Quercia. The flight from Pisa arrives into London Gatwick at c. 8.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,180 or £2,050 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,420 or £2,290 without flights. Included meals: 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Ilaria, Lucca (hotelilaria. com): an excellently situated 4-star within the city walls, with friendly staff. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking, much of it on roughly paved streets. There is a lot of standing in churches and galleries. The tour is not suitable for anyone who has difficulties with everyday walking and stair climbing. Average distance by coach per day: 39 miles Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Art in the Po Valley, 30 September–7 October 2018 (p.112); Palladian Villas, 2–7 October 2018 (p.104).
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Torre del Lago August 2018 Details available in April 2018 Please contact us to register your interest
Illustration: Ascoli Piceno, SS Vincenzo and Anastasia, from ‘The Shores of the Adriatic: the Italian Side’, by F. Hamilton Jackson 1906.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235. What else is included in the price? See page 7. 128
17–24 September 2018 (mf 161) 8 days • £3,180 Lecturer: Marc Millon Unspoilt and exceedingly picturesque – one of the least-visited and most compelling regions of Italy. A gastronomy that reflects a varied geology, along ancient byways from the Apennines to the Adriatic. Includes three country walks to work up an appetite: one on a mountain, one on the plain and one in search of truffles. Led by Marc Millon, wine, food and travel writer, author of The Food Lover’s Companion to Italy. Located on the Adriatic coast in the centre of Italy, Le Marche is one of Italy’s still-to-be-discovered regions. Its wonderful cuisine and wines, which display influences from mountain and sea and range from sophisticated flavours in the north to more robust tastes in the south, are a well-kept and delicious secret. The region’s history dates back to ancient times. Vitally strategic Roman roads passed through: Via Salaria, the salt road that ran from Rome to the Adriatic through Ascoli Piceno; Via Flaminia, which reached the sea at Fanum Fortunae (present-day Fano), and from there linked up with Via Emilia to the north. Gastronomically there is splendid variety: hearty mountain stews contrast with fresh seaside dishes; the refined foods of northern Italy melding with the more robust and sometimes piccante flavours of the Mezzogiorno. Here coniglio – rabbit – is stuffed with fennel, garlic and chilli ‘in porchetta’, while mussels – moscioli in local dialect – are served over spaghetti. Vincisgrassi is the local baked pasta, a fulsome concoction made with lasagna, ragù, chicken livers, prosciutto, béchamel and sometimes black truffles from Acqualagna. These are foods to satisfy the appetites of hunters, country folk and fishermen. Yet, notwithstanding the simple pleasures of cibo della strada (street food) such as the fried olive ascolane or piadina
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hot off the griddle, Le Marche is also home to one of Italy’s greatest temples of gastronomy: at Ristorante Uliassi we’ll experience modern seaside dining at its most sophisticated. Le Marche’s cuisine is pleasurably washed down with some of Italy’s most undervalued wines. The Verdicchio grape, once used to produce indifferent wines bottled in the distinctive lollobrigida (the ‘sexy bottle’ was supposed to suggest a Greek amphora), has become one of Italy’s most characterful white grapes, producing wines of concentration and elegance. Little-known Pecorino can be equally delightful. Red wines, notably Rosso Piceno and Rosso Conero, are simply outstanding. This tour also includes three moderately strenuous walks: on the crest of a mountain, with views inland to the Monti Sibillini and down over some of the prettiest beaches on the Adriatic; in a charming nature reserve; and a (real, not simulated) truffle hunt. The rewards are more than worth the effort, not least in helping work up appetites to enjoy Le Marche’s outstanding cuisine.
Itinerary Day 1: Ascoli Piceno. Fly at c. 12.45pm (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Rome Fiumicino. Drive to Ascoli Piceno, an exceptionally attractive little city, ringed by rivers and wooded hills, where three nights are spent. Day 2: Ascoli Piceno. Explore the centre of Ascoli, an unspoilt agglomeration of mediaeval, Renaissance and Baroque buildings around arcaded squares and narrow streets. The walk ends at a producer of the delicate olive ascolane: sweet and juicy green olives stuffed with aromatised meat and fried in breadcrumbs. Watch how they are made and taste them here. In the afternoon visit a family-run distillery of anisetta on the outskirts of the town. Evening aperitivo at the distillery’s town-centre seat, a historic café in Piazza del Popolo. Day 3: Piattoni, San Savino di Ripatransone. Visit the Borgo Storico Seghetti Panichi, a
bioenergetic garden and park. Tour of the garden with the Principessa Giulia Panichi Pignatelli followed by a cooking demonstration and lunch in the restaurant. North-east of Ascoli lies the Piceno wine region, a landscape characterised by vineyards interspersed with olive groves and farms. Visit the Cocci Grifoni winery and vineyards, a historic estate whose owner’s vision and tenacity facilitated the revival and success of Pecorino wine. Day 4: Monte Conero, Castelfidardo, Recanati. Morning walk on Monte Conero, which dominates the coastline south of Ancona. Gradually descend from the Abbey of S. Pietro to Poggio, down woodland paths that open onto superb panoramic viewpoints. Length: c. 5 km, duration c. 2 hours. Ascent: 511m, descent: 733m. Continue to Portonovo, home to the pescatori dei moscioli (designated a Slow Food Presidio product). Meet the fishermen and taste the mussels over lunch. Drive to Garofoli, Le Marche’s oldest wine producer, for a tour and vertical tasting. Continue to Recanati, where two nights are spent. Day 5: Urbisaglia, Colmurano. Visit the Abbey of Fiastra, one of the best-preserved Cistercian abbeys in Italy, followed by a walk in the Riserva Naturale Abbadia di Fiastra. Follow the river Fiastra through woodland into a gentle landscape in a valley of vine-covered hills. Length c. 6.5 km, c. 2 1/2 hours. Ascent: 341m, descent: 355m. Continue to an agriturismo for a visit to the orto (vegetable garden) a tasting of local beer, salami and cheese and a traditional Marchegiano lunch. Day 6: Loreto, Senigallia, Urbino. Spend the morning in Loreto, where some of the finest artists and architects of Renaissance Italy worked,
including Bramante, Signorelli, Melozzo da Forli and Lotto. Continue to Senigallia for lunch at Uliassi, one of the best restaurants in Italy, with two Michelin stars. Continue to Urbino, Duke Federico da Montefeltro’s principal residence and one of Italy’s loveliest towns, where the following two nights are spent. See the exquisite Gothic frescoes in the Oratorio di S. Giovanni. Day 7: Acqualagna, Urbino. Some consider Acqualagna to be Italy’s truffle capital. There is a truffle hunt near here this morning, then a visit to a truffle-processing plant. Sample the truffles over lunch in a nearby restaurant. Return to Urbino to visit the Palazzo Ducale, a masterpiece of architecture which evolved over 30 years as the perfect Renaissance secular environment. Day 8: Cartoceto. Visit Gastronomia Beltrami, a cheesemaker and vendor, and see the formaggio di fossa, Pecorino cheese-aged in wells. Olive oil and cheese tasting before a light lunch. Continue to Bologna airport and fly to London Heathrow, arriving c. 8.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,180 or £3,000 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,490 or £3,310 without flights. Included meals: 6 lunches, 4 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Palazzo Guiderocchi, Ascoli Piceno (palazzoguiderocchi.com): converted Renaissance palace in the heart of the city, which retains many original features. Gallery Hotel, Recanati (ghr.it): former private palazzo, the rooms are furnished and decorated in a contemporary style. Hotel San Domenico, Urbino
Marc Millon Wine, food and travel writer. Born in Mexico, he was raised in the USA and then studied at the University of Exeter. He lives in Devon where he is closely involved with the food scene of the West Country. He is author of The Wine Roads of France, The Wine Roads of Italy, The Food Lover’s Companion to Italy and The Taste of Britain.
(viphotels.it): converted from a monastery building and the most centrally located hotel, opposite the Ducal Palace. How strenuous? It is essential for participants to be in good physical condition and to be used to walks in the countryside with some uphill and downhill content. The tour also involves walking in town centres, sometimes uphill and over unevenly paved ground. Some days involve a lot of driving through hilly terrain. Average distance by coach per day: 78 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Courts of Northern Italy, 9–16 September 2018 (p.108); The Imperial Riviera, 10–16 September 2018 (p.107); Walking Hadrian’s Wall, 10–16 September 2018 (p.16).
Illustration: Loreto, copper engraving 1700.
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The Duchy of Urbino The Renaissance in the Marches The Duchy of Urbino is located in the north of Le Marche, the Italian Marches, the name deriving from its tenth-century status as the borderlands between the Ottonian empire to the north and the papal lands to the south. Remoteness from the centre led to the emergence of local warlords, territorial fragmentation and de facto independence. The Buonconte dynasty had controlled Montefeltro for two hundred years before Federico II succeeded in 1444 at the age of 22. During his 38-year tenure he expanded his domains at the expense of his Malatesta and Sforza neighbours, but the source of his fortune was his generalship of the armies of the great powers of Italy, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of Naples, switching sides without scruple, and accepting tribute from lesser powers just to stay away. He was made a duke by the pope in 1474. His son Guidobaldo and his Delle Rovere successors continued artistic patronage though on a much reduced scale. Stagnation set in after the duchy reverted to the Church in 1631. One recurrent feature of this tour is military architecture, castles and city walls of huge variety and sometimes extraordinary beauty. There are also many fine paintings, in galleries and original settings.
Itinerary 2–8 June 2018 (me 892) 7 days • £2,390 Lecturer: Dr Thomas-Leo True Trawls through the little-visited hills and valleys of the Marches, and along its coast. Some world-class items, but for the most part the pleasures of this tour arise from the lesser treasures in remote and unspoilt communities in a kaleidoscope of breathtaking scenery. Led by Dr Thomas-Leo True, expert art historian specialising in Renaissance and Baroque architecture of the Papal States, and former resident of the Marches.
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By inheritance lord of a marginal patch of mountainous territory, by profession a mercenary soldier, by scale of expenditure the most important Maecenas of his day: Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, was one of the most fascinating and influential characters of Renaissance Italy. His palace at Urbino is the finest Early Renaissance courtly residence in existence, a sequence of interiors of serene beauty. He was also the paymaster for many other buildings, civil and military, throughout the duchy. Even more important for the subsequent history of civilization than the architecture was what took place within these buildings, for his court attracted humanists, artists and young noblemen from all over Italy and beyond. Two examples: Raphael spent his first twelve years here (his father was court painter), and for centuries the manners and demeanour in the upper echelons of European society were under the influence of Urbino court life as described by Baldassare Castiglione in The Courtier. 130
Day 1: San Leo. Fly at c. 8.30am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Bologna. Drive along the Via Emilia and turn into the hills marking the northern border of the Duchy of Urbino and constituting the Montefeltro heart lands, guarded by the famously impregnable castle of San Leo. Introductory walk in this tiny mountain town, which has a marvellously unspoilt Romanesque church and, atop a limestone cliff, one of the most dramatically sited castles in all Europe. Overnight San Leo. Day 2: Sassocorvaro, Urbino. Mountain drives lead to the castle of Sassocorvaro and another staggeringly beautiful hill road climbs to Urbino, Duke Federico’s principal residence and one of Italy’s loveliest hilltop towns. An afternoon walk takes in the outstanding International Gothic frescoes by the Salimbeni brothers, cathedral and Diocesan Museum. First of five nights in Urbino. Day 3: Mondavio, Senigallia, Fano. Two of the most extraordinary and beautiful examples of Renaissance fortifications are seen today: the multifaceted brick castle at Mondavio and, in the coastal town of Senigallia, the sedate quadrangular fort and palace within. Also in Senigallia are a Neoclassical market place and arcaded waterfront. In Fano see an altarpiece by Perugino. Day 4: Sant’Angelo in Vado, Mercatello sul Metauro, Urbania. Drop down to the Metauro river and follow the valley to the foothills of the Apennines. The small towns of Mercatello sul Metauro and Sant’Angelo in Vado retain well preserved mediaeval and Renaissance centres and paintings from the 13th to 17th centuries. Urbania is a charming town with a fortified palace built for Federico and modified for the last Duke of Urbino, whose tomb is in the town.
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Dr Thomas-Leo True Specialist in Renaissance and Baroque Italian art and architecture. He received his doctorate from Cambridge University, and worked at Sir John Soane’s Museum, London. Since 2015 he has been Assistant Director of the British School at Rome, the UK’s leading humanities research centre abroad for the study of art, architecture and archaeology across the Mediterranean. Day 5: Urbino. Unravel the building history and examine the interior of the finest Renaissance palace in Italy, built over half a century from the 1450s for the dukes of Urbino, with the loveliest of all arcaded courtyards, serene halls of state, beautifully carved ornament and exquisite study. The art collection includes paintings by Piero della Francesca, Raphael and Titian. Day 6: Gubbio. One of the most beautiful hill towns in Umbria, Gubbio has a hillside piazza overlooking the lower town, formidable mediaeval palaces and the Ducal Palace, bestpreserved of Federico da Montefeltro’s residences outside Urbino. Day 7: Pesaro. A prosperous port and centre of ceramic production, Pesaro was won successively by the Malatesta, Sforza and Delle Rovere dynasties before returning to papal rule in 1631. The art gallery contains Bellini’s great Coronation of the Virgin, perhaps his masterpiece. Fly from Bologna, arriving London Heathrow at c. 8.20pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,390 or £2,230 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,660 or £2,500 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch, 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Castello, San Leo (hotelristorantecastellosanleo.com): small 2-star hotel, simple but adequately comfortable, the lack of luxury more than compensated for by its location in the heart of this beautiful hill village. Hotel San Domenico, Urbino (viphotels.it): 4-star hotel converted from a monastery building and the best to be found right in the centre of the city, opposite the ducal palace. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking, much of it uphill and on rough-hewn cobbles. There is also quite a lot of driving along minor hill roads. Average distance by coach per day: 63 miles. Group size: between 8 and 22 participants.
Illustration: Urbino, Ducal Palace, watercolour c. 1900.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Gardens & Villas of Campagna Romana From formal to frivolous in spectacular settings 9–14 April 2018 (me 813) 6 days • £2,390 Lecturer: Dr Katie Campbell Renaissance villas and gardens, many accessible only by special arrangement. Led by Dr Katie Campbell, writer, garden historian and lecturer. Ideal time of year to see the gardens in bloom. A beguiling scenery of tufa hills and ‘classical’ compositions. The countryside around Rome has long been the playground of the privileged, but it was in the sixteenth century that the region of Lazio took the lead in garden design. The wealthy families of popes and cardinals such as the Farnese and Este commissioned villas and gardens in the campagna romana to escape from the noise and worldly cares of the capital to places of tranquillity and repose. Vasari wrote of Caprarola in the sixteenth century that it was ‘marvellously situated for one who wishes to withdraw from the worries and tumult of the city’. But Renaissance gardens developed to offer more than a haven of peace and a chance for contemplation; they also provided the patron with the opportunity to vaunt his knowledge of the antique world. Garden design and ornamentation were steeped in references to classical mythology. Gardens also became places of entertainment, whether formal or frivolous. The use of water tricks or giochi d’acqua – allowing the owner to ‘drown’ an unsuspecting visitor at the pull of a hidden lever – is a prime example of the latter. The towns, villas and gardens to the north of Rome are set against a backdrop of an almost fantasy, surreal landscape: villages perch high on volcanic outcrops, villas and gardens are carved out of purple tufa. To the west and south of Rome this often extraordinary scenery gives way to more classically pastoral scenes, offering glimpses of Claude Lorrain’s inspiration for many of his depictions of the campagna romana, which in turn became the foundation of the landscape style of gardens in eighteenth-century England.
Day 1. Fly at c. 10.45am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Rome Fiumicino. Drive to the countryside near Viterbo where the first two nights are spent. Day 2: Bagnaia, Caprarola. The Villa Lante at Bagnaia, designed by Vignola, has been universally admired since its creation: the twin casinos are subordinate to the design of the delightful terraced gardens with restored giochi d’acqua and fountain by Giambologna. On a hilltop at Caprarola, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese had an imposing pentagonal villa built by Vignola, with an extensive park adorned with fountains, walled gardens and a casino. Day 3: Bomarzo, Vignanello. Vicino Orsini created a Renaissance ‘theme park’ at Bomarzo of extraordinary grotesque animals and statues based on figures from Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso. Visit the Renaissance Castello Ruspoli and its
Day 4: Tivoli. Spend the morning at Hadrian’s Villa, designed entirely by him and inspired by sites he visited during his travels in the Empire, undoubtedly the richest building project in the Roman Empire. Lunch is in a good restaurant with astonishing views. The vast garden at Villa d’Este became one of the classic visits on the Grand Tour. Day 5: Ninfa, Torrecchia Vecchia. Drive to Ninfa, one of the most famous and best-loved English gardens abroad, where the ruined buildings of a mediaeval town have been transformed into a place so extraordinarily beautiful that it has long been a place of pilgrimage for gardeners. Continue to Torrecchia Vecchia, a 15-acre Romantic garden also within the crumbling walls of a mediaeval hilltop village, designed by Dan Pearson.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,390 or £2,130 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,630 or £2,370 without flights. Included meals: 3 lunches, 4 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Alla Corte delle Terme, near Viterbo (allacortedelleterme.it): comfortable 4-star in the countryside outside Viterbo. All rooms are suites. Park Hotel Villa Grazioli, Grottaferrata (villagrazioli.com): 4-star hotel overlooking Frascati and Rome, in a 16th-century villa containing frescoes by Ciampelli, Carracci and Pannini. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking, much of it on rough, uneven ground in gardens. This would not be suitable for anyone who has difficulties with everyday walking and stair climbing. Average coach travel per day: 60 miles.
Day 6: Castel Gandolfo. Visit the Pope’s gardens, overlooking the lake of Castel Gandolfo and only recently opened to the public (by special arrangement). Fly from Rome, arriving Heathrow at c. 5.00pm.
Combine this tour with: Palladian Villas, 3–8 April 2018 (p.104).
Some of the gardens can only be visited by special arrangement and it is possible that the order of visits will change from that listed here.
Illustration: Tivoli, Villa d’Este, wood engraving c. 1880.
Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
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enchanting gardens (by special arrangement). First of three nights in Grottaferrata, near Frascati.
Essential Rome The complete spectrum of art, architecture and antiquities 20–26 February 2018 (me 761) 7 days • £2,780 Lecturer: Dr Thomas-Leo True Major buildings, monuments and works of art, a representative selection of all periods from Ancient Rome onwards. Led by Dr Thomas-Leo True, an art historian specialising in Renaissance and Baroque architecture in Rome, and Assistant Director of the British School at Rome. Private visit to the Sistine Chapel, shared with participants travelling on Connoisseur’s Rome (see opposite). Rome presents three major challenges to the cultural traveller. First, it is big. Items of major importance – many of which on their own would make any town in the world worth visiting – are generously strewn through an area that is approximately four miles in diameter. The second problem is that there are hundreds of such places in the city. The third is that these items are from such a wide span of time, well over two millennia, for much of which Rome was the pre-eminent city in its sphere – as capital of the Roman Republic and Empire, as centre of western Christianity, a role regained with consequent splendour with the triumph of the Catholic Reformation and finally, from 1871, as capital of a united Italy.
Over the years MRT has devised many tours to Rome, but apart from at Christmas hitherto they have all attempted only a single episode or theme – Ancient, Mediaeval, Baroque; Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Raphael, music. This is our only tour that selects from the whole range of Rome’s heritage. The key has been generally to give preference to geography over chronology, proximity over theme. Meandering walks explore a particular district, picking out the most significant buildings and works of art, enjoying alluring vistas as they arise, glimpsing major and minor treasures – whatever period they belong to. It is fair to say that the itinerary includes most of the most important places and works of art in Rome. There is a lot of walking, though regular use is made of minibuses and taxis (rarely of cumbersome coaches, which are highly restricted in the city centre). Not every place seen is mentioned in the description below, and the order may differ. There is, incidentally, almost no overlap with Connoisseurs’ Rome except for the private visit to the Sistine Chapel.
‘The private visit to the Sistine chapel and Vatican Museum was an absolute highlight.’
Rome, Trajan’s column, lithograph c. 1850.
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book online at www.martinrandall.com
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 9.30am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Rome. The tour starts with the glorious Byzantine mosaics in the churches of Sta. Maria Maggiore and Sta. Prassede. Day 2. Among today’s highlights are the Pantheon, the best preserved of Roman monuments (whose span was only twice exceeded in the next 1,750 years); the lively and wonderfully adorned Piazza Navona, which retains the shape of the Roman hippodrome on which it was built; and the 5thcentury church of Sta. Sabina, as perfect an Early Christian basilica as survives anywhere. See also S. Ivo, a masterpiece of Baroque architecture with a cupola designed by Borromini, and two Roman temples, of Vesta and Fortuna Virile. Day 3. The Basilica of St Peter in the Vatican was the outcome of the greatest architects of several generations – Bramante, Raphael, Sangallo, Michelangelo – and contains major sculpture. Originally Emperor Hadrian’s mausoleum, Castel S. Angelo became a fortress in the Middle Ages and a residence in the Renaissance. After some free time, return to the Vatican in the evening for a private visit to see Michelangelo’s frescoes in the
Connoisseur’s Rome With private visits including the Sistine Chapel Sistine Chapel in peace, together with Raphael’s frescoes in the adjacent Stanze. Day 4. The morning includes the superb sculpture of the Altar of Peace (Ara Pacis) erected by Augustus, paintings by Pinturicchio and Caravaggio in Sta. Maria del Popolo, and a walk in the Pincio Gardens (good views across Rome) to the Spanish Steps. The Palazzo Barberini is a great palace which became Rome’s National Gallery, with paintings by most of the Italian Old Masters. The Galleria Borghese is Rome’s finest collection of painting and sculpture. Day 5. Drive in the morning to three contrasting churches largely or partly dating to the early Middle Ages: the 6th-century circular Mausoleum of Sta. Costanza, the historically complex but exceptionally beautiful Basilica of S. Clemente, and St John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome. The afternoon is free. Day 6. The day is largely devoted to Ancient Rome, beginning with the Colosseum, largest of all amphitheatres, completed ad 80. The Forum has evocative remains of the key temples and civic buildings at the heart of the Roman Empire. The present appearance of the Capitol, first centre of ancient Rome, was designed by Michelangelo, and the surrounding palazzi are museums with outstanding ancient sculpture and a collection of paintings. Day 7. Before departing for the airport, visit two churches to see paintings by Caravaggio, S. Agostino (Loreto Madonna) and S. Luigi dei Francesi (St Matthew series). Return to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 4.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,780 or £2,590 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,190 or £3,000 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Residenza di Ripetta, Rome (residenzadiripetta.com): recently renovated 4-star hotel in a former 17th-century convent just south of Piazza del Popolo with spacious rooms.
Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Villas & Palaces of Rome November 2018 Lecturer: Dr Michael Douglas-Scott Details available in August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Illustration, right: Gardens of the Villa Borghese, watercolour by Alberto Pisa, publ. 1905.
Itinerary
Artistic riches which are difficult to access or are rarely open to the public, including an out-ofhours visit to the Sistine Chapel.
Day 2. See Bernini’s oval church of S. Andrea, and in the attached monastery the rooms of St Stanislav Kostka with sculpture by Pierre Legros. The ceiling fresco by Guido Reni in the Casino dell’Aurora in the garden of the Palazzo Pallavicini Rospigliosi is one of the greatest works of 17th-century classicism. In the afternoon visit the Sancta Sanctorum, adjacent to St John Lateran, part of the mediaeval papal residence and decorated with Cosmati mosaics dating to 1278.
Highlights of the Renaissance and Baroque. Led by Dr Michael Douglas-Scott, specialist in Renaissance Italian art. As appealing for those new to the city as for frequent visitors. Many of Rome’s artistic riches are not easily accessible to the visitor. The emphasis of this tour is on places which are difficult to access or which are rarely open to the public – on treasures which lie beyond normally impenetrable portals. Privileged access also takes the form of visits to places outside their normal opening hours. Instead of sharing the Sistine Chapel with hundreds of others, around forty Martin Randall Travel clients, from two tours which do not otherwise meet, will have the place to themselves for a couple of hours. The two tours overlap so that the high cost of private admission to the Vatican museums is spread between the two. What we manage to include varies each time we run the tour. Though it is likely that most of the places mentioned in the itinerary given below will be visited, arrangements depend on the generosity of owners and institutions and are occasionally subject to cancellation, but our network of contacts and know-how would enable us to arrange alternatives. Some better-known and generally accessible places are included in the itinerary as well, so the tour should appeal both to those who are unfamiliar with the city as well as to those who have been many times before.
Day 1. Fly at c. 12.45pm (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Rome Fiumicino.
Day 3. In the morning visit the stunning collection of sculpture and painting in the Villa Borghese. Continue to the Villa Ludovisi, which houses Caravaggio’s early ceiling painting Jupiter, Neptune & Pluto. In the evening there is a private visit to the Vatican to see the Sistine Chapel and the adjacent Stanze. With Michelangelo’s ceiling fresco, his Last Judgement on the end wall and the quattrocento wall frescoes, together with Raphael’s frescoes in the Stanze, this is the most precious assemblage of painting in the western world. Day 4. Visit the 16th-century Villa Medici, now the seat of the French Academy. Palazzo della Cancelleria, begun in 1485 by Cardinal Raffaele Riario, is a masterpiece of Early Renaissance secular architecture and has frescoes by Vasari of the life of Pope Paul III. The delightful Villa La Farnesina has frescoes by Raphael. Day 5. Palazzo Colonna is an agglomeration of building and decoration of many centuries, and has a collection which includes works by Bronzino, Titian, Veronese and Guercino. The 17th-century Great Hall is surely one of the most magnificent secular rooms in Europe. Palazzo Doria Pamphilj holds a famous picture collection (Caravaggio, Velasquez), and S. Ignazio has an illusionistic ceiling painting by Andrea del Pozzo. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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How strenuous? Unavoidably, there is a lot of walking. The historic area is vast, and vehicular access is increasingly restricted. Minibuses are used occasionally but otherwise the city is traversed on foot. Fitness is essential. Average distance by coach per day: 9 miles.
20–25 February 2018 (me 760) 6 days • £2,710 Lecturer: Dr Michael Douglas-Scott
Connoisseur’s Rome continued
The Printing Revolution Renaissance print culture in Rome and Venice
Dr Michael Douglas-Scott Associate Lecturer in History of Art at Birkbeck College, specialising in 16th-century Italian art and architecture. He studied at the Courtauld and lived in Rome for several years. He has written articles for Arte Veneta, Burlington Magazine and the Journal of the Warburg & Courtauld Institutes.
Day 6. Some free time. Fly from Rome Fiumicino, arriving at London Heathrow at c. 7.00pm. This gives a fair picture of the tour, but there may be substitutes for some places mentioned and the order of visits will probably differ.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,710 or £2,520 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,040 or £2,850 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Bernini Bristol (berninibristol.com): 5-star hotel excellently located on the Piazza Barberini. How strenuous? Unavoidably, there is a lot of walking on this tour. The historic area is vast, and vehicular access is increasingly restricted. Minibuses are used on some occasions but otherwise the city is traversed on foot. The tour should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stairclimbing. Fitness is essential. Average distance by coach per day: 9 miles Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
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‘I feel very privileged to have been to many of the sites. They were once-in-a-lifetime experiences.’
13–19 November 2017 (me 696) This tour is currently full 5–12 March 2018 (me 767) This tour is currently full The arrival and impact of printing in Renaissance Italy: manuscripts, printed books and the visual arts 1450–1600. Special displays of manuscripts and books and privileged access to spaces not usually seen by the public. Accompanied by two expert lecturers: a British Library curator and an art historian specialising in the Italian Renaissance. No more than 18 participants.
Illustration: Rome, Vatican Library, wood engraving c. 1880.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235. What else is included in the price? See page 7. 134
This tour is very popular, and both the 2017 and 2018 departures are already full. Due to the special nature of the visits, we are unlikely to be able to run it more than once in 2018.
book online at www.martinrandall.com
This tour explores the culture of Renaissance Rome and Venice from a new and unusual perspective – the history of printing. The arrival of printing in Rome in the 1460s, followed by the exponential growth of publishing in Venice, had far-reaching and profound consequences. It was nothing less than an information revolution. Beginning in Rome and at the first site of printing in Italy, the Benedictine monastery at Subiaco, the tour introduces the new technology and what this entailed for the way books were made, bought, collected and read. It shows how the transition from manuscript to print took place, and presents the leading personalities involved in the advancement of printing – cardinals, aristocrats, scholars, printers and booksellers. Many of the great collections of manuscript codices and printed books which were built at the time survive intact today in splendidly decorated libraries. Foremost among them was the Pope’s own library, the ‘Biblioteca Apostolica’, buried within the great Vatican complex. The story continues in Venice, which in the sixteenth century became the European centre
The Etruscans Italy before Rome of the publishing and bookselling trades. The monumental libraries here, places of architectural beauty themselves, house some of the greatest collections of illustrated books and manuscripts. The focus of this tour leads not only to an understanding of the role of printing in Renaissance culture but also to an enhanced appreciation of the art of the period, and an understanding of the place of the book in early modern history.
17–23 September 2018 (mf 158) 7 days • £2,090 Lecturer: Dr Nigel Spivey
Itinerary in 2018 Day 1. Fly at c. 12.45pm from London Heathrow to Rome Fiumicino (British Airways). Day 2: Subiaco. Drive to the Roman countryside to visit the Benedictine monasteries at Subiaco, the first site of printing in Italy. In the library of Sta. Scolastica there are copies of the first books printed there, including Lactantius’ De divinis institutionibus, printed in 1465. Day 3: Rome. Spend the morning in the Vatican, visiting the Pope’s own library, the ‘Biblioteca Apostolica’ (by special arrangement) and the Vatican Museums. In the afternoon there is an outof-hours visit to see Raphael’s frescoes in Villa La Farnesina, where there was once a printing press. The Palazzo Farnese, now the French embassy, is the most magnificent Renaissance palace in Rome. Day 4: Rome. The Biblioteca Casanatense belonged to the Dominicans, who were in charge of attempts to control printing by means of the Index of Prohibited Books. The Biblioteca Angelica was the first public library in Europe. In the afternoon there is a printing demonstration at the Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica in the Palazzo Poli, which abuts the Trevi fountain. Day 5: Rome, Venice. Travel from Rome to Venice by first class rail (c. 4 hours). Transfer to the hotel by private motoscafo (water-taxi). After settling in, visit the beautiful Biblioteca Marciana in the Piazzetta S. Marco. Begun in 1536 by Sansovino and finished by Scamozzi in 1591, among its collections are many sculptures, Fra Mauro’s 1459 world map and important manuscripts and books.
Visits some of the most important and bestpreserved Etruscan sites in Lazio, Tuscany and Umbria.
would challenge the independent traveller, journeying through beautiful countryside via some of the most charming and under-visited towns in Lazio and Tuscany. Dr Nigel Spivey has excavated at the sites of Cerveteri and Tuscania, both visited by the group, and studied Etruscology at Rome, Cambridge and Pisa for a dissertation on Etruscan vases.
Explores a remote part of Italy’s history, and areas of Italy’s heartland which few tourists reach.
Itinerary
Led by Dr Nigel Spivey, Senior Lecturer in Classical Art and Archaeology at the University of Cambridge.
Day 1. Fly at c. 10.45am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Rome Fiumicino. Drive to near Viterbo, where the first five nights are spent.
‘The mysterious Etruscans’: for several centuries they flourished in the area between Rome and Florence, creating a federation of twelve cities and living in notorious splendour. Then, as the little village of Rome expanded into an empire-building Republic, the Etruscans succumbed, and were almost obliterated from history. Only since the nineteenth century has the extent of Etruscan civilization been brought to light, and the Etruscans restored as ‘true ancestors’ of modern Italy. Our route is an exploration of the best archaeological sites and museums in northern Lazio, southern Tuscany and along the Tyrrhenian coast. By burying their dead with care and extravagance in cemeteries laid out with urban grandeur, the Etruscans left many clues as to their existence. We follow their trail, which leads to tombs cut from cliffs and rocks amid rich agricultural land, museums in mediaeval castles and a ‘city of the dead’ shaped in volcanic stone. Brightly-painted scenes of feasting and dancing have been revealed on subterranean walls. This is a landscape riddled with tombs (about half a million of them), but the atmosphere is far from morbid. The tour offers an opportunity to visit a series of fascinating places on an itinerary that
Day 2: Tarquinia. The unesco site of the Necropoli dei Monterozzi, part of a once-thriving Etruscan city, has outstanding examples of painted tombs depicting everyday life and scenes of the journey to the next world. The charming but rarely visited town of Tarquinia has possibly the best Etruscan museum in Italy, housed in the splendid 15th-century Palazzo Vitelleschi. Its extensive collection of pottery, jewellery and carved sarcophagi is testament to the prosperity attained by Tarquinia over the course of the 7th and 6th centuries bc. In the afternoon visit Blera, which has examples of cube tombs dating from the 4th century bc. Day 3: Tuscania. Prosperous and powerful in Etruscan times, Tuscania is now a pretty hill town. Visit an underground funerary complex in the surrounding countryside, then see articles found here and in other tombs in the area in the archaeological museum in Tuscania. In the afternoon visit the Etruscan museum in Viterbo. Day 4: Sovana. In the archaeological park at Sovana walk along one of the Etruscan roads, Illustration: paintings from Cerveteri, wood engraving from ‘Cities & Cemeteries of Etruria’ 1878.
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Day 6: Venice. Andrea Palladio’s monastery of S. Giorgio Maggiore has a library, now part of the Fondazione Cini, which has one of the greatest collections of 16th-century illustrated books, broadsheets and pamphlets. The small monastic library attached to the church of S. Francesco della Vigna is the repository for all Franciscan libraries in northern Italy and houses the only copy of the first printed edition of the Koran (1537). The Museo Correr, the museum of the history of Venice, has a library containing many fine manuscripts and incunabula. Day 7: Cornuda. Travel to Tronchetto by vaporetto and from there drive to Cornuda, a small town in the foothills beyond Treviso. Visit the delightful Museo Tipoteca – the only museum of ‘type’ in the world (out-of-hours opening). The site holds more than 180 printing presses and typecasting machines. Lunch in the restaurant here before returning to Venice for some free time. Day 8. Travel by motoscafo to Venice airport and fly to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 2.15pm. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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The Etruscans continued
Memories of Monte Cassino Stars and scars of the Italian Campaign
flanked by towering walls of tufaceous rock, and see several noteworthy tombs, including the Tomba della Sirena, decorated with a sculpture of the mythological Scylla. Continue to picturesque Pitigliano for lunch. Day 5: Orvieto. Drive inland to Orvieto, a major centre of Etruscan civilization until it was destroyed by the Romans in 264 bc. The inscriptions above the tomb doorways in the necropolis are some of the most important in Etruria for deciphering Etruscan writings. Much of the pottery found here is displayed in the town’s two archaeological museums. Day 6: Cerveteri, Rome. In the morning drive down the coast to the unesco site at Cerveteri, a city of necropoleis ranging from the hut-like to the sumptuous, based on the homes of the city’s wealthy inhabitants. Continue to Rome to the Villa Giulia; home to many treasures found in Etruscan tombs, including the Sarcophagus of the Spouses. Overnight Rome. Day 7: Rome. Some free time. Fly from Rome, arriving at London Heathrow c. 4.45pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,090 or £1,880 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,260 or £2,050 without flights. Included meals: 5 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Alla Corte delle Terme, near Viterbo (allacortedelleterme.it): charming 4-star in the countryside outside of Viterbo, all rooms are suites. Hotel Bernini Bristol, Rome (berninibristol.com): luxurious 5-star hotel at the bottom of the Via Veneto, on Piazza Barberini. How strenuous? Unavoidably there is a lot of walking on this tour, much of it over uneven ground. It is not suitable for anyone who has difficulties with everyday walking and stairclimbing, as fitness and sure-footedness are essential. Coaches cannot always park near the sites, many of which are vast. Average distance by coach per day: 65 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
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Combine this tour with: Lucca, 24–30 September 2018 (p.127); Pompeii & Herculaneum, 24–29 September 2018 (p.140).
6–12 October 2017 (me 603) 7 days • £2,210 Lecturer: Patrick Mercer obe 12–18 October 2018 (mf 214) 7 days • £2,280 Lecturer: Patrick Mercer obe A walking tour offering unparalleled insight into a key moment in the Italian campaign, its history and landscape. Explore in depth some of the most famous, least understood battlefields of the Second World War. Led by a foremost military historian whose father fought in the campaign. Based throughout at a four-star hotel, the former headquarters of the German army in San Pietro.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235. What else is included in the price? See page 7. 136
There are many tours to Cassino, but few of them grasp how the Italian campaign of 1943-44 unhinged the strategy of Hitler and his generals right across the European theatre. Normandy and the subsequent fighting tended to dominate the news, so much so that British troops in Italy often ruefully referred to themselves as ‘D Day Dodgers’! However, this tour will show how political grit, strategic thinking and the dogged courage of the Allied forces in Italy were major factors in the downfall of the Third Reich.
book online at www.martinrandall.com
Similarly, much of the focus at the time centred on the monastery of Monte Cassino. Magnificently built, the medieval monastery dominated the surrounding countryside: the Allies claimed that their enemies were using it for military purposes, yet the Germans’ denial couldn’t save it from being bombed to rubble. This bombardment and the monastery’s subsequent capture by Polish troops are almost legendary, yet they are only a small part of the story. In fact, fighting raged from well before the first assault on Cassino and even then, the monastery was not the key to the cracking of the Gustav Line – the defences that stretched right across the knee of the Italian boot. Few people understand that the landings at Anzio (70 miles north of Cassino) were integral to success on the Gustav Line. Even fewer realise that for nearly six months General Mark Clark’s 5th Army struggled and bled right along the banks of the Garigliano river before the German strongholds were pierced by the French Corps – whose commander had previously fought with the Germans. Explore the breathtaking hills and villages near Cassino while tasting the valour of the men who seized them. The disastrous crossings of the Gari and Rapido rivers, the assaults on Minturno, Sant Ambrogio and Damiano, as well as the fighting around the monastery, are examined in detail. But what makes this tour extraordinary, beyond the scars and remains of battle, is the lecturer’s unique style of involving participants in the decisions that
the troops and commanders had to take whilst under fire. This is essentially an outdoor tour, with daily walks of up to two miles and moderate hills. But we will return at the end of each day to one luxurious hotel in the heart of the San Pietro battlefield; the perfect setting in which to appreciate how the ‘D Day Dodgers’ drove a stake into the heart of Nazism.
Itinerary Day 1: London to Naples. Fly from London Gatwick at c. 1.00pm to Naples (British Airways) and drive to the hotel at San Pietro. Drinks on the terrace and a talk on the strategic background to the Italian campaign and the landmarks of the surrounding countryside. Survey the monuments to the US 36th Texas Division to see where they grappled with the Germans. Overnight in San Pietro, where all six nights are spent. Day 2: Battle of Camino. A short drive away from the hotel lies the spectacular museum of the attack on Monte Lungo, where many of the tanks and vehicles and much of the weaponry that was used in these battles is on display. Ascend to the peak of Monte Camino from where the whole vista of the Gustav Line can be identified, with the prize of Rome in the distance. The hard fought actions by the Queen’s Regiment and the Brigade of Guards will be examined in detail. Day 3: The Battles for San Pietro. Having watched John Huston’s 1943 documentary film, ‘The Battle of San Pietro’, see for yourselves the initial attempts on the village, the armoured attack, the fighting among the buildings and the hiding places in which the civilian population sheltered. To complete the day, visit the spot where the US and Canadian Special Service Force captured the rocky heights of Monte La Difensa.
Day 5: The second and third Battles of Cassino. The impressive Polish Cemetery covers the slopes below the monastery and leads us up towards Snakeshead Ridge and the blood-soaked Point 593. From here the whole of the Allied objective of the Liri Valley is spread out below, while the arguments for and against the bombing of the monastery stand out starkly. The viscious fighting for Castle Hill and the New Zealanders’ attacks on the town of Cassino lead us to the Commonwealth Cemetery where men and women from every creed, race and regiment lie shoulder-to-shoulder. Day 6: Cassino, the final battle. Our final day takes us to the Liri Valley and the events of May 1944. Combining 5th and 8th Army’s muscle, Clark eventually cracked the Gustav Line, but not at Cassino – the French broke through well to
Day 7: Naples. As we drive to the airport to catch a mid-morning flight to Gatwick, the lecturer will sum-up the events of the winter and spring of 1943-44 before debating the advance on Rome and the capture of the first Axis capital. Fly Naples to Gatwick, arriving at c. 1.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person in 2017. Two sharing: £2,210 or £2,030 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,340 or £2,160 without flights. Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £2,280 or £2,100 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,410 or £2,230 without flights.
Patrick Mercer obe Military historian. He read History at Oxford and then spent 25 years in the army, achieving the rank of colonel, and subsequently worked for BBC Radio 4 as Defence Correspondent and as a journalist. He was MP for Newark from 2001 to 2014 and is the author of two books on the Battle of Inkerman. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants (2017); between 8 and 18 participants (2018). In 2018, combine this tour with: Courts of Northern Italy, 21–28 October 2018 (p.108).
Included meals: 5 lunches (including some packed lunches) and 6 dinners with wine. Accommodation. La Terrazza Sulla Storia Hotel, San Pietro d’Infine (laterrazzasullastoria.it): an attractive, 4-star hotel in restored 17th-century buildings overlooking a valley. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking (up to 2 miles) each day with modest hills on some days. There is also quite a lot of standing – up to 60 minutes’ – in exposed spots. Average distance by coach per day: 28 miles.
Images. Left: ‘When they call us D-Day Dodgers – which D-Day do they mean old man?’, by William John Philpin-Jones ‘JON’ the cartoonist, ©IWM. Above: The town of Cassino was completely destroyed in one of WW2’s most concentrated air bombings. The Monte Cassino Abbey was bombed in the same operation. Feb. 15, 1944. World War 2. Image used under license from shutterstock.com.
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Day 4: The first Battle of Cassino. The day starts with the first visit to Cassino monastery to appreciate the defences from the German point of view. Descend into the valley to examine the failure to cross the Rapido River – one of the most contentious stories of the entire campaign and which caused a Congressional Inquiry. Drive south to the Garigliano to consider the British failure to cross the river before the little known triumph of the 5th and 56th Divisions’ crossings around Minturno. A visit to the Commonwealth Cemetery in Minturno ends the day.
the south, in the Aurunci mountains. We will see where this happened, where the Allied armoured finally poured across the rivers that had blocked the way and how Rome beckoned so tantalisingly.
Roman Italy Major monuments, daily details which brutally terminated many thousands of lives in Pompeii and Herculaneum also preserved the fabric of these towns down to the minutest details of daily life to an extent unparalled anywhere else. It is these ephemera of everyday life which provide unique insight into the lives of people who lived two thousand years ago. The empathy provoked is potent and moving, and counterpoints eloquently with the grander achievements of Roman architects, engineers, soldiers and statesmen.
Itinerary 8–17 October 2018 (mf 207) 10 days • £3,440 Lecturer: Dr Mark Grahame Explore the most influential of all ancient civilisations through physical remains both in Rome itself and in Umbria and Campania. Great monuments and details of daily life, the highest achievements of art, architecture and engineering as well as everyday ephemera. A study of history, society and literary culture as well as of the built environment. Led by Dr Mark Grahame, lecturer on the Roman Empire at Oxford University’s Department of Continuing Education.
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The remains of Roman Italy continue to fascinate and astound, nowhere more so than in Rome itself. From the beating heart of the Republic in the Roman Forum to the seat of the emperors on the Palatine Hill, the monuments of Rome chart its history as it was transformed from a plucky little city-state to the magnificent capital of an empire of unprecedented size. The Colosseum, the Baths of Caracalla, Hadrian’s sprawling Villa at Tivoli – these are among the many stunningly impressive structures which bear silent testimony to political, social and cultural upheavals. But not all survivals were creations of the elite. Rome still retains traces of the quotidien, workaday city with which every Roman was familiar. Water flowed into the city through the aqueducts and goods came up from the port at Ostia via the Tiber. The piles of broken amphorae at the Monte Testaccio contrast with the luxury goods on display in museums. Spiritual life is present too, in the many temples, Augustus’s Altar of Peace or at the Temple of Fortuna at Praeneste. Many of the most intriguing and beautiful remains of Roman Italy lie outside the capital. To the north, amid the green lands of Umbria, the imprint of Rome is still present in the hilltown of Spoleto and at Carsulae, almost unknown but one of the most enthralling archaeological sites in Italy. To the south, Campania had a particularly strong bond with Rome because the wealthy, seeking refuge from city summer heat, built villas around the Bay of Naples. Campania became a playground for the rich and powerful, emperors among them. It is in this region that two of the world’s most evocative archaeological sites are to be found, courtesy of the eruption of Mount Vesuivus in ad 79. There is a paradox here: the same volcanic ash 138
Day 1. Fly at c. 10.45am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Rome. Drive to Spoleto, where the first of two nights are spent. Day 2: Spoleto, Carsulae. Drive out to the Parco Archaeologico at Carsulae, one of the most impressive archaeological ruins in Italy. An afternoon walk in Spoleto includes the Roman theatre and triumphal arch. There is some free time to see something of mediaeval and Renaissance Spoleto. Day 3: Tivoli, Rome. Hadrian’s extraordinarily lavish villa at Tivoli was designed by the emperor himself, drawing inspiration from the sites he saw during his travels. Continue to Rome. Visit the Baths of Caracalla, the best preserved of the several such complexes that emperors constructed in the capital for general enjoyment. First of four nights in Rome. Day 4: Rome. Among today’s highlights are the Pantheon, best preserved of Roman buildings, the Ara Pacis, Augustus’s beautifully sculpted altar, and Trajan’s Markets, remarkably complete and evocative. See also the Capitoline Museums, which have some of the best ancient sculpture in Rome and provide access to the administrative heart of Republican Rome. Day 5: Ostia, Rome. Drive to Ostia, the ancient port of Rome at the mouth of the Tiber. Silt led to its decline and abandonment. In the preservation of everyday details it is comparable to Pompeii – though without the crowds. Free time in Rome. Day 6: Rome. The Forum Romanum, the civic, religious and social centre of Ancient Rome, has the remains of many structures famed throughout the Empire. See also Monte Testaccio, a hill formed entirely of fragments of broken amphorae. Outstanding among the displays in the National Roman Museum are the frescoes and stucco work. Day 7: Rome, Seiano. Visit the Colosseum, largest of ancient amphitheatres, and the Arch of Constantine, sculpturally the richest of triumphal arches. The Palatine Hill was the site of the luxurious palaces of successive emperors. In the afternoon travel by first-class rail to Naples, then coach to the hotel. First of three nights in Seiano. Day 8: Pompeii. Since its discovery in the 18th century, ancient Pompeii has been the world’s most famous archaeological excavation. It’s fascination lies not only in the public buildings such as theatre, temples and forum but also in the numerous dwellings, from cramped apartments to luxurious houses with mosaic pavements and gaudily frescoed walls.
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Day 9: Herculaneum, Oplontis. At Herculaneum, fragile artefacts have been preserved by the unique conditions of burial. In the small part of the town that has been excavated, private dwellings predominate, many with wonderful decoration. The lavish villa at Torre Annunziata (ancient Oplontis), one of the loveliest of ancient sites, may have been the home of Poppaea, wife of Nero. Day 10: Naples. The Archaeological Museum in Naples is the principal repository for both the small finds and the best-preserved mosaics and frescoes discovered at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Fly from Naples to Gatwick, arriving c. 8.45pm. Please note that this tour departs from London Heathrow and returns to London Gatwick.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,440 or £3,300 without flights. Single occupancy: £4,050 or £3,910 without flights. Included meals: 2 lunches (including 1 picnic) and 6 dinners with wine. Flights: the tour departs from London Heathrow airport and returns to London Gatwick. There are no flights from Naples to London Heathrow, so it is not possible to fly both ways from/to Heathrow. It is possible to fly from Gatwick to Rome, but the current flight schedule would mean a very late arrival at the hotel in Spoleto. If British Airways changes its schedule we will endeavour to secure outbound flights from Gatwick so that the tour begins and ends at the same London airport. Accommodation. Hotel San Luca, Spoleto (hotelsanluca.com): comfortable 4-star hotel, located in an elegantly converted former tannery. It is situated conveniently just within the city walls. Hotel Bernini Bristol, Rome (berninibristol. com): 5-star hotel excellently located on the Piazza Barberini. Grand Hotel Angiolieri, Seiano (grandhotelangiolieri.it): modern 5-star hotel on the hill-top above the town of Vico Equense. Rooms with a sea view are available on request and for a supplement. How strenuous? There is unavoidably a lot of walking, some of it over very rough ground and there is a lot of standing in museums and on archaeological sites. The day spent in Pompeii can be tiring. The historic area in Rome is vast, and vehicular access is increasingly restricted. Minibuses are used on some occasions but otherwise the city is traversed on foot. The tour should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stairclimbing. Fitness is essential. Average distance by coach per day: 43 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Art in the Po Valley, 30 September–7 October 2018 (p.112); The Romans in Mediterranean Spain, 1–7 October 2018 (p.173); World Heritage Malta, 1–7 October 2018 (p.149); Palladian Villas, 2–7 October 2018 (p.104). Illustrations. Left: Rome, Forum, marble relief of the Ambarvalia Sacrifice, watercolour by Alberto Pisa, publ. 1905. Right: Rome, Arch of Trajan, early-20th-century etching.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235.
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Pompeii & Herculaneum Antiquities of the Bay of Naples 9–14 April 2018 (me 807) 6 days • £2,180 Lecturer: Dr Mark Grahame 24–29 September 2018 (mf 193) 6 days • £2,180 Lecturer: Dr Nigel Spivey One of the most exciting tours possible dealing with Roman archaeology. A unique insight into everyday life in the Roman Empire. Two principal sites, both buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in ad 79 and preserved with unparalleled completeness. Led by experts on the ancient world. Important early Greek settlements, including Paestum, Cumae and Pozzuoli.
Campania’s favourable climate, fertile soils and natural harbours were attractive to the Greeks looking to trade and for places to settle. They founded their earliest colony at Cumae and others soon followed with Naples and Paestum (Posidonia) among them. The prosperity enjoyed by the Greek colonies is best seen at Paestum where three of the most complete Doric temples anywhere still stand. After falling under Roman dominion, Campania continued to prosper with wealth generated by agriculture and trade. Towns like Pompeii and Herculaneum thrived and wealthy Romans seeking to escape from the summer heat of Rome built villas along its coast. Campania became an imperial playground with the emperor among the most famous and notorious of all villa owners on the Bay of Naples. However, life on the Bay of Naples was struck by tragedy when Mount Vesuvius erupted in
ad 79 and buried Pompeii and Herculaneum with volcanic ash. Paradoxically, this sudden obliteration preserved the towns with a level of completeness which has no parallel with any other archaeological site in the world. Excavation has revealed them almost in their entirety, providing a unique insight into everyday life in the Roman Empire. Even the smallest and most fragile objects of daily use have survived, along with wall paintings, floor mosaics, precious jewellery and household utensils. The immediacy and vividness with which the imagination is able to grasp a past civilization is startling and unique.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 3.00pm from London Gatwick to Naples (British Airways). Drive to the hotel in the hamlet of Seiano, above the town of Vico Equense, where all five nights are spent. Day 2: Paestum. Paestum was a major Greek settlement and is one of the most interesting archaeological sites in Italy. Three outstanding Greek Doric temples stand in a remarkable state of preservation. Visit also the excellent museum which contains a very rare ancient Greek painted tomb and fascinating sculptured panels (metopes) of the 6th-century bc, among the earliest anywhere. Day 3: Cumae, Baia, Pozzuoli. Spend the day around the Bay of Naples at some little-visited but fascinating sites. Cumae was the first Greek settlement on mainland Italy, and material from here and other sites visited during the tour can be seen in the archaeological museum of the Phlegraean fields in the spectacularly situated castle at Baia. The port of Pozzuoli has a wellpreserved amphitheatre and market.
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Day 4: Pompeii. Since its first exploration during the 18th century, ancient Pompeii has been one of the world’s most famous archaeological excavations. The fascination of the site lies not only in the major public buildings such as the theatre, temples and the forum but also in the numerous domestic dwellings, from cramped apartments to luxurious houses with their mosaic pavements and gaudily frescoed walls. Day 5: Herculaneum, Oplontis. At Herculaneum, engulfed by mud rather than ash, timber and other fragile artefacts that normally do not survive have been preserved by the unique conditions of burial. Less than a quarter of this town has been excavated, and in the part preserved the emphasis is on private dwellings and their decoration. Visit the lavish villa at Torre Annunziata (ancient Oplontis), which may have been the home of Poppaea, wife of Nero. It is one of the loveliest of ancient sites, with rich wall paintings, a replanted garden and a swimming pool. Day 6: Naples. The Archaeological Museum in Naples has one of the finest collections in the world, and is the principal repository for both the small finds and the best-preserved mosaics and frescoes discovered at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Fly from Naples to London Gatwick, arriving at c. 9.00pm. Illustration: Pompeii, wood engraving from ‘The Graphic’ 1882.
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Normans in the South Castles and cathedrals in Puglia, Basilicata and Campania Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,180 or £1,960 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,450 or £2,230 without flights. Included meals: 2 lunches (including 1 picnic) and 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Grand Hotel Angiolieri (grandhotelangiolieri.it): modern 5-star hotel on the hill-top above the town of Vico Equense. Rooms with a sea view are available on request and for a supplement. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking on this tour, some of it over rough ground on archaeological sites and there is a lot of standing around. Sure-footedness is essential. The day spent in Pompeii can be tiring. Average distance by coach per day: 70 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine the April departure of this tour with: Palladian Villas, 3–8 April 2018 (p.104); Monet & Impressionism, 15–20 April 2018 (p.62); Civilizations of Sicily, 16–28 April 2018 (p.142). Or the September departure with: Sardinia, 15–23 September 2018 (p.148); Walking a Royal River, 17–23 September 2018 (p.11); History of Medicine, 17–23 September 2018 (p.114); The Etruscans, 17–23 September 2018 (also with Dr Nigel Spivey, p.135); Art in the Po Valley, 30 September–7 October 2018 (p.112).
Gardens of Naples & Amalfi May 2018 Details available in July 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Susana Walton’s garden at La Mortella on Ischia, an outstanding fusion of art and planting.
Two villa gardens at Ravello with thrilling views along the Amalfi coast. From Naples, visit the Villa Porfidia, where Emma Hamilton turned garden adviser. First-century gardens of Pompeii, with their statues, frescoes and mosaics. Led by Steven Desmond, landscape consultant and specialist in the conservation of historic parks and gardens.
Naples: Art, Antiquities, Opera February 2018 Details available in October 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
26 October–3 November 2018 (mf 297) 9 days • £2,720 Lecturer: Dr Richard Plant An architectural tour of one of the most sophisticated kingdoms in mediaeval Europe. Splendid Norman legacy of Romanesque, with churches of unprecedented size and grandeur. Led by John McNeill, a mediaevalist who has become an expert on the region, and Dr Richard Plant, renowned architectural historian specialising in the Middle Ages. Later architecture of equal magnificence, in particular an elaborate flowering of Baroque. Attractive, well-preserved town centres and a dramatic landscape of raw limestone. The Norman conquest of southern Italy was one of the most remarkable episodes in mediaeval history. Whereas England was subjugated by a sizeable and highly organised Norman army, the ‘Kingdom in the Sun’ was won by small bands of soldiers of fortune. They trickled in during the eleventh century when the tangled political situation and incessant feuding made the area ripe for exploitation by ambitious knights in search of adventure and personal gain. By the end of the century they had expelled the Byzantines from the mainland and the Saracens from Sicily, and by 1127 all Sicily and southern Italy was ruled by one Norman king. This cosmopolitan kingdom was one of the best administered and most culturally sophisticated in Europe. As in England, in the wake of conquest there arose splendid new churches of unprecedented size and grandeur. A mixture of French, Lombard, Byzantine, Saracenic and ancient Roman elements, south Italian Romanesque is one of the most distinct and beautiful of the variants of this truly international style. Prosperity and creativity continued after the extinction of the Norman dynasty in 1194 by the Hohenstaufen from Germany. In the first half of the thirteenth century the region was dominated by the extraordinary Emperor Frederick II, ‘Stupor Mundi’, ‘Wonder of the World’. He was as courageous and ambitious in artistic and intellectual spheres as he was in administration, diplomacy and war. Much later there was another artistic outburst, appropriately international but characteristically idiosyncratic: a highly elaborate version of Baroque architecture and decoration. The heel and spur of boot-shaped Italy, Puglia is remote from the better-known parts of the peninsula, and its raw limestone landscape wholly different from the silky richness of central and northern Italy. The last day of the tour is spent across the Apennines in Campania. This region presents another face of Italy, distinctly southern but with an equally cosmopolitan and panMediterranean cultural history.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 11.00am (Alitalia) from London City to Brindisi, via Rome, and drive on to Lecce where the first three nights are spent. Day 2: Squinzano, Gallipoli, Otranto. Explore the Salentine Peninsula, the southernmost tip of the heel of Italy. Visit the Abbey of Sta. Maria di Cerrate, a 12th-century Romanesque complex. Gallipoli was the centre of Byzantine Italy until conquered by the Normans in 1071; the old town is on an off-shore island. Otranto, captured by Normans in 1068, has a cathedral with outstanding 12th-century floor mosaics. Day 3: Lecce. Lecce is distinguished by an elaborate style of Baroque and Rococo decoration wrought in the soft, honey-coloured tufa of the region, an outstanding example being the church of Sta. Croce. See also the Norman church of SS. Niccolò e Cataldo, founded by Tancred. Some free time. Day 4: Brindisi, Bitonto. Possessing the safest natural harbour on the Adriatic, the provincial capital of Brindisi has been of intermittent strategic importance for over 24 centuries. Visit S. Benedetto, with its Romanesque bell tower. Bitonto has one of the finest of Romanesque cathedrals with good sculpture and an early Christian lower church. Continue to Trani where the next four nights are spent. Illustration: S. Valentino, Bitonto, from ‘The Shores of the Adriatic’ by F. Hamilton-Jackson, 1906.
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Visit to a family-owned lemon grove on the Sorrento peninsula, with tastings.
20–28 March 2018 (me 790) 9 days • £2,720 Lecturer: John McNeill
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Normans in the South continued
Civilizations of Sicily Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Norman, Spanish, Italian
Day 5: Bari, Trani. Bari, capital of Puglia, has an extensive and unspoilt mediaeval quarter beside the sea. The Basilica di S. Nicola, begun in 1087, is not only the first but also the greatest of Puglian Romanesque churches; the episcopal throne here is remarkable. Also visit the cathedral (1170) and later mediaeval Angevin castle. Back in Trani, visit the magically beautiful Romanesque cathedral on the waterfront. Day 6: Castel del Monte, Barletta. Castel del Monte, situated on an isolated peak, is Frederick II’s extraordinarily sophisticated hunting lodge and one of the most intriguing secular buildings of the Middle Ages. The castle at Barletta houses a bust of Frederick II. Day 7: Canosa, Melfi, Venosa. Canosa di Puglia has an 11th-century cathedral. Continue to the hilltop town of Melfi in Basilicata, which was for a while the main centre of Norman power in Italy. The impressive but unfinished Abbazia della SS. Trinità at Venosa was built from the 12th-century over an early Christian church. Return to Puglia for the final night in Trani. Day 8: Benevento, Salerno. Cross the Apennines to Campania. Benevento was a strategic Roman colonia, Lombard Duchy and Norman from 1081. The Arch of Trajan is one of the finest surviving Roman triumphal arches. Sta. Sofia has a magnificent 12th-century cloister. The seaport of Salerno has an 11th-century cathedral with a fine sculpted portal and a 12th-century ivory altarpiece. Overnight in Seiano. Day 9: Sant’Angelo in Formis. The Basilica di S. Angelo in Formis has outstanding 11th-century frescoes. Fly from Rome to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 7.15pm.
16–28 October 2017 (me 618) This tour is currently full 13–25 November 2017 (me 697) 13 days • £4,230 Lecturer: Dr Ffiona Gilmore Eaves
Practicalities
12–24 March 2018 (me 775) 13 days • £4,470 Lecturer: Dr Luca Leoncini
Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,720 or £2,500 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,030 or £2,810 without flights.
16–28 April 2018 (me 817) 13 days • £4,470 Lecturer: Christopher Newall
Included meals: 1 lunch and 5 dinners with wine.
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Accommodation. Patria Palace Hotel, Lecce (patriapalacelecce.com): stylish 5-star hotel in an excellent location near the church of Sta. Croce in the historic centre. Hotel San Paolo al Convento, Trani (hotelsanpaoloalconventotrani. it): charming 4-star hotel converted from a 15thcentury convent. Grand Hotel Angiolieri, Seiano (grandhotelangiolieri.it): modern 5-star hotel in the village of Seiano, close to Vico Equense. How strenuous? The tour involves a lot of walking on uneven ground in archaeological sites, and in town centres where vehicular access is restricted. It should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stairclimbing. Fitness is essential. Some days involve a lot of driving; average distance per day: 99 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine the March departure with: Eastern Andalucía: Caliphs to Kings, 9–18 March 2018 (p.180); Jonathan Keates’s Venice, 12–18 March 2018 (p.100); Palladian Villas, 3–8 April 2018 (p.104). Or the October departure with: Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur, 18–24 October 2018 (p.74); Venetian Palaces, 6–10 November 2018 (p.101). 142
17–29 September 2018 (mf 157) 13 days • £4,470 Lecturer: Dr Ffiona Gilmore Eaves 15–27 October 2018 (mf 248) 13 days • £4,470 Lecturer: John McNeill 12–24 November 2018 (mf 310) Exclusively for solo travellers 13 days • £4,640 Lecturer: Dr Philippa Joseph Covers all the island, showcasing the main sights and many lesser-known ones. The whole gamut – Ancient Greek, Roman, mediaeval (particularly Norman), Renaissance, Baroque and nineteenth-century. A full tour but carefully paced. Hotel changes kept to a minimum – only three during the entire thirteen days. Also Reggio di Calabria, to see the Riace Bronzes – among the finest Greek sculpture to survive.
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By virtue of both size and location, Sicily is the pre-eminent island in the Mediterranean. It is the largest, and it is also close to the sea’s centre, a stepping stone between Europe and Africa and a refuge between the Levant and the Atlantic. The result is that throughout history Sicily has been viewed as a fortuitous landfall by migrating peoples and a prized possession by ambitious adventurers and expansionist princes. And as the Mediterranean has been catalyst and disseminator of a greater variety of civilizations than any other of the world’s seas, the island has acquired an exceptionally rich encrustation of art, architecture and archaeological remains. For the Phoenicians, Sicily was an irresistible objective in the extension of their trading empire in the central Mediterranean, and from the eighthcentury bc exchanges of population took place between bases in the western and northern part of the island and Carthage. From about the same period Greeks from various points of origin in the Hellenic world established themselves in the east of the island and along the south coast. Competition for territory and trading rights between Phoenicians and Greeks, as well as cultural and commercial exchanges, took place for centuries until finally the Romans drove the Phoenicians off the island in the course of the Punic Wars in the late third-century bc. The remnants of remarkable Doric temples, as well as military fortifications built by the Greek colonists, survive in Selinunte, Agrigento and Syracuse, including in the two last places buildings which are extraordinarily intact. Great wealth accrued under Roman rule when the island was clothed in fields of corn, and endless oak forests and abundant fauna provided sport for grandees and emperors. One of them has bequeathed to us on the floor of his luxurious villa the most splendid Roman mosaics to have survived. Overrun by Germanic barbarians in the fifth century, Sicily was wrested back for the twilight of classical civilization by the Byzantines, but at the cost of military campaigns which devastated the island. Byzantine rule was in turn supplanted from the ninth century by Muslim Arabs, and a period of prosperity and advanced civilization ensued. Two hundred years later Arab rule was swept aside by conquering Normans, who, by succumbing to the luxuriant sophistication of their predecessors, distanced themselves as far as is imaginable from their rugged northern roots. The unique artistic blend of this golden age survives in the Romanesque churches with details of Norman, Saracenic, Levantine and classical origin. Byzantine mosaicists were much employed. The wealth and power of Sicily began to wane again from the later Middle Ages as a succession of German, French and Spanish dynasties exploited the island with colonial disregard for long-term interests, but pockets of wealth and creativity remained as Gothic and Renaissance masterpieces demonstrate. Artistically, however, a final flourish was reached in the Age of Baroque which saw the erection of churches and palaces as splendid and exuberant as anywhere in Europe. The raw beauty of the landscape changes continually across the island. The Sicilians can be as welcoming as Italians anywhere, but the island continues to retain its enigmas, and differences with the mainland sometimes seem profound.
Itinerary Day 1: Palermo. In March & November: fly at c. 9.00am from London City Airport, via Milan or Rome, to Palermo (Alitalia). In April: fly at c. 11.15am from London City Airport, via Milan to Palermo (Alitalia). In September & October: fly at c. 2.45pm from London Gatwick to Catania (British Airways) and drive across the island to Palermo. The largest and by far the most interesting city on the island, Palermo has been capital of Sicily from the period of Saracenic occupation in the 9th century. It reached a peak under the Normans and again during the Age of Baroque. First of six nights in Palermo. Day 2: Palermo. Morning walk through the old centre includes a visit to several oratories and outstanding Norman buildings including La Martorana with fine mosaics. Drinks at a private palace, by special arrangement. In the afternoon see the collection of pictures in the 15th-century Palazzo Abatellis. Day 3: Monreale, Cefalù. Monreale dominates a verdant valley southwest of Palermo, and its cathedral is one of the finest Norman churches with the largest scheme of mosaic decoration to survive from the Middle Ages. Cefalù, a charming coastal town, has a massive Norman cathedral with outstanding mosaics and an art gallery with a painting by Antonello da Messina. Day 4: Segesta, Selinunte. With its magnificently sited temple and theatre, Segesta is one of the most evocative of Greek sites. Selinunte, founded c. 650 bc, is a vast archaeological site, renowned for its picturesque temples and acropolis. Day 5: Agrigento. A full day in Agrigento to see the ‘Valley of the Temples’, one of the finest of all ancient Greek sites with the virtually complete Temple of Concord, other ruins and a good museum.
Day 7: Palermo, Piazza Armerina. In Palermo visit Castello della Zisa, an Arab-Norman Palace. Drive through the interior of Sicily. At Piazza Armerina are the remains of one of the most sumptuous villas of the late-Roman Empire, whose floor mosaics comprise the most vital and colourful manifestation of Roman figurative art in Europe. Continue across the island for the first of four nights in Taormina. Day 8: Taormina. Visit the famed Roman theatre, with spectacular views over the sea to Calabria and inland to Mount Etna, an active volcano. The rest of the day is free: one of the earliest and still one of the most attractive of Mediterranean resorts, Taormina has an area of secluded beaches joined by cable car to the delightful hilltop town. Day 9: Messina, Reggio di Calabria. Drive north to Messina to see the art gallery with paintings by Caravaggio and Antonello da Messina. Cross by ferry to Reggio di Calabria on the mainland of Italy, and see the Riace Bronzes – over-life-size
Day 10: Catania. Along the coast from Taormina, Catania has a fine Baroque centre. Here there are special visits to a private palazzo and a Byzantine chapel, where there is a light lunch. See also the cathedral and the Roman Theatre, where Alkibiades addressed the men of Catania to incite them to win the cause of Athens. Day 11: Syracuse. Founded as a Greek colony in 733 bc, Syracuse became the most important city of Magna Græcia. Afternoon walk on the island of Ortygia, the picturesque and densely built original centre of Syracuse, and see the Caravaggio painting in the church of Sta. Lucia alla Badia. First of two nights in Syracuse. Day 12: Noto, Syracuse. Rebuilt after an earthquake in 1693, Noto is one of the loveliest and most homogenous Baroque towns in Italy. Visit the 5th-century bc Greek theatre in Syracuse, the largest of its type to survive, as well as the stone quarries and the Roman amphitheatre. There is also time to visit the excellent museum of antiquities in Syracuse.
hotel housed in an assortment of historical buildings. Hotel Villa Belvedere, Taormina (villabelvedere.it): charming 4-star family-run hotel in the old town, with its own garden (rooms vary in size and outlook). Des Etrangers Hotel, Syracuse (desetrangers.com): elegant 5-star hotel on the island of Ortygia; all rooms have sea views. Flights. We opt to travel to and from Sicily with Alitalia in March, April and November because the only direct flights to the island in this period are with low-cost airlines, with whom it is not currently viable for us to make a group booking. British Airways only flies directly from London Gatwick to Catania from late April to October (these flights are also subject to confirmation). How strenuous? This tour involves a lot of walking, some of it over rough ground at archaeological sites and cobbled or uneven paving in town centres. Fitness and sure-footedness are essential. There are also some long coach journeys. Average distance by coach per day: 73 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine the March departure of this tour with: Florence, 5–11 March 2018 (p.123).
Day 13. Fly from Catania, arriving London Gatwick at c. 11.00pm (in September & October), or via Milan or Rome, arriving London Heathrow at c. 6.00pm (in March, April & November).
Combine the April departure with: Gardens & Villas of Campagna Romana, 9–14 April 2018 (p.131); Pompeii & Herculaneum, 9–14 April 2018 (p.140); Mediaeval Saxony, 30 April–8 May 2018 (p.84).
Practicalities
Combine the September departure with: Courts of Northern Italy, 9–16 September 2018 (p.108); The Imperial Riviera, 10–16 September 2018 (p.107); Walking Hadrian’s Wall, 10–16 September 2018 (p.16); Art in the Po Valley, 30 September–7 October 2018 (p.112); World Heritage Malta, 1–7 October 2018 (p.149).
Price, per person in November 2017. Two sharing: £4,230 or £4,040 without flights. Single occupancy: £4,770 or £4,580 without flights. Price, per person in March, April, September and October 2018. Two sharing: £4,470 or £4,250 without flights. Single occupancy: £5,080 or £4,860 without flights. Price, per person in November 2018 (exclusively for solo travellers): £4,640 or £4,470 without flights. Included meals: 5 lunches (including one picnic) and 7 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa, Palermo (piazzaborsa.it): centrally located 4-star
Combine the October 2018 departure with: Siena & San Gimignano, 10–14 October 2018 (p.122); Ravenna & Urbino, 10–14 October 2018 (p.115). Combine the November 2018 departure with: Florentine Palaces, 7–11 November 2018 (p.125). Illustrations. Left: Palermo, cloisters of S. Giovanni degli Eremiti, watercolour by W.W. Collins, publ. 1911. Above: ruins at Selinunte, aquatint c. 1830.
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Day 6: Palermo. S. Giovanni degli Eremiti is a Norman church with five cupolas and a charming garden. The cathedral, a building of many periods, has grand royal and imperial tombs. Free afternoon. Private visit to the Palatine Chapel, in the 12th-century Palace of the Normans.
male nudes associated with Phidias and Polyclitus, among the finest Greek sculpture to survive.
Palermo Revealed Art, archaeology, architecture and gastronomy in Sicily’s most fascinating city cultured nation with efficiency and tolerance. The unique artistic blend of this golden age survives in Romanesque churches with details of Norman, Saracenic, Levantine and classical origin. Byzantine mosaicists were extensively employed, and more wall and vault mosaics survive here than in all of Byzantium. The tour includes not only the Norman buildings in Palermo but also the cathedral at Monreale. The prosperity and power of Sicily began to wane from the later Middle Ages, but pockets of wealth and creativity remained, as Gothic and Renaissance creations demonstrate. Artistically, however, a final flourish was reached in the Age of Baroque when churches and palaces were erected in Palermo and throughout the island which are as splendid and exuberant as anywhere in Europe. Always a seething, vibrant city, enlightened local government has made Palermo cleaner, safer, and altogether more enjoyable in recent years.
20–25 February 2018 (me 759) 6 days • £2,230 Lecturer: Dr Philippa Joseph A captivating city, richly encrusted with the art and architecture of many periods. Exclusive visits: meals at two private palazzi and drinks at another; see the outstanding Palatine Chapel outside public opening hours.
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Includes an excursion to see the spectacular mosaics at Monreale. Led by Dr Philippa Joseph, whose current research examines late mediaeval and early modern society in Sicily. Sicily’s heritage of art, architecture and archaeological remains is exceptionally rich and varied, and Palermo is by far the most interesting of the island’s cities. Staying here for all six days, the tour also has excursions to some of the best of the area’s patrimony just outside the city. In the ninth century ad, when Byzantine rule was supplanted by that of Muslim Arabs, Palermo became the leading city on the island and famous throughout Europe for the beauty of its hillside position, its tradition of craftsmanship and its enlightened administration. In the eleventh century Arab rule was swept aside by conquering Normans. By succumbing to the luxuriant sophistication of their predecessors they distanced themselves as far as is imaginable from their rugged northern roots. From a Palermo-based cosmopolitan court they ruled an affluent and 144
Dr Philippa Joseph Independent lecturer and researcher, and reviews editor for History Today. For 20 years, she published journals and books for learned societies in the humanities. Her research looks at societies in Andalucía and Sicily where Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultures flourished, each building on a Classical past.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,230 or £2,030 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,470 or £2,270 without flights.
Itinerary
Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine.
Day 1. Fly at c. 9.00am from London City via Milan or Rome to Palermo (Alitalia). Overnight Palermo where all five nights are spent.
Accommodation. Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa, Palermo (piazzaborsa.it): central, 4-star hotel housed in an assortment of historical buildings.
Day 2: Palermo. A morning walk through the old centre includes a visit to several oratories. Visit the Chiesa del Gesù, an extraordinary example of Palermitan Baroque with a profusion of marble inlay, stucco and sculpture. The afternoon is spent at the Galleria Regionale della Sicilia (Palazzo Abatellis), which has an excellent collection of 15th-century pictures, and at La Martorana and S. Cataldo, two outstanding Norman buildings. Dinner at a private palazzo. Day 3: Monreale, Palermo. Monreale dominates a verdant valley southwest of Palermo. Its cathedral is one of the finest Norman churches with the largest scheme of mosaic direction to survive from the Middle Ages. Free afternoon before a private evening visit to the Palatine Chapel. Day 4: Palermo. Spend most of the day with the Duchess of Palma in an 18th-century palazzo facing the Bay of Palermo. The palace is the former residence of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, author of The Leopard, now the home of his adoptive son. Visit the city’s best market with the Duchess herself to select fresh seasonal produce, before returning to the palazzo for a cooking class, lunch in the grand dining room and a tour with the Duke and Duchess. Day 5: Palermo. Visit the 12th-century Palace of the Normans, containing the Hall of King Roger which has outstanding mosaics (sometimes subject to last-minute closure). S. Giovanni degli Eremiti is a Norman church with five cupolas and a charming garden. The cathedral, a building of many periods, has grand royal and imperial tombs. Free afternoon. In the evening, there is a visit and reception by special arrangement to an otherwise inaccessible palazzo, with astonishing Rococo interiors and many original furnishings (used as a set in Visconti’s film of The Leopard). Day 6: Palermo. Visit the Castello della Zisa, an Arab-Norman palace. Fly from Palermo via Milan or Rome to London City, arriving c. 7.15pm.
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Flights. We opt to travel to and from Sicily with Alitalia in February because the only direct flights to the island in this period are with low-cost airlines, with whom it is not currently viable for us to make a group booking. British Airways only flies directly from London Heathrow to Palermo from late March to October. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking on this tour, and it would not be suitable for anyone who has difficulties with everyday walking or stairclimbing. Fitness and sure-footedness are essential. Average distance by coach per day: 10 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Palermo at Christmas 20–27 December 2017 (me 731) 8 days • £2,940 Lecturer: Dr Luca Leoncini This tour is currently full Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com One of the most fascinating and varied cities in Italy, much improved recently. Includes access to private palaces and to places outside public opening hours. Also Cefalù, Monreale, Segesta, Agrigento – among the most interesting places in western Sicily.
Illustrations. Left: Palermo, Palatine Chapel, watercolour by F. Fox, publ. 1913. Right: Segesta, steel engraving c. 1850.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Gastronomic Sicily Food and wine in the west of Italy’s most fascinating island 22–29 October 2018 (mf 272) 8 days • £2,970 Lecturer: Marc Millon Colourful Palermo street markets, authentic salt flats near Trapani, historic cellars in Marsala. Learn about making wine, olive oil and artisan foods from the craftsmen and women who carry on these age-old traditions. Spectrum of culinary experiences from street food in Palermo to dinner in a palazzo. Emphasis on authentic methods rather than haute cuisine. Led by Marc Millon, wine, food and travel writer, author of The Food Lover’s Companion to Italy. If Sicily’s history is a layer-cake of the different cultures that have colonised the island through the centuries, its food is no less complex. Citrus fruits and ices were brought there by the Arabs before the Middle Ages. Winemaking was introduced by the Phoenicians, and during the Roman era wheat turned the inland hillsides to gold. The magnificent landscape remains a key source of agricultural richness for the island: Trapani is today Europe’s most productive grapegrowing province. What Sicily offers more than any other Italian region is an unrivalled cornucopia of sun-ripened vegetables and fruits, many grown on volcanic soils for added intensity of flavour. The Sicilians cook these products in myriad, colourful ways:
sweet and sour, hot and spicy, fresh and nutritious – Sicilian food is arguably more exciting than its northern counterparts. It is also a mix of old and new cultures. Pasta is handmade in unique shapes to accommodate vegetables, capers, herbs and the varied seafood that make up the healthy Sicilian diet. Dessert lovers will be rewarded with some of the most delicious sweetmeats Italy has to offer: from the hollow cannolo filled with fresh ewe’s milk ricotta to elaborately decorated cassata cakes. As the tour travels across the Western part of the island we visit small producers of artisan foods, winemakers, home cooks and chefs alike, and do not ignore cultural sites that determine its key historical importance. Sample street food from market stalls in Palermo, the freshest seafood in the Mediterranean, and home-prepared dinners whose hospitable cooks will share their secrets with us. Walk in vineyards and olive groves, and around some of the finest archaeological sites on this ever-fascinating island. In Marsala, we’ll be the guests of one of Italy’s pioneer winemakers, who were responsible for relaunching the great wines of the south.
Itinerary Day 1: Palermo. Fly at c. 9.00am from London City to Palermo, via Milan (Alitalia). Palermo is the largest and most interesting city on the island: capital of Sicily from the period of Saracenic occupation in the 9th century, it reached a peak under the Normans and again during the Age of Baroque. First of four nights in Palermo.
Day 2: Palermo. A morning walk to the city’s best market, sampling authentic street food. See also key cultural sites such as the cathedral, a building of many periods, and the church of S. Cataldo. In the afternoon see outstanding mosaics at the 12th-century Palace of the Normans, including the Palatine Chapel. Dinner at a private palazzo. Day 3: Monreale, Mondello. Monreale dominates a verdant valley southwest of Palermo, and its cathedral is one of the finest Norman churches with the largest scheme of mosaic decoration to survive from the Middle Ages. Lunch is at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Mondello, a charming seaside town known for its Art Nouveau villas, once the seat of the Palermitano high bourgeoisie and aristocracy. In the early evening the lecturer leads a wine tasting in the hotel. Day 4: Segesta, Partinico. With its magnificently sited temple and theatre, Segesta is one of the most evocative of Greek sites. Travel on to visit Mary Taylor-Simeti’s organic farm in Partinico, one of the earliest of its kind in Sicily, to have a simple and abundant lunch with the freshest produce from the farm and local area. Day 5: Erice. Depart Palermo, stopping for lunch and a wine-tasting at a superb winery. Continue to Erice, a mediaeval town perched on top of a hill, which boasts spectacular views of the coast and surrounding area. Demonstration and tasting of traditional pastries here, before continuing on to the charming port town of Marsala where the following three nights are spent.
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Gastronomic Sicily continued
Walking in Eastern Sicily Crater and coast: in the footsteps of history
Day 6: Marsala, Mazara del Vallo, Menfi. There is a tour of Marsala in the morning, including a visit to the archaeological museum, most of which is taken up by an extremely well-preserved Punic warship. Visit Il Museo del Satiro Danzante in Mazara del Vallo after a couscous cooking demonstration and lunch. The afternoon is spent at an award-winning olive oil estate, discovering their methods and tasting the oil. Day 7: Mozia. Drive north of Marsala to see the saltpans that have been in use since Phoenician times, and take a boat across the lagoon to visit the ancient ruins of Mozia. Visit the small Whitaker Museum which houses the 5th-century bc Auriga (charioteer), one of the most exquisite of surviving Greek sculptures. The afternoon is free in Marsala. Private dinner, visit and tasting at the cellars of a historic Marsala producer. Day 8. Fly from Palermo to London City, via Milan, arriving at c. 3.45pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,970 or £2,740 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,240 or £3,010 without flights. Included meals: 4 lunches, 5 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa, Palermo (piazzaborsa.it): centrally located 4-star hotel housed in an assortment of historical buildings. Hotel Carmine, Marsala (hotelcarmine.it): small and charming 3-star hotel, with occasionally erratic service. Flights. We opt to travel to and from Sicily with Alitalia because the only direct flights to Palermo are with low-cost airlines, with whom it is not currently viable for us to make a group booking. It is possible to choose our ‘no flights’ option and to book your own flights with Easyjet or Ryanair, both of whom fly directly to Palermo in this period (Easyjet’s flights only run until around the end of October). Please contact us for advice or further information about this.
8–15 October 2018 (mf 212) 8 days • £2,780 Lecturer: Christopher Newall Six walks of between 3 and 8 km through immensely varied scenery, from the lava fields of Etna to salt lake flats along the coast. Much of archaeological interest, as well as visits to Syracuse, the greatest of western Greek cities, and to the Baroque city of Noto. Led by Christopher Newall – art historian and expert on Sicily. Sicily, the Mediterranean’s largest island, is well chronicled in history and literature as one of the most fascinating destinations in Europe. Her archaeological and historical sites delight visitors, but fortunately few of them explore the hugely varied landscapes on foot. Locals rarely indulge in country walking, and shepherds met on mountain paths are aghast that people choose to walk for a holiday. Yet walking can provide the key to understanding and appreciating this intoxicating island. We have included walks that are relatively unknown and countryside that is not easily accessible, but keeping in mind the principles of travelling less and seeing more, we hope to have designed an itinerary giving a fuller flavour of what Sicily can really offer. Mount Etna, peaking as Europe’s highest active volcano at nearly 11,000 feet, and sitting within a designated regional park covering 224 square miles, demands attention but also respect. Volcanologists venture perilously close to the crater’s lip in the name of research, but for hikers there are remarkably varied and interesting paths to explore on the northern flank.
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How strenuous? There is a lot of walking, some of it over rough ground and cobbled or uneven paving. Fitness and sure-footedness are essential. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 47 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Memories of Monte Cassino, 12–18 October 2018 (p.136); Dark Age Brilliance, 14–21 October 2018 (p.116).
Illustrations. This page: Taormina and Mount Etna, steel engraving c. 1840. Opposite: Syracuse, wood engraving c. 1880.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235. What else is included in the price? See page 7. 146
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The distinctive climate and volcanic soils nurture a plethora of wild flowers, with orchids flourishing in both spring and late autumn. On the lower slopes, areas that were once covered with holm oak are now cultivated for citrus fruits and for wine, intensely flavoured reds and whites that are garnering approval throughout Italy and beyond. Above these, at 6,500 feet, Europe’s southernmost beech trees are thriving, as are birch, considered an endemic species. Another thousand feet and the thorny shrub known locally as spino santo (Astragalus siculus) covers the ground, and mountain flowers such as senecio, violets and cerastium flourish. Twenty miles inland from Syracuse is the ten-square-mile Pantalica Nature Reserve, set on a plateau with gorges plunging through the limestone to the Anapo and Calcinara river valleys. It contains what is thought to be Europe’s most extensive open-air necropolis, where the earliest rock tombs can be dated to the thirteenth century bc. Later civilizations have also left their mark; the faint frescoed walls in an almost-hidden cave church have lasted remarkably well in this somewhat harsh environment. A coastal walk alongside the salt-water lagoons of the Vendicari Nature Reserve provides another category of experience. The pantani are a haven for birds, and with luck flamingos can be spotted in all seasons. Mediaeval watchtowers, an old tonnaro (tuna cannery) and a fishery punctuate this landscape, highlighting the importance of sea-faring trade in this part of Sicily. Fifteenthcentury merchants in Noto shipped carob, grain and almonds from the port of Vendicari, and until the 1940s tuna was caught and tinned here. These walks have been chosen to make the most of the protected parks in Sicily, thus helping efforts to restore, waymark and maintain the paths in this remarkably unspoilt land on the edge of Europe.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 9.00am from London City via Milan or Rome to Catania (Alitalia). Drive to Syracuse in time for dinner. First of three nights on the island of Ortygia. Day 2. Vendicari Nature Reserve, Syracuse. Drive south to the salt lagoons and nature reserve at Vendicari for a level walk along the sandy paths, c. 5 km. Visit the Villa Romana del Tellaro, where a small but superb set of Roman mosaics depicting scenes of hunting has been beautifully restored at this former masseria. Return to Syracuse to see some of the highlights of sculpture and ceramics from Sicily’s Greek colonies in the excellent Archaeological Museum. Day 3. Syracuse, Noto. Visit the 5th century bc Greek theatre, the stone quarries and the Roman amphitheatre in Syracuse’s Archaeological Park. There is a short walk (c. 3 km) exploring the Greek ruins at Palazzolo Acreide. Visit Noto, one of the loveliest and most harmonious Baroque towns. Day 4. Pantalica Nature Reserve. Today’s walk of c. 8 km takes place in Pantalica, where a series of paths within this spectacular reserve follow the Anapo river bed and former railway lines, or meander high along the plateaux; water levels in the river and local conditions determine the exact length of the walk. There is a challenging downhill section which requires sure-footedness. Drive north to Taormina, where the next four nights are spent. Day 5. Taormina, Castello Saraceno. A moderate circular walk of 5 km starts from the hotel on a paved path, and continues uphill to near the Castello Saraceno on steps. Perched on the hilltop at 400m above sea level, and thought to be the site of the lower part of Tauromenion’s Acropolis, the apex of the walk offers spectacular views of the town and the Ionic coast. Visit Taormina’s famed Greek-Roman theatre and the small Roman Odeon.
Day 7. Forza d’Agrò. An unspoilt village with panoramic views of the Peloritani mountains and Etna, Forza d’Agrò is the starting point for a 8 km countryside walk, reaching 547m above sea level. It follows shepherds’ tracks through olive groves and terraces; some terrain is very uneven on this path and requires sure-footedness. Return to Taormina for a tasting of some Sicilian wines. Day 8. Catania. Drive along the coast to Catania, with a fine Baroque centre. Visit the cathedral and a private palazzo. Drive to Catania Airport in time for the flight to London City via Milan or Rome, arriving c. 7.15pm.
Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,780 or £2,560 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,210 or £2,990 without flights. Included meals: 3 lunches (2 of which are picnics) and 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Des Etrangers Hotel, Syracuse (desetrangers.com): elegant 5-star hotel on the island of Ortygia. All rooms have sea views. Hotel Villa Belvedere, Taormina (villabelvedere.it): 4-star, charming, family-run hotel, in the old town, with its own garden (rooms vary in size and outlook). How strenuous? This tour should only be considered by those who are used to country walking with some uphill content. Strong knees and ankles are essential, as are a pair of well-worn hiking boots with good ankle support. Walks have been carefully selected but some steep rises are unavoidable and terrain can be loose underfoot, particularly in wet weather. One walk has a challenging downhill section requiring surefootedness and good balance. The walk on Etna involves walking at an altitude of c. 1,800 metres above sea level for c. 5 km. There are six walks of between 3 and 8 km. Average distance by coach per day: 34 miles.
Christopher Newall Art historian, lecturer and writer. A specialist in 19th-century British art he also has a deep interest in southern Italy, its architecture, politics and social history. He studied at the Courtauld and has curated various exhibitions including John Ruskin: Artist & Observer at the National Gallery of Canada and Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Flights. We opt to travel to and from Sicily with Alitalia in October due to the unpredictability of the British Airways London Gatwick to Catania flight schedule at this time of year. In the event that direct flights with British Airways are available at appropriate times for the itinerary, we will endeavour to make a group booking. Group size: between 10 and 18 participants. Combine this tour with: World Heritage Malta, 1–7 October 2018 (p.149); Gastronomic Sicily, 22–29 October 2018 (p.145).
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Day 6. Mount Etna, Piano Provenzana. Lessvisited and less-well known than the southern slopes, Etna’s northern flank nonetheless provides plenty of interest and atmosphere. A moderate circular walk (c. 5 km) on the lava fields from the great eruptions of 2002 with a local volcanologist allows time to appreciate what was known as Mongibello, mountain of mountains. Lunch at a rustic restaurant, before returning to Taormina.
Practicalities
Sardinia Archaeology, architecture and art Day 3: Barumini, Tuili. The Nuraghe Su’ Nuraxi is the largest of the Bronze Age nuraghi, with an impressive central tower constructed of basalt. At nearby Tuili, the unprepossessing Chiesa di San Pietro houses an exquisite retable by the Maestro di Castelsardo (c. 1500). Return to Cagliari for a little free time. Stroll around the mediaeval ramparts or visit the several Baroque churches. Day 4: Paulilatino, Oristano. The Basilica di Santa Giusta, erected in 1135, is one of the earliest of the Tuscan Romanesque churches. The Nuraghe Santa Cristina is the most picturesque nuragic site, surrounded by olive groves and with an astounding underground shrine from the second century bc. At Oristano there is a fine collection at the archaeological museum, a 14thcentury polychrome statue by Nino Pisano in the cathedral. First of two nights in Oristano.
15–23 September 2018 (mf 151) 9 days • £2,590 Lecturer: Dr Thomas-Leo True Includes the best of the island’s material culture, from Neolithic and Bronze Age, through Punic and Roman to mediaeval and Renaissance. The unique Bronze Age nuraghi are a striking feature, as are Tuscan-style Romanesque churches and 16th-century Catalan altarpieces. See the Giganti di Mont’e Prama, an extraordinary group of sculpted life-sized warriors dating to 8th century bc. Wonderful mix of sites from the south to the north following the west coast of the island.
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Despite being the second largest island in the Mediterranean, Sardinia’s cultural treasures remain largely undiscovered by travellers. Its extraordinary jagged coastline and clear blue seas have earned it a deserved reputation for beach tourism, with villas and resorts clinging to the cliffs along the Costa Smeralda. Yet the wealth of prehistoric sites, Punic and Roman remains and Pisan-Romanesque churches make it a fascinating destination for those prepared to forgo the luxury of the coast and explore inland. As with all the larger islands in the Mediterranean, Sardinia was plundered and settled by a succession of pirates and empire builders. However, due in large part to its rugged and impenetrable landscape, Sardinian identity was never wholly extinguished. Her Bronze Age settlements truly set it apart. Deep gorges, craggy limestone and slate mountain ranges and swathes of verdant countryside hide over 7,000 nuraghi, peculiar conical stone structures which were forts, palaces and simple domestic dwellings. Much is left to the imagination as little is known about these edifices, though digs are leading to some fascinating insights. 148
Evidence of Phoenician power on the island can be seen at Tharros on the west coast, established in the eighth century bc in a strategic position jutting into the sea in the Gulf of Oristano. Later colonised by the Romans, the site is a remarkable example of a coastal city-state. Finds can be seen in Sardinia’s superlative collection of archeological museums, in Cagliari, Sassari and Oristano. The decline of the Roman Empire left Sardinia open to Goths, Lombards, for a short spell the Byzantines, and to the new Muslim empires of North Africa and Spain. The Pisans and Genoese in the eleventh century left an indelible mark on the island with their superb Romanesque churches in the Logudoro region, indeed some of the finest in Europe. Rule by the Kingdom of Aragón brought a Spanish dimension to the island’s culture, most evident today in the Catalan-Gothic architecture of the fishing port at Alghero and, concealed in mediaeval churches in tiny villages the length of the island, sumptuous sixteenth-century retables which rival coeval ones on the Italian mainland.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 11.30am (Alitalia) from London City Airport to Cagliari, via Milan. First of three nights in Cagliari. Day 2: Cagliari. The morning is spent in the Cittadella dei Musei: the art gallery has works by the foremost Sardinian retable painter, Pietro Cavaro, and the excellent archaeological museum has important finds from the Nuragic, Phoenician and Roman periods. See the Giganti di Mont’e Prama, nuragic stone figures representing warriors, boxers and archers that have been recently reconstructed from over 5,000 fragments excavated in the 1970s. In the afternoon walk up the Bastione St. Remy, an immense late 19thcentury gateway to the Castello district. The cathedral has a remodelled Pisan-Romanesque façade and a sculpted pulpit from 1160. The Museo Diocesano has a 15th-century Flemish triptych.
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Day 5: Tharros, San Salvatore. Tharros is a magnificently located Punic and Roman site, with fine views over the Gulf of Oristano. The nearby Byzantine Church of San Giovanni in Sinis is the oldest of Sardinia’s churches. Visit the Church of the Saviour, which has an underground hypogeum with 4th-century frescoes depicting animals and Roman mythology. Return through the marshes of the lagoon, stopping for lunch at a fish restaurant in the town of Cabras. Day 6: Borruta, Bonorva, Torralba. San Pietro di Sorres is the most superbly situated Romanesque church in Sardinia, with typical Tuscan black and white stone banding. The church overlooks the Valle dei Nuraghi where there is a concentration of nuragic sites. Visit Nuraghe Santu Antine, the most complex nuragic site in Sardinia. The cliff necropolis of Sant’Andrea Priu was used for burial in the 2nd and 3rd centuries bc. In the main chamber are exquisite fragments of later Roman and Byzantine frescoes. Continue to Sassari for the first of three nights. Day 7: Sassari, Porto Torres. The morning is spent in Sassari, which has a network of charming mediaeval streets culminating in stately 19thcentury piazze. The cathedral of San Nicola has one of Italy’s most lavish Baroque façades. There is a large collection of pre-historic, Punic and Roman artefacts in the Museo Sanna, as well as excellent models of the nuraghi and tomb complexes. At Porto Torres, the Basilica di San Gavino is a monumental Romanesque structure, Sardinia’s earliest and finest, with almost thirty Roman columns flanking the nave. The Copper Age sanctuary of Monte D’Accoddi is entirely unique in the Mediterranean, reminiscent of the tombs of the Aztecs. Day 8: Alghero, Churches of the Logudoro. Alghero is a picturesque seaside town, still functioning as a commercial fishing port. A Catalan colony for nearly 400 years, the Spanish influence can be seen in the Catalan-Gothic architecture of the old town. Visit the nearby Domus de Janas site Anghelu Ruju, a fine example of the pre-nuragic hypogea found all over the island. Drive to see two examples of PisanRomanesque churches, each in a very different setting in the rural landscape. Santissima Trinità di Saccargia is a splendid example, built in black basalt and white limestone in 1116. Santa Maria del Regno has a magnificent ornate retable from 1515.
World Heritage Malta From Neolithic to now Day 9. Fly from Alghero to London City, via Milan, arriving c. 3.45pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,590 or £2,380 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,790 or £2,580 without flights. Included meals: 4 lunches (including 1 picnic) and 5 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Regina Margherita, Cagliari (hotelreginamargherita.com): a refurbished 4-star hotel, externally unattractive but internally clean and bright, with spacious rooms. Mariano IV Palace Hotel, Oristano (hotelmarianoiv.com): the only centrally located 4-star hotel in the town, in need of refurbishment. Bedrooms are a good size if a little dated. Hotel Vittorio Emanuele, Sassari (hotelvittorioemanuele.ss.it): 3-star hotel close to the historic centre but rooms are simple, small and ill-lit. These hotels are the best in their localities, but are by no means luxurious or indeed memorable. Flights. The flights offered on this tour are indirect via Milan as at the time of going to press there are no airlines other than Easyjet and Ryanair that offer direct flights from London to Sardinia on the days this tour runs. Low-cost airlines do not offer viable booking conditions for tour operators arranging group travel. However, participants who prefer to arrange their travel independently and fly directly can do so.
1–7 October 2018 (mf 206) 7 days • £2,870 Lecturer: Juliet Rix A wonderful exploration of this fascinating, diverse island. A visit to some of the world’s earliest stone temples, among a concentration of other astonishing major historic sites. Led by award-winning journalist Juliet Rix, author of the definitive guide to Malta (Bradt Guide: Malta & Gozo) and expert on the area. Visit the rural and picturesque Gozo Island, with stunning natural features. Malta has an extraordinary seven-thousand-year history beginning with the arrival of a littleknown people from Sicily who became the creators of Malta’s unique Neolithic temples. Older than the Great Pyramids and the famous standing stones at Stonehenge, Malta’s temples were built between 3600 and 2500 bc – fine examples of megalithic architecture, constructed a millennium before Mycenae. All the temples are unesco World Heritage Sites, as is the unique Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, the extraordinary triple-layered tomb complex cut from solid rock where the ‘Temple People’ buried their dead.
And this is just the start of the story. Malta, with its perfect natural harbours, was desired by every trading or invading nation in the Mediterranean, from the Phoenicians and Romans to both sides in the Second World War. Each occupier has left its mark, whether RomanByzantine catacombs or British red letter boxes. The Knights of St John Hospitaller, commonly referred to as ‘The Knights of Malta’ have, of course, left the greatest impression. Ousted from Jerusalem and then Rhodes, this order of maritime warrior monks arrived in Malta in 1530 and ruled until 1798. After nearly losing the country to the Ottoman Turks in the Great Siege of 1565, the Knights built a near-impregnable new city on a rocky peninsula between two harbours: Malta’s delightful diminutive capital, Valletta. Despite the ravages of the Second World War, Valletta remains fundamentally the Knights’ city although one area has just received a very twenty-first-century makeover. Badly bombed and minimally restored, the City Gate area has been redesigned by the architect of the Pompidou Centre and the London Shard, Renzo Piano.
Itinerary Day 1: Valletta. Fly at c. 11.00am from London Heathrow to Malta. Drive to Valletta, a peninsula flanked by fine natural harbours and once the most strongly fortified city in Christendom. Here,
How strenuous? A lot of walking, some over rough ground at archaeological sites or over cobbled or uneven paving. Fitness and sure-footedness are essential, particularly for clambering up nuraghi. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 75 miles Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Berlin, Potsdam, Dresden, 6–14 September 2018 (p.80); Lucca, 24–30 September 2018 (p.127); Pompeii & Herculaneum, 24–29 September 2018 (p.140).
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‘The choice of itinerary was well planned and an excellent balance of archaeological sites.’
Illustrations. Left: Sardinia, Cagliari, steel engraving c. 1850. Right: part of the prehistoric complex at Hagar Qim, wood engraving from ‘The Illustrated London News’, 1868.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, 22 July–4 August 2018 – see page 59. Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235. What else is included in the price? See page 7. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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World Heritage Malta continued
Valletta Baroque Festival Music and art in the heart of the Mediterranean
survey the massive fortifications protecting the landward approach and view the Grand Harbour from the ramparts. Day 2: Qrendi, Marsaxlokk, Dingli. Drive through attractive countryside to the prehistoric temples overlooking the sea, Hagar Qim and Mnajdra. After some free time for lunch in the picturesque, traditional fishing village on Marsaxlokk, see the ancient track works, Clapham Junction cart ruts in Dingli. Day 3: Valletta. A morning in the National Museum of Archaeology, home of the unique ‘Fat Ladies of Malta’ and other original carvings from the Neolithic Temples. Visit the charming Manoel Theatre, a rare survival of the early 18th century, and the Co-Cathedral of St John, one of the most interesting of Baroque buildings, which has lavish carved wall decoration, ceiling paintings by Mattia Preti, magnificently carved tombs and two paintings by Caravaggio. Finally, a private visit of the Casa Rocca Piccola, providing unique historical insight into the customs and traditions of the Maltese nobility over the last 400 years. Day 4: Paola, Valletta. In Paola, the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum is a unesco World Heritage Site and the only prehistoric underground temple in the world. The Tarxien Temples site is the most complex in Malta and would have been the most decorative. The afternoon is free in Valletta. Day 5: Gozo. A 30-minute ferry crossing to the island of Gozo, which is more rural and less populated than Malta. See the temple of Ggantija, one of the oldest of Malta’s prehistoric monuments. The chief town is Victoria, which has a cathedral, museum and Sicilo-Norman houses. Fungus Rock, Gharb and Ramla Bay are all of geological, historical and mythical interest, respectively. Day 6: Mdina, Rabat. Mdina, Malta’s ancient capital, is an unspoilt citadel of great beauty, centre of the indigenous aristocracy, with mediaeval walls, grand palazzos and Baroque cathedral. Spreading below is the town of Rabat, with Early Christian catacombs.
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Day 7: Vittoriosa. Cross the Grand Harbour by boat, to see churches, forts, and the Second World War museum in Vittoriosa. Fly to London Heathrow arriving at c. 7.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,870 or £2,670 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,410 or £3,210 without flights. Included meals: 2 lunches, 3 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Phoenicia, Valletta (phoeniciamalta.com): 5-star hotel just outside the city gates. Recently refurbished and furnished with style and character; the best in Valletta. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking, some of it over the rough ground of sites, and Valletta is relatively hilly. Average distance by coach per day: 15 miles. Group size: between 10 and 20 participants.
13–20 January 2018 (me 742) 8 days • £2,880 (including tickets to 5 performances) Lecturer: Juliet Rix Baroque music in one of the most complete and compact of Baroque cities. World-class musicians include Ghislieri Choir & Consort. Guided tours of Malta’s principal archaeological and architectural treasures. Malta is a highly apposite setting for the performance of Baroque music. During the Baroque period the island was ruled by the Knights of Malta or Knights Hospitaller, Valletta was completely rebuilt and the knights themselves were vigorous patrons of the arts, including music and architecture. One of Europe’s oldest working theatres is the Teatru Manoel, built in 1731 at the behest of the Grand Master of the order, Fra António Manoel de Vilhena. With only 600 seats, the theatre is a masterpiece of carpentry, with three tiers of wooden boxes, gilded and painted, and a trompel’oeil ceiling. Opera companies visited Malta regularly, performing works by Hasse, Piccini and Galuppi. Other buildings hosting concerts include the President’s (formerly Grandmaster’s) Palace; St John’s Co-Cathedral, begun in 1573 and gradually embellished to become a great ensemble of Baroque art; and the Church of St Catherine d’Italie (1713). Valletta’s beautiful position on one of the world’s greatest natural harbours, and the fine buildings which still dominate the city, make it a splendid location in which to hear the music of Bach, Vivaldi and their contemporaries.
Combine this tour with: Lucca, 24–30 September 2018 (p.127). Illustration: Valetta, mid-19th-century steel engraving.
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Itinerary Day 1: Valletta. Fly at c. 11.30am (Air Malta) from London Heathrow to Malta. Drive to Valletta, a peninsula flanked by fine natural harbours and once the most strongly fortified city in Christendom. Day 2: Valletta. Survey the massive fortifications protecting the landward approach and view the Grand Harbour from the ramparts. Visit the National Museum of Archaeology, home of the unique ‘Fat Ladies of Malta’ and other carvings from the Neolithic Temples. Some free time followed by dinner and an evening concert: ‘Bach & Italy’, a celebration of the international interplay in Bach’s time, performed by Concerto Köln. Day 3: Hagar Qim, Mnajdra, Marsaxlokk, Valletta. Drive through attractive countryside to the prehistoric temples overlooking the sea, Hagar Qim and Mnajdra. Return to Valletta after lunch in the picturesque fishing village of Marsaxlokk. An evening concert with the Ghislieri Choir & Consort, Giulio Prandi (director): ‘Fasti Del Barocco Romano’, Handel’s Dixit Dominus, Donna che in ciel and Niccolò Jommelli’s Beatus Vir. Day 4: Gozo. A 30-minute ferry crossing to the island of Gozo which is more rural and less populated than Malta. See the temple of Ggantija, among the oldest of Malta’s prehistoric monuments. The chief town is Victoria, which has a citadel, cathedral and Sicilo-Norman houses. Stop for lunch in the citadel to try homemade Gozitan food. Day 5: Mdina, Rabat. Mdina, Malta’s ancient capital and centre of the indigenous aristocracy, is an unspoilt citadel of great beauty, with mediaeval walls, grand palazzos and Baroque cathedral. Visit Palazzo Falson, a 13th-century private residence and the second oldest building in Mdina. Spreading below is the town of Rabat, with Early Christian catacombs. An evening concert with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, Brian Schembri
Dutch Painting Art in Amsterdam, Haarlem and The Hague Juliet Rix Award-winning journalist, writer and broadcaster with a particular interest in the history of Malta. She studied History of Art at Cambridge and is the author of the Bradt Guide: Malta & Gozo. She has worked for the BBC, and written for various British national newspapers, magazines and online media.
(conductor): ‘Inspired by Baroque’, music by Grieg, Tansman, Gravina and Villa-Lobos. Day 6: Paola, Tarxien. In Paola, the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum is a unesco World Heritage Site and the only prehistoric underground temple in the world. The Tarxien Temples site is the most complex in Malta and would have been the most decorative. An evening concert with Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord) and La Folia Barockorcheste: ‘Chamber Music at the Zwinger Palace’. Day 7: Valletta. Guided tours of the Manoel Theatre and the Co-Cathedral of St John, which has lavish carved wall decoration, ceiling paintings, magnificent tombs and two paintings by Caravaggio. A private tour of the Casa Rocca Piccola, a 16th-century palazzo owned by the Marquis de Piro. The final evening concert is in Mdina Cathedral with Ghislieri Consort & Choir, Giulio Prandi (director): ‘Fasti Del Barrocco Napoletano’. Day 8: Vittoriosa. Cross the Grand Harbour by boat (weather permitting) to see churches, forts, and the Second World War museum in Vittoriosa. Fly to London Heathrow, arriving c. 7.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,880 or £2,680 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,260 or £3,060 without flights. Music: five first category concert tickets are included, costing c. £280. Accommodation. Hotel Phoenicia, Valletta (phoenicianamalta.com): 5-star hotel, recently refurbished and furnished with style and character, the best in Valletta and just outside the city gates. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking, some of it over the rough ground of sites. Valletta is relatively hilly so you will need to be comfortable with everyday walking and stair climbing. Average distance by coach per day: 12 miles. Group size: between 10 and 20 participants.
Illustration, right: Amsterdam, watercolour by Nico Jungman publ. 1904.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Painting of the Dutch Golden Age – Frans Hals, Rembrandt, Vermeer and contemporaries – as well as art of other eras. Plenty of time for the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam which reopened in 2013 as Europe’s best-displayed national gallery. The Mauritshuis in The Hague also reopened in 2014 after complete refurbishment and ‘looks set to become northern Europe’s most alluring small museum’ (Financial Times). Combine this tour with The Rhine Valley Music Festival, 20–27 June 2018 – see page 88. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is one of the world’s great museums, but it was largely closed for ten years until 2013. Planned extension and refurbishment hit a number of unexpected snags, but the new Rijksmuseum has been greeted with universal praise. Much extra space has been quarried from within the footprint of the 1885 building, and while some of the original decoration has been revealed and restored, the latest museum technology has been adopted and the artworks are beautifully lit. Paintings, sculpture, drawings, tapestries, ceramics, gold and silver – the whole gamut of fine and decorative arts are on display, often in meaningful juxtaposition. Though the gallery has the finest collection by far of the Dutch Golden Age (the seventeenth century, the age of Rembrandt and Vermeer), it has much else besides, including significant international collections. There are two visits to the museum, and visits to a number of Amsterdam’s other main galleries and historic buildings, as well as city centre walks through the enchanting streetscape and along the canals. To enlarge upon the theme, two key galleries in other towns are also visited. The Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, housed in the almshouse where the eponymous artist spent his last years, provides a perfect introduction to Golden Age art, while the paintings in the Mauritshuis, also benefiting from brilliant re-display, form one of the richest small collections anywhere.
Day 3. Visit the Hermitage, followed by the Royal Palace, formerly the town hall, decorated by the leading Dutch painters of the 17th century (subject to closure for royal functions). Return to the Rijksmuseum for a second visit. There is some free time to visit two other major art museums nearby which have also recently been refurbished and extended, the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. Day 4. Opened in June 2014 after long closure for refurbishment, the Mauritshuis at The Hague houses a superb collection of paintings including masterpieces by Rembrandt and Vermeer. Visit also the illusionistic Mesdag panorama before driving to the airport. Fly from Amsterdam and return to London Heathrow at c. 6.00pm. We sometimes change the visits on this itinerary to take advantage of temporary exhibitions.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,910 or £1,770 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,210 or £2,070 without flights. Included meals: 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Estheréa, Amsterdam (estherea.nl): central, 4-star hotel in a historic building with colourful, comfortable rooms. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking and standing in museums. Average distance by coach per day: 23 miles. Group size: between 10 and 20 participants. Combine this tour with: Copenhagen Modern, 21–25 June 2018 (p.56).
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Included meals: 3 lunches, 4 dinners, with wine.
27–30 June 2018 (me 935) 4 days • £1,910 Lecturer: Dr Sophie Oosterwijk
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 12.00 midday (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Amsterdam. Haarlem was the chief artistic centre in the northern Netherlands in the 16th century and home of the first of the great masters of the Golden Age, Frans Hals, whose finest works are in the excellent small museum here. Drive to Amsterdam, where all three nights are spent. Day 2. With its concentric rings of canals and 17th-century merchants’ mansions, Amsterdam is one of the loveliest capitals in the world. Our first visit to the brilliantly refurbished Rijksmuseum concentrates on Rembrandt, Vermeer and their contemporaries. In the afternoon walk to Museum Van Loon, a private residence built in 1672, and to the house where Rembrandt lived and worked for nearly 20 years. Walk back to the hotel through some of Amsterdam’s most attractive streets. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Art in the Netherlands Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh Day 3: Utrecht. One of the best-preserved historic cities in the Netherlands, Utrecht features canals flanked by unbroken stretches of Golden Age houses. The excellent art museum has a major collection of paintings of the 17th-century Utrecht School. See also the Rietveld House (1924), a landmark of 20th-century architecture. Day 4: Otterlo. Located in gardens and surrounded by an extensive heath, the beautiful Kröller-Müller Museum has the second great collection of works by Van Gogh as well as an eclectic holding of paintings, furniture and sculpture. A leisurely visit here allows time to explore the 75-acre park with its outdoor sculptures. Day 5: The Hague. The Mauritshuis at Den Haag contains a superb collection of paintings including masterpieces by Rembrandt and Vermeer. Exhibited in the Gemeentemuseum are 19thcentury Hague School paintings, the realist milieu from which Van Gogh emerged, and works by the pioneer abstractionist Mondriaan. Visit also the illusionistic Mesdag panorama and the centre of the city, seat of the court and parliament.
15–21 October 2017 (me 615) 7 days • £2,660 Lecturer: Dr Guus Sluiter 21–27 October 2018 (mf 246) 7 days • £2,680 Lecturer: Dr Guus Sluiter A study of Dutch art in some of the finest museums of the Netherlands. Features artists of the seventeenth-century Golden Age (Hals, Rembrandt, Vermeer), Van Gogh and other major figures. The lecturer is an art historian resident in The Netherlands.
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Also architecture and design from mediaeval to modern, and several highly picturesque historic town centres. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, one of the world’s great museums, closed for major refurbishment for over ten years. It reopened in 2013, allowing us to offer comprehensive art history tours to the Netherlands once again. In the last few years the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art have also reopened to great acclaim after periods of closure. The seventeenth century was the Golden Age in the history and art history of the northern Netherlands. (Much of this activity was concentrated in Holland, though that was but one of seven provinces which constituted the United Provinces, now the Kingdom of the Netherlands.) This was the time of Frans Hals, Rembrandt, Vermeer and innumerable other great masters. The Dutch School is of universal appeal, with its mix of realism, painterliness and potency, though it is best appreciated in the excellent art 152
galleries of their native country – and against the background of the well preserved and wonderfully picturesque towns and cities. With their canals, cobbled alleys and gabled mansions, many have changed little in three hundred years. There is also focus on Vincent Van Gogh, the bulk of whose output is in the Netherlands. Painters of the Hague School of the nineteenth century have a presence, as do pioneers of modernism in painting and architecture, the architects Van der Velde and Gerrit Rietveld for example, and the abstract painter Piet Mondriaan. More recent art and architecture also features. The base for the tour is a five-star hotel in Utrecht, whose central location means relatively short journeys to all places visited.
Itinerary Day 1: Haarlem. Fly at midday (British Airways) from London Heathrow Airport to Amsterdam Schiphol. Haarlem was the chief artistic centre in the northern Netherlands in the 16th century and home of the first of the great masters of the Golden Age, Frans Hals, whose finest works are in the excellent museum here. Drive to Utrecht, where all six nights are spent. Note that this visit may have to be shortened if the flight is delayed. Day 2: Amsterdam. With its rings of canals lined with merchants’ mansions, Amsterdam is one of the loveliest capitals in the world. Our visit to the brilliantly refurbished Rijksmuseum concentrates on the major works in its unrivalled collection of 17th-century paintings, Rembrandt’s Night Watch and four Vermeers among them. The house where Rembrandt lived and worked for nearly 20 years is well restored and has a display of prints. Also newly extended, the Van Gogh Museum houses the biggest holding (over 200) of the artist’s works, largely from his brother Theo’s collection.
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Day 6: Amsterdam. Return to Amsterdam. The Hermitage Museum, which celebrates the historical ties between Amsterdam and St Petersburg, has an exhibition devoted to Dutch Masters from Russian collections. The afternoon is free for revisiting the Rijksmuseum (there is much to see other than the Golden Age paintings), the Van Gogh Museum, or the Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art. Day 7: Rotterdam. Rotterdam is a thriving city and a centre of contemporary architecture. The Boijmans van Beuningen Museum is the second largest art gallery in the Netherlands and has many important Dutch paintings and good decorative arts. Fly from Amsterdam Schiphol and return to London Heathrow at c. 4.30pm. We sometimes change the visits on this itinerary to take advantage of temporary exhibitions.
Practicalities Price, per person in 2017. Two sharing: £2,660 or £2,520 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,040 or £2,900 without flights. Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £2,680 or £2,530 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,990 or £2,840 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. The Grand Hotel Karel V, Utrecht (karelv.nl): 5-star hotel converted from a 19th-century hospital in a quiet location. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking and standing around. Average distance by coach per day: 70 miles. Group size: between 10 and 20 participants.
The Rhine Valley Music Festival, 20–27 June 2018 – see page 88. Illustration: ‘A Girl Reading’, engraving c. 1880 after Vermeer.
Norway: Art, Architecture, Landscape Oslo, Bergen and the Western Fjords 18–26 June 2018 (me 909) 9 days • £3,990 Lecturer: Dr Frank Høifødt A tour which ties together the drama of the landscape with the architecture, art and design. A great tradition of Norwegian modernism with buildings by Sverre Fehn, Arne Korsmo, Snøhetta and Lund & Slaatto. Wide range of museums and galleries from the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo to the glacier museum in Mundal; Fine Arts in Bergen and the Hedmark in Hamar. Journeys of immense beauty by rail and boat are a major part of the tour. Special arrangements include visits to private villas, a ferry chartered for our group and a talk by the curator of the National Museum of Architecture. For most of the twentieth century, the legend of Scandinavian art, design and architecture grew and grew; an austerely simple yet humane design effortlessly in harmony with nature. Yet somehow Norway was never part of this. Facing the North Atlantic it seemed distant, more attuned to the brilliant melancholy of Grieg, Ibsen and Munch. But that is only a part of the story,
and this tour combines landscape, art and design to give a fuller sense of Norway’s extraordinary beauty and creativity. In the folds of the fjords there have always been some of the most remarkable wooden buildings and towns – and boats – in Europe, while already in the 1930s Arne Korsmo’s beautiful villa above Oslofjord showed a particular Norwegian modernism. In the last two generations, bolstered by the extraordinary, well-invested wealth of their oil reserves, the Norwegians have set about designing a society to match the beauty of their setting, and place them at the forefront of contemporary design. We begin in Oslo, which in the last few years has become one of Europe’s most civilized and elegant cities, now crowned by Snøhetta’s astonishing Opera House. Its sheltered location and wide bourgeois streets could not contrast more than with the drama of Bergen and its dense wooden Hansa Bryggen where we end. However, both cities host great collections of paintings that show the fine eye and great skill with which Norwegians have observed their milieu. As with everywhere else in Norway, water dominates. In fact the story of Norwegian design really begins with our visit to the Viking longboats and continues at the Urnes stave church which overlooks the bucolic Sognefjord two hundred miles inland. We travel there from Oslo on one of the most beautiful train journeys imaginable, and
then sail across the fjord to the beguiling timber Hotel Mundal. We leave for Bergen again by boat, following the fjord to the Atlantic. It is in the tiny town of Mundal, lying in the shadow of Norway’s largest glacier, that Sverre Fehn built his ‘Bremuseum’ (glacier museum). Fehn, who died in 2009, produced an architecture of intelligence and poetry that has made him the subject of veneration unmatched since Alvar Aalto. His Hedmark museum in Hamar, one of the most significant interpretations of an historic site in Europe, is simply extraordinary.
Itinerary Day 1: Oslo. Fly at c. 10.15am from London Heathrow to Oslo (British Airways). Lateafternoon walk through the city (Royal Palace, University, Parliament) to the new waterfront developments by Niels Torp and others. The latest addition here is Renzo Piano’s contemporary art gallery. First of four nights in Oslo. Day 2: Oslo. Begin with the National Gallery, a small but fine collection of Norwegian art including a room dedicated to Edvard Munch. Walk to two buildings by Sverre Fehn: Gyldendal publishing house (2007) and the National Museum of Architecture (2008). Talk here by the Illustration: a fjord in Norway, wood engraving c. 1880.
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senior curator. Continue by coach to Snøhetta’s glacial waterfront opera house (2008). End on Bygdøy – museum island – at the magnificent Viking Ship Museum. Day 3: Hamar, Oslo. Drive north to the ancient city of Hamar, beautifully sited on the shores of Lake Mjøsa. Here is Fehn’s greatest work, the Hedmark Museum and Bishop’s Palace (1967–79). See also the adjacent ruins of Hamar Cathedral, now housed in a ‘crystal palace’ by Lund & Slaatto (1998). Back in Oslo, visit the chthonic church of St Hallvard with its inverted dome and rugged brickwork – an earlier work by Lund & Slaatto. Day 4: Oslo. Residential Oslo is represented today with a visit by special arrangement to an exquisite modernist villa by Arne Korsmo: the Villa Stenersen (1938). High above the city the Holmenkollen ski jump is a new landmark (JDS, 2010) with magnificent views. Return to the centre for some free time. Suggestions include taking the ferry to Bygdøy, home to Kon-Tiki, or visiting the Åkerhus (fortress) and Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art. Day 5: Oslo to Mundal. Spend the day travelling into the Western Fjords – a journey of considerable drama and beauty. Train at c. 8.30am train from Oslo, disembarking at Myrdal, a remote junction high above the Raundal Valley (journey time: c. 4 hours 45 minutes). Here join the famed Flåm railway, a spectacular fifty-minute descent to the shores of the Aurlandsfjord. The final leg is by boat (private charter) from Flåm to Mundal at the very end of Fjaerlandfjord. Walk to our hotel, a handsome villa built 1891 by Peter Blix. Two nights in Mundal. Day 6: Mundal, Urnes. Mundal is a pretty village tucked between glacier, mountain and water. Here, sitting as if a terminal moraine, is Fehn’s glacier museum (1991), a complex building responding to the dramatic landscape. Drive to the village of
Solvorn, from where we embark to Urnes. Walk up to the stave church, among the oldest and most celebrated in Norway, with carvings dating to the 12th century. Its beautiful orchard setting is on a promontory above Lustrafjord (a branch of the Sognefjord) with views north and south. Day 7: Mundal to Bergen. The morning is free to visit Mundal’s church and Hay-on-Wye-style bookstalls, or to walk or cycle round the fjord. Lunch in the hotel before boarding the ferry to Balestrand (1 hour 30 minutes) connecting then to the boat along Sognefjord to the Atlantic and Bergen, a route taken by many a British tourist in the 19th century (c. 3 hours 45 minutes). Arrive at the hotel in Bergen c. 9.00pm. Day 8: Bergen. A lively port of immense charm flanked by wooded hills. Walk along the boardwalks of the Bryggen, the colourful mediaeval merchants’ quarter and home to the Hanseatic Museum. Ride the funicular train up Mount Fløyen for spectacular views. Continue to the heart of the modern city, including the museum quarter laid out from the 1920s around a lake. The Fine Arts Museum is superb for modern and Norwegian art. Day 9: Bergen. Free morning. Suggestions include the fish market, the Bryggen Museum or the Decorative Arts Museum. In the afternoon depart for Troldhaugen, the idyllic summer home of Edvard Grieg. See his villa and waterside studio, and also his tomb. Private recital in the concert hall here (to be confirmed). Continue to Bergen airport and fly to Heathrow arriving c. 9.30pm.
Illustration: Bergen, watercolour by Nico Jungman, publ. 1905.
Rock Art in Norway & Sweden, June 2018 – see page 185.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,990 or £3,860 without flights. Single occupancy: £4,750 or £4,620 without flights. Included meals: 3 lunches, 6 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Grand Hotel, Oslo (grand. no): 5-star hotel in the heart of the city; a short walk from the National Gallery. Hotel Mundal (hotelmundal.no): small, historic hotel on the waterfront; charming, eccentric and reminiscent of a private home; rooms vary in size. Clarion Hotel, Bergen (choicehotels.com): attractive 4-star hotel on the waterfront in the Bryggen; bedrooms are smartly furnished with rich colour schemes. How strenuous? This is a long tour with a lot of travelling – by coach, boat and train. You need to be fit and able to carry or wheel your own luggage. Walking is often on uneven ground and uphill. Average distance by coach per day: 32 miles. Group size: between 12 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Great Houses of the East, 28 June–6 July 2018 (p.9).
Lofoten Piano Festival July 2018 Lecturer: Dr. Michael Downes Details available in October 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Following the success of the Lofoten International Chamber Music Festival, inaugurated in 2004, the Lofoten Piano Festival was formed under the artistic direction of pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet in 2014. Now in its third cycle, in 2018 the festival programme is curated by Betrand Chamayou.
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Led by Dr Michael Downes, Director of Music at the University of St Andrews, the tour includes walks in areas of outstanding natural beauty, led by an experienced guide. Lying within the Arctic circle, distinctive scenery of deep fjords and dramatic mountains make up the landscape of the Lofoten archipelago. The islands boast archaeological finds from the Iron and Viking Ages; the town of Vågen the first known town formation in northern Norway in the early Viking Age. Concert venues include intimate churches (many with their own Steinway Grands), the Lofoten ‘Cathedral,’ the largest wooden building north of Trondheim, and a modern concert hall in the port town of Svolvær. Artists for 2018 include Betrand Chamayou, Leif Ove Andsens, Yulianna Avdeeva, Francesco Pietmontesi, Nelson Freire and Ah Ruem Ahn. Performances by Lofoten Festival Strings, the Engegård Quartet, Maximilliam Schnaus (organ) and Marianne Beate Kielland (mezzo-soprano) are also confirmed. 154
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Kraków & Silesia Art, architecture and history in southern Poland Kraków, St Florian Gate, steel engraving c. 1850.
22–29 June 2018 (me 929) 8 days • £2,730 Lecturer: Dr Jana Gajdošová Wrocław and Kraków, two of the most impressive and fascinating historic cities in Central Europe. Passed between Bohemia, Prussia and Poland, the multi-layered region of Silesia is of outstanding interest, historically and architecturally. Wrocław and Silesia are surprisingly little visited.
Itinerary Day 1: London to Wrocław. Fly at c. 10.00am from London Heathrow to Kraków (British Airways). Drive to Wrocław and settle in at the hotel before an introductory lecture and dinner. First of four nights in Wrocław.
Day 2: Wrocław. Slav by origin, for centuries Wrocław was predominently German (Breslau). The main square is dominated by the elaborate Gothic town hall and lined by a colourful assortment of Renaissance and Baroque mansions. In the academic quarter, and inside the 171m-long Collegium Maximum, the Aula Leopoldina is an ornate Baroque hall with illusionistic ceiling frescoes. Cross the Piaskowy Bridge to Cathedral Island. Among the highlights of the National Museum are Matejko’s Vows of King Jan Kazimierz Waza and an important collection of mediaeval sculpture. Overnight Wrocław. Day 3: Brzeg, Małujowice, Kamieniec Ząbkowicki. Second excursion into the Silesian countryside. The Renaissance castle at Brzeg has a remarkable sculptured entrance gateway, and there are extensive 15th-century wall paintings in the nearby village church of Małujowice. Kamieniec Ząbkowicki, a huge neo-Gothic country residence, was the last major project by the Prussian architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1838). Overnight Wrocław. Day 4: Kzreszów, Świdnica. The magnificent Baroque abbey at Krzeszów, with imposing interiors, sculpture and paintings, is remarkably well preserved. Polish nuns expelled from Ukraine settled here after the War. The huge ‘Peace Church’ at Świdnica is an extraordinary building, constructed of timber and brilliantly exploiting the tight constraints of the terms under which Lutherans were permitted to build three churches in Catholic Silesia after the 1648 Treaty of Munster. Final night in Wrocław. Day 5: Wrocław, Kraków. Before departing for Kraków visit the Racławice Panorama, an Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Wrocław is the capital of Silesia, in the early modern period one of the wealthiest regions of Central Europe. Prosperity has returned to Wrocław (it has the fastest growing economy of any Polish city), but otherwise contrasts outweigh similarities with Kraków. The mediaeval origins of Silesia were Polish, but under Bohemian, Austrian and Prussian rule, and as an integral part of a united Germany until 1945, German culture came to dominate (Wrocław was known as Breslau). When Silesia was added to Poland after World War II the German-speaking population was replaced by Polish settlers – many of them displaced from territory lost in the east. There ensued ambivalence about its status: much was made of Wrocław’s Polish origins, but a veil was drawn over its later history. It is only since the end of Communism that Wrocław has really come to terms with its multilayered past and the glories of its artistic heritage, now painstakingly restored: the imposing Gothic churches, magnificent Baroque sculpture and pioneering modernist architecture. The impressive old town centre is one of the grandest in Central Europe – evidence of the city’s status as a great
metropolis in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was to remain an important place of cultural interchange between the German west and the Slavic east, and between the Protestant north and the Catholic south. Kraków is one of the treasures of Europe, an unspoilt cityscape of the highest architectural importance. Famed for its royal castle, university, great churches and art collections, it was for centuries Poland’s capital, at a time when the country was one of the major kingdoms of Europe. After the dismemberment of Poland at the end of the eighteenth century, the city was subsumed within the Austrian Habsburg Empire and reduced to provincial impotence. Its independent spirit and intellectual life continued undimmed, however. After the revival of Poland as an independent nation in 1918, and during the tribulations it sustained during much of the twentieth century, Kraków acquired the status of cultural capital, and its literary and artistic life continues to thrive. Miraculously, it largely escaped war-time destruction, but its fabric suffered neglect under Communism. In recent years it has undergone another transformation, restored, cleaned, and once again prosperous. Cafés, shops, restaurants and enterprises of all sorts now fill the historic centre, and it has become a popular city-break destination.
Kraków & Silesia continued
The Douro From Porto to Pinhão
enormous cycloramic painting (120m x 15m) commemorating the centenary of the defeat of the Russian army in 1794 during the Kościuszko Insurrection. Upon arrival in Kraków lunch is followed by an introductory walk. In the heart of the old town, the enormous mediaeval market square (the largest in Europe) has fine façades of many styles. The soaring Gothic church of St Mary contains the greatest of all late-mediaeval German sculpted altarpieces, by Veit Stoss. First of three nights in Kraków. Day 6: Kraków. A walking tour of the Old Town includes the St Florian Gate and the Furrier’s Tower above it, constructed (1300–07) as part of the city’s fortifications. See also the 15thcentury university complex including the cloister, Collegium Maius and St Anne’s Church, a major work of Polish Baroque. In the afternoon visit the City History Museum. Overnight in Kraków. Day 7: Kraków. Wawel Castle was rebuilt by Italian designers in the 16th century to become one of the earliest and greatest of Renaissance palaces north of the Alps, with arcaded courtyard and splendid interiors. Works of art include an excellent tapestry collection and Leonardo’s Lady with an Ermine. The cathedral is also situated on Wawel Hill; essentially a Gothic structure, it is a Polish pantheon, with tombs of 41 monarchs and national heroes. Adjacent to Kraków but across a branch of the Vistula, Kazimierz was an independent town until the 19th century. Here the Jewish population was concentrated, but there are fine churches as well as synagogues and the former ghetto. It is a place of beauty as well as poignancy. Final night in Kraków. Day 8: Kraków to London. Visit the Cloth Hall, still a covered market below and with a gallery of magnificent 19th-century Polish art above. Fly to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 3.45pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,730 or £2,590 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,190 or £3,050 without flights. Included meals: 2 lunches, 5 dinners, with wine.
MAINLAND EUROPE: POLAND, PORTUGAL
Accommodation. Stary Hotel, Krakow (stary. hotel.com.pl/): boutique 5-star hotel in a 14thcentury towhouse located close to the mediaeval main square. Sofitel, Wroclaw (sofitel.com): comfortable 5-star hotel in the old town. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking, much of it on roughly paved streets. There are long drives on four of the days. Average distance by coach per day: 109 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: A Festival of Music in Prague, 13–19 June 2018 (p.52); Danish Castles & Gardens, 2–8 July 2018 (p.53).
Illustrations. This page: Porto, wood engraving c. 1880. Opposite: mid-19th-century steel engraving.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235. 156
13–20 October 2017 (me 612) This tour is currently full Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com One of the most remote and picturesque corners of Europe. Variety of visits including major museums, mediaeval and Baroque architecture, gardens, Paleolithic art and wine tastings at private estates. Journeys of immense beauty by rail and boat. Led by Dr Gerald Luckhurst – a landscape architect and garden historian based in Lisbon. One of our more leisurely tours. The upper reaches of the Douro in Portugal present a landscape of extraordinary beauty and tranquillity. The banks rise steeply into the surrounding hills which are clothed with terraced vineyards, patches of woodland, little villages and quintas. Until recently one of the remotest clefts in western Europe, the region remains remarkably unspoilt and difficult of access. It is best approached by train; a journey into mountains that begins at the mouth of the river in Porto (Oporto). The capital of northern Portugal, Porto is synonymous with the port wine trade, which since time immemorial has been dominated by the British. Hence an architectural peculiarity of Porto: the serene Neo-Palladianism of buildings by John Carr of York and his imitators cheekby-jowl with the highly wrought, startlingly pigmented and lavishly gilded Baroque style of churches and public buildings. Baroque was virtually introduced by another foreigner, the Tuscan painter-architect Nicolau Nasoni who had a hand in the design of many churches and houses in the city and along the Douro. Porto is also relatively unspoilt, retaining a jumble of historic architecture on its undulating even precipitous site, but it is also a city of parks
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and gardens and the occasional flash of ultramodern architecture. This is not a tour in pursuit of masterpieces, rather an exploration of delicious scenery and ancient townscapes in a most beautiful but often overlooked corner of Europe. The port wine industry is a subsidiary theme, along with the excellent red wines now produced here. The pace on this tour is slower than on many.
Gardens of Central Portugal April 2018 Details available in July 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Visit some of Portugals’ most enchanting palaces, botanical garden and dramatic parklands. Sintra’s lush mountainscape is the setting for Romantic country estates and modern private gardens; here meet owners, head gardeners and park directors. Walk within Bussaco’s monastic walled estate with ancient trees protected by a Papal bull. In Lisbon, visit the extensive greenhouse Estufa Fria, and the enigmatic gardens of Fronteira, with some of the best painted tiles in the country. Led by Dr Gerald Luckhurst, landscape architect and garden historian who works on the restoration of Portugal’s historic gardens, including the awardwinning Monserrate in Sintra.
Wellington in the Peninsula, 15–27 May 2018 – see page 157.
Walking & Gardens in Madeira Garden of the Atlantic 8–13 October 2018 (mf 211) 6 days • £2,440 Lecturer: Dr Gerald Luckhurst Four moderate walks of a maximum of four miles through Madeira’s magnificent landscapes: coastal, woodland and mountainous. A focus on both Madeira’s formal gardens and its natural flora and wildlife. Stay in Madeira’s most famous hotel. The lecturer is Dr Gerald Luckhurst, landscape architect and author on Madeira’s gardens.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 12.30pm from London Gatwick to Funchal, (British Airways). Lecture and dinner in the hotel. First of five nights in Funchal. Day 2. Morning walk (level and easy walk along the levada, narrow in places with a descent onto the road to finish, c. 5 km) along the Levada dos Tornos. Starting in the hills above Funchal, we walk to the Blandy family estate at Palheiro for lunch and a guided visit. The extensive sub-
Day 3. A guided tour of Funchal’s centre focusing on its city gardens and historic monuments. The Mercado dos Lavadores (farmers’ market) is a brilliantly vibrant showcase of the island’s produce. Visit the Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, with its whitewashed walls and Mudéjar-inspired ceiling, and the Jesuit collegiate church. Drive to Madeira’s easternmost peninsular, Ponta do São Lourenço, for an afternoon walk (c. 6 km, with steep ascents and descents on stepped paths; the length of the walk is subject to weather conditions) in a rugged, almost lunar landscape, home to fossils, cacti and the odd flash of flowers. Day 4. A morning visit to the Boa Vista orchid gardens which house the rarest and most unusual collection of orchids on the island. The Jardim Botânico located in the Quinta of Bom Sucesso is home to over 100 species of indigenous plants, as well as tropical and sub-tropical fruit trees and coffee trees, sugar cane and popular medicinal plants. Visit one of the island’s newest gardens, located on Ponta da Cruz, the southernmost point of Madeira. This is the warmest and sunniest spot on the island which makes for an extraordinarily colourful garden. The rest of the day is free.
Day 5. In the cool hills above Funchal is the unesco Biosphere site at Ribeiro Frio, where a botanical garden and trout hatchery sit among quiet glades. Walk along the path to Balcões and back (3 km), with views of the craggy valleys below. Afternoon walk (moderate, 5.6 km, a stony path with some steep sections) to Madeira’s highest peak, Pico Ruivo, with wonderful 360° views stretching to the horizon, and a dramatic vista down to the small town of Curral das Freiras. Private evening visit to the Blandy Wine Lodge with a Madeira wine tasting.
Day 6. Drive to Funchal airport for the flight to London Gatwick, arriving at c. 5.30pm. Although we have chosen the walks on this itinerary with due care and consideration, Madeira is subject to high winds which may mean that walks have to be changed or modified at short notice. We follow the advice of local walking guides.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,440 or £2,220 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,930 or £2,710 without flights. Included meals: 2 lunches, 3 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Reid’s Palace Hotel, Funchal (belmond.com): arguably the best hotel on the island, this famous 5-star luxury hotel is set in subtropical gardens overlooking the Atlantic. Rooms are elegant in décor with sea or garden views. There are three excellent restaurants to choose from. Service here is second to none. How strenuous? Walking is an integral part of this tour and if you cannot complete a 3-mile country walk with ascents and descents, do not consider booking. There are four walks of between 2 and 4 miles. These walks can be rated as easy to moderate though strong knees and ankles are essential, as are a pair of well-worn hiking boots with good ankle support. Walks have been carefully selected but some steep rises and falls
are unavoidable and terrain can be loose under foot, particularly in wet weather. This tour is not suitable for people who suffer from vertigo. Please contact us if you would like to discuss the walks in further detail. Average distance by coach per day: 39 miles. Group size: between 10 and 18 participants. Combine this tour with: World Heritage Malta, 1–7 October 2018 (p.149); Dark Age Brilliance, 14–21 October 2018 (p.116); Civilizations of Sicily, 15–27 October 2018 (p.142). Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Sitting in the sub-tropical Atlantic, closer to Morocco than to Portugal, Madeira is a startling island, rising high and steep from the ocean. Consisting overwhelmingly of basalt rock, which at the formation of the Atlantic Ocean started spewing from the earth’s core around 130 million years ago, the land of Madeira itself is probably five million years old. The volcanic nature of this island produces not only steep gorges radiating from the rugged central mountains – the highest of which, Pico Ruivo, stands at 1,861 metres above sea level – but also accounts for the spectacular coastal scenery. This tour explores both settings. A hugely varied number of plants and flowers enjoy this dynamic combination of fertile soil and warm temperatures. Bananas and vines, two of Madeira’s major exports, flourish on the coastal plains and lower slopes, while lush evergreen vegetation covers the higher mountain slopes. As is standard on remote islands, there has been considerable speciation, and more than 131 plant species are endemic or unique to Madeira. Of particular interest are the laurisilva woodlands, the large house leeks, woody sow-thistles and marguerites, the beautiful shrubby Echium species and the curious Dragon tree. By exploring the terrain on foot we examine these species and their setting in greater and more rewarding detail. Aside from the ecological and horticultural aspects of this tour, there is also the opportunity to study the history of the island’s greatest export, Madeira wine. Although established as a Portuguese colony since Prince Henry the Navigator’s expedition landed in the early fifteenth century, it was following the marriage of Charles II to Catherine of Braganza that commerce with the British was encouraged in 1663. This marked the beginning of the wine trade, which has been significant ever since. We have organised a private tasting and visit to a winery that has been operating on the island for over two hundred years.
tropical gardens, first acquired by John Blandy in 1885, have been continually developed by the family. Some free time to enjoy the camellias, centennial trees, the rose garden and myriad other flowers and climbers.
St Petersburg Pictures and palaces greatest art museums, with an immensely rich collection of paintings, sculpture, antiquities and decorative arts filling the enormous Winter Palace of the Romanovs. The Russian Museum comes as a revelation to most visitors, for apart from icons (and there is a wonderful collection) the great achievements of Russian painters, particularly during the 19th century, are scarcely known outside the country.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 9.15am from London Heathrow to St Petersburg (British Airways; time in the air: c. 3 hours 15 minutes). There is time to settle in before a short walk in the vicinity of hotel and dinner. Day 2. Explore the north bank of the Neva and Vasilyevsky Island which, as the original intended site of the city, has some of St Petersburg’s earliest buildings including the Twelve Colleges and the Peter-Paul Fortress. Visit the Menshikov Palace, an early 18th-century residence with impressive Petrine decoration. In the afternoon, visit the Russian Museum in the imposing Mikhailovsky Palace, which houses Russian painting from mediaeval icons to the vast canvases of the Romantics and Realists of the 19th century. Day 3. Walk to the remarkable Neo-Classical buildings of the Synod, Senate and Admiralty. Continue by coach, taking in the sumptuous Marble Palace (exterior), designed by Rinaldi in Baroque and Neo-Classical style, and the wonderful group of Smolny Convent and Cathedral by Rastrelli. The first of two visits to the Hermitage, one of the world’s greatest art collections, housed in Rastrelli’s Winter Palace and contiguous buildings; walk around to understand the layout and to see the magnificent interiors.
11–18 May 2018 (me 860) 8 days • £3,010 Lecturer: Dr Alexey Makhrov
MAINLAND EUROPE: RUSSIA
14–21 September 2018 (mf 148) 8 days • £3,010 Lecturer: Dr Alexey Makhrov 28 September–5 October 2018 (mf 196) Exclusively for solo travellers 8 days • £3,170 Lecturer: Dr Alexey Makhrov St Petersburg is perhaps the grandest city in Europe, and one of the most beautiful. Magnificent architecture of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, especially the palaces of the Romanovs, nobility and merchants. Outstanding art collections, the Hermitage being the largest art museum in the world. Led by Dr Alexey Makhrov, a Russian Art Historian and graduate of the St Petersburg Academy of Arts. Combine the May departure of this tour with Holy Russia, also in May 2018 – see page 160 for preliminary details. 158
Founded by Peter the Great in 1703, the city of St Petersburg was intended to demonstrate to the world not only that Russia was a European rather than an Asian nation, but also that it was an immensely powerful one. This ‘window on the West’ became the capital of the Russian Empire until the government moved back to Moscow in 1918. Peter’s wish was amply fulfilled: with the assistance of Dutch, Italian and French architects – Russians were to take over later in the century once they had mastered the mysteries of Western art and architecture – St Petersburg was laid out as the grandest city in Europe, with buildings on a monumental scale. The palaces of the imperial family and of the fabulously wealthy magnates vied with each other, and with the military establishments and government institutions to dominate the river front, the broad avenues and the vast squares. Although one of the newest of Europe’s great cities, St Petersburg is the one least affected by 20th-century building. Despite the well-publicised economic and political troubles Russia has undergone in recent years, there has been a surge of cleaning and restoration which has accentuated the beauty of the city. As impressive as the architecture of St Petersburg are the contents of the museums and art galleries. The Hermitage is one of the world’s
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Day 4. A full-day excursion to two of the summer palaces about 20 miles from St Petersburg, both set in extensive landscaped parks with lakes and pavilions. At Tsarskoye Selo, formerly Pushkin, the main building is the outsized Rococo Catherine Palace by Rastrelli, its richly ornamented interiors painstakingly restored after war damage. At Pavlovsk, also well restored, the graceful NeoClassical Great Palace with encircling wings was in part built by Scotsman Charles Cameron. Day 5. A morning excursion to Peterhof (by hydrofoil, weather permitting), the magnificent palace on the Gulf of Finland with cascades and fountains. Some free time for independent exploration. Day 6. Drive through the city. The Baroque Cathedral of St Nicholas, with its gilded domes, is a memorial to Russian navy sailors who perished at sea. Visit the late 19th-century Yusupov Palace, one of the finest in the city and scene of Rasputin’s murder. A second visit to the Hermitage to concentrate on specific aspects of the collections and to pursue individual passions. Day 7. A visit to the world’s largest collection of Fabergé works, displayed in the Shuvalov Palace. In the afternoon, drive via the Kazan Cathedral with colonnaded forecourt to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, an extensive Baroque layout and cemetery with graves of many famous Russians.
Moscow & St Petersburg Treasures of Russia’s great cities Dr Alexey Makhrov Russian art historian and lecturer. He graduated from the St Petersburg Academy of Arts and obtained his PhD from the University of St Andrews followed by post-doctoral work as a Research Fellow at Exeter. He now lives in Switzerland where he teaches courses on Russian art. Day 8. A free morning; perhaps the Hermitage again, or places not yet visited such as the Dostoyevsky Museum, Academy of Arts, or Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood. Fly to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 5.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person: 11–18 May and 14–21 September 2018. Two sharing: £3,010 or £2,790 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,380 or £3,160 without flights. Price, per person: 28 September–5 October 2018 (exclusively for solo travellers): £3,170 or £2,950 without flights. Included meals: 5 dinners with wine. Music: details of opera and ballet performances will be sent to participants about one month before the tour and tickets can be requested.
Accommodation. Hotel Angleterre (angleterrehotel.com): an excellently located 5-star hotel in the city centre, within easy walking distance of the Hermitage. How strenuous? There is a fair amount of standing in galleries and walking on this tour. Traffic congestion means coach journeys can be long and frustrating. Average coach travel per day: 13 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
September 2018 Lecturer: Dr Alexey Makhrov Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest The two great cities of Russia, monumental and vibrant, both historically and today. Spectacular art collections, spanning the finest icons to masterpieces of Impressionism. Baroque palaces, onion-domed cathedrals and vernacular wooden houses, wherein some of Russia’s greatest literature was produced. Moscow, the older of the two metropoles, is the more modern. It developed as the chief city of Muscovy from the twelfth century and became capital of the Russian Empire as it expanded in later centuries. Though abandoned by Peter the Great and his successors, it continued to grow and to some extent remained the spiritual and artistic centre of Russia. It regained its status as capital in 1918, and has undergone massive changes in the last two decades – with restoration, painting and gilding, as well as a vibrant commercial and cultural life transforming its
economy and appearance, and all but banishing the drabness of the Communist era. The Tretyakov Gallery and Pushkin Fine Arts Museum are not to be missed, nor are the great treasures of the Kremlin Armoury. Founded by Peter the Great in 1703, St Petersburg is perhaps the grandest city in Europe and one of the most beautiful. Laid out on a virgin site, on a monumental scale, its magnificent buildings reflect all the classical styles of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; little of the fabric of the city has changed since. The Hermitage is one of the world’s greatest art museums and the largest, with an immensely rich collection of paintings, sculpture, antiquities and decorative arts filling the enormous Winter Palace of the Romanov Tsars. There are also other great galleries to see, including the Russian Museum, a wonderful collection of Russian art from icons onwards.
Illustrations. Left: St Petersburg, Nevsky Prospekt towards the Admirality, lithograph by André Durand c. 1840. Above: Moscow, Cathedral of St Basil, wood engraving from ‘Russian Pictures’ 1889.
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Visas: British citizens and most other foreign nationals require a tourist visa. The current cost for UK nationals is around £110, including service charge. This is not included in the price of the tour because you have to procure it yourself. You will need to complete an online application in the two month period before departure, and submit this along with your passport. As of 10th December 2014, it is obligatory for UK residents of all nationalities to attend one of three application centres, in London, Manchester or Edinburgh, in order to submit biometric data (fingerprints) as part of the visa application process. Visa issuing times vary from country to country but UK residents should expect to be without their passport for approximately one week.
Holy Russia Icons and monuments of the Golden Ring 19–28 May 2018 Lecturer: Dr Alexey Makhrov Details available in August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Russia’s most sacred icons and frescoes and the masters who painted them. Spectacular churches and monasteries established under the Tsars. The Moscow Kremlin and its treasures, finest Russian art in the Tretyakov Gallery. Timeless countryside and landscapes of the Volga where Isaac Levitan painted. A history of the Russian Orthodox Church that provides great insight into Russia today. Combine this tour with St Petersburg, 11–18 May 2018 – see page 158. Zalesye, or ‘Land beyond the forest’ in the north-eastern periphery of Kievan Rus, became the birthplace of the Russian state. In the vast area between the Volga and Oka rivers, a powerful Vladimir-Suzdal principality emerged in the twelfth century. Moscow, initially a
marginal settlement, took the lead in the fourteenth century and embarked on the mission of ‘gathering Russian lands’. Today Moscow is a dazzling metropolis with remarkable architectural monuments, superb museums and a rich cultural life; it is also the point of departure for exploration of the country’s historical legacy along the route of old Russian cities known as the ‘Golden Ring’. Orthodox Christianity underpinned culture and daily life in medieval Russia. It has continued to exert a dominant influence down the ages, even through the Communist era. Despite the damage done by Soviet attempts to impose atheism, religion has enjoyed a remarkable revival in recent years: churches are again used for worship, many monasteries have been reinstated, and there has been much restoration and reconstruction – supported by the government. The architectural and artistic heritage of the Orthodox faith are sometimes found in spectacular locations. We see churches and monasteries that are striking landmarks in the landscape, while the chiming of bells, the splendour of ritual and the shimmering magnificence of icons and frescoes create a lasting impression.
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Although rooted in Byzantine tradition, Russian medieval art and architecture display originality and receptiveness to western European ideas. The white stone churches in Vladimir and Bogoliubovo feature Romanesque sculptural decoration, whereas Renaissance influence was brought to the Moscow Kremlin and elsewhere by Italian builders. The Moscow school of icon painting of the early fifteenth century, epitomised by Andrei Rublev, produced images of perfect harmony and beauty. The high iconostasis, a screen with tiers of icons separating the altar from the congregation, developed into a distinctive element of Russian ecclesiastical architecture. Study of this glittering artistic legacy, explored in its geographical, historical and religious context, is richly rewarding both in its own right and as an essential means better to understand Russian national identity. Illustrations. Below: A Russian monastery, 20th-century etching. Right: Levoca, church and town hall, watercolour by J. Mothersole, pucl. 1926.
The Western Balkans, May & October departures – see page 49.
Journey through Slovakia Ruthenia to the Danube via the High Tatras 18–26 May 2018 (me 873) 9 days • £2,320 Lecturer: Dr Jana Gajdošová A fascinating but little visited nation in eastcentral Europe formerly part of Czechoslovakia. Little walled towns, particularly rich in Gothic art and architecture, and dramatically sited castles. Also Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical buildings, and good 20th-century painting. Memorable landscapes of hills, forests, fertile valleys and a dramatic range of mountains. Led by a Slovakian art historian who studied in the USA, Berlin, Paris, Vienna and London.
Poland and Ukraine than to Austria, Hungary or the Czech lands. Slovakia is one of the most recent recruits to the EU, and one of its more conservative and least developed members. Part of the appeal of the country is that it has not enjoyed the wealth which might have enabled it to restore its historic patrimony to sparkling perfection, and that there is an appealing workaday authenticity about the life that is carried on amid historic fabric. One more thing: more unesco World Heritage Sites are seen than on many others of our tours.
Itinerary Day 1: London to Košice. Fly c. 11.30am from London Heathrow to Budapest (British Airways) and then drive (3 hours) to Košice, with a break for supper in Hungary. First of three nights in Košice. Day 2: Košice. Extensive, evocative and well kept, the historic centre of Košice is a delight. The Hlavná, a long broad boulevard which courses through the middle of the little city, links many fine buildings, including the elaborately ornamented and richly furnished Gothic cathedral and the turn-of-the-century theatre. Among the narrow streets and squares are other churches and two striking synagogues, Moorish-style of 1889 and Hungarian modernist of 1927. Dinner in an Art Nouveau restaurant. Overnight Košice. Day 3: Krásnohorské, Betliar, Jasov. Excursion through the forested hills and green valleys of the Košice district. The 1905 mausoleum of Františky and Dionýz Andrássy near Krásnohorské is a superb confection of marble and mosaic. Another Andrássy property is the mansion at Betliar where 50 richly furnished rooms are exactly as left by the family in 1944. The late-Baroque monastery complex at Jasov, designed by the Viennese architect Anton Pilgram,
is particularly distinguished for its great library. Overnight Košice. Day 4: Hervatov, Bardejov. The village of Hervatov possesses a 15th-century timber church, the earliest in Slovakia. The delightful little walled town of Bardejov has at its centre a large oblong square, a town hall with some of the earliest Renaissance ornament outside Italy, and a church with an outstanding collection of Gothic altarpieces, brilliantly carved and painted. Spišský Hrad is one of the most spectacular ruined castles in Europe, its white limestone masonry capping a conical hill amidst green fields and wooded hills. Overnight Levoča. Day 5: Levoča and around. Levoča wonderfully preserves its regular mediaeval layout and houses which have been refaced in Renaissance, Baroque and later styles. With its profusion of artworks and furnishings, the interior of the Church of St James is an amazing survival of the mediaeval world. Some of the dozen major altarpieces are by the great sculptor Master Pavel. Some free time here before an excursion to two village churches and a town to see a masterly Gothic chapel, a remarkable 13th-cent. wall painting and, in Kežmarok, an altarpiece by Master Pavel. Overnight Levoča. Day 6: Oravskỳ Podzámok, Vlkolinec, Banská Bystrica. Drive to Oravskỳ Podzámok to visit the magnificent castle. Begun in the 13th century and frequently enlarged and reinforced thereafter, it clasps a hill high above the river below. Continue to the village of Vlkolinec (the hill road requires taxis for the final stretch) which consists entirely of traditional wooden buildings (unesco site). Banská Bystrica is a lively town with a beautiful central square. First of two nights here. Day 7: Poniky, Banská Štiavnica, Hronsek. A drive through particularly attractive countryside takes us to Poniky where the modest village Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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There follows one of the more self-effacing openings you will ever find in promotional prose: Slovakia might not be where you think it is. It was never part of Yugoslavia, though for most of the twentieth century its geopolitical status was that of a subordinate part of a larger nation, namely Czechoslovakia. And now an apology because of course you knew that. You might also know (though this is less likely) that towards the end of the Middle Ages the region was a significant artistic centre, and that there remains here an exceptional concentration of churches that retain their pre-Reformation appearance, their interiors an explosion of carving, colour, gold and imagery. It is amazing so much has survived in situ, in miraculous defiance of violent incursions by Protestants, Turks, Hungarian rebels and (in the twentieth century) Soviet soldiery and home-grown Communists. It is less surprising that this turbulent history made it a country of castles, often sited on hilltops or unscalable outcrops, many ruined but some still roofed and furnished. Another repeatedly striking feature are the towns, which consist almost entirely of historic buildings. Like many in central and eastern Europe, its spacious urban thoroughfares are composed of Renaissance burgher houses or 18th- and 19th-century buildings in various classical guises. Stirred into this well-mannered mix are a handful of more aspirational constructions, town halls from mediaeval to Neo-Baroque, churches of many eras, a synagogue or two and maybe a flamboyant turnof-the-century theatre. The landscape setting of these urban centres forms one of the most memorable features of the tour. Predominantly hilly, the High Tatras, snow covered for much of the year, form the backdrop for a couple of days. Forests are common, but so is the charming agricultural countryside of the valleys. Population density is low, and the area does indeed feel remote, archetypal east-central Europe, at the edge of an empire. Slovakia was never a truly independent nation until 1993. Prior to that it had constituted the slightly ill-fitting tail end of Czechoslovakia (from which it was temporarily separated during the Second World War), and before 1919 it had for centuries lain within the vast multinational kingdom of Hungary – through which it had, since 1526, been subject to Habsburg suzerainty. Culturally and economically, however, and sometimes politically, the territory was closer to
Journey through Slovakia continued
Walking in Slovenia A green and historic nation
church is filled with fine 14th- and 15th-cent. frescoes. Spread over a conjunction of hillsides with steep cobbled streets, Banská Štiavnica is an exceptionally lovely town, mining wealth creating many imposing mansions. Among its fascinations are a monastery converted to a fortress to guard against Ottoman incursions, and an art gallery devoted to Jozef Kollár, ‘the Slovakian Van Gogh’. Hronsek has a large 18th-century wooden church. Overnight Banská Bystrica.
3–10 September 2018 (mf 111) 8 days • £2,780 • Flights not included Lecturer: Professor Cathie Carmichael
Day 8: Zwolen, Trnava, Bratislava. The white walled Renaissance castle with swallow-tail battlements at Zwolen displays the National Gallery’s excellent collection of Gothic art. Trnava became a religious and cultural centre when the Esztergom archbishop retreated here from the Turks in 1543 – and the departure of the episcopal establishment 300 years later led to a decline which allowed much of its fabric to survive. Attractive streetscape, seminaries churches, city walls. Reach Bratislava in time for a pre-dinner walk through the historic centre. Overnight Bratislava.
Under-appreciated wines and varied cuisine, influenced by close neighbours.
Five country walks with beautiful and diverse scenery: vineyards, lakes, gorges, forests and coastline. A small country with a fascinating history, ancient and modern.
The lecturer is Professor Cathie Carmichael, coauthor of Slovenia & the Slovenes.
Day 9: Bratislava. Bratislava was the capital of Christian Hungary when most of the country was under Ottoman rule. Now it is capital of Slovakia, and one of the loveliest and most interesting cities on the banks of the Danube. There is an abundance of highly attractive streets and square and historic buildings of all sorts. Places visited include the Gothic cathedral, the 18th-cent. archiepiscopal palace, an Art Nouveau church and a collection of 20th-century art. Fly from Vienna (an hour away), arriving at Heathrow c. 9.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,320 or £2,110 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,490 or £2,280 without flights. Included meals: 5 dinners with wine.
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Accommodation. Double Tree by Hilton, Košice (doubletree3.hilton.com): modern high-rise 4-star hotel located close to the historic centre. The next two hotels are well located in the main town squares, adequately clean and comfortable, somewhat quirky, locally rated as 3-star and the best in their area. However, they are below the standards we normally aim for: Hotel U Leva, Levoca (uleva.sk) and Hotel Arcade, Banská Bystrica (arcade.sk). Radisson Blu Carlton, Bratislava (radissonblu.com): stylish and very comfortable 4-star hotel on one of the old town squares, the best in the city. How strenuous? There is unavoidably a lot of walking, and trip hazards are endemic. Fitness and surefootedness are essential. Average distance by coach per day: 87 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
The Iron Curtain September 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest What else is included in the price? See page 7. 162
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One of Europe’s smallest countries, Slovenia is distinguished by vivid and varied landscapes and its intelligent, bookish locals, who have a clear respect and love for their inheritance which is reflected in every aspect of life from recycling and housing to literature and the arts. According to seventeenth century writer Baron Valvasor, the Slovenes already were skiing on the Bloška planota to get around in winter, while saving the copious shellfish in their lakes to take to the towns. The stunning Adriatic white buildings on the coastline betray a Venetian past, best seen on the quayside in Piran. On the other side of the country in Ptuj, a town dominated by its twelfth-century castle, there is a clear Austrian legacy. Simon Clements, an English wine merchant who travelled here in 1715,
described the country as ‘wonderfully cultivated’ with ‘vineyards and little churches’ and ‘pretty fair buildings on the tops and sides of the hills’. A visit to the tranquil Lake Bled, one of the loveliest spots in Europe, will confirm his opinions. Slovenia’s proximity to Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Italy give it a complex history of different cultures interacting during times of harmony and conflict. The unique Slavonic Slovene language has some archaic characteristics and is spoken by just over two million people, almost all of whom are bi- or tri-lingual in other languages. In 1991 the Slovenes left their Yugoslav past under Marshall Tito and his successors behind them, but reminders from that era can be seen in bakeries, coffee shops and Balkan grilled meats. It is home to some surprising historic gems including the First World War site of memory at Kobarid, elegant onion-domed Catholic churches and the quirky modernist architecture of Jože Plečnik in the capital, Ljubljana. Slovenia is an ideal place to appreciate on foot before tasting the local grape varieties cultivated since mediaeval times and sampling cuisine that takes its notes from the best of Central Europe.
Itinerary Day 1: Ljubljana to Ptuj. Leave from Ljubljana Airport following the arrival of the flight from London Stansted (Easyjet, currently 4.10pm). (Flights are not included – see ‘Practicalities’.) Drive east to Ptuj for the first of two nights. Day 2: Jeruzalem, Ptuj. A delightful morning walk on farm tracks, forest paths and country roads through the rolling hills of the Jeruzalem and Ljutomer vineyards with views to Slovenia’s four neighbouring countries: 7 km, c. 2 hours 30 minutes. Ascent: 235m, descent: 153m. Visit en route the pilgrim church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Jeruzalem. Return to Ptuj in the afternoon, one of Slovenia’s oldest cities, with a fine mediaeval centre and pedestrian streets. Visit the majestic castle with its excellent regional museum.
Day 4: Vintgar Gorge, Lake Bled. Drive north for a walk in the Vintgar Gorge: 6 km, c. 2 hours 30 minutes. Ascent: 451m, descent: 447m. The walk begins by passing through small villages and countryside, with views of Bled, Triglav (Slovenia’s highest peak), and across the Alps to Austria. The narrow wooden walkway through the gorge itself makes for a stunning finish. In the afternoon admire Slovenia’s jewel, Lake Bled, from above at the 17th-century castle and travel by gondola to its picturesque island with a tiny church containing Gothic frescoes. Day 5: Kobarid. Travelling north-west to the Italian border, visit the town of Kobarid, home of an excellent museum examining the WW1 Battle of Caporetto in 1917. A lovely walk by the
Professor of European History at the University of East Anglia. She studied at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia in the 1980s before independence. Her books include Slovenia & the Slovenes, Language & Nationalism in Europe, Genocide before the Holocaust and Bosnia e Erzegovina, Alba e tramonto del secolo breve. turquoise waters of the Soča river follows the Italian line of defence, and takes in the Italian cemetery commissioned by Mussolini in 1938, army trenches and a waterfall: 5 km, c. 3 hours. Ascent: 191m, descent: 183m. Day 6: Vipava Valley to the Istrian Peninsula. Tasting and lunch in Goče, an enchanting wine village in the Vipava Valley with over sixty cellars. Continue to the coast and walk from Strunjan to Piran, 5 km, c. 2 hours. Ascent: 205m, descent: 181m. This is an easy walk that begins by crossing Strunjan salt pans, established in ad 804 and an important source of income to the region in the Middle Ages. Thereafter there are fine views of the Gulf of Trieste, the Slovenian and Italian coastlines, and St George’s campanile indicates our arrival in the beautiful Venetian town of Piran. First of two nights in Piran. Day 7: Hrastovlje, Piran. Morning walk from the Romanesque Church of the Holy Trinity in Hrastovlje with exquisite frescoes depicting the danse macabre: 4 km, c. 2 hours. Ascent: 391m. Descent: 399m. This is a circular walk that climbs to the abandoned village of Zanigrad, below the karst plateau, with wonderful views. Return to Piran after lunch. Once a group of mediaeval fishing villages, this coastal town was developed by the Venetians into a centre of civilisation, producing composers such as Giuseppe Tartini and other notable figures.
Day 8: Piran. Some free time to enjoy Piran before driving to Ljubljana Airport in time for the flight to London Stansted (Easyjet, currently arriving at 6.00pm).
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,780. Single occupancy: £3,160. Included meals: 5 lunches, 6 dinners, with wine. Flights are not included in the cost of the tour as the most convenient are with Easyjet and we cannot make a booking without knowing the passenger name. We can book flights on your behalf, quoting the fare at the time of booking, or you can make the bookings yourself.Suggested flight details are provided with your Confirmation of Booking, but please contact us if you require details sooner. Accommodation. Hotel Mitra, Ptuj (hotel-mitra. si): centrally located 3-star hotel. Hotel Grand Union, Ljubljana (union-hotels.eu): the city’s oldest hotel, rated 4-star. Hotel Piran (hotel-piran. si): recently refurbished 4-star hotel with sea views. How strenuous? This tour should be considered only by those who are used to regular country walking with some uphill content. Strong knees and ankles are essential, as are a pair of well-worn hiking boots with good ankle support. Terrain can be loose underfoot, and slippery in wet weather. Average distance by coach per day: 82 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: The Imperial Riviera, 10–16 September 2018 (p.107); Hungary, 12–19 September 2018 (p.93).
Illustrations. Left: Ljubljana, wood engraving c. 1890. Below: Trieste, Schloss Miramar, wood engraving c. 1880.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
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Day 3: Ljubljana. Absorb the wide-ranging architectural styles of the capital’s historic core, vigorously reconstructed by the architect Jože Plečnik following the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy. See fine Baroque churches, NeoRenaissance government buildings, and the enchantingly picturesque riverside with its incomparable nexus of Plečnik’s bridges. First of three nights in Ljubljana.
Professor Cathie Carmichael
The Imperial Riviera Trieste, Ljubljana and the Istrian Peninsula 10–16 September 2018 (mf 124) 7 days • £2,290 Lecturer: Richard Bassett Follow in the footsteps of the Habsburgs, Europe’s leading imperial dynasty. Explore three countries from one hotel, crossing between Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. All six nights are spent in Trieste. Led by Richard Bassett, historian specialising in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and author of For God & Kaiser. See page 107 for full details. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Cave Art in Spain Atapuerca to Altamira Day 4: Covalanas, Altamira. The cave of Covalanas is often voted people’s favourite, because unlike the others it is entirely pristine, with no installations of any kind, so that one visits with a hand-held lamp. It is so narrow that one’s face is literally inches from these beautiful dottedoutline figures from about 20,000 years ago. Only seven people may enter at one time. The extremely accurate facsimile of the cave of Altamira is as astonishing as the original, and enables one to have a detailed look at the many facets of this highly complex decorated ceiling. Day 5: Pindal, Tito Bustillo. Pindal contains two of the very few depictions of mammoths in northern Spain, as well as some other very fine and fascinating figures, while the cave’s spectacular coastal setting always makes it a popular site. The cave of Tito Bustillo requires a long walk past impressive stalagmites and stalactites to reach the complex decorated panel, one of the finest in all of cave art, which features the striking use of a very rare purple pigment.
4–10 September 2018 (mf 103) 7 days • £2,370 Lecturer: Dr Paul Bahn Some of the most important prehistoric caves in Europe, including Altamira II, El Castillo and Tito Bustillo. An area of outstanding natural beauty with charming villages. Led by Britain’s leading specialist in prehistoric art, Dr Paul Bahn.
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Visiting the Ice Age decorated caves of Europe may be a pilgrimage, in homage to the region’s artists of 30,000–10,000 years ago, or it may simply be curiosity. But while one’s interest may have been triggered by books, television or lectures, there is simply no substitute for seeing the sites themselves, some of humankind’s greatest artistic achievements in their unusual, evocative and original settings. In addition, the caves of northern Spain are in regions of outstanding beauty, famed for their seafood and cuisine. Three nights are spent in Santillana del Mar, a wellpreserved mediaeval village close to Altamira, one of the most famous and historic decorated caves, located in a striking landscape. Other caves such as Covalanas and Pindal are in settings with breathtaking views. Whatever your motivation or interest, a visit to an Ice Age cave is a tremendous privilege. After more than a century of research we still only know about 400 such sites in Eurasia, and only a small fraction of these are open to the public because of difficulties of access or conservation concerns. As such, they constitute a very limited and finite resource, and yet visitors can approach these original masterpieces extremely closely, an experience unparalleled in major art galleries. Unlike a visit to the Louvre or the Prado, in entering a cave you are seeing the images precisely where they were created; you are standing or crouching just where the artists did. In many cases the journey to the cave entrance and the route 164
through the chambers give your experience a sense of immediacy, purity and vividness. Entering a world far removed from one of commerce, art-dealers and critics enhances a feeling of connection with the artists. There is nothing like a stalactite dripping on your head to remind you that you are in a pristine and natural setting.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 9.15am from London Heathrow to Madrid (Iberia Airlines). Continue by coach to Burgos. The Museum of Human Evolution is one of the biggest and most important in the world devoted to this theme, and contains a magnificent display of the major finds from the sites at Atapuerca. Overnight in Burgos. Day 2: Burgos. Atapuerca is one of the richest and most important groups of archaeological sites in the world, and yet despite the amazing quantity of discoveries so far, the surface has barely been scratched, and work will continue for decades or even centuries to come. Already Atapuerca has yielded the oldest evidence for human occupation in Europe, with early tools and evidence for cannibalism, as well as the world’s earliest evidence for some kind of funerary ritual, and a massive quantity of well-preserved bones of our distant ancestors. Burgos Cathedral is one of the most beautiful in Spain, combining French and German Gothic styles, and has remarkable vaults and 16th-century choir stalls. Drive in the late afternoon to Santillana del Mar for the first of three nights. Day 3: El Castillo, El Pendo. The decorated caves of El Castillo and Las Monedas are close to each other but very different. El Castillo was decorated in many periods of the Ice Age over thousands of years, and indeed contains the oldest known cave art at present, while Las Monedas was decorated by one person at the end of the Ice Age. Both contain some masterpieces. At El Pendo the art on the back wall of the vast entrance chamber was only discovered recently. Careful cleaning of the surface revealed a whole series of beautiful animal figures.
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Day 6: Candamo, Teverga. The visitor centre at Candamo contains a facsimile of the cave itself and other shelters of the region. The Park at Teverga is a recent development which provides a final overview of the phenomenon of Ice Age cave art, including facsimiles of panels from a variety of caves in Spain and France. Day 7: Oviedo. Some free time in Oviedo to visit the Gothic cathedral, with a fine altarpiece and tombs of the Early Asturian kings, and the remarkable Cámara Santa, the original preRomanesque church of King Alfonso II the Chaste (791–842). Take an early afternoon flight from Asturias-Oviedo airport arriving at London Heathrow at c. 3.45pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,370 or £2,230 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,620 or £2,480 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 5 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel NH Palacio de Burgos (nh-hotels.com): smart 4-star hotel in a converted palace. Rooms are comfortable and richly furnished. Parador de Santillana Gil Blas, Santillana del Mar (parador.es): 4-star Parador, traditionally furnished. Eurostars Hotel de la Reconquista, Oviedo (eurostarshotels.co.uk): 5-star hotel in a converted 17th-century hospice. How strenuous? A lot of walking is involved to reach the caves, often over rough ground or up steep gradients. Inside the caves the ground is slippery underfoot; sure-footedness is essential. Average distance by coach per day: 99 miles. Group size: between 10 and 18 participants.
Illustrations. Above: Paintings from Altamira, after a drawing by John Duncan ARSA, publ. 1917. Right: San Sebastian, wood engraving c. 1860.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235.
Bilbao to Bayonne Food, art and architecture in the Basque lands 3–10 September 2018 (mf 106) 8 days • £3,460 Lecturer: Gijs van Hensbergen Long, lazy lunches including two in restaurants with three Michelin stars. Excellent wines of La Rioja-Alavesa. Architecture by Gehry, Calatrava, Moneo, and varied landscapes of coast, plain and mountain. Led by Gijs van Hensbergen, art historian and author of books on Spanish art and food. Three bases: Bilbao, Laguardia and Vera de Bidasoa in the Spanish Pyrenees. Straddling the Pyrenees and divided between France and Spain, the Basque Country has wonderful and varied scenery, a magnificent range of art and architecture and a culinary tradition which ranks with the best in the world. It is a land of abundance in many things, though there is one striking exception: tourists are in short supply. The landscape reaches from the Atlantic coast, indented with natural harbours and the fishing communities from which the wealth of the region has derived since ancient times, to the hills and mountains majestically clothed with broadleaf forests. Both the highlands and the fertile rolling lowlands provide the raw ingredients which supplement the seafood and inspire gastronomic greatness.
The best of Basque cooking mixes a strong sense of tradition with startling innovation. From the all-male dining clubs, where friends cook for each other, to the indoor markets spilling over with smoked idiazabal cheeses and gleaming fresh fish, from the rustic cider clubs to the chic new bars vying for the ‘tapas of the year’ prize, Basques remain obsessed with the quality and provenance of their food. Juan-Marie Arzak is the most famous restaurateur in Spain. As godfather to New Basque Cuisine, he has inspired an entire generation of chefs including Martín Berasategui, Pedro Subijana and Hilario Arbelaitz. Together they share no fewer than ten Michelin stars. Today Juan-Marie cooks alongside his daughter, Elena, voted best Female Chef in the World in 2012, and their restaurant ranks in the world’s top ten. From Bilbao we drive a loop through the RiojaAlavesa, the northern rim of the most prestigious wine-making area in Spain and up to the Pyrenees. Between visits to restaurants, wineries and specialist food shops, we linger in mediaeval villages, Gothic churches and Baroque interiors. There is here some fine contemporary architecture by Gehry, Calatrava and Moneo, while nestling in the upland valleys and clamped to hillsides is a doughty vernacular of remarkable distinctiveness and beauty. San Sebastian, arguably the most gastronomic city in the world, has a swathe of flamboyant turn-of-the-century buildings and was named European Capital of Culture in 2016.
Itinerary Day 1: Bilbao. Fly at c. 8.30am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Bilbao, Calatrava’s spectacular airport. In the afternoon, visit the Fine Arts Museum. Overnight Bilbao. Day 2: Bilbao, Laguardia. The morning is spent studying Gehry’s extraordinary titaniumclad Guggenheim Museum. Lunch is at the restaurant here run by innovative chef Josean Alija who learned his trade at El Bulli. Leave city and industry behind and drive south through increasingly attractive countryside to the undulating plains of the wine-growing region of La Rioja-Alavesa and the mediaeval village of Laguardia. Introductory tasting in the hotel cellar. First of two nights in Laguardia. Day 3: Laguardia, Granja de Remelluri. Laguardia is the most picturesque of Riojan villages, perched on a hillock within a circuit of fortified walls. Walk the ramparts and see the outstanding 14th-century portal of Santa María de los Reyes. Morning tasting at Bodega El Fabulista, where 32,000 litres of wine are produced annually by treading the grapes. Lunch and vineyard walk at the bodegas of Nuestra Señora de Remelluri, installed in 14thcentury monastic buildings in countryside. Day 4: Marqués de Riscal, Lasarte-Oria, Vera de Bidasoa. The Ysios winery below Laguardia is a magnificent building by Calatrava. The bodegas of Marqués de Riscal are among the most venerable
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Bilbao to Bayonne continued
Castile & León Ancient kingdoms in the heart of Spain
in the region. The visit includes a tasting in the cellars of their Gehry-designed hotel. Lunch at Martín Berasategui’s three Michelin-star restaurant in Lasarte-Oria. Vera de Bidasoa nestles in the Pyrenean foothills close to the French border. First of four nights in Vera.
curtain of frontier cities such as Ávila are remarkably well preserved. As well as the prominent cities, we include a number of lesser-known places, all strikingly attractive, many with outstanding buildings or works of art, all barely visited by tourists.
Day 5: Ainhoa, Espelette, Bayonne (France). Cross into the French Pyrenees to the spick and span villages of Ainhoa and Espelette with their red and white timbered houses sporting clusters of red peppers, a local speciality. Sample ewe’s milk cheese with cherry compote. Encircled by formidable Vauban ramparts and straddling the River Nive, Bayonne is a colourful town with Gothic cathedral, arcaded streets, riverside markets and famed for fish, ham and chocolate.
Itinerary
Day 6: San Sebastian. This is the gastronomic capital of Spain, sweeping elegantly around one of the finest beaches on the northern coast. Behind the ancient fisherman’s quarter is the compact grid of the old town with a wonderfully harmonious arcaded square at the centre and traffic-free streets lined with bars. A tapas trawl is followed by lunch in a private dining club, a rare privilege (subject to confirmation). Some free time to see the elaborate historicist architecture of the 19th-century extension and Moneo’s arts centre.
Day 2: Salamanca. Distinguished by the honeycoloured hue of its stone, Salamanca is one of the most attractive cities in Spain and home to its most prestigious university. See the magnificent 16th-century Gothic ‘New Cathedral’ and austere Romanesque ‘Old Cathedral’, the 18th-century Plaza Mayor and superb, elaborate Plateresque sculpture on the façades of the university and church of San Esteban. The University has 15thand 16th-century quadrangles, arcaded courtyards and original lecture halls. The Convento de las Dueñas has a Plateresque portal and an irregular, two-tiered cloister.
Day 7: Hondarribia, San Sebastian. Hondarribia is a superbly preserved fortified town on an outcrop overlooking the sea with narrow streets, balconied palaces, a 14th-century castle and a Gothic church. Return to San Sebastian for lunch at the most famous restaurant in Spain, Arzak. Despite its three Michelin stars and status as one of the best restaurants in the world, it remains very much a family business. Day 8. Drive to Bilbao for the flight arriving into London Heathrow at c. 2.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,460 or £3,310 without flights. Suite supplement in Vera: £50 (per person based on 2 sharing). Single occupancy: £3,750 or £3,600 without flights.
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Included meals: 6 lunches and 4 dinners (3 of which are light) with wine. Accommodation. Gran Hotel Domine, Bilbao (hoteldominebilbao.com): 5-star hotel opposite the Guggenheim; contemporary in style. Hotel Villa de Laguardia (hotelvilladelaguardia.com): 4-star hotel on the outskirts of the town; comfortable rooms and attractive public areas. Hotel Churrut, Vera de Bidasoa (hotelchurrut.com): 3-star hotel installed in an 18th-century military building; family owned with 17 spacious, well decorated rooms and comfortable sitting areas. How strenuous? Evening meals tend to begin at 9.00pm and some late nights are inevitable. There is a fair amount of walking on this tour, some of it uphill or on roughly paved streets. Although distances travelled are not vast, there is the need to use a coach every day of the tour. Average distance by coach per day: 60 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
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Day 1: Ávila, Salamanca. Fly at c. 9.15am from London Heathrow to Madrid (Iberia Airlines). Drive to Ávila: a fortress town built during the Reconquista, it retains its entire circuit of 11th-century walls complete with battlements and 88 turrets. The 12th-century Basilica of San Vicente has fine sculpture. First of two nights in Salamanca.
13–22 October 2017 (me 617) 10 days • £2,770 Lecturer: Gijs van Hensbergen 1–10 October 2018 (mf 204) 10 days • £2,770 Lecturer: Gijs van Hensbergen Led by Gijs van Hensbergen, art historian and author specialising in Spain. Architectural magnificence throughout including the cathedrals of Burgos and León. Much fine sculpture as well. Walled villages, grand monasteries, hilltop castles and a backdrop of vast, undulating landscape. Includes the 16th-century Palace of El Escorial. Good food: suckling pig, slow-roast lamb and kid; good wine of the Ribera de Duero. Since their fusion under one crown in the eleventh century, the ancient kingdoms of Castile and León have been responsible for some of the most emblematic periods of Spanish history. These former rival territories established themselves as the heart of Spain and exerted great influence over language, religion and culture far across the mediaeval map. Innumerable castles were built here (hence ‘Castile’) for this was the principal battleground of the Reconquista, the five-hundredyear war of attrition against the Moors which reclaimed Spain for Christendom. The region occupies much of the Meseta, the vast and austere plateau in the centre of the Iberian peninsula. Here are many of Spain’s finest cities, buildings and works of art. Lovers of Romanesque will feel particularly satisfied for there are many excellent examples of the style. Great Gothic churches are another magnificent feature, the cathedrals at León, Burgos, Segovia and Salamanca among them. French, German and English influences are to be found, though the end result is always unmistakably Spanish. Another striking aspect of the tour is the wealth of brilliant sculpture, especially of the late-mediaeval and Renaissance periods. Castles, of course, abound, and some of the defensive
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Day 3: Zamora, León. On the Roman road that connected Astorga to Mérida, Zamora rose to importance during the Reconquista as a bastion on the Duero front. Much of its Romanesque architecture survives, including the cathedral of Byzantine influence. Drive to León, former capital of the ancient kingdom and visit the monastery of San Marcos with an exuberant Plateresque façade, magnificent late-Gothic church, Renaissance chapels and fine choir-stalls. First of two nights in León. Day 4: León. A morning walk to some of the outstanding mediaeval buildings of the city. The royal pantheon of San Isidoro is one of the first, and finest, Romanesque buildings in Spain, with important sculptures. The cathedral is truly superb Rayonnant Gothic with impressive stained glass. The afternoon is free to visit the archaeological or contemporary art museums. Day 5: San Miguel de Escalada, Lerma, Santo Domingo de Silos. The beautiful, remote church at San Miguel de Escalada displays a fusion of Visigothic and Islamic building traditions. The village of Lerma has a wealth of buildings from the early 17th century including an arcaded main square with ducal palace and the Collegiate church of San Pedro. Drive in the late afternoon to Santo Domingo de Silos, which has the finest Romanesque monastery in Spain, outstanding for the sculpture of the 12th-century cloister. First of two nights in Lerma. Day 6: Burgos, Quintanilla de las Viñas, Covarrubias. Drive to Burgos, the early capital of Castile, whose cathedral combines French and German Gothic styles and has remarkable vaults and 16th-century choir stalls. On the outskirts is the convent of Las Huelgas Reales with its important early Gothic church. Visit the Visigothic
chapel at Quintanilla de las Viñas. Covarrubias is an attractive walled village with a mediaeval Colegiata containing fine tombs.
Day 8: Segovia. Straddling the town, the remarkable Roman aqueduct is one of the biggest in Europe. See the outstanding Romanesque exteriors of San Martín, San Millán and San Esteban and the circular Templar church of La Vera Cruz. An afternoon walk includes the cathedral, a soaring Gothic structure, and the restored Alcázar (castle), dramatically perched at the prow of the hill. Day 9: Segovia, La Granja. Free morning; suggestions include the contemporary art museum of Esteban Vicente and the Museum of Segovia. Drive to La Granja de San Ildefonso, the palace constructed for Philip V in the early 18th century, with magnificent formal gardens. Day 10: El Escorial. This vast retreat-cumpalace-cum-monastery-cum-pantheon was built
Practicalities Price, per person in 2017. Two sharing: £2,770 or £2,640 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,130 or £3,000 without flights. Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £2,770 or £2,650 without flights. Single occupancy: £2.980 or £2,860 without flights. Included meals: 7 dinners with wine (2017); 1 lunch and 6 dinners with wine (2018). Accommodation. NH Palacio de Castellanos, Salamanca (nh-hotels.com): attractive 4-star hotel in a converted palace, close to the Cathedrals and other key sites. In 2017, NH Collection León Plaza Mayor (nh-collection. com): 4-star hotel occupying an 18th-century building in the main square. In 2018, Hotel Real Colegiata, León (hotelrealcolegiata.es): attractive 3-star hotel occupying one of the first and finest Romanesque buildings in Spain. Parador de Lerma (parador.es): 4-star parador in the Ducal Palace. Hotel Real Segovia, Segovia (hotelrealsegovia.com): 4-star hotel located next to the cathedral and the aqueduct.
Gijs van Hensbergen Art historian and author specialising in Spain and the USA. His books include Gaudí, In the Kitchens of Castile, Guernica and La Sagrada Familia. He studied Art History at the Courtauld and is a Fellow of the Cañada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies at the LSE. How strenuous? This is a long tour with a lot of walking in town centres, some of it on cobbled streets and uphill. It should not be undertaken by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stairclimbing. Average distance by coach per day: 73 miles. Dinners tend to be at 8.30 or 9.00pm in Spain, so you might get to bed later than you would usually. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. In 2018, combine this tour with: The Divine Office, 24–28 September 2018 (p.22); Lucca, 24–30 September 2018 (p.127).
Illustrations. Left: Segovia, La Granja de San Ildefonso, watercolour by Mima Nixon, publ. 1916. Above: Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos, lithograph c. 1840.
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Day 7: El Burgo de Osma, San Esteban de Gormaz, Segovia. El Burgo de Osma is a walled town with arcaded streets and one of the finest Gothic cathedrals in Spain. At San Esteban de Gormaz see the 12th-century churches of San Miguel and Del Rivero with exterior galleries. Built on a steep-sided hill, Segovia is one of the loveliest cities in Spain and architecturally one of the most richly endowed. First of three nights in Segovia.
from 1563 to 1584 for Philip II, successfully embodying his instructions for ‘nobility without arrogance, majesty without ostentation, severity in the whole’. Fly from Madrid, arriving at London Heathrow at c. 6.30pm.
The Heart of Spain Ancient kingdoms of Castile has the finest Romanesque monastery in Spain, outstanding for the sculpture of the 12th-century cloister. Segovia is one of the loveliest cities in Spain and architecturally one of the most richly endowed. First of two nights in Segovia. Day 6: Segovia. Straddling the town, the remarkable Roman aqueduct is one of the biggest in Europe. See also the Monasterio de El Parral with Gothic nave and splendid carvings, the cathedral, a soaring Gothic structure, and the restored Alcázar (castle), dramatically perched at the prow of the hill. Afternoon excursion to La Granja de San Ildefonso, the palace constructed for Philip V in the early 18th century, with magnificent formal gardens. Return to the city via the Monastery of San Antonio el Real, with fine wooden Mudéjar coffering. Day 7: El Escorial. This vast retreat-cum-palacecum-monastery-cum-pantheon was built from 1563 to 1584 for Philip II, successfully embodying his instructions for ‘nobility without arrogance, majesty without ostentation, severity in the whole’. Continue to Madrid airport for the flight to London Gatwick, arriving c. 8.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,170 or £2,050 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,410 or £2,290 without flights. Included meals: 5 dinners with wine. Accommodation. NH Palacio de Castellanos, Salamanca (nh-hotels.com): attractive 4-star hotel in a converted palace, close to the Cathedrals and other key sites. NH Palacio de la Merced, Burgos (nh-hotels.com): 4-star hotel in a converted palace. Hotel Real Segovia, Segovia (hotelrealsegovia. com): 4-star hotel located next to the cathedral and the aqueduct.
6–12 May 2018 (me 850) 7 days • £2,170 Lecturer: to be confirmed
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A shorter tour of the Castile & León region led by Nicola Jennings, art historian with a particular interest in Renaissance Spain. Walled villages, grand monasteries and a backdrop of vast, undulating landscape. Includes the 16th-century Palace of El Escorial. Stay in Salamanca, Burgos & Segovia, some of Spain’s most beautiful cities.
Itinerary Day 1: Salamanca. Fly at c. 10.50am from London Gatwick to Madrid (Iberia Airlines). Continue by coach for the first of two nights in Salamanca. Day 2: Salamanca. Distinguished by the honeycoloured hue of its stone, Salamanca is one of the most attractive cities in Spain and home to its most prestigious university. See the magnificent 16th-century Gothic ‘New Cathedral’ and austere Romanesque ‘Old Cathedral’, the 18th-century Plaza Mayor and superb, elaborate Plateresque sculpture on the façades of the university and 168
church of San Esteban. The University has 15thand 16th-century quadrangles, arcaded courtyards and original lecture halls. The Convento de las Dueñas has a Plateresque portal and an irregular, two-tiered cloister. Day 3: Tordesillas, Valladolid, Burgos. The convent of Tordesillas, spectacular combinations of Islamic and Netherlandish artistic traditions, was once the palace of Pedro the Cruel and his lover, Maria de Padilla. The Colegio de San Gregorio, now the National Museum of Sculpture, with Gil de Siloé’s intricately carved stone portal houses works by all the great Renaissance masters including Berruguete. Continue to Burgos for the first of two nights. Day 4: Burgos. Burgos was the early capital of Castile, whose cathedral combines French and German Gothic styles and has remarkable vaults and 16th-century choir stalls. On the outskirts is the convent of Las Huelgas Reales with its important early Gothic church while the charterhouse of Miraflores has superb sculpture by Gil de Siloé. Day 5: Lerma, Santo Domingo de Silos, Segovia. The village of Lerma has a wealth of buildings from the early 17th century including an arcaded main square with ducal palace and the Collegiate church of San Pedro. Santo Domingo de Silos
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How strenuous? This tour involves walking in town centres, some of it on cobbled streets and uphill. It should not be undertaken by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stairclimbing. Average distance by coach per day: 77 miles. Dinners tend to be at 8.30 or 9.00pm in Spain, so you might get to bed later than you would usually. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Savouring Lombardy, 14–20 May 2018 (p.109); Walking Hadrian’s Wall, 14–20 May 2018 (p.16); Wellington in the Peninsula, 15–27 May 2018 (p.182).
Gastronomic Galicia September 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Illustrations. Above: Segovia, the Roman aqueduct, watercolour by Frank Brangwynm publ. 1915. Right: Procession in Santiago cathedral, drawing by Muirhead Bone from ‘Days in Old Spain’, 1938.
Walking to Santiago On foot for selected sections of the pilgrims’ way 5–16 June 2018 (me 896) 12 days • £3,420 – flights not included Lecturer: Dr Alexandra Gajewski 4–15 September 2018 (mf 102) 12 days • £3,420 – flights not included Lecturer: Dr Alexandra Gajewski The last great pilgrimage route in Christendom which still attracts walkers; scenically wonderful with much fine architecture. Selected sections from the Pyrenees through northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. Walking in comfort: good hotels; luggage transferred separately. The lecturer is Alexandra Gajewski, architectural historian specialising in the Mediaeval.
Itinerary Day 1: Biarritz to Roncesvalles. Leave from Biarritz Airport following the arrival of the flight from London Gatwick (Easyjet, currently 4.00pm) (flights are not included – see ‘Practicalities’). Drive to Roncesvalles for the night. Day 2: Roncesvalles to Lintzoaín/Erro. 14.7 km. Ascent: 397m. Descent: 606m. Weather permitting, we start at the summit of the pass and drop down on foot to Roncesvalles, traditional starting point of the pilgrimage in Spain. It has a fine collegiate church preserving memories of Sancho the Strong
Day 3: Nájera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada. 21 km. Ascent: 640m. Descent: 533m. Drive to Nájera, another of the burial places of the royal house of Navarre. Climb through red sandstone with vines in rocky corners, through varied irrigated crops and out into rolling wheat country with mountains lying north and south - this is a good day for striding out. Lunch is in a village café. Continue to Santo Domingo de la Calzada where there is time to visit the cathedral. Overnight Santo Domingo. Day 4: Villafranca Montes de Oca to Agés. 15.8 km. Ascent: 537m. Descent: 508m. Begin with an hour’s walk uphill into mildly mountainous country, passing a disturbing monument to victims of Civil War assassination. Cross a plateau and continue through pine and oak forest to a beautiful valley enclosing the monastery of San Juan de Ortega (fine Gothic church). Picnic in the woods. Continue to the village of Agés. Drive to Burgos for the first of two nights.
tracks, ferns and ivy abound and there is later a fine upland feel. After lunch in a bar en route we begin a slow descent to Sarriá. Overnight Sarriá. Day 10. Phase 1: Sarriá to Ferreiros. 13.2 km. Ascent: 710m. Descent: 499m. Phase 2: Monte del Gozo to Santiago de Compostela. 4.4 km. Ascent: 267m. Descent: 375m. Walk from Sarriá to Ferreiros and have lunch in a bar before driving on to Monte del Gozo. Here pilgrims once fell to their knees at the first view of the cathedral spires of Santiago (harder to see now through eucalyptus). Walk a further 4.4 km through suburbs into increasingly ancient city centre and right into the Parador, another important and beautiful historic building. First of two nights in Santiago de Compostela. Day 11: Santiago. The cathedral is a Romanesque masterpiece with a magnificent carved portal. Guided tour of the cathedral roof and those who wish may attend Pilgrim’s mass at midday. The rest of the day is free. Day 12. Drive to Santiago Airport in time for the flight to London Gatwick (Easyjet, currently departing at 10.15am).
Day 5: Burgos, rest day. Rest, nurse feet and loiter in this Castilian city rich in memories of El Cid and mediaeval pilgrimage, Wellington and Franco. There is time to see the magnificent cathedral, the charterhouse of Miraflores (superb sculpture by Gil de Siloé), and the monastery of Las Huelgas (fine architecture and images relevant to the camino). Overnight Burgos. Day 6: Rabé de las Calzadas to Hontanas. 18.8 km. Ascent: 828m. Descent: 780m. A fine if strenuous walk, swinging through hills with an upland feel, plenty of skylarks, wide views, scant shade and stone built villages. There are three manageable climbs, each one shorter than the last. Drive to nearby Castrojeriz for lunch and then to León with its fine Gothic cathedral and Spain’s finest stained glass. Overnight León. Day 7: Hospital de Orbigo to Astorga. 16.2 km. Ascent: 444m. Descent: 389m. About one hour into the walk, we make a modest ascent and suddenly the plains are over. There are two or three small climbs this morning through remote-feeling countryside and wheat fields ending in shady corners under small oaks. We finish just outside Astorga, with views down to the cathedral. Continue into town by coach. Here, the bishop’s palace was designed by Gaudí and there is a charming town hall. Overnight Astorga.
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Still one of the most splendid walking routes in Europe, the Camino de Santiago runs almost 500 miles across northern Spain to the supposed tomb of St James, Sant Iago. Normally, the journey takes a month on foot. We are setting out to walk the highlights in twelve days, taking in the most historically charged and beautiful sections. For earlier pilgrims, the lure was a reduction of the soul’s time in Purgatory; now the motives are more usually historical and cultural, and sometimes also deeply personal. Religious commitment is less in evidence. But for many who undertake the magnificent walk there is also a spiritual dimension. Asceticism is not a necessary ingredient. Instead of staying in bunk beds in pilgrim hostels we repose in hotels, ranging from workaday to some of Spain’s finest. Instead of carrying huge packs with all our necessities, we carry only our own day sacks while the luggage moves by road. Our coach intersects with walkers every two or three hours, allowing respite to anyone who needs to ride. We eat well, often picnicking in deep country, and try some of the fine wines grown along the route. But as with all pilgrimages this is a linear walk, involving a new hotel each night except on two rest days. We are like pilgrims, rather than tourists, visiting monuments along the route and what time and tiredness allow at the end of the day’s walking. There will be interpretative commentary by the lecturer and an introduction to the major buildings. But the experience of walking the camino is what is essentially on offer, along a route which has for centuries compelled the imagination.
of Navarre. From here, walk downward through rustic, gentle sub-Pyrenean landscape and stately stone-built villages. After a picnic lunch, drive to Haro. Overnight Haro.
Day 8: Foncebadón to Acebo. 11 km. Ascent: 297m. Descent: 550m. From the charming village of Foncebadón with its reticulated slate roofs and crooked balconies, climb to the highest point of the Camino, with spectacular views. Lunch in a pilgrim’s restaurant in Acebo. Drive from here to Villafranca del Bierzo for the night. Day 9: Triacastela to Sarriá. 18.5 km. Ascent: 1206m. Descent: 1449m. Drive to Triacastela via O Cebreiro, first port of call in Galicia for pilgrims, with Celtic buildings and an ancient church. The walk starts low and climbs through Galician-green valley and into country of tiny hamlets where cows chew the cud in dark mediaeval sheds. Sunken Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Walking to Santiago continued
Barcelona Mediaeval to Modernista
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,420. Single occupancy: £3,780.
8–12 May 2018 (me 855) 5 days • £2,080 Lecturer: Gijs van Hensbergen
Included meals: 8 lunches (two of which are picnics) and 8 dinners with wine.
A short and sharp immersion in the art and architecture of the capital of Catalonia.
Flights are not included in the cost of the tour as the most convenient flights are with Easyjet and we cannot make a booking without knowing the passenger name. We can book flights on your behalf, quoting the fare at the time of booking, or you can make the bookings yourself. Suggested flight details are provided with your Confirmation of Booking, but please contact us if you require details sooner.
Contrasting the mediaeval treasures of the Gothic quarter with the flamboyant Modernista buildings of Gaudí and his contemporaries.
Accommodation. Hotel Roncesvalles (hotelroncesvalles.com): 3-star hotel in an 18thcentury building. Hotel Los Agustinos, Haro (hotellosagustinos.com): 4-star in a converted convent. Parador de Santo Domingo de la Calzada (parador.es): 4-star parador, former mediaeval pilgrim hospital. NH Collection Palacio de Burgos (nh-collection.com): 4-star hotel in a converted palace. NH Collection León Plaza Mayor (nh-collection.com): 4-star hotel in an 18th-century converted military building in the main square. Hotel Spa Ciudad de Astorga (hotelciudaddeastorga.com): modern 4-star hotel in the centre. Parador de Villafranca del Bierzo (parador.es): 4-star parador in a contemporary building. Hotel Alfonso IX, Sarriá (alfonsoix. com): modern 4-star hotel near the river. Parador de Santiago de Compostela (parador.es): 5-star parador in the former pilgrims’ hospital.
Led by Gaudí biographer, Gijs van Hensbergen. To its inhabitants, Barcelona is not so much Spain’s second city as the capital of Catalonia, a European metropolis rather than a Spanish one. The more independence it wins, the more it flourishes. Barcelona was Iberia’s leading maritime power before the discovery of America. It is not therefore surprising that it possesses one of the most extensive and best-preserved mediaeval quarters in Europe, with some marvellous Gothic churches and palaces. A highlight of the tour will be the
How strenuous? We cover up to 134 km of the full 780 km route with an average of 17 km of walking per day. Participants should be used to walking cross-country, uphill and down, and be able to walk pleasurably for up to 4 hours 30 minutes at a time and for up to 5 hours 30 minutes per day. Fitness is essential. Please do not book this tour in order to get fit. Safety and comfort are our main concern and while there are opportunities to retire, the coach is intended as back-up rather than an alternative means of transport. Group size: between 8 and 18 participants.
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In June, combine this tour with: Walking to Derbyshire Houses, 18–23 June 2018 (p.13). Or in September with: Early Railways: The North, 16–22 September 2018 (p.24); Walking a Royal River, 17–23 September 2018 (p.11).
Illustrations. This page: Barcelona Cathedral, lithograph c. 1840. Opposite: etching after ‘They did not agree’ from ‘The Horrors of War’ by Francisco Goya, 1810–1820.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235. What else is included in the price? See page 7. 170
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museum of Catalonian art which displays the world’s best collection of Romanesque painting. But Barcelona is also a centre of modernity. After centuries of repression exercised by Madrid, the city took the lead in Spanish industrial development, becoming a centre of art and design of European importance and nurturing such modernists as Gaudí, Nonells, Picasso and Miró. There developed around the turn of the century designs which are unique to Barcelona, having more in common with their counterparts in other great capitals than with their Spanish peers. Gaudí’s creations took the possibilities of Art Nouveau to an unparalleled extreme, and he is now one of the most popular and most influential of architects. With the establishment of democracy in the 1970s, the shackles were again removed, and Barcelona became once more a leading world centre of fashion and design and remains to this day one of the most exciting European cities to visit.
Aragón: Hidden Spain Teruel, Zaragoza, Sos Itinerary Day 1. Fly at 11.20am from London Heathrow to Barcelona (British Airways). Explore Las Ramblas and neighbouring streets, squares and churches: Richard Meier’s sleek Museum of Contemporary Art, jewels of the Modernista-Art Nouveau style including La Boquería, the most beautiful market in the world, and the arcaded Plaça Reial. Day 2: Mediaeval Barcelona. The Barri Gòtic is a marvellously well-preserved mediaeval quarter. Visit the magnificent and richly adorned cathedral, with a superb Flamboyant cloister. Soaring Santa Maria del Mar is the finest Gothic church in Catalonia. The Museum of the City of Barcelona is housed in the Chapel of St Agatha and Royal Palace with fascinating Roman and Visigothic remains. In the afternoon walk to the Picasso Museum which, installed in neighbouring mansions, ranks second only to Paris for the size and quality of its collection. Day 3: Modernista Barcelona. Drive to Gaudi’s Parc Güell, the incomplete ‘garden suburb’ with sinuous ceramic-clad tiles. Visit the house Gaudi lived in for 20 years, now a museum. The Monestir de Pedralbes is a 14thcentury monastery complex with exquisite cloister arcades and frescoes. In the afternoon drive to the Sagrada Familia, Gaudí’s extraordinary church, still years from completion, and finish the day with a rooftop walk of La Pedrera. Day 4: Montjuïc. On the Montjuïc hill visit the Miró Foundation, a huge collection of works by the Barcelona artist. The National Museum of Catalan Art, with altarpieces and detached frescoes from all over the region, is one of the finest collections of mediaeval art anywhere. Free afternoon for independent exploration.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,080 or £1,830 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,400 or £2,150 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Condes de Barcelona (condesdebarcelona.com): 4-star hotel, very well placed for buildings by Gaudí; rooms are modern and comfortable. How strenuous? The tour involves a lot of walking in Barcelona – some of it over uneven paving – where vehicular access is restricted, and should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stairclimbing. There is also use of the Metro. Average distance by coach per day: 7 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Please contact us for details or visit www.martinrandall.com One of the least-visited regions of Spain, and yet one of the richest in history, architecture and landscapes. As diverse a tour as we offer with Paleolithic and Neolithic cave painting, Roman remains, Moorish palaces, Spain’s finest examples of Mudéjar architecture, Romanesque castles and churches. Themes of military history: El Cid, Peninsular War, Civil War. Visit Goya’s birthplace and see his Horrors of War. Led by Dr Zahira Bomford, art historian specialising in Spain.
Picasso in Spain Málaga, Madrid, Barcelona 29 October–4 November 2018 Lecturer: Gijs van Hensbergen Details available in July 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Two nights in each of the major cities: Málaga, Madrid and Barcelona. Some of the world’s best galleries: eponymous museums in Málaga and Barcelona; the Reina Sofia in Madrid. Visit places associated with the artist: cafés, houses and churches. First-class rail travel between cities by highspeed train. Led by art historian Gijs van Hensbergen. Few painters have ever dominated their century as much as Pablo Picasso. Yet within his home country during the long period of Franco’s rule there were many who dismissed Picasso’s work as the ‘manic doodles of that artist from Malaga’ and reviled them as Communist bunk. Such works as were in Spain were secreted in clandestine private collections. All that has now changed. In Barcelona, always keen to thwart Castilian orthodoxy, and the beloved city of Picasso’s anarchist youth, he was honoured in the 1960s with the opening of its Picasso museum. It continues to expand and now occupies five adjacent mediaeval palaces. In 1981, just months after a coup attempt failed to overturn the new post-Franco order, Guernica arrived in Madrid to stamp its imprimatur on a young and fragile democracy. In late 2003, his home town of Málaga opened its own Picasso museum. This tour is not just centred on museums. There is as much to learn about Cubism in
the mirrored reflections of Madrid’s Café Gijón as by studying Girl with Mandolin. In the country of café culture, understanding of his life and personality can be enlarged in Málaga’s Café Chinitas, his father’s favourite watering hole, in Barcelona’s legendary Els Quatre Gats and Madrid’s Residencia, patronised by Buñuel, Lorca and Dalí. If Picasso was quintessentially modern he was also completely submerged in Spain’s glorious artistic past. In Barcelona we study Picasso’s feverish encounter, late in life, with Velázquez’s Las Meninas, and in Madrid we see the original. If once Picasso was seen as French, today it is essential for our understanding to see him and situate him in Spain. It was a culture he carried with him into exile, guarded fiercely, and hankered for as he grew old and isolated. Surrealist twists of mind, torn scraps of paper, lightning notations, doodles and bottle-top sculptures were endlessly fashioned as he remembered and pored over the Spain of his youth. This tour recovers Picasso’s world – the world of the strong gaze – the ‘mirada fuerte’.
Gijs van Hensbergen Art historian and author specialising in Spain and the USA. His books include Gaudí, In the Kitchens of Castile, Guernica and La Sagrada Familia. He studied Art History at the Courtauld and is a Fellow of the Cañada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies at the LSE.
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Day 5: Pedralbes. Walk to some outstanding modernist buildings and decoration starting with Domènech i Montaner’s sumptuous Palau de la Música Catalana (concert hall). The grid-plan 19th-century Eixample is lined with houses and offices of unusual and disputable beauty such as Gaudí’s Casa Batlló, Casa Amatller and Palau Montaner. Finish at the crypt of the Colònia Güell, Gaudí’s greatest work. Take the late-afternoon flight to London Heathrow, arriving c. 7.35pm.
3–11 October 2017 (me 595) Lecturer: Dr Zahira Bomford This tour is currently full
Classic Catalan Wines Priorat, Montsant, Penedès and The Empordà Day 4: Poboleda, Porrera. Drive to the most northerly of the sub-zones of the Priorat to Mas Doix, a small, family-run winery whose acclaimed wines are made from the nearby 100 year-old vines. Vineyard visit and tasting. Lunch in the village before visiting the recently-constructed winery Ferrer-Bobet on the outskirts of Porrera. Tour of the modern facilities and tasting. Return to Falset for a free evening. Day 5: Gratallops, Falset, Bellmunt. Visit the traditional installations of Clos Mogador, one of the pioneering wineries in bringing the DOQ Priorat to the attention of the world. Drive to the vineyards and finish with a tasting. The next generation of two of the pioneering families, Pérez and Barbier, is based at Venus in humble, but innovative surroundings on the outskirts of Falset in the Montsant. Late afternoon visit and evening meal at the large, biodynamic estate of Mas d’en Gil on the edge of Bellmunt. Day 6: San Sadurni d’Anoia. The prestigious Cava house, Gramona is also a biodynamic estate carefully combining tradition with modernity. Fly from Barcelona to Heathrow, arriving at c. 7.35pm. This gives a fair picture of the tour, but there may be substitutes for some places mentioned and the order of the visits will possibly differ.
Practicalities
7–12 May 2018 (me 852) 6 days • £2,510 Lecturer: to be confirmed
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It was long considered that the Garnacha grape in northern Spain produced powerful, full-bodied red (or negre, meaning black) wines, which nevertheless were short-lived and not capable of maturing to achieve balance, finesse and complexity. But modern technology and international techniques and know-how have striven to turn that idea on its head. Foreign wine competitions, journalists and importers have all helped in spreading the word to a thirsty and demanding public that Catalan wines are worthy of gracing the finest tables. As its fame spread at the turn of this century, the whole Catalan wine industry benefited from this upsurge of interest to produce cleaner, fresher and altogether better wines. But red wine is not the only story. The indigenous white grapes, Macabeu, Xarel. lo and Parellada form the original trio for the production of Cava. Inspired by Champagne, the traditional method of making sparkling wines was introduced to Catalonia in the middle of the nineteenth century, and most Cava houses are now concentrated around the town of San Sadurni d’Anoia. As we shall taste, still white wines from the Penedès and Alta Alella are usually fresh, floral and quaffable, whereas white or grey Garnacha from the Empordà or the Priorat is unctuous and more serious. After two nights in the centre of vibrant, sophisticated Barcelona, the mood becomes more tempered and rural for the rest of the tour. We pass through villages that time seems to have 172
forgotten, some set in soft and gently undulating countryside; others at altitude surrounded by a dramatic landscape of vertiginous vineyards. From rustic farm buildings to grand and spanking-new constructions, the wineries we visit reflect the remarkable variety of geography and climate, which bring such individuality to the wines. And as characterful as the wines are the makers themselves, who exude passion and pride.
Itinerary Day 1: Barcelona. Fly at c. 10.50am from London Heathrow to Barcelona (British Airways), arriving in time for a lecture and wine tasting before dinner. First of two nights in Barcelona. Day 2: Alella, Calonge. To Alta Alella just beyond the outskirts of Barcelona. Perched at the top of a steep hill with views across the Mediterranean, the organic winery has been producing wine since the beginning of this century, although wine was made in the region from Roman times to the arrival of phylloxera in the late 19th cent. Taste principally white wine, with some red. There is a small, but prestigious Cava production. Drive by coach to lunch at a seaside restaurant renowned for its wine list before visiting Clos d’Agon in the Low Empordà. Atypical in favouring foreign grape varieties, its consultant winemaker is Peter Sisseck, who is based in Ribera del Duero. Winery visit and tasting. Day 3: Barcelona, Falset. Free morning in Barcelona. Drive to Falset in the heart of the Priorat and Montsant in time for a lecture and tasting at the hotel. Dinner in a nearby restaurant. First of three nights in Falset.
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Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,510 or £2,380 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,810 or £2,680 without flights. Included meals: 3 lunches, 3 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. NH Gran Calderon, Barcelona (nh-collection.com): modern, stylish and friendly, city-centre hotel. Hostal Sport, Falset (hotelpriorat-hostalsport.com/en) a welcoming, family-run, rustic but comfortable hotel in the town centre. The Barcelona hotel is rated as 5 star. The Falset hotel is rated as 4 star, but because of few modern amenities in the rooms is probably more like a 3 star. How strenuous? Although the itinerary is designed to give some free time and breaks between visits, some days may prove quite taxing when there is walking in vineyards which are often on steep slopes, as well as time spent standing in what can be cool and damp cellars. The drives are not usually very long, but access to some wineries is over rough terrain necessitating travelling by 4x4 vehicles. The tour should not be undertaken by anyone who has the slightest problem with everyday walking and stair-climbing and is not sure-footed. Average distance by coach per day: 65 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Illustrations. Above: Barcelona, wood engraving c. 1880. Opposite: Tarragona, part of the amphitheatre, copper engraving c.1780.
The Romans in Mediterranean Spain Cartagena, Sagunto, Tarragona, Barcelona 23–29 October 2017 (me 605) 7 days • £2,090 Lecturer: Professor Simon Esmonde Cleary 1–7 October 2018 (mf 201) 7 days • £2,160 Lecturer: Professor Simon Esmonde Cleary Beautiful Mediterranean cities with extensive Roman remains, including the earliest outside Italy. Study the wars between Rome and Carthage: Hannibal and the Scipios. Learn of the Romans and Visigoths; pagans and Christians. The lecturer is Professor Simon Esmonde Cleary, Professor of Roman Archaeology at the University of Birmingham.
Day 1. Fly at c. 4.00pm from London Gatwick to Alicante (Monarch) and continue to Cartagena by coach for the first of two nights. Day 2: Cartagena. Visit the hilltop sites of the Punic and Roman city, starting with the restored Roman theatre and its accompanying museum, designed by Rafael Moneo, before continuing to the Casa de la Fortuna, an aristocratic residence with beautiful murals and mosaics. In the area of the Roman forum the earlier remains of Carthaginian walls are one of the few Punic monuments in the Iberian peninsula, while excavations of the forum revealed streets, a bath-house and a courtyard building, possibly religious. Day 3: Cartagena, Valencia. The Museum of Subaquatic Archaeology explores the maritime history of the Mediterranean and includes a replica of a Phoenician trading ship. The city’s Archaeological Museum has a rich collection of Carthaginian and Roman artefacts. Drive in the afternoon to Valencia (c. 4 hours including a stop). Overnight in Valencia. Day 4: Sagunto, Tarragona. Morning visit to the site of Saguntum, including the restored Roman theatre. The castle, essentially Moorish, still preserves parts of the Roman forum, while the Archaeological Museum contains one of the most important collections of Latin inscriptions in Spain and distinctive mosaics from the Late Roman Empire. Drive in the afternoon to Tarragona (c. 3 hours including a stop). On arrival,
walk a section of the early Roman walls. First of three nights in Tarragona. Day 5: Tarragona. The Roman circus for c. 25,000 spectators formed part of a massive monumental complex on the hilltop dating to the late first century ad, part of which forms the basis for the mediaeval ‘Pretorio’. The city’s National Museum of Archaeology houses an excellent collection of mosaics, wall paintings and sculpture. Occupying an impressive site by the Mediterranean, the well-preserved Roman amphitheatre includes the remains of two churches dating to the 6th and 12th centuries. There is some free time to visit the cathedral, built on the site of the major Roman temple atop the hill. Day 6: around Tarragona. Visit the Colonial Forum, civic centre of Tarragona, then the Early Christian Museum and Necropolis featuring a splendid series of carved marble sarcophagi. Outside the city, the two-tier aqueduct named Pont del Diable is a feat of Roman engineering, delivering water to Tarragona. The exceptional remains of 4th-century mosaics can be seen on the dome of the Roman Villa of Centcelles. Day 7: Barcelona. Drive to Barcelona via the funerary monument of the ‘Tower of the Scipios’, and the honorific Arch of Bera, dedicated to the Emperor Augustus. The Museum of History of Barcelona contains part of Roman Barcino with its streets, sewers, laundries and wine- and fish-saucemaking factories. Walk around the Gothic quarter where the remnants of Roman walls, tombs and temples can still be seen. Fly from Barcelona to London Gatwick (Vueling), landing at c. 6.45pm.
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In the ancient world, the Mediterranean coast of Spain was always a prized possession. But it wasn’t until it was absorbed into the Roman Empire that its economic potential was fully exploited. This was a place of mass production, dazzling wealth and, at times, brutal working conditions. In the mines, armies of slaves dug for lead, silver, copper and iron. Both land and sea were exploited for the production of grain, the vine, olive oil and fish sauce. Given the scale of Hispania’s resources, it’s no wonder Roman civilisation flourished here – and the material remains are both impressive and thickly-strewn. Ingenious engineering projects, grand public monuments and unbridled displays of private wealth are all to be seen: and it’s this inheritance that provides the backbone of our tour. Three of Hispania’s key cities are on the itinerary: Carthago Nova (modern Cartagena), Saguntum (Sagunto) and Tarraco (Tarragona). At Tarragona, for example, you can trace the circuit of walls built by Gnaeus and Publius Scipio in 218 bc, when they arrived in Spain to threaten Hannibal’s base in the Second Punic War. It’s now the oldest surviving Roman monument outside Italy. Here too is the hilltop circus (seating capacity, 25,000), which embellished the city when it was a provincial capital – as well as the amphitheatre where the Christian bishop Fructuosus was martyred in 259 ad. We also visit Barcino (Barcelona) - the setting, in 416 ad, of the marriage of the Visigothic king Athaulf to Galla Placidia, sister of the emperor Honorius. It was a deeply symbolic moment, as the western Empire began to fracture into competing “barbarian” kingdoms. Together the region’s monuments and museums make a fascinating ensemble, and provide the backdrop for many dramatic stories: of the titanic struggle between Rome and Carthage; of Publius Scipio’s brilliant victory at Ilipa; of the rise of Christianity; of the strange death of the Western Empire in the fifth century ad. In many respects, the entire trajectory of Rome’s imperial history can be followed here, from triumph to collapse. Add in the region’s vibrant modern culture – and its mouth-watering cuisine – and you’ve got the makings of a memorable tour.
Itinerary
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The Romans in Mediterranean Spain continued
Art in Madrid The great galleries Itinerary
Professor Simon Esmonde Cleary
Day 1. Fly at c. 9.15am (Iberia Airlines) from London Heathrow to Madrid. Begin at the recently renovated Archaeological Museum, good on ancient Iberian civilization and Roman Spain. Settle into the hotel before dinner.
Archaeologist specialising in the western Roman Empire. He studied at London University and Oxford. He is Professor of Roman Archaeology at the University of Birmingham and has conducted fieldwork in the UK and France. He has written books on Gaul and Spain in late antiquity, and on Roman Britain.
Day 2. Start with a first visit to the Prado Museum, which is among the world’s greatest art galleries, concentrating on the Spanish school. Continue to the arcaded, balconied Plaza Mayor, centrepiece of Habsburg town planning. In the afternoon visit the Lázaro Galdiano Museum with works by El Greco, Goya and Murillo and then the Sorolla Museum, in the charming house of the eponymous Impressionist painter.
Practicalities Price, per person in 2017. Two sharing: £2,090 or £1,910 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,260 or £2,080 without flights. Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £2,160 or £1,940 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,330 or £2,110 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 5 dinners with wine (2017); 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine (2018). Accommodation. NH Cartagena (nh-hotels.com): a central 4-star hotel, part of a reliable Spanish chain. SH Hotel Inglés, Valencia (inglesboutique. com): 3-star hotel installed in an 18th-century palace in a very central location. Rooms for single occupancy have queen-size beds. Hotel Astari, Tarragona (hotelastari.com): well-run, functional 3-star hotel. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking on uneven ground at archeological sites. Surefootedness is essential. There are some long coach journeys; average distance per day: 72 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. In 2018, combine this tour with: Civilizations of Sicily, 17–29 September 2018 (p.142); Pompeii & Herculaneum, 24–29 September 2018 (p.140); Walking in Eastern Sicily, 8–15 October 2018 (p.146).
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Gastronomic Spain October 2018 Details available in August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest Exploration of food in Spanish history and art. Contrasts fine dining in Madrid with the rustic fare of Segovia and Castilian villages. Other regions (Catalonia, Galicia, Basque Country) are well represented, as are the worldrenowned wines of Rueda and Ribera de Duero. Great art at the Prado, Romanesque architecture and the Bourbon palace at La Granja.
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21–25 March 2018 (me 791) 5 days • £1,890 Lecturer: Dr Xavier Bray 19–23 June 2018 (me 910) 5 days • £1,890 Lecturer: Dr Zahira Bomford Two visits to the Prado plus the ThyssenBornemisza Collection and the Reina Sofía, home to Picasso’s Guernica. Lesser-known places include the Sorolla Museum, Archaeological Museum and Goya frescoes at San Antonio de la Florida. The lecturers Dr Xavier Bray and Dr Zahira Bomford are art historians specialising in Spain. While the Museo del Prado alone might justify a visit to Madrid – and this tour has two sessions there – the city has other excellent collections which reinforce its reputation as one of the great art centres of Europe. This city of Velázquez and Goya has been enormously enhanced over the years by the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection and the Reina Sofía Museum. Both these and the Prado boast superb facilities and exhibiting spaces thanks to the work of architects Jean Nouvel (Reina Sofía), Manuel Baquero and Francesc Plá (Thyssen) and Rafael Moneo (Prado) converting them into worldclass galleries. Our stints at the ‘big three’ are interspersed with less-visited collections. The great Spanish painters – including El Greco, Murillo, Velázquez, Goya and Picasso – are of course magnificently represented on the tour, but the collecting mania of the Habsburgs and Bourbons and their subjects has resulted in a wide range of artistic riches which will surprise and delight. There is a large number of outstanding paintings by Titian and Rubens, for example, and the Prado has by far the largest holding of the bizarre creations of Hieronymus Bosch.
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Day 3. Morning visit to the Royal Tapestry Factory, founded in 1721 by Phillip V with designs by Goya, many of which are still reproduced today. Continue to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, home to works by Goya, Zurbarán, Ribera and Murillo. The afternoon is spent at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, housed in the 18th-century Palacio de Villahermosa, one of the world’s largest private art collections until its purchase by the Spanish state in 1993. Day 4. Travel by coach to the church of San Antonio de la Florida, with fine Goya frescoes, before returning to the Prado, this time primarily to see the Italian and Netherlandish schools. The afternoon is free to allow for temporary exhibitions (details nearer the time) or a visit to the 18th-century Royal Palace. Day 5. Walk via Herzog & de Meuron’s CaixaForum to the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, one of the greatest modern art museums and home to Picasso’s Guernica plus works by Miró, Dalí and Tàpies. Fly to London Heathrow, arriving c. 6.30pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,890 or £1,740 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,210 or £2,060 without flights. Included meals: 3 dinners with wine. Accommodation. NH Collection Palacio de Tepa, Madrid (nh-collection.com): small and excellently located 5-star hotel. Rooms are comfortable and décor is contemporary. How strenuous? The tour involves a lot of walking and standing around in museums (which can be more tiring than moving around). Participants need to be able to cope with everyday walking and stair-climbing without difficulty. Group size: between 9 and 19 participants. In March, combine this tour with: Eastern Andalucía: Caliphs to Kings, 9–18 March 2018 (p.180); Music & Ballet in Paris, 27–31 March 2018 (p.63).
Illustrations. Above: Madrid, The Prado, drawing 1903 by Joseph Pennell. Right: Valencia, Quart Towers, wood engraving 1875 after a drawing by Samuel Read.
Gastronomic Valencia Food and art in south-east Spain 23–30 April 2018 (me 832) 8 days • £3,410 Lecturer: Gijs van Hensbergen From the sea to the mountains of south-east Spain, a conspectus of Valencian cuisine. Myriad historical influences (Phoenician, Arab, Jewish) as well as current cutting-edge chefs, such as 3-star Michelin chef Quique Dacosta, make this an incredibly rich gastronomic region to explore. Led by Gijs van Hensbergen, art historian and author of books on Spanish art and food. Based in the handsome, vibrant city of Valencia, excellent for its variety of art and architecture, and in the smaller charming seaside town of Dénia.
Parcent for a wine tasting, and lunch at Bodegas Gutiérrez de la Vega, a family-run business famous for their sweet Moscatel wine.
Day 3: Valencia. In the morning visit IVAM (Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno) with its superb collection of cubist sculpture by Julio González and the Museum of Fine Arts, one of the best in Spain, with works by Valencian, Spanish and Flemish masters. Paella originates from La Albufera, a freshwater lagoon nearby on the Gulf of Valencia. Taste this authentic rice dish, cooked over a wood fire. Dinner is at Restaurante Riff where Bernd Knöller serves innovative cuisine based around seasonal, local ingredients of the highest quality (1-star Michelin).
Day 7: Dénia. The morning is free. Take a walk before lunch along the impressive coastline of Las Rotas before continuing to Quique Dacosta’s restaurant (3-star Michelin). Dacosta combines local, seasonal produce with cutting-edge creativity and technique.
Day 4: Gandia, Dénia. Dating from the 14th century and home to the Borgias, the Palacio Ducal de Gandia displays Gothic architecture, with Renaissance and Baroque additions. Gandia is also where the dish fideuà originated, a noodle dish usually cooked with seafood. Drive to Dénia in time for the arrival of the fishing boats and exclusive access to the fish auction. Dinner is at Casa Manolo (1-star Michelin). First of four nights in Dénia.
Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,410 or £3,230 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,690 or £3,510 without flights.
Day 5: Fontanars dels Alforins, Cocentaina. Travel inland, stopping at Fontanars dels Alforins for a wine tasting at the prestigious Casa los Frailes. Continue to Cocentaina, located between the Sierra de Mariola and Serpis river, for lunch at the family-run L’escalata restaurant (2-star Michelin). Day 6: Dénia, Parcent. A morning walk takes in the historical centre of Dénia, including the 11th-century Moorish Castle. Ascend into the mountains through orange and almond groves to
Day 8. Drive north to Valencia for a tapas lunch at Casa Montaña. The late afternoon flight arrives into London Gatwick at c. 6.40pm.
Practicalities
Included meals: 7 lunches, 3 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. SH Hotel Inglés, Valencia (inglesboutique.com): 3-star hotel installed in an 18th-century palace in a very central location next to the National Ceramics Museum. La Posada del Mar, Dénia (laposadadelmar.com): 4-star hotel located near the historic centre and overlooking the harbour. How strenuous? Coach access is restricted in historical centres and there is a fair amount of walking and standing around in museums, vineyards and at cooking demonstrations. Dinners tend to be at 8.30 or 9.00pm in Spain, so you might get to bed later than you usually would. Average distance by coach per day: 40 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
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From market to plate there is nothing fresher or more vibrant than Valencian cuisine. The legendary huertas – market gardens, orange groves, paddy fields and Mediterranean orchards – are the city’s larder. Valencian markets are some of the most beautiful in the world; the Gothic silk market is a World Heritage Site. The tour includes experiences such as a private cooking demonstration in a restaurant in Valencia, access to the fish auction at La Lonja in Dénia, and tasting unctuous goat’s milk cheeses dribbled with thyme honey in the mountains. There is hospitality at great bodegas like Casa los Frailes, source of wines served to visiting heads of state at Madrid’s Palacio Real. There are also low-key everyday experiences – a refreshing horchata, a tiger nut milk pick-you-up; an Aqua de Valencia, a fresh orange-based cocktail; and rifling the wine cellar, feasting on organic potatoes and nibbling at a perfectly burnt brandade at Casa Montaña, arguably the best bar in the world. Valencian cuisine is both ancient and new. Wind-dried octopus prepared to a 3,000-year-old Phoenician recipe is a revelation, as is the sweet luxury of almond biscuit accompanied by an ice cold Moscatel. The Moors held the Levante for 400 years and the phantom flavours live on. We feel the weight of Borgia rule and the Naples connection, and taste history with alioli-steeped fideuà – Europe’s first pasta dish? There are Baroque splendours, shimmering Valencian tiles and the hedonistic sun-drenched canvases of Joaquín Sorolla. There are back streets and museums and hideaway cafés to be explored: the Jewish call, the Almohad Arab walls, the twelfth-century Christian settlement. Dénia’s museum contains artefacts from the Romans and the Iberians, who were pressing wine 5,000 years ago. The final lunch is provided by 3-star Michelin chef Quique Dacosta, a whirlwind of inventive brilliance, theatre and caprice.
with views of Santiago Calatrava’s science park. In the evening visit the National Ceramics Museum, housed in its exuberantly Churrigueresque palace.
Itinerary Day 1: Valencia. Fly at c. 1.35pm from London Gatwick to Valencia, (British Airways). Dinner is at La Marítima, housed in the Veles e Vents building on the Marina. First of three nights in Valencia. Day 2: Valencia. First to the fine modernistastyle Mercado Central followed by a cooking demonstration and lunch in Vertical Restaurant, Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Western Spain: Extremadura & Toledo Roman, Mediaeval, Renaissance 16–24 April 2018 (me 826) 9 days • £2,610 Lecturer: John McNeill A journey through great Roman, Mediaeval and Renaissance cities: from Zafra to Mérida, Cáceres, Plasencia, Trujillo and Toledo. The backdrop is remote and unspoilt Extremadura, one of the most consistently beautiful regions in Europe and motherland of of the Conquistadors. Two full days in Toledo, one of Spain’s most architecturally varied and monumental cities. The lecturer is John McNeill, a specialist in mediaeval and Renaissance architecture. Extremadura means ‘beyond the Duero’, a term coined by Christians as they fought their way south against the Moors. The area they settled had been largely emptied during the early Middle Ages, and remains sparsely populated to this day,
consisting of a high undulating plateau drained by the rivers Tagus and Guadiana. To the south rise the mountains of the Sierra Morena, while to the north the high sierras of the Iberian Sistema Central separate Extremadura from the southern limits of the Castilian plain. The Roman colonisation of the area responded to these geographical circumstances by effectively creating a major city on the Tagus (Toledo) and a series of cities that punctuated the rivers to the west (Plasencia, Cáceres, Mérida, Seville). Most remarkably, the city selected by Augustus as the administrative capital of Roman Lusitania – Mérida – not only retains enough of its Roman fabric for one to be able to trace the first-century plan in the present city, but moreover several of its public buildings survive above ground. Matters changed with barbarian settlement, and the arrival of Vandals, Suevi and Visigoths was mirrored by a shift in population towards the Mediterranean, and by the shrinking of the cities. Most strikingly, the Visigoths took Toledo as their capital, and though the next wave of invaders, the
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Moors, preferred the old Roman provincial capital at Córdoba, the prestige that was conferred on Toledo by virtue of its early mediaeval status was profound. It is rare to find much material from this period surviving above ground, though the major survivals – Alcuéscar, the tiny Mozarabic church of Santa María de Melque and the Visigothic treasure from Guarrazar – are quite astonishing, ranking among the most compelling objects to remain visible from early mediaeval Spain. Notwithstanding the occasional Romanesque church, the major buildings are thirteenth century and later, and the quality and quantity of work which survives from these periods cannot fail to impress. The crucial first steps towards a fully articulated Gothic architecture were taken in the 1220s at Toledo cathedral, and its combination of a French-inspired plan and elevation with discreet Mudéjar detailing was to prove influential. However, the critical event in thirteenth-century Spain was the Christian victory at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, and the subsequent picking off of Moorish cities to the south and west of Toledo
– Cáceres in 1229, Zafra by 1236, Seville in 1248. This opened the eyes of Christian Spanish patrons to a whole new wave of Islamic art and architecture – the effects of which can be seen in the exquisite stucco and brick buildings of the second half of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, beautifully preserved in the stunning synagogues of the Barrio Judío in Toledo, and in the impetus that it gave to a whole new wave of Spanish church construction in Plasencia, Trujillo, and Cáceres. The third of the tour’s main themes is the extraordinarily inventive, almost fanciful architecture of the later Middle Ages and Renaissance. One might see this at a number of levels, in the stepped elevations of the new cathedral at Plasencia or the brilliance and virtuosity of the tracery at Guadalupe, in the unruffled calm of Coria or the dazzling application of ceramics across the exteriors of towers at Jerez de los Caballeros. Perhaps most magically, one sees it in that improbably picturesque silhouette that greets the visitor as you approach Toledo from the south and realise, as you gaze over the river Tagus, that within that walled city is one of the greatest concentrations of fifteenth and sixteenth century palaces, churches, towers and town houses that Spain has left to offer.
Itinerary Day 1: Zafra. Fly at c. 11.15am (TAP Portugal) from London Heathrow to Lisbon. Drive into Spain to the small town of Zafra (c. 4 hours, stops are made en route). The towered castle where Hernán Cortés was received by the Count of Feria en route for the conquest of Mexico is now the parador. First of two nights in Zafra. Day 2: Zafra, Jerez de Los Caballeros. In Zafra begin with the two adjacent squares, the Plaza Grande and smaller Plaza Chica with the collegiate church (housing an altarpiece by Zurbarán). Lunch is in a rural restaurant. The afternoon is spent in Jerez de los Caballeros, once a Templar town, with famously ornate Baroque church towers.
Day 4: Trujillo. The morning is devoted to the magnificent hilltop town of Trujillo, birthplace of the conquistador, Francisco Pizarro. The irregular main square is here enclosed by conquistador mansions and overlooked by the parish church of San Martín. Climb to the surviving Moorish castle with glorious views of the surrounding countryside. The afternoon is spent in the exceptionally well-preserved historic centre of Cáceres, with visits to the 17th-century Casa de las Veletas and late mediaeval collegiate church of Santa María. Day 5: Plasencia, Coria, Alcántara. Strategically situated on a bend in the river Jerte and overlooked
Day 6: Guadalupe, Santa María de Melque, Toledo. Scenic drive over wooded hills to the loveliest of Extremadura’s late mediaeval churches at Guadalupe, the monastery having been designed to accommodate a miracle-working image of the Virgin that developed into one of the great pilgrimage destinations of mediaeval and Renaissance Spain. Continue east via the stunning Mozarabic church of Santa María de Melque to Toledo. First of three nights in Toledo. Day 7: Toledo. Morning spent in Toledo’s old Jewish quarter, starting with a pair of former synagogues, Ibn Shoshan (converted to Christian use as Santa María la Blanca) a superb 13thcentury aisled synagogue that retains its original stuccowork and wooden ceiling, and El Tránsito, a more lavish galleried synagogue financed by Samuel Levi in the 1360s. Thence to San Juan de los Reyes, the breathtakingly ambitious Franciscan monastery constructed under Ferdinand and Isabella. The afternoon will unfold with the best of Toledo’s Mozarabic churches, San Román, and the incomparable and vast cathedral. Day 8: Toledo. Visit the interlocking cloisters of the former Dominican house of San Pedro Mártir along with a celebrated former mosque, converted into the church of Cristo de la Luz but still preserving the touching inscription informing all that it was built in the Hijra 377 (ad 999) for Ahmad Ibn Hadid. The Museo de Santa Cruz is housed in a remarkable early 16th-century hospital built to the designs of Antón and Enrique Egas, and is best known for its late mediaeval and later paintings, including works by El Greco. The afternoon is free.
Day 9: Madrid. Closed over several years for a comprehensive renovation and re-design of its display areas, Spain’s National Archaeological Museum in Madrid finally reopened in 2014. Its holdings of Roman and mediaeval work are extraordinary, and extend to the Gurrazar Treasure, a carefully assembled cache of Visigothic metalwork discovered near Toledo in 1858, most of it now in the museum and centred on a spectacular group of jewel-encrusted votive gold crowns, one of which bears the legend Recceswinth (d. 672). Drive to the airport for the afternoon flight (Iberia) which arrives at London Heathrow c. 6.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,610 or £2,450 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,870 or £2,710 without flights. Included meals: 2 lunches, 5 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Parador de Zafra (parador. es): 4-star parador in the 15th-century castle. NH Palacio de Oquendo, Cáceres (nh-hotels.com): 4-star hotel in the historic centre of town. Hotel Fontecruz, Toledo (fontecruzhoteles.com): 4-star hotel in the Jewish Quarter with smart but small rooms, dinners are in good restaurants. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking in town centres, sometimes on uneven ground; sure-footedness is essential. There is also a lot of coach travel. Dinners tend to be at 8.30 or 9.00pm in Spain, so you might get to bed later than you would usually. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 78 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Illustrations. Left: ‘A Village in Spain’, etching and drypoint c. 1920 by Isabel Codrington. Above: Toledo, the Tagus and Bridge of St Martin, wood engraving c. 1870.
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Day 3: Mérida, Alcuéscar, Cáceres. Augusta Emerita (Mérida) was laid out on a classic Roman rectangular grid, much of which survives, along with the 60-arch bridge over the river Guadiana, theatre, amphitheatre, fortress and temple platform. In addition, there are great collections of Roman sculpture in Rafael Moneo’s outstanding National Museum of Roman Art. The tiny and recently rediscovered early mediaeval church of Santa Lucía del Trampal, near Alcuéscar, is on the road north. First of three nights in Cáceres.
by the Sierra de Gredos, Plasencia was refounded by Alfonso VIII towards the end of the 12th century, close to the site of Roman Dulcis Placida. Visits this morning will include the extraordinary and unfinished cathedral (part-13th-century, part-late-mediaeval), San Nicolás and the Palacio Marqués de Mirabel. Visit also the 16th-century cathedral at Coria and the breathtaking Roman bridge over the gorge of the River Tagus at Alcántara, which dates to ad 106.
Essential Andalucía Spain’s southern province 23 October–2 November 2017 (me 616) 11 days • £3,230 Lecturer: Dr Philippa Joseph 1–11 October 2018 (mf 208) 11 days • £3,490 Lecturer: Dr Philippa Joseph Three nights in each of the major cities: Granada, Córdoba and Seville. The lecturer is Dr Philippa Joseph, specialist in late mediaeval and early modern societies in Andalucía and Sicily. Visits the Picasso Museum in Málaga, the Alhambra in Granada and the small Renaissance towns of Úbeda and Baeza. Varied itinerary covering the great Moorish sites, mediaeval, Renaissance and Baroque architecture, fine art collections and gardens. Andalucía is Spain’s most fascinating and varied region. Varied geographically: stretching southwards from the Sierra Morena to the Mediterranean, it encompasses the permanent snow of the Sierra Nevada as well as the sunscorched interior. And varied culturally: here it is possible to see great art and architecture of both Islamic and Christian traditions side by side – even, at Córdoba, one within the other. For Spain is unique in Western Europe in having been conquered by an Islamic power. The Moors first crossed from
Africa in ad 711, and in the south of the country they stayed for nearly eight centuries. The Moorish civilization of the cities of Andalucía was one of the most sophisticated of the Middle Ages. There are also tantalising glimpses of the preceding Visigothic kingdom, and remains of the still earlier Roman occupation – the province of Baetica was one of the most highly favoured in the Roman Empire. Later, both Jews and gypsies made their influence felt, but overwhelmingly the dominant contribution to man-made Andalucian heritage has been created by and for unwavering adherents to Catholicism. The Christian religion does not get much more intense than in southern Spain, and its artistic manifestations rarely more spiritually charged. The unification of Spain which was ensured by the marriage in 1469 of the ‘Catholic Kings’, Ferdinand and Isabella, ushered in the period when Spain became the dominant power in Europe. This also coincided with the discovery of the Americas. The cities of the south, particularly Seville, were the immediate beneficiaries of the subsequent colonisation and inflow of huge quantities of bullion and of boundless opportunities for trade and wealth creation. The result was a boom in building and a cultural renaissance, a Golden Age which lasted into the eighteenth century, long after the economy had cooled and real Spanish power had waned. The poverty and torpor of subsequent centuries allowed much of the beauty of the glory days to survive to the present time, when a revival of prosperity has enabled extensive restoration and proper care of the immense artistic patrimony.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 9.20am from London Gatwick to Málaga (British Airways). Arrive in time for an introductory walk and lecture in the hotel. Overnight in Málaga. Day 2: Málaga. Begin at Picasso’s birthplace, which houses a small collection of his belongings. The Picasso Museum is magnificent, both the 16th-century building and the collection, which places emphasis on his earlier works. The Carmen Thyssen museum has a fine collection of old masters and 19th-century Spanish painting. Drive to Granada in the late afternoon for the first of three nights. Day 3: Granada. The 13th-century Arab palaces of the Alhambra ride high above the city. They are often reckoned to be the greatest expression of Moorish art in Spain, with exquisite decoration and a succession of intimate courtyards. Adjacent are the 16th-century Palace of Charles V and the Generalife, summer palace of the sultans, with gardens and fountains. Day 4: Granada. Morning walk through the Albaycín, the oldest quarter in town, including El Bañuelo (Arab baths). Climb up to San Nicolás from where there are fine views of the Alhambra. In the late afternoon visit the Cathedral and Royal Chapel which retains Isabel of Castile’s personal collection of Flemish, Spanish and Italian paintings. Day 5: Baeza, Úbeda. Drive to Baeza, once a prosperous and important town and now a provincial backwater of quiet charm set among olive groves stretching to the horizon. It has a 16th-century cathedral by outstanding regional architect Andrés de Vandelvira and many grand houses of an alluring light-coloured stone. In Úbeda walk to the handsome Plaza Vázquez de Molina, flanked by elegant palaces including Vandelvira’s Casa de las Cadenas and the present day parador. The church of El Salvador was designed by Diego de Siloé in 1536. Continue to Córdoba for the first of three nights.
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Day 6: Córdoba. From the middle of the 8th century Córdoba was the capital of Islamic Spain and became the richest city in Europe until its capitulation to the Reconquistadors in 1236. La Mezquita (mosque) is one of the most magnificent of Muslim sites, for some the greatest building of mediaeval Europe. It contains within it the 16thcentury cathedral. In the afternoon drive out to the excavations of Medina Azahara, with remains of a huge and luxurious 10th-century palace complex. Day 7: Córdoba. Morning visit to the Archaeological Museum, housed in brand new galleries and a Renaissance mansion, with a fine collection of Roman and Arab pieces. Visit the Alcázar, mediaeval with earlier architectural remains (and good Roman mosaics), and the narrow streets of the old Jewish quarter, including the 14th-century synagogue. The Fine Arts Museum (optional visit), with Plateresque façade and one delightful ceiling, houses some good Spanish paintings, and the Museo Julio Romero de Torres (optional visit), the former residence of the Cordoban painter, contains a collection of his works. Free afternoon in Córdoba. 178
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Granada & Córdoba with Úbeda & Baeza Day 8: Ecija, Seville. The many church towers of Ecija are visible from afar across the surrounding plain. Of the numerous Baroque mansions see the Palacio de Peñaflor and Palacio del Marqués de Benameji, and visit the Gothic-Mudéjar church of Santiago. Drive to Seville for the first of three nights. Day 9: Seville. Walk to the church and hospital of the Caridad, Seville’s most striking 17th-century building, with paintings by Murillo and Valdés Leal. The cathedral is one of the largest Gothic churches anywhere (‘Let us build a cathedral so immense that everyone...will take us for madmen’). The Capilla Mayor, treasury and sanctuary are of particular interest. Free afternoon. Day 10: Seville. The Alcázar, the fortified royal palace, is one of Spain’s greatest buildings; built by Moorish architects for Castilian kings, it consists of a sequence of apartments and magnificent reception rooms around courtyards and gardens. Walkthrough the Barrio de Santa Cruz, a maze of whitewashed alleys and flowerfilled patios, to the Casa de Pilatos, the best of the Mudéjar style palaces, with patios and azulejos. Afternoon at the Fine Arts Museum, the best in Spain after the Prado. Day 11. Free day in Seville. Fly from Seville to London Gatwick arriving c. 9.45pm.
Practicalities Price, per person in 2017. Two sharing: £3,230 or £3,060 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,730 or £3,560 without flights. Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £3,490 or £3,320 without flights. Single occupancy: £4,180 or £4,010 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 7 dinners with wine.
How strenuous? This is a lengthy tour with four hotels, a lot of walking and a fair amount of coach travel. You need to be fit. Walking is often on uneven streets and uphill. Average distance by coach per day: 33 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. In 2018, combine this tour with: Memories of Monte Cassino, 12–18 October 2018 (p.136).
Ample time at the key sites of Moorish Spain: the Alhambra in Granada and the Mosque in Córdoba, with time also for the lesser-known. Visit the Picasso Museum and Carmen Thyssen collection in Málaga and the small Renaissance towns of Úbeda and Baeza. Led by Gail Turner, art historian and lecturer with a special interest in Spanish history and art. Southern Spain – savage peaks soar over passes that are snow-bound in winter, while plains below are well-watered by spring rivers, hot, harsh and arid in the summer, mellow in late autumn and winter. The cities reveal the magnitude of past achievements through the greatness of the architecture and the brilliant elaboration of decoration. Andalucía was a bountiful Roman province, in Arab times the scene of highly sophisticated Umayyad and Nasrid princedoms and a major province of the most powerful kingdom in (Christian) Europe’s sixteenth century. The artistic riches are immensely varied, though the unique distinguishing mark is the heritage from eight hundred years of rule by Muslims from North Africa and Arabia. Arab Córdoba became the capital of alAndalus and the largest city in Europe, market for all the luxuries of East and West and scene of Europe’s most splendid court until its fall to the Reconquistadors in 1236. The mosque, La Mezquita, was one of the largest anywhere, and arguably the most beautiful; Christian possession in the sixteenth century created within it a totally contrasting cathedral. Granada was the last Islamic princedom in Spain, only falling to the Christians in 1492. The concatenation of palaces and gardens of the Alhambra, with its cascading domes and gilded decoration like frozen fireworks, is one of Spain’s most enthralling sights. Although millions of tourists pour through Málaga Airport every year en route to the Costa del Sol, comparatively few set foot in the old town. The narrow streets, palm-lined squares and seafront promenades conserve Phoenician, Roman, Moorish, Gothic, Baroque and late-ninteenthcentury monuments. Birthplace and childhood home of Pablo Picasso, the city boasts a major collection of his works, while the eponymous museum of Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza includes some excellent nineteenth-century Spanish art with Andalusian themes.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,540 or £2,340 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,980 or £2,780 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Molina Lario, Málaga (hotelmolinalario.com): functional 4-star in the centre. AC Palacio de Santa Paula, Granada (marriott.com): comfortable, contemporary hotel in the centre; comparable to a 4-star. NH Amistad, Córdoba (nh-hotels.com): 4-star in an 18thcentury mansion, a short walk from the mosque. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking, some of it uphill and some over uneven ground. Average distance by coach per day: 52 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
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Accommodation. Hotel Molina Lario, Málaga (hotelmolinalario.com): functional 4-star in the centre. AC Palacio de Santa Paula, Granada (marriott.com): comfortable, contemporary hotel in the centre, comparable to a 4-star. NH Amistad, Córdoba (nh-hotels.com): 4-star in an 18thcentury mansion, a short walk from the mosque. In 2017: Hotel Las Casas de la Judería, Seville (casasypalacios.com): charming 4-star hotel in the Barrio Sta Cruz created from several contiguous buildings connected by open-air patios. In 2018: Hotel Alfonso XIII, Seville (hotel-alfonsoxiiiseville.com): centrally located 5-star hotel, an iconic cultural landmark commissioned by the King of Spain in 1929.
22–29 October 2018 (mf 270) 8 days • £2,540 Lecturer: Gail Turner
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 11.00am from London Gatwick Airport to Málaga (British Airways). Arrive in time for an introductory walk and lecture in the hotel. Overnight in Málaga. Days 2–7 are identical to that of Essential Andalucía (see opposite page).
Illustrations. Left: Granada, Courtyard of the Lions in The Alhambra, chromolithograph c. 1890. Right: Córdoba, cathedral tower from ‘The Magazine of Art’ 1883.
Day 8. Drive to Málaga airport via the pretty town of Antequera for the mid-afternoon flight, arriving at London Gatwick airport at c. 5.30pm. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Eastern Andalucía: Caliphs to Kings Málaga, Granada, Úbeda, Jaen, Córdoba 9–18 March 2018 (me 772) 10 days • £3,160 Lecturer: Gijs van Hensbergen A comprehensive study of Eastern Andalucía: time for the key sites of Granada and Córdoba, exploration of the lesser-known, including the small Renaissance town of Úbeda. Visits the Picasso Museum, Carmen Thyssen and recently opened Centre Pompidou in Málaga. Features an olive oil tasting, a private concert, flamenco and an evening visit of the Alhambra. The lecturer, Gijs van Hensbergen, has written extensively on Spanish art and history. The mythic Al-Andalus, ruled by Islam for more than 750 years is one of Europe’s greatest examples of the wonders of multi-cultural life. Far north, in the cold mountains of Christian Galicia and its Celt neighbours across the seas we still talk of the Dark Ages, while in Córdoba around the first Millennium the Renaissance had already begun, as the Moors and their protected dhimmi subjects, the Christians and Jews, tested out revolutionary new ideas. 600 years before da Vinci’s inspired doodles of his flying machine, Ibn Firnas had already flown across the hills above Córdoba’s great mosque
(admittedly, breaking both legs). In the great city of Córdoba, under the Caliphate, cataract operations were common, mechanical elephants served tea, iced sherbets slaked the thirst, saffronstained meatballs and the three-course-meal were invented, while the intellect was teased with access to a library that boasted 400,000 books (almost the entire learning of the classical world). Ziryab, Córdoba’s ninth century tastemaker – the Terence Conran of his time – added the fifth and sixth string to the lute to give its harmony ‘soul’ and provide the guitar. ‘From Caliphs to Kings,’ visits the World Heritage protected caves of Granada’s Sacromonte to hear the gypsy wedding ritual, the Zambra. In Úbeda, Spain’s most perfect Renaissance city, Sephardic musicians will bring to life the recently discovered tenth century Synagogue with its perfectly preserved mikvah – the ritual bath. From Málaga’s Museo de Picasso, built on 2500-year-old Phoenician remains, and the wonderful Thyssen Museum – that provides a perfect introduction to the nineteenth-century romantic traveller’s obsession with Carmen and the ‘bandoleros’ – the journey skirts around the Sierra Nevada to Granada’s legendary Alhambra. Home to the Nasrid Kings, the Alhambra’s stage-set beauty is linked by bridge to the glorious vegetable paradise of the Generalife gardens and the royal hunting grounds. Granada is a secret city where composers like Manuel de Falla and
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the poet Federico García Lorca evoked its beauty within the secrecy of the ‘carmen,’ orange-scented walled garden. Turn the earth anywhere in Andalucía and ancient cultures come to the fore. The provincial capital of Jaen is built on a rock spur over thousands of acres of olive stands. Hannibal’s elephants crossed this landscape, as too did Caesar’s armies in pursuit of the remnants of Pompey’s battle weary troops. The tour culminates with Córdoba’s Cathedral and Great Mosque that acts as a compendium of some of the greatest carved columns and capitals from Mesopotamia and the classical world. Here we meet the wisdom of the Jewish philosopherdoctor Maimonides, the luxury and unrivalled power of the Caliph Abd ar-Rahman III and the sheer excess of his successor Al-Hakam at his palace complex of Madinat al-Zahara. Over mint teas and sweet montilla wines, served with deep fried aubergines drizzled with honey in a fourteenth-century convent, we unpick the mysteries of East Andalucía’s glorious past and its fascinating passage ‘From Caliphs to Kings.’
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 9.45am from London City Airport to Málaga (British Airways). Visit the Carmen Thyssen museum with its fine collection of old masters and 19th-century Spanish painting. The
lecturer leads a tapas walk this evening. First of two nights in Málaga. Day 2: Málaga. Begin at Picasso’s birthplace, which houses a small collection of his belongings and some ceramics. The Picasso Museum is magnificent, combining Phoenician ruins beneath a fine 16th-century palace and a collection which places emphasis on his earlier works and the women in his life. The Centre Pompidou holds some 80 works from its Parisian headquarters. There is time also to see the Renaissance Cathedral with a fine Baroque façade. Day 3: Granada. Drive north in the morning to Granada. Walk via the Corral del Carbón, the evocative 14th-century caravanserai and silk market, and visit the Casa de los Tiros, Granada’s wonderful ethnographic museum housed in the 16th-century palace of a converted Morisco prince. In the late afternoon visit the Cathedral and Royal Chapel, which retains Isabel of Castile’s personal collection of Flemish, Spanish and Italian paintings. First of three nights in Granada. Day 4: Granada. The 13th-century Arab palaces of the Alhambra ride high above the city. They are often reckoned to be the greatest expression of Moorish art in Spain, with exquisite decoration and a succession of intimate courtyards. Adjacent are the 16th-century Palace of Charles V and the Generalife, summer palace of the sultans, with gardens and fountains. The Carmen of the Martyrs garden was built by the Catholic monarchs in memory of the Christians that suffered under the Moorish domination. Evening performance of ‘Zambra’ Flamenco, a gypsy wedding ritual. Day 5: Granada. Morning walk through the Albayzín, the oldest quarter in town, including El Bañuelo (Arab baths) and the elegant, hispanomoresque gardens of the Instituto de Estudios Arabes. Climb up to San Nicolás from where there are fine views of the Alhambra. The Monasterio de San Jerónimo was the first to be built after the Christian conquest and contains a dazzling altar by Gil de Siloé. There is the option to see the Palacios of the Alhambra in a different light with a late evening visit.
Day 7: Úbeda. In Úbeda walk to the handsome Plaza Vázquez de Molina, flanked by elegant palaces including Vandelvira’s Casa de las Cadenas and the present day parador. The church of El Salvador was designed by Diego de Siloé in 1536 while the 14th-century Casa Mudéjar houses the archeological museum. Sample some of the famed olive oils of the region at a lunchtime tasting. In the evening visit the 10th-century Sinagoga del Agua with a private performance of Sephardic music. Day 8: Córdoba. The capital of Islamic Spain from the middle of the 8th century, it became the
Day 9: Córdoba. Morning visit to the Archaeological Museum, housed in a Renaissance mansion, with a fine collection of Roman and Arab pieces. The Fine Arts Museum, with Plateresque façade, houses some good Spanish paintings. Visit the Alcázar, mediaeval with earlier architectural remains (and good Roman mosaics). In the afternoon drive out to the excavations of Medina Azahara, with remains of a huge and luxurious 10th-century palace complex. Day 10. Drive back to Málaga via the pretty town of Antequera. The flight arrives at London City at c. 7.30pm. Illustrations. Left: Málaga Cathedral 18th-century engraving. Above: Córdoba, La Mezquita, engraving from ‘Arabian Antiquities of Spain’ 1816. Below: Seville, watercolour by Mortimer Menpes, publ. 1903.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,160 or £2,920 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,620 or £3,380 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 7 dinners (including a tapas walk), with wine. Accommodation. Hotel Molina Lario, Málaga (hotelmolinalario.com): functional, comfortable 4-star hotel. AC Palacio de Santa Paula, Granada (marriott.com): 5-star hotel in a converted convent, close to the Royal Chapel; comfortable and contemporary. Parador de Úbeda (parador. es): 4-star parador in a Renaissance palace on the most handsome square in town; comfortable, traditionally furnished. NH Amistad Córdoba (nh-hotels.com): 4-star hotel in a converted 18thcentury mansion, close to the mosque. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking, some of it uphill and some over uneven ground. Average distance by coach per day: 36 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Art in Madrid, 21–25 March 2018 (p.174).
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Day 6: Jaen, Úbeda. Silver deposits first attracted the Romans to settle at Jaen before it was taken by the Moors in 712. Its Renaissance cathedral was built on the site of the Great Mosque and designed by outstanding Renaissance architect, Andrés de Vandelvira. See also the 14th-century church of San Ildefonso and the Museo Provincial with a fine archeological collection. Continue to Úbeda for the first of two nights.
richest city in Europe until its capitulation to the Reconquistadors in 1236. A morning walk includes the narrow streets of the old Jewish quarter and the 14th-century synagogue. La Mezquita (mosque) is one of the most magnificent of Muslim sites, for some the greatest building of mediaeval Europe. It contains within it the 16th-century cathedral. First of two nights in Córdoba.
Western Andalucía: Seville, Cádiz, Ronda 3–11 April 2018 Details available in July 2017 Please contact us to register your interest In-depth study of the key sites of Seville & Cádiz, with time for the lesser known: Carmona, Itálica, and the pueblos blancos of Arcos de la Frontera and Grazalema. A fascinating mix of art, architecture, archaeology and nature. Optional walk in the Sierra de Grazalema with stunning views. Led by Dr Philippa Joseph, who specialises in late mediaeval and early modern societies in Andalucía. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Wellington in the Peninsula From Portugal to the Pyrenees 15–27 May 2018 (me 869) 13 days • £3,370 Lecturer: Patrick Mercer obe Survey of Wellington’s Iberian campaign, through Portugal, Spain and into the French Pyrenees. Key battles studied in depth, also the life of the soldier and background matters. Led by military historian Patrick Mercer obe. A scenically varied journey at a beautiful time of year, through the sunny Alentejo plains, across the mountains of Extremadura, the meseta of Castile, ending in the drama of the Pyrenees. Ascribing the eventual downfall of Napoleon to a single event is a dubious historical exercise, but here goes: his own decision in 1807, when he was at the height of his power, to plug the gap in the blockade which excluded British shipping from continental Europe. The gap was Portugal, Great Britain’s long-time ally and trading partner. Marching French troops to Portugal through a hitherto submissive Spain provoked the Spanish people into bitter revolt, and Britain, seeing a relatively low-risk way of causing discomfort to France, committed troops to the Iberian Peninsula.
That the British would hang on in there for six years until they swept the French over the Pyrenees and defeated them in France itself was anticipated by no one – not Napoleon, because he was used to quick and decisive victories, nor the British, because there was fierce opposition to the war in Parliament and sustained criticism of the campaign in the country. Nevertheless, the British under Wellington never lost a major battle, and, aided by Spanish guerillas, succeeded in tying down huge numbers of French troops and infecting Napoleon with his ‘Spanish ulcer’. Wellington developed a range of tactics which amounted to the elixir of success which had eluded Napoleon’s other opponents, and emerged as the only general of the Napoleonic Wars to rival Bonaparte himself for military genius. A master both of battlefield tactics and long-term strategy, he had an extraordinary capacity for logistical and administrative detail and for cool-headedness. And by chipping away for so long without significant reverse, he gave heart to the conquered and cowering capitals elsewhere in Europe. The War also has a significance for British history beyond its immediate achievements. The prestige of her armies had been at a low ebb after a century with few moments of glory and quite a lot of embarrassments. Indeed, England had not been considered internationally as a significant military
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power since the loss of French territories in the fifteenth century. The Peninsular War changed all that. Here at last was a saga of sustained success, albeit with some setbacks, and of great deeds of valour, albeit with episodes of barbarity and indiscipline. And, ultimately, there was victory, as has tended to be the case, by and large, ever since. As a group, the battlefields of the Peninsula constitute the most dramatic and illuminating of the redcoat era. They are spread across an extraordinary variety of terrain and climate, from sun-baked plains to misty mountain passes. This tour will provide vistas of breath-taking beauty, and cities and villages which have scarcely changed in two hundred years.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 11.55am from London Gatwick to Porto (TAP Portugal). Drive to the hotel in the forest of Buçaco, a former summer retreat f or the Portuguese royal family. First of two nights in Buçaco. Day 2: Buçaco. In the forest visit the museum commemorating the Battle of Buçaco, scene of Wellington’s great delaying action during his retreat to Torres Vedras. See also Craufurd’s Mill and the French view from Massena’s hill. There is an optional visit to Wellington’s command post or
some free time to explore the grounds of the hotel. Overnight Buçaco. Day 3: Obidos, Roliça, Badajoz (Spain). The long drive today heads south to Obidos, the site of Wellington’s HQ before the battle of Roliça, the British Army’s first battle in the Peninsula. From the battlements of the town we see the field of Roliça exactly as the Duke did before going to the memorial to the battle in the village through which the British Army advanced. Cross the border into Spain to the frontier town of Badajoz for the first of two nights. Day 4: Badajoz, La Albuera. The ramparts of Badajoz, which provided formidable protection for the French, are still intact. The siege ended at tremendous cost with their storming by the British on the night of 6th April 1812, and the army went berserk for 72 hours afterwards. On 16th May 1811 at La Albuera, 15 miles away, was the bloodiest of the major battles; it remains one of the great unspoilt battlefields in the Peninsula. Overnight Badajoz. Day 5: Alcántara, Ciudad Rodrigo. Head north via the Roman bridge in the village of Alcántara. Cross the Sierra de Gata, dividing line between Extremadura and Castilla-León, to Ciudad Rodrigo. Tour the defences, stormed on the night of 19th January 1812. Overnight Ciudad Rodrigo. Day 6: Ciudad Rodrigo, Fuentes de Oñoro, Nave de Haver, Poço Velho (Portugal). At Ciudad Rodrigo visit the major breach through which the Light Division attacked, the memorial to Black Bob Crawford (who died leading them) and then the site of the storming by the 3rd Division. Moving through the still battle-scarred town, study the diversionary attack on the opposite walls before the site of the surrender of the French commander. On the border with Portugal lies Fuentes de Oñoro, site of a hard-fought battle in early May 1811 and Nave de Haver and Poço Velho, two of the crucial parts of the initial stages of the battle. Back in Spain, cross the meseta to the city of Salamanca for the first of three nights.
Day 8: Salamanca. Morning visit of the walls and remains of the three convents that were hastily converted to fortresses around San Vicente in order to protect the main bridge into the town and which had to be taken by storm. Free afternoon in Salamanca, a city architecturally endowed beyond all proportion to its size with two cathedrals, Spain’s oldest university, the most beautiful and animated main square on the Peninsula and countless convents, monasteries and palaces. Day 9: Burgos, Vitoria. Drive to Burgos, early capital of Castile, with one of Spain’s finest Gothic cathedrals. Visit the remains of the hill-top castle, scene of Wellington’s only major setback in the Peninsula and then the outlying Hornwork which had to be taken before the main defences could be attacked. Overnight Vitoria.
Day 11: Battle of the Nivelle and Pyrenees. A day dedicated to two battles. Travel by cogwheel railway to the top of the Rhune mountain and from here study the Battle of the Nivelle of 10th November 1813. At Bidart see the grave of the remarkable Lt Col Lloyd, Commanding Officer of 2/84th Regiment and the church at Arcangues which still bears the marks of its defence by the Light Division. Overnight Bera. Day 12: Battle of the Nive. Drive to the site of Wellington’s crossing of the River Bidasoa on 7 October 1813 and the invasion of France. In the afternoon, study the last stages of the Battle of the Nive, 10–13 Dec. 1813, from the memorial at Mouguerre. See also the crucial bridge held so gallantly by the 3rd Buffs. Overnight Bera. Day 13: San Sebastián. San Sebastián was another triumphant siege for Wellington’s men, but its aftermath was almost as disgraceful as that at Badajoz. The castle ramparts give an unparalleled view of the assaults with an excellent museum that shows much of the technical site of siege work. Drive to Bilbao for the flight to London Gatwick (Vueling), arriving c. 7.20pm.
Illustrations. Left: The Battle of Vittoria, June 21 1813’, aquatint 1818 by J.C. Stadler after a drawing by W. Heath. Above: Badajoz, steel engraving c. 1850.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,370 or £3,250 without flights. Suite supplement in Bera: £50 (per person based on 2 sharing). Single occupancy: £3,790 or £3,670 without flights. Included meals: 2 lunches (including one picnic) and 9 dinners with wine. The majority of included dinners are in the hotels. Accommodation. Buçaco Palace, Buçaco (bussacopalace.com): comparable to a 4-star, one of the great hotels of Portugal in a turn-ofthe-century palace. Hotel Zurbarán, Badajoz (granhotelzurbaranbadajoz.com): functional 4-star in the centre of town with adequately comfortable rooms. Parador Ciudad Rodrigo, Ciudad Rodrigo (parador.es): 4-star parador installed in a 14th-century castle with splendid public areas. NH Palacio de Castellanos, Salamanca (nh-hotels.com): attractive 4-star hotel in a converted palace, close to the Cathedrals and other key sites. Hotel Silken Ciudad de Vitoria, Vitoria (hoteles-silken.com): stylish 4-star hotel, a short walk from the centre of town. Hotel Churrut, Bera de Bidasoa (hotelchurrut.com): 3-star hotel installed in an 18th-century military building; family owned and managed with 17 spacious rooms; well-furnished and comfortable sitting areas. How strenuous? This is a long tour involving six hotels and a lot of walking, some of it across uneven, countryside terrain and uphill. Fitness and sure-footedness are essential. There is also a fair amount of standing around on site. Transfer days involve lengthy coach journeys. Average distance by coach per day: c. 100 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: The Heart of Spain, 6–12 May 2018 (p.168); Berry & Touraine, 28 May–5 June 2018 (p.66).
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Day 7: Salamanca. The Battle of Salamanca, 22 July 1812, was one of Wellington’s greatest victories. Tour the battlefield in depth, beginning at Miranda de Azán before climbing the Greater Arapil for a grandstand view of the site. In the afternoon visit Garcihernández, scene of the great cavalry charge of the King’s German Legion.
Day 10: Vitoria. Tactically perhaps Wellington’s most brilliant battle, the Battle of Vitoria on 21 June 1813 effectively decided the outcome of the war. It also brought about, for the first time, Napoleon’s acknowledgement that the Allies had a general who was as good as any he could muster, and news of the victory precipitated the end of the truce in Central Europe and hence to the defeat of the French at Leipzig in October. Drive across the Basque Country and into the foothills of the Pyrenees. Stop at Cadoux’s bridge, scene of the desperate battle on 31st August 1813. First of three nights in Bera (Vera) de Bidasoa.
Opera in Stockholm Tosca and Aida 6–9 March 2018 (me 773) 4 days • £2,010 (including tickets to 2 performances) Lecturer: Dr John Allison Two performances at Stockholm’s ornate opera house: Tosca by Puccini and Verdi’s Aida. Talks on the operas by John Allison, editor of Opera magazine. We include a private tour of the opera house and a walk in the historic centre with a local guide. Time is allowed for the city’s outstanding museums. Combine this tour with Opera in Copenhagen, 9–12 March 2018 – see page 56. Transport between the two tours is provided for a supplement. Many cities have been nicknamed the ‘Venice of the North,’ but alongside St Petersburg it is Stockholm that has the greatest claim to such a title. Spectacularly situated on the water and architecturally rich, Sweden’s capital has over the centuries boasted several opera houses, of which the oldest to have survived are the celebrated court theatres at Drottningholm and Confidencen. But the ornately gilded Operan (as it is called in Swedish) is the main opera house today and home to the Royal Swedish Opera. Its location at the heart of the city justifies that Venetian parallel — sitting on the bank of the Norrström river, it is connected via a bridge to the Royal Palace. Opened at the end of the nineteenth century, it remains a magnificent venue, grand yet intimate enough
for an authentic opera experience. It witnessed the débuts of many important Swedish singers in the twentieth century, including Jussi Björling, Set Svanholm, Birgit Nilsson, Nicolai Gedda and Elisabeth Söderström. Sweden’s capital probably saw its first operas in 1652, with the arrival of an Italian opera company, and foreign troupes dominated its operatic life for the next hundred-plus years. Cultural life really took off under the reign of King Gustav III. Verdi would have been well aware of Stockholm’s Italianate opera tradition when he composed Un ballo in maschera, based on Gustav III’s assassination – in the very opera house the king had commissioned. Another masterpiece of Verdi’s maturity, Aida, is included on our itinerary, in a new production due to open shortly before our visit. Conducted by Pier Giorgio Morandi and directed by Michael Cavanagh, it stars Christina Nilsson in the title role, whose rival Amneris is sung by the renowned Katarina Dalayman. We also see the Royal Swedish Opera’s production of Puccini’s Tosca, in a period setting based on the actual venues in Rome, with the house’s dramatic soprano Emma Vetter as the titular tragedienne.
Writer and music critic. He is Editor of Opera magazine, music critic for the Daily Telegraph and former critic for the Sunday Telegraph and the Times. He has written two books and has served on the juries of various music competitions.
Itinerary
Day 2. Morning lecture on this evening’s performance, followed by a guided tour of the old town centre. Free afternoon; recommended is the spectacular display of prehistoric gold artefacts at the Museum of Antiquities and the Museum of Modern Art. Dinner before the performance at the Royal Swedish Opera: Tosca (Puccini), Daniele Callegari (conductor), Knut Hendriksen (director), Royal Swedish Orchestra & Choir, Emma Vetter (Floria Tosca), Jesper Taube (Mario Cavaradossi), John Lundgren (Baron Scarpia), Kristian Flor (Cesare Angelotti), Jens Persson (A Sacristan), Niklas Björling Rygert (Spoletta), John Erik Eleby (A Jailer).
Day 1. Fly at 10.45am from London Heathrow to Stockholm Arlanda (British Airways). Visit the Nationalmuseum, the city’s National Museum of Fine Arts, due to reopen in 2018 after extensive renovations. There is time to settle into the hotel before dinner.
Day 3. Lecture on the evening’s opera. Walk to the 19th-century Operan (Royal Swedish Opera) for a private guided tour. The afternoon is free before an evening at the Royal Swedish Opera: Aida (Verdi), Pier Giorgio Morandi (conductor), Michael Cavanagh (director), The Royal Swedish Orchestra
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Rock Art in Norway & Sweden and Choir, Christina Nilsson (Aida), Lennart Forsén (The King of Egypt), Katarina Dalayman (Amneris), Johan Edholm (Amonasro), Karin Andersson (A Priestess). Day 4. In the morning visit the museum of the Vasa, the royal flagship which sank on its maiden voyage in 1628. Continue by coach to the Stockholm Public Library, designed by architect Gunnar Asplund, and a wonderful example of the Swedish Grace style. Fly to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 5.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,010 or £1,880 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,320 or £2,190 without flights. Included meals: 3 dinners with wine. Music: tickets for 2 operas are included, costing c. £165. Accommodation. Grand Hôtel Stockholm (grandhotel.se): historic 5-star hotel a few minutes’ walk from the opera house. How strenuous? We walk to the opera house. Participants must be fit enough to manage this, and city walks, and to cope with stair-climbing. Average distance by coach per day: 13 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Combining with Opera in Copenhagen Flight (9th March). At the end of Opera in Stockholm, fly from Stockholm Arlanda to Copenhagen (SAS) to join Opera in Copenhagen. Price. You pay the price of Opera in Stockholm with flights (£2,010) and the price of Opera in Copenhagen without flights (£1,860), unless you are arranging your own flights. There is an additional charge of £50 to contribute to the cost of travelling between Stockholm to Copenhagen. Please let us know on your booking form if you would like to take up this option.
August 2018 Full details available August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Illustrations. Left: Stockholm, wood engraving c. 1880. Right: Norwegian landscape, after an early-20th-century painting.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Some regions of Scandinavia – especially parts of Norway and Sweden – are remarkably rich in spectacular prehistoric rock art. Hundreds of rock carvings featuring ships, human beings with weapons, as well as animals such as reindeer, elk and bears can be seen, and some of the best have been coloured red in recent times, to make them easier to see and understand. Some of the world’s earliest studies of rock art took place in Scandinavia, extending as far back as the 17th century and featuring some remarkable pioneering scholars. A great deal of research continues on this corpus, which continues to grow – the striking rock art of Norway’s Alta region, included on unesco’s World Heritage list, was only discovered in 1973. The thousands of petroglyphs at Alta are above the Arctic Circle and while their precise age is unknown, from their position in relation to the shore line, they are thought to date to between 4200 and 500 bc. In Bohuslän, southern Sweden, there are more than a thousand petroglyphs of boats, thought to date mostly to the Bronze Age, about 3000 years ago. These ubiquitous images were once interpreted as Viking battleships, but later came to be seen as cult ships linked to a fertility god. Are they real ships, symbolic ships or both? Do they represent trade and travel? Were they perhaps
carved to ensure safe and fruitful voyages? Or were they symbols of the voyages of the dead? Led by Dr Paul Bahn, one of the world’s leading authorities on prehistoric rock art, and author of The Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art, this tour will take you to some of the most accessible but also most fascinating and important rock art panels in Europe. It will be possible to combine this tour with Vikings & Bog Bodies in July 2018 (see page 55).
SWITZERLAND:
The Gstaad Menuhin Festival August 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest The Rhine Valley Music Festival, 20–27 June 2018 – see page 88. Le Corbusier, 14–22 October 2017 – see page 61. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Drottningholm & Confidencen
June 2018 Lecturer: Dr Paul Bahn Details available in October 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Persia’s Great Empires Ancient and Islamic Iran Standard 12-day tour 2–13 March 2018 (me 774) 12 days/11 nights • £4,510 Lecturer: Professor Hugh Kennedy Standard 12-day tour 6–17 September 2018 (mf 113) 12 days/11 nights • £4,510 Lecturer: Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones A selection of the most interesting cities, major buildings and archaeological sites in this vast, varied and welcoming country. Three full days to explore Isfahan; three full days in Tehran; time in Shiraz and Yazd. Suitable either for first-time visitors or for those with some familiarity already. The successive civilizations of Persia were among the most potent and creative in Asia, and have provided the West with some of our most evocative images – of distant caravanserais and immense vaulted bazaars, of poets and rose gardens, of turquoise domes and priceless carpets. The very names of the cities breathe magic: Shiraz, Persepolis, Isfahan. But the images are no mere symbols of a distant past. Historic Persian ways of life and the monuments which sheltered and articulated them are alive in Iran today. The fabulous mosques of Isfahan, the bustle of great bazaars, immense armies of nomads on the move or the magic of classical gardens bring Persia’s civilizations vividly to life.
But it was virtually hidden from foreigners for some years after the 1979 revolution. Iran underwent cataclysmic upheavals: a national uprising against one of the strongest rulers in the world, a revolution with repercussions that still reverberate to this day, and one of the most destructive wars of the twentieth century. From these trials and tragedies the Iranians have emerged changed, but they are eager to show their country to the traveller once more. Visitors to Iran can see some of the greatest sights in all Asia, such as Shah Abbas’s astonishing royal city of Isfahan, one of the great monumental cities of the world, or the silent ruins of Pasargadae and Persepolis, still much as Alexander’s destructive fury left them thousands of years ago. But equally arresting are the lesser-known aspects of Iran’s immensely rich heritage revealed by exploration of old desert cities such as Yazd and Nain, and by the great museums of Tehran.
Itinerary: 12 days Day 1. Fly c. 11.30am from London Heathrow via Istanbul to Shiraz with Turkish Airlines (a routing chosen to avoid domestic flights). Day 2: Shiraz. Arrive Shiraz Airport c. 1.45am and drive to hotel (c. 20 mins) for the first of five nights here. Visits begin at 11.30am today and include the 17th-century secluded courtyard of the Madrassa Khan, still a theological college; the 18th-century. Citadel, a quadrangular fort with cylindrical towers; and the 19th-century Pink Mosque, the sobriquet arising from the profuse revetment of Qajar tiles. Overnight Shiraz.
Tehran, principal gate of the Shah’s Palace, wood engraving from ‘The Graphic’ 1885.
MIDDLE EAST: BAHRAIN, IRAN The Arabian Gulf, 24 November–6 December 2017 & autumn 2018 – see page 197. 186
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Day 3: Persepolis. One of the most spectacular sites of the ancient world, construction of the ceremonial city of Persepolis began under Darius I in 516 bc and continued under Xerxes and successive Achaemenid kings until it was destroyed by Alexander the Great in 300-bc. Much superstructure and many standing columns survive. The sculpture is particularly impressive, especially the low-reliefs depicting the 26 nationalities of the empire. Return to Shiraz midafternoon and visit the gardens around the tomb of Hafez, the Persian poet. Overnight Shiraz. Day 4: Naqsh-i-Rustam, Pasargadae. The tombs of four Achaemenid kings were cut high up in the cliff at Naqsh-i-Rustam. Reliefs of Sassanian kings and their captive Roman emperors were added below 500 years later. On a remote plateau ringed by hills, Pasargadae was built by Cyrus the Great (d. 529 bc), the first of the Achaemenid emperors. His ziggurat-like tomb and remains of palaces survive. There follows a five-hour drive (with a refreshment break) through dramatic desert and mountain landscape, before dropping down to the ancient caravan city of Yazd (total km today: 470). First of two nights here. Day 5: Yazd. Yazd has one of the largest surviving Zoroastrian communities in Iran; two funerary ‘Towers of Silence’ rise on hillocks on the edge of the city, and there is a fire temple in the centre. Of the Islamic architecture, the 11th-century Cenotaph of the Twelve Imams is impressive (entry not guaranteed), while the Friday Mosque is spectacularly clad in 14th-century tile mosaics. See also an area of traditional vernacular architecture and the beautiful Dolat Abad Garden and pavilion. Overnight Yazd.
Day 6 Meybod, Muhammadiyya, Nain. Another long drive (210km) through mountainfringed desert, with three stops. In Meybod, visit the mud-brick citadel of Sassanian (5th century ad) origin, a caravanserai and a remarkable ice house. See traditional kilimweaving at Muhammadiyya. In Nain, the splendid early mosque, with imposing arcades and stucco reliefs, dates to the 10th and 11th centuries. Visit also the fascinating 16th-century governor’s house with its precious sgraffito decoration. Spend the first of three nights in Isfahan. Day 7: Isfahan. Shah Abass I, the greatest of the Safavid kings, chose Isfahan as his capital in 1598. He began the transformation of the city into one of the loveliest in the world. We begin with a preexisting building, the vast Friday Mosque, whose many parts incorporate most periods and styles. To the Zayandeh River, straddled by two beautiful 17th-century bridges, and cross to the Armenian Quarter. The cathedral interior is covered in high-quality paintings of the 1660s, stylistically a fascinating western-Persian hybrid. The day finishes with a private concert of traditional Iranian music. Overnight Isfahan. Day 8: Isfahan. The immense Meydan, Imam (formerly Royal) Square, is 500m long and formed of a two-storey arcade and the façades of three architectural masterpieces: the Ali Qapu Pavilion, a palace with loggia and well-preserved interiors; the Imam Mosque, magnificent in scale and detail; and the private Shaikh Lutfollah Mosque, with a near perfect dome and unsurpassed tile work. Set in a garden a few minutes away, the exquisite Chehel Sotun pleasure pavilion has very fine 17thcentury figurative wall paintings. Day 9: Natanz, Kashan. An early start for the last of the long drives (483km to Tehran). At Natanz, the cobalt blue and turquoise façade of the Friday Mosque is one of the most exquisite sights in Iran. Kashan has a number of large and richly embellished 19th-century courtyard mansions; we visit Tabatabiyeh House. The Fin Garden is perhaps the most beautiful of classical Persian examples. First of three nights in Tehran.
Day 11: Tehran. The Carpet Museum displays major examples of historic Persian carpet art. Return to the National Museum, which also has one of the world’s greatest collections of Islamic arts, from the earliest period to the end of Qajar, all Persian. In the hills to the north, the Reza Abbasi Museum shows precious Persian miniature paintings. Final night Tehran. Day 12: Tehran. Free morning before flying to London Heathrow via Istanbul, arriving at c. 10.30pm.
Illustration above right: Isfahan, Si-o-se Pol Bridge, watercolour by Frank Brangwyn, publ. 1926.
Extended 15-day tour 11–25 October 2018 (mf 213) 15 days/14 nights • £5,320 Lecturer: Professor James Allan An extended version of the regular tour with additional days in Isfahan and Shiraz and an excursion to Firuzabad. More time to take in Iranian daily life and to walk through the bazaars in Shiraz and Isfahan. This version of the tour will suit those seeking more time for independent exploration.
Itinerary: 15 days Days 1–3 are identical to days 1–3 of the standard, 12-day itinerary – please see opposite. Day 4: Firuzabad. Full-day excursion beginning with the scenic drive past the large salt lake of Maharlu and the impressive Qaleh Dokhtar that is perched on a cliff top. Visit the large Sassanid palaces and the ancient city of Ardashir Khurreh, known as Gur. Overnight Shiraz. Day 5: Shiraz. Between long days with a lot of travelling, today has a gentle programme of sightseeing with free time in the afternoon. Set in a citrus garden, the opulently decorated Naranjastan-e Qavam was the house of a wealthy 19th-century merchant, and now houses a small archaeological museum. The Vakil Mosque and contiguous Vakil Bazaar are products of the ambitious rule of Karim Khan in the mid-18th century. Final night in Shiraz. Days 6–10 are identical to days 4–8 of the standard, 12-day itinerary – please see opposite. Day 11: Isfahan. Walk through the Seljuk Square, another vast arcaded space, pass the Shrine of Harun and the 13th-century Ali Mosque Minaret,
and enter the Great Bazaar (Bazar-e Bazorg). Parts are a thousand years old, but most was rebuilt during the reign of Shah Abbas I. See the Mosque of al-Hakim before emerging into the Maydan. The afternoon is free, with several options – carpet shop, Museum of Modern Art, Hasht Behesht Pavilion, or just relaxing in the hotel garden. Days 12–15 are identical to days 9–12 of the standard, 12-day itinerary – please see opposite.
Practicalities Price, per person: 12-day tour (March & September 2018). Two sharing: £4,510 or £4,020 without flights. Single occupancy: £5,220 or £4,730 without flights. Price, per person: 15-day tour (April & October 2018). Two sharing: £5,320 or £4,830 without flight. Single occupancy: £6,200 or £5,710. Included meals: 9 lunches and 10 dinners (12-day tour) or 12 lunches and 13 dinners (15-day tour), soft drinks (no alcohol is served in Iran), plus meals on flights. Visas: required for most foreign nationals and we will advise on obtaining these. At the time of print, the cost of an individual tourist visa through an agency is approximately £400 for British citizens. This is not included in the tour price. Accommodation. We seek to reserve rooms in the best available hotels, but it is the Iranian custom not to confirm rooms more than a few months – or weeks – in advance, and recent increase in demand has made the situation more unpredictable. How strenuous? This is quite a strenuous tour. Driving distances on two days exceed 400km, though the daily average is 100km, inter-city roads are good and coaches are comfortable and air-conditioned. While most days start at 9.00am, three start at 8.30am and one at 7.45am, but this is compensated for by five days on which the start is 9.30am or later, and some days finish at 3.00 or 4.00pm. There is quite a lot of walking, some of it over rough or badly paved ground, and surefootedness is essential. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Day 10: Tehran. The Qajar period surges to a crescendo of enrichment at the Golestan Palace, which also houses fine carpets and other objets d’art. The archaeological section of the National Museum of Iran is of international importance and includes items from places visited on the tour. Return to the hotel mid-afternoon, or extend the day with another visit. Overnight Tehran.
Extended 15-day tour 12–26 April 2018 (me 815) 15 days/14 nights • £5,320 Lecturer: Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
Israel & Palestine Archaeology, architecture and art in the Holy Land
6–15 March 2018 (me 766) 10 days • £4,780 Lecturer: Dr Garth Gilmour Some of the most significant and evocative archaeological sites in the western hemisphere. Ancient, mediaeval and modern architecture, from Herod to Bauhaus – Judean, Roman, Christian and Islamic. Dr Garth Gilmour is a Biblical archaeologist who lives and works in Israel.
MIDDLE EAST: ISRAEL
Enthralling vernacular buildings in ancient walled towns; varied landscapes, from rocky deserts to verdant valleys. Several days in Jerusalem – surely the most extraordinary city on earth? Ancient Canaan, the bridge between Egypt, Phoenicia, Syria and Mesopotamia; land of the Patriarchs, home to the Philistines, the Jebusites and the tribes of Israel. A land where the kingdom of David triumphantly rose around 1000 bc and where the splendour of Solomon’s Temple was created. Jews, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans and Turks all made their mark; the history of the land is characterised by conquest and exile. Herod the Great (37–4 bc) was one of the greatest builders of the ancient world. Christianity brought a new wave of construction after Emperor Constantine and his mother, St Helena, in the fourth century ad consecrated the sites associated with Jesus. The final monotheistic religion to 188
arrive was Islam when in 637 ad Caliph Omar conquered Jerusalem. Another religion, and yet another monumental building, this time the Dome of the Rock. The Crusaders instigated a further burst of building activity, planting European Romanesque and Gothic churches and castles tempered by local techniques. Mamluks and Ottomans trampled and rebuilt, and after the First World War, with Jewish immigration accelerating, the British were left to hold the rope until the establishment of Israel in 1948. Jerusalem is the most extraordinary city in the world. Within the walls – and the complete circuit survives, the current structure is sixteenth-century – it is a vibrant, authentic Middle Eastern city, but one with sharply distinct communities and largely constructed from ancient and mediaeval masonry. Nowhere else is the historical interpretation of archaeological remains so crucial to current political debate. Israel and Palestine are extraordinary places where Biblical names on road signs demonstrate the closeness of the distant past and where history, politics and religion are impossible to separate. The tour is led by an archaeologist who uses the remains to illuminate peoples and civilisations of the past. It is not a pilgrimage tour in that buildings and sites are selected for intrinsic aesthetic or historical merit rather than religious association. The tour ranges across two countries, and in none: strictly speaking, the old walled centre of Jerusalem is neither Israel nor Palestine.
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Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 2.20pm (El Al) from London Heathrow to Tel Aviv, and then drive to Jerusalem, reaching the hotel c. 11.00pm. Those not taking our flights can check in from c. 2.00pm today. Three nights are spent here. Day 2: Jerusalem. The buildings in the Old City and around (the walled kernel has shifted over the millennia) comprise an incomparable mix of ages and cultures from the time of King David to the present day, while continuing to be a thriving, living city. The massive stones and underground tunnels of Herod’s Temple Mount are highly impressive survivals from the ancient world. In the afternoon a walk along a section of the ramparts leads to further Roman-era structures in the Ecce Homo Convent and the Bethesda Pools, and to the Crusader church of St Anne. View the seeming panorama of belfries, domes, minarets and city wall from the Mount of Olives. Overnight Jerusalem. Day 3: Jerusalem, Bethlehem. The intact 7thcentury Dome of the Rock stands majestically in the vast Haram ash-sharif complex, complete with Umayyad and Mamluk buildings and the El-Aqsa Mosque, all on the site of Solomon’s Temple. Drive through the ‘Separation Wall’ into occupied territory on the West Bank. On the edge of the Judaean Desert, the Herodion is a remarkable fortified palace and tomb complex built by King Herod. The 4th/6th century Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem is one of the greatest buildings of its era, and probably the oldest church in continuous use for Christian worship. Overnight Jerusalem.
Day 4: Jerusalem. Mainly Constantinian and Crusader, but confusingly complex, compartmentalised and embellished with later ornamentation, a proper study of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre reveals a deeply fascinating building. Among the items seen during the rest of the day are the Roman colonnaded Cardo, the largely 13th-century Armenian Cathedral, and a 17th-century synagogue. Free time is an alternative, possibly with a visit to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. In the afternoon drive through Israel to the Dead Sea Valley, the lowest place on earth, to the oasis of Ein Gedi for the first of two nights. Day 5: Masada, Ein Gedi. Rising high above the Judaean desert, Herod’s fortified palace of Masada, last redoubt of the Jewish rebellion against Roman occupation, is one of the most impressive archaeological sites in the Levant. Spend a free afternoon in Ein Gedi to enjoy the botanical gardens or a swim in the Dead Sea. Final night in Ein Gedi. Day 6: Qumran, Jericho, Galilee. Re-enter occupied Palestinian Territories. Qumran is the site of the settlement of the Essenes, a Jewish sect, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. The palm-shaded oasis of Jericho is the world’s most low-lying town and perhaps its oldest continuously inhabited one, the Tell as-Sultan dating back 10,000 years. Nearby, Hisham’s Palace is a remarkably well preserved 8th century Umayyad palace. Continue north, re-enter Israel and spend the first of two nights in Tiberias.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £4,780 or £4,410 without flights. Single occupancy: £5,720 or £5,350 without flights. Included meals: 8 lunches, 7 dinners, with wine. Visas: are obtained on arrival at no extra charge for most nationalities. Accommodation. King David, Jerusalem (danhotels.com): 5-star hotel in West Jerusalem within walking distance of the Old City. Ein Gedi (ein-gedi.co.il): renovated kibbutz near the Dead Sea with comfortable cottages set among beautiful botanic gardens. U Boutique Kinneret, Tiberias (leonardo-hotels.com): a newly opened 5 star hotel by the lake in Tiberias. Intercontinental David, Tel Aviv (intercontinental.com): 5-star hotel with all expected amenities and well-appointed rooms. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking involved in the tour, some of it over rough archaeological sites. Sure-footedness is essential. Average distance by coach per day: 36 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Minoan Crete, 19–28 March 2018 (p.92).
Dr Garth Gilmour Jerusalem and Oxford trained biblical archaeologist, now living and working in Jerusalem. His interests include eastern Mediterranean trade in the Late Bronze Age and the archaeology of religion in Israel. He has excavated at Ekron and Ashkelon and is currently researching the Palestine Exploration Fund’s excavation in Jerusalem in the 1920s.
Birthplace of Civilizations, 16–25 May 2018 – see page 192. Palestine, Past & Present, 17–25 October 2017 – see page 195. Illustrations. Left: Sea of Galilee, lithograph c. 1850 after David Roberts RA (1796–1864). Below: Jerusalem, El-Aqsa Mosque, wood engraving c. 1880.
Day 7: Sea of Galilee, Tzefat. Visit first the archaeological site of Tell Hazor, and then ascend the Galilean highlands to the mediaeval synagogues and cobbled streets of the town of Tzefat. See the remains of the fishing village of Capernaum, Jesus’s most permanent residence and site of a 5th-century synagogue. Take a boat on the Sea of Galilee, and overnight Tiberias.
MIDDLE EAST: ISRAEL
Day 8: Akko, Caesarea. Akko (Acre) was the principal city of the Crusaders, though the vaulted halls surviving from that period lie below an enthralling maze of narrow streets, Ottoman khans and modern souqs. Drive beside the Mount Carmel range to Caesarea, founded by Herod the Great and capital of Judaea for over 600 years. Once the largest city of the eastern Mediterranean, remains include the Herodian theatre, Byzantine residential quarters and a Crusader church. First of two nights Tel Aviv. Day 9: Tel Aviv, Jaffa. Tel Aviv began as an English-style garden city suburb of Jaffa, sprouted a Bauhaus extension (the ‘White City’, a unesco Heritage Site) and grew remorselessly in the later 20th century. Jaffa was a port city from the time of Solomon and remains a charmingly picturesque enclave. Overnight Tel Aviv. Day 10: Jerusalem. Drive back to Jerusalem to visit the excellent Israel Museum. This incorporates, among other collections, the Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls and the outstanding archaeological collection. Fly in the afternoon from Tel Aviv, returning to Heathrow at c. 8.50pm.
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Essential Jordan The major Nabataean, Roman, Christian and Islamic sites the desert, are remarkable survivals from the Umayyad Caliphs, the first dynasty of Islam – early 8th-century small pleasure palaces and hunting lodges. The fortress-like desert complex of Qasr Kharana; the fort of Azraq, originally Roman, rebuilt in the 13th century and used by T.E. Lawrence as his HQ for two months in 1917–18. Break for lunch at the Azraq Lodge, a former British military field hospital, before continuing to the unesco world heritage site of Qasr Amra, whose unique and exceptionally beautiful wall paintings were recently restored in a project coordinated by the World Monuments Fund.
28 October–5 November 2017 (me 666) This tour is currently full 4–12 November 2017 (me 673) 9 days • £3,440 Lecturers: Sue Rollin & Jane Streetly 27 October–4 November 2018 (mf 298) 9 days • £3,920 Lecturers: Sue Rollin & Jane Streetly Outstanding monuments of several civilizations – Nabataean, Roman, Early Christian, Umayyad, and Crusader. The lecturers have travelled widely in the Middle East and are authorities on Jordan. Petra is the most spectacular archaeological site in the Middle East; we spend three nights here.
MIDDLE EAST: JORDAN
Jordan possesses the most spectacular archaeological site in the Middle East – Petra, ‘rose-red city, half as old as time’, that easternly fascinating, westernly Baroque, altogether extraordinary city of the desert. Hidden in the mountains at the confluence of several caravan routes, many of its finest monuments are hewn from the living rock, brilliantly coloured sandstone striated with pinks, ochres and blue-greys. Its creators, the Nabataeans, drew on a range of Mediterranean and oriental styles to create a novel synthesis – uniquely Nabataean but with architectural evocations of the Hellenistic world, Egypt, Assyria and Imperial Rome. The Nabataeans were an Arab people, first recorded in the fourth century bc, who grew rich by controlling the trade routes across an empire stretching from Saudi Arabia to Syria. With Petra their capital, these nomadic desert traders became administrators and city-dwellers, whose kingdom was eventually incorporated into the Roman Empire. But decline set in, and by the eighth century ad Petra had become virtually uninhabited. In Roman times part of the wealthy provinces of Syria and Arabia, Jordan is also rich in traces of other civilizations. Jerash is one of the best preserved and most beautiful of Roman cities. 190
Remains of Byzantine churches, with very fine floor mosaics, lie scattered through the Jordanian hills and valleys – themselves the settings of many events recorded in the Old Testament. The varied arts of Islam are seen in the hunting lodges and desert retreats of the sophisticated and pleasureloving Umayyad dynasty of the mid-seventh to mid-eighth centuries. And the castles of the Crusaders and their Arab opponents are among the most impressive examples of mediaeval military architecture anywhere. A constant backdrop to all this are the awesomely beautiful mountains, gorges and deserts of today’s Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Created after the First World War and the downfall of the Ottoman Empire, Jordan’s borders are an almost arbitrary outcome of the Franco-British re-ordering of the Levant. Something of a backwater then, and constantly buffeted since by the disputatiousness of larger neighbours, Jordan has – against all odds – succeeded in steering a precarious course to survival, stability and modest prosperity.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c.3.00pm (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Amman (time in the air: c. 5 hours 30 minutes). Arrive at the hotel at c.11.30pm. First of three nights in Amman. Day 2: Amman, Jerash. The impressive new Jordan Museum presents an overview of the history and cultural heritage of Jordan in a series of beautifully designed galleries. Drive north through red earth hills with olive groves and Aleppo pine woods. Jerash, ancient Gerasa, a leading city of the Decapolis and very prosperous in the 2nd and 3rd centuries ad, is one of the best-preserved and most beautiful of ruined Roman cities and we spend the afternoon there. Among the more spectacular remains are a triumphal arch, an oval piazza, the Cardo with its flanking colonnades, a food market, hippodrome, theatres, magnificent temples of Zeus and Artemis and several early Christian churches. Day 3: Amman, Umayyad desert residences. The citadel in Amman was the religious and political centre of the ancient city. Here are the remains of the Temple of Hercules, the rebuilt Umayyad palace. To the east of Amman, in
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Day 4: Amman, Madaba, Karak. Leaving Amman, drive southwards along the Biblical King’s Highway to the archaeological park at Madaba, before proceeding to Umm ar-Rasas, a unesco World Heritage site, which started as a Roman military camp and grew to become a town from the 5th century. The 12th-century Crusader castle of Karak, modified by the Mamluks in the 13th century, is an impressive example of mediaeval military architecture with many chambers surviving. First of three nights in Petra. Day 5: Petra. The Siq, the narrow mile-long crevice with its Nabataean carvings and hydraulic system would itself merit a detour, but it is just the prelude to one of the most astonishing archaeological sites in the Middle East (also a unesco world heritage site). Emerging from the Siq, the visitor is confronted by the temple-like façade of the ‘Treasury’, vast in scale, both oriental and classical in vocabulary, Hellenistic in inspiration but uniquely Nabataean – supreme among Petra’s wealth of sculptured monuments and those that follow on the ‘Street of Façades’. These are mainly tombs, created in the living rock. There are also impressive remains in the heart of the city, from grand temples, public buildings and churches to houses. Not the least striking feature is the multicoloured, striated but predominantly red sandstone. After lunch, return to the hotel or climb, via the Soldier Tomb complex, up to the High Place of Sacrifice (c. 800 steps) where the cultic installations are still clearly visible. Day 6: Petra. For the second day in Petra walk again through the Siq, past the ‘Street of Façades’ and the theatre to study the more open area around the paved and colonnaded street. The remains of various structures include two mighty buildings, the ‘Great Temple’ and Qasr al Bint. Recent excavations have revealed what is almost certainly a cathedral with 5th- and 6th-century mosaic floors. Climb up (over 900 steps) to one of the finest rock-cut façades, Ed-Deir (the Monastery), and some staggering views of hills and valleys of contorted rock. Day 7: Little Petra, Dead Sea. ‘Little Petra’, a narrow gorge with three natural widenings, is seen as a commercial centre with carved façades and chambers and a fragment of naturalistic Nabataean painting. A spectacular descent through rugged and ragged sandstone leads to Wadi Araba, part of the Jordanian section of the Great Rift Valley. Stop at the Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth featuring important archaeological finds recovered from the region, including artefacts from the church and monastery of St Lot. Reach the hotel on the Dead Sea shore
mid-afternoon to relax and swim. First of two nights in Sweimeh. Day 8: Mount Nebo, Madaba. Drive up from the Dead Sea, flanked by dramatic mountain scenery. Visit the Byzantine church with remarkable mosaics on Mount Nebo, the reputed burial site of Moses. The nearby Church of SS Lot & Procopius, with its mosaic decoration dates, from the 6th century ad. From the same period, the unique mosaic map of the Holy Land in the church of St George at Madaba is another highlight. Day 9. Drive to Amman airport (1 hour). Arrive at London Heathrow at c. 1.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person in 2017. Two sharing: £3,440 or £2,810 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,980 or £3,350 without flights. Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £3,920 or £3,350 without flights. Single occupancy: £4,590 or £4,020 without flights. Included meals: 7 lunches (including 2 picnics) and 5 dinners (plus a snack on arrival on day 1) with wine. Visas: required for most foreign nationals. Passports do not have to be submitted in advance. A group visa is issued on arrival (the cost is included in the price of the tour as long as you are travelling with the group). Passports must be valid for six months beyond the dates of the tour. Accommodation. The Intercontinental, Amman (intercontinental.com): modern, excellently located 5-star hotel. Mövenpick Hotel, Petra (moevenpick-hotels.com): modern, excellently located hotel close to the site. Rated 5-star but more comparable to a 4-star hotel. Mövenpick Dead Sea Hotel, Sweimeh (moevenpick-hotels. com): 5-star hotel comprised of buildings scattered through lush tropical gardens; shady lounges, antique or traditional-style furnishings, spa and health centre.
MIDDLE EAST: JORDAN
How strenuous? This tour is quite demanding and you must be capable of walking all day over rough sites. A good level of fitness and surefootedness is essential throughout, especially in order to manage the climbs in Petra to Ed-Deir and the High Place. Many sites are exposed with little or no shelter from the sun. Average distance by coach per day: 72 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
‘First class; not a moment wasted, but still enough time to draw breath; every site well chosen; two full days in Petra perfect.’ Illustrations. Left: desert caravan, drawing c. 1910 by Frank Brangwyn. Right: Petra, the Siq, lithograph by F. Lewis c. 1850.
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Birthplace of Civilisations The Great Rift Valley in Israel, Palestine and Jordan
16–25 May 2018 (me 819) 10 days • £4,580 Lecturer: Felicity Cobbing
Exploring the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, biblical and Roman remains and early Islamic and Byzantine sites.
Consequently, the valley has been a crucible of human activity and civilisation from the Neolithic to the modern age. Almost every significant phase of history is represented in standing remains and excavated sites, many of which are among the most famous of their kind in the world. Ubiquitous in the landscape are many Tel (Hebrew) or Tell Arabic) sites, mysterious mounds of earth that are actually the remnants of towns and cities from ages past. For the patient traveller, these seemingly silent hillocks tell the true story of human existence in the lowest place on earth.
Time to enjoy the Dead Sea, both from the west and east banks.
Itinerary
The landscape of the Jordan Valley, west and east, holds the human history of millennia. In-depth appreciation of the ancient world, led by experienced archaeologist, Dr Felicity Cobbing.
MIDDLE EAST: JORDAN
Spanning the modern countries of Jordan, the Palestinian Territories and Israel, the Jordan Valley is a truly remarkable landscape. Geologically unique, it marks the northernmost extent of the Great Rift Valley that runs the full length of Africa on its eastern side. After rising in the shadow of Mount Hermon in the north, the River Jordan runs southwards through Lake Huleh and the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. It exists entirely below sea level, and as such is officially the lowest point on Earth. This peculiar geographic situation has blessed the area with a unique set of environments which have lent themselves to highly successful industrial and agricultural exploitation over millennia. 192
Day 1. Fly at c. 3.30pm (El Al) from London Heathrow to Tel Aviv, and then drive to Jerusalem, reaching the hotel c. 12.00am. First of two nights in Jerusalem. Day 2: Jerusalem. The buildings in the Old City and around comprise an incomparable mix of ages and cultures from pre-biblical times to the present, while continuing to be a thriving, living city. The day begins at the Haram al Sharif, the third most holy shrine in Islam with the resplendent Dome of the Rock at its summit. Built on the remnants of the Herodian Temple Platform, this is one of the greatest religious sites anywhere in the world. A walk along a section of the ramparts leads to further Roman-era structures in the Ecce Homo Convent and the Bethesda Pools, and to
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the Crusader church of St Anne. Proceed to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where numerous different Christian sects share the shrines surrounding the traditional location of Golgotha and the Tomb of Jesus. The excellent Israel Museum houses an outstanding archaeological collection. Visit the Garden of Gethsemane and climb to the top of Mount Olives to watch the Sunset. Overnight Jerusalem. Day 3: Jerusalem to the Dead Sea. An early start to Ancient Jericho. The palm-shaded oasis of Jericho is the world’s most low-lying town with remains of civilisations at the Tell as-Sultan dating back 10,000 years. Take the cable car to the top of Mount of Temptation for a panoramic view. Nearby, Hisham’s Palace is a unique and remarkably well preserved 8th century Umayyad palace and country estate. Drive to Qumran in the occupied Palestinian Territories. Qumran is the site of the settlement of the Essenes, a Jewish sect, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Overnight at the kibbutz at Ein Gedi on the Dead Sea. Day 4: Masada, Ein Gedi. Rising high above the Judaean desert, Herod’s fortified palace of Masada, last redoubt of the Jewish rebellion against Roman occupation, is one of the most impressive archaeological sites in the Levant. Free time to enjoy the botanical gardens, the archaeological site at Ein Gedi or a swim in the Dead Sea. Second night at Ein Gedi.
Day 5: Ein Gedi to Tiberias. Tel-Rehov provides a spectacular view over the Jordan Valley en route to Beit Shean, an imposing tel site in the Jordan Valley with remains from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, massively developed as an Egyptian stronghold by the Pharaoh Rameses the Great in the 13th century bc, and with classical period ruins from its Decapolis era heyday. In the afternoon visit Megiddo, biblical Armageddon, another tel strategically situated overlooking the Jezerel Valley, the main route from the Jordan Valley to the Mediterranean coast at Haifa. This is the site where in c. 1479 bc, the army of Thutmoses III finally defeated the Hyksos tribes, thereby establishing Egypt’s Asiatic Empire which ruled the region through the Late Bronze Age. Megiddo has been extensively excavated since the early 20th century and remains from all periods from the Neolithic onwards have been revealed. Overnight Tiberias. Day 6: Israel to Jordan, Pella, Amman. Cross the border and visit picturesque Pella with views looking west over the Jordan and Jezreel Valleys. An important ancient city dating back at least 5,000 years to the Early Bronze Age, Pella was a Hellenistic centre, and a member of the Decapolis during the Roman period. The place of refuge for Christians fleeing Jerusalem during the First Jewish Revolt, it therefore became a place of pilgrimage in the Byzantine era. It fell to Islamic invaders after a major battle nearby in 635 ad, and a mosque remains on the site. On to Tell es-Sa’idiyeh, and imposing double mound overlooking the River Jordan, again with remains dating back to the Early Bronze Age, where a substantial olive oil factory has been excavated. Like Tel Rehov, Beit Shean and Pella, the site was redeveloped during the Egyptian empire of the Late Bronze Age, and a highly unusual water system of Aegean origins attests to the cosmopolitan population during this period. Tell Deir ’Alla, the site where the Balaam inscription was found, possibly relating to the biblical prophet. First of two nights in Amman.
Left: wiew near Damieh, watercolour 1874 by Claude Conder, reproduced with kind permission from the Palestine Exploration Fund.
Felicity Cobbing Executive and Curator of the Palestine Exploration Fund in London. She has excavated in Jordan with the British Museum and travelled throughout the Middle East. Widely published, she is co-author of Beyond the River – Ottoman Transjordan in Original Photographs and Distant Views of the Holy Land. Day 9. Bab ehd Dhra, Lowest point on Earth, Zoara. Travelling south along the shores of the Dead Sea, visiting Bab edh Dhra, an Early Bronze Age site which made a living trading bitumen from the Dead Sea with Egypt, which was abandoned around 2,400 bc, and never resettled, giving rise to the common association of the site with the biblical city of Sodom. Stop at the Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth featuring important archaeological finds recovered from the region, including artefacts from the church and monastery of St Lot at Zoara. Overnight Sweimeh. Day 10. Early start. Depart Sweimeh at c. 4.30am for a c. 7.30am flight from Amman (British Airways) arriving London Heathrow c. 11.15.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £4,580 or £4,210 without flights. Single occupancy: £5,390 or £5,020 without flights. Included meals: 8 lunches, 6 dinners, with wine. Visas. For Israel, are obtained on arrival at no extra charge for most nationalities. For Jordan, visas are required for most foreign nationals. A group visa is issued on arrival. Passports must be valid for six months beyond the dates of the tour. Accommodation. King David, Jerusalem (danhotels.com): 5-star hotel in West Jerusalem within walking distance of the Old City. Ein Gedi (ein-gedi.co.il): renovated kibbutz near the Dead Sea with comfortable cottages set among beautiful botanic gardens. The Scots Hotel, Tiberias (scotshotels.co.il): long-established 5-star hotel by the lake in Tiberias. The Intercontinental, Amman (intercontinental.com): modern and excellently located 5-star hotel. Mövenpick Dead Sea Hotel, Sweimeh (moevenpick-hotels.com): a 5-star hotel comprised of buildings scattered through lush tropical gardens. How strenuous? This tour is quite demanding and you must be capable of walking all day over rough sites. A good level of fitness and sure-footedness is essential throughout. Many sites are exposed with little or no shelter from the sun. Average distance by coach per day: 62 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Day 8: Amman, Bethany beyond the Jordan, Mount Nebo, Madaba. Drive up from Amman to the Dead Sea, flanked by dramatic mountain scenery. Visit the Byzantine church with remarkable mosaics on Mount Nebo, the reputed burial site of Moses. At Madaba see the unique 6th century mosaic map of the Holy Land in the church of St George. Reach the hotel on the Dead Sea shore mid-afternoon to relax and swim. First of two nights in Sweimeh on the Dead Sea. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Day 7: Amman, Jerash. The impressive new Jordan Museum presenting the history and cultural heritage of Jordan in a series of beautifully designed galleries also houses a number of Dead Sea Scrolls. Drive north through red earth hills with olive groves and Aleppo pine woods. Jerash, ancient Gerasa, a leading city of the Decapolis and very prosperous in the 2nd and 3rd centuries ad, is one of the best-preserved and most beautiful of ruined Roman cities. Among the more spectacular remains are a triumphal arch, an oval piazza, the Cardo with its flanking colonnades, a food market, hippodrome, theatres, magnificent temples of Zeus and Artemis and several early Christian churches. final night Amman.
Illustrations. Opposite: Jerash, mid-19th-century engraving. Below: Jerusalem, after a drawing by Mortimer Menpes, c. 1900.
Oman, Landscapes & Peoples Desert, coast and mountains
6–16 January 2018 (me 737) 11 days/10 nights • £5,360 Lecturer: Professor Dawn Chatty Remarkable landscape, hill forts, traditional souqs, archaeological sites. The toehold of Arabia, with a diverse population reflecting its mercantile past. Accompanied by a social anthropologist long involved in the Middle East. A night in a desert camp and two nights in a new, luxury hotel in the mountains of the Jebel Akhdar.
MIDDLE EAST: OMAN
Wilfred Thesiger was motivated to cross the Empty Quarter not only by his desire to gain further recognition as a traveller but by the hope that he would find peace and solitude in the remote desert landscapes. He also yearned to gain the friendship of the Bedu who journeyed with him and whom he encountered during his traverse. The possibility of travelling to little-visited locations, relaxing in inspiring surroundings and developing understanding with new peoples is no less possible in Oman in 2018 than it was in 1946. The country provides a diverse range of extraordinary natural beauty: deserts, mountains, wadis, beaches. Visitors also experience the kindness and friendliness of the Omanis. With relatively low – although gradually increasing – numbers of visitors a year, Oman is still not over-developed, unlike some of its neighbouring Gulf states. Evidence of settlement dates back to the fourth millennium bc with early indications of dependence on trade. First copper and then frankincense (southern Oman is one of the few places in the world where the ‘sacred frankincense’ still grows) played a key role in the country’s history. Desire to control the supply of frankincense led to incorporation in the Achaemenid and Sassanian empires until the Persians were forced out in the seventh century. Omanis readily embraced Islam and submitted to the Umayyad and the Abbasid Caliphate. Trade and naval power continued to expand. Occupied by the Portuguese from 1507 to 1650, Oman flourished again after their departure with an empire reaching into East Africa, particularly 194
Zanzibar, and the Indian Ocean. Treaties agreed with the British to protect communications with India marked the beginning of a special relationship, which continued beyond the formal termination of the protectorate in 1971. Meanwhile, the division of the Omani empire between the sultan of Zanzibar and the sultan of Muscat in 1856 resulted in economic decline for both and internal conflicts in the latter. Successive sultans failed to tackle the problems and Oman stagnated. The coming to power of Sultan Qaboos bin Said in 1970 heralded a new era. Though its oil revenues are relatively small, they have been used wisely to the benefit of the Omani people, for infrastructure, employment and education. Development has been rapid but controlled, guided by a determination to preserve Omani traditions. Our comprehensive itinerary includes the highlights of this vast country: from the inland forts of Nizwa and Jabrin to the little-visited archaeological sites of Al-Balid and Khor Rori, from the mountain scenery in the Western Hajar to the remoteness of the Wahiba Sands, from the bustling capital Muscat to the contrasting landscapes of the southern region of Dhofar. Other features of this tour are the opportunity to camp overnight in the Wahiba Sands, bathe in the Indian Ocean, stay high in the mountains of the Jabal Akhdar and shop in souqs suffused with the scent of frankincense. Oman is opening up to a privileged few.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 7.30pm from London Heathrow (Oman Air) for the seven-hour overnight flight to Muscat. Day 2: Muscat. Land at c. 7.20am. Hotel rooms are at your disposal for the morning. Greater Muscat is spread out along the coast with a dramatic mountain backdrop. Visit the privately owned Bait al Zubair Museum housing the family collection of Omani artefacts. First of two nights in Muscat. Day 3: Barka, Nakhl. By 4-wheel-drive to the traditionally furnished 17th-century fortified house Bait Na’aman. Continue onto the impressive Rustaq and Nakhl Forts, the latter perched grandly on the foothills of the Western Hajar Mountains. Overnight Muscat.
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Day 4: Muscat, Jabrin. With seven minarets, the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is impressively ornate. Leave Muscat by 4-wheel- drive. The most impressive fort in Oman is at Jabrin; sensitively restored, the plasterwork, wood carvings and painted ceilings are magnificent. Ascend the Al Hajar mountains for the first of two nights in the Jabal Akhdar. Day 5: Nizwa area. Visit to the 17th-century Nizwa Fort, palace, seat of government and prison. Some time to explore the fascinating souqs and markets. The rarely-visited archaeological site of Al Ayn is a collection of Bronze Age beehive tombs sitting atop a rugged ridge with the Jebel Misht as a backdrop. Overnight Jabal Akhdar. Day 6: Nizwa, Wahiba. Set off early for Ibra, the once opulent market town that stood on the trade route linking the interior to the coast. Arrive at Wahiba Sands, a sea of high rolling dunes. Watch the sunset and camp overnight in the desert. Day 7: Wahiba, Sur. Travel by 4-wheel-drive through the spectacular desert scenery. Until the 20th century Sur was famous throughout Arabia as a major trading port with East Africa. See the charming fishing village of Al Aijah, the shipyards still in operation, and the displays of traditional dhows at Fath al Khair Park. Overnight Sur. Day 8: Sur, Salalah. 4-wheel-drive to Muscat, via the ancient port of Qalhat, to catch an afternoon flight to Salalah, which despite its size is considered Oman’s second city and capital of the Dhofar region. First of three nights in Salalah. Day 9: Al Balid. Ancient Zafar, flourished in the 11th and 12th centuries and was visited by Marco Polo. The museum exhibits finds from the ruins of Al Balid and other artefacts from the area. The afternoon is free to relax by the Indian Ocean. Overnight Salalah. Day 10: Khor Rori. Spend the morning at Mirbat, scene of the well-documented battle in 1972, which saw Pakistani and Omani British soldiers defend the town during the Dhofar Rebellion. The impressive archaeological site at Khor Rori, formerly known as Sumhuraman, preserves the remains of an important frankincense trading port from where, 2000 years ago, this precious commodity commenced its transportation to Damascus and Rome. Overnight Salalah.
Palestine, Past & Present Archaeology and culture on the West Bank Day 11. A mid-morning flight to Muscat connects with the early afternoon flight to London, arriving Heathrow c. 6.00pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £5,360 or £4,730 without flights. Single occupancy: £6,240 or £5,610 without flights. Included meals: 9 lunches (two of which are picnics) and 9 dinners with wine. Internal flight. The flight from Muscat to Salalah on day 8 is not included in the price if you choose to take our ‘without flights’ option. We can book this on your behalf, quoting the price at the time, or you can choose to book it independently. If you would like us to provide a quote for this, please request this on your booking form or contact us. Visas: required for most foreign nationals. We will arrange for these to be issued on arrival if travelling with the group, the costs of which are included in the tour price. Passports must be valid for at least 6 months after the tour ends. Accommodation. Intercontinental, Muscat (ihg. com/intercontinental): beach front 5 star resort. Alila Jabal Akhdar, Nizwa (alilahotels.com): a new hotel in the Al Hajar mountains with spectacular views. Desert Nights Camp, Wahiba Sands (desertnightscamp.com): luxury camp; individual tents with private facilities. Hotel Plaza, Sur (omanhotels.com/surplaza): modern 4-star hotel. Hotel Crowne Plaza, Salalah (crowneplaza.com): 5-star hotel, high standards of comfort and service. How strenuous? This is a busy and active tour and participants need stamina and fitness. There are some long journeys by 4x4 vehicles or coach (average distance per day: 102 miles), two internal flights and 4 changes of accommodation. Walking is often on uneven terrain at archaeological sites, hill forts and in the desert.
17–25 October 2017 (me 606) 9 days • £3,520 Lecturer: Felicity Cobbing A pioneering tour that includes the major archaeological sites and the most significant historic buildings on the West Bank. Led by Felicity Cobbing, curator of the Palestine Exploration Fund. There are two nights in East Jerusalem. Provides an insight into a territory much in the news but little visited in recent years. Palestine is a land of limestone hills with the humped contours of a children’s picture-book. The surface is generally a grey-green impasto of olives and scrub, sometimes beautified with the striations of ancient terraces, farmed intermittently in clefts and nooks, grazed where vegetation is harsh and coarse. Then there are the hills of the Judaean desert, crinkled, barren rock, khaki with a dusting of white. Straggling along crests and down hillsides, Palestinian towns and villages are given visual unity by white limestone cladding – a requirement introduced during the British mandate and still adhered to. They express individualism, enterprise and struggle. By contrast, the Israeli settlements crowning many a peak are fortress-like highdensity clusters. Recent history and current affairs cannot be ignored in this part of the world but the focus of the tour is archaeology, architecture and more distant history. Scattered across the West Bank are some very remarkable sites and buildings. There are unique remains from the very earliest periods, some fascinating remnants of the
Canaanite and Israelite civilisations of the Bronze and Iron Ages, often with biblical associations. The creations of Herod the Great, among the most impressive structures of the ancient world, feature prominently, and there are significant remains from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad, Crusader and Ottoman eras. A particular feature are the desert monasteries, often in dramatic and inaccessible locations. Tourism is hardly new to Palestine: pilgrimage tours follow well-worn routes, quickly bouncing back after intermittent periods of strife, but other sorts of specialist tours are relatively rare. There has been investment in hotels and infrastructure in recent years, and the people are very welcoming.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 8.50am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Tel Aviv (Israel) and drive through the Separation Wall to Bethlehem (Palestine). Reach the hotel in time for dinner. Four nights are spent here. Day 2: Herodion, Solomon’s Pools, Mar Saba. Herodion is an extraordinary fortified palace built by King Herod 24–15 bc on an artificial hill. There are extensive remains of defences, cisterns and baths and superb views. It was supplied with water from ‘Solomon’s Pools’, a series of reservoirs 9 km away, visited next. Return to Bethlehem for lunch and drive into the Judaean desert to visit the Orthodox monastery of Mar Saba, perched in a gorge and with a beautiful chapel (limited access for women). Overnight Bethlehem. Day 3: Hebron (Al-Khalil), Judaean Desert. The Herodian phase of the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron is one of the most impressive buildings of the ancient world. The interior
Group size: between 10 and 18 participants.
Professor Dawn Chatty
MIDDLE EAST: OMAN, PALESTINE
Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Forced Migration at the University of Oxford, former Director of the Refugee Studies Centre, and Emeritus Fellow of St Cross College. She has long been involved with the Middle East as a lecturer, development practitioner, and advocate for indigenous rights. She was made a Fellow of the British Academy in 2015.
Illustrations. Left: Muscat, wood engraving from ‘The Graphic’, 1883. Right: Hebron, steel engraving c. 1860.
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Palestine, Past & Present continued
extensive remains spreading over a hill, principally Roman and Hellenistic but reaching back much earlier to the time of the Israelite kings, Omri and Ahab. In Nablus, Jacob’s Well is enshrined in a church which was begun by the Crusaders and completed last century. Overnight East Jerusalem. Day 8: Jerusalem. Haram ash-Sharif, alias the Temple Mount, Herod’s great retaining wall supporting a platform now adorned with some of the earliest and finest Islamic buildings. The Rockefeller Museum, formerly the Palestinian Archaeological Museum, has finds from some of the sites visited on this tour, including Hisham’s Palace, ancient Jericho, Samaria and Jerusalem. Overnight East Jerusalem. Day 9: Jerusalem. Free morning in Jerusalem. After lunch drive to Tel Aviv airport. The flight arrives at London Heathrow c. 8.25pm.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,520 or £2,940 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,960 or £3,380 without flights. Included meals: 8 lunches, 7 dinners, with wine. Visas: obtained on arrival at no charge for most nationalities. Accommodation. Intercontinental Jacir Palace, Bethlehem (intercontinental.com): 4-star hotel in a flamboyant late 19th-century mansion. Hotel Intercontinental, Jericho (intercontinental. com): 5-star hotel in a high-rise building outside the city centre. American Colony, Jerusalem (americancolony.com): prestigious 5-star hotel in East Jerusalem. How strenuous? This is an active, primarily outdoors tour involving quite a lot of walking, some of it over rough ground and uneven paving. Sure-footedness and being comfortable spending much of the day on one’s feet is essential. Average distance by coach per day: c. 41 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
MIDDLE EAST: PALESTINE
is Crusader and Mamluk, and is now divided between Muslims and Jews. We visit the Muslim mosque which contains the cenotaphs of the Patriarchs. We also see a 19th-century Russian church here. Hebron is volatile and this visit may be cancelled at short notice. The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, not significantly changed since ad 339, is one of the greatest of Early Christian buildings; five aisles and monumental Corinthian colonnades. Overnight Bethlehem.
oldest continuously inhabited one. The lowest strata of Tell as-Sultan, the site of ancient Jericho, are 10,000 years old and there is a unique tower of c. 7000 bc, as well as impressive Bronze Age remains from the third and second millenniums bc. Hisham’s Palace is a remarkably well-preserved 8th-century Umayyad palace. The Monastery of Temptation is inserted in the high cliff overlooking the site and can now be reached by cable car. First of two nights in Jericho.
Day 4: Jerusalem. Spend the day in the Old City of Jerusalem (ruled de facto by Israel but claimed by Palestine). This is the most extraordinary city on Earth, a vibrant Middle-Eastern enclave split between rival communities and composed of mediaeval and ancient masonry. Walk along the city’s impressive ramparts, visit the Church of St Anne, the Armenian Cathedral the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Constantinian and Crusader. Overnight Bethlehem.
Day 6: Desert monasteries. The theme of the day is monasticism in the Judaean hills, beginning with the 19th-century Greek Orthodox monastery of St George in Wadi Kelt. A late morning visit to the community of Jewish zealots at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and continuing to functioning Christian monasteries in the wadis. According to Muslim tradition, Nabi Musa is the burial place of Moses and has Mamluk, Byzantine and Ottoman parts. Overnight Jericho.
Day 5: Bethlehem to Jericho. The palm-shaded oasis of Jericho is a place of superlatives, the world’s most low-lying town and arguably its
Day 7: Sebastia, Nablus, Jerusalem. Amid lovely countryside north-west of Nablus, Sebastia (Samaria) is a fascinating archaeological site with
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Combine this tour with: Essential Jordan, 27 October–4 November 2018 (p.190).
Working in partnership with the Palestine Exploration Fund By booking on this tour, you will automatically become a PEF member, have access to the extensive PEF library and resources as well as benefit from expert advice on the ancient Levant from members of staff.
Illustration: Mar Saba, wood engraving c. 1880.
Israel & Palestine, 6–15 March 2018 – see page 188. Birthplace of Civilizations, 16–25 May 2018 – see page 192.
The Arabian Gulf Culture and history in Qatar, Bahrain and the Emirates 24 November–6 December 2017 (me 717) 13 days • £5,410 Lecturer: Dr Karen Exell Autumn 2018 Details available in October 2017 Please contact us to register your interest The culture in its broadest sense of the Gulf states – the history, current issues, architecture, arts of accessible Arabia, a fulcrum of the modern world. Some of the world’s most striking new buildings, alongside well preserved vernacular architecture. Major new museums, amazing collections, and a flourishing contemporary arts scene. Led by a museums specialist in Qatar.
Itinerary in 2017 Day 1. Fly c. 9.00am from London Heathrow to Dubai (Emirates Airlines), arriving c. 8.00pm local time. First of four nights in Dubai. Day 2: Dubai. Until the mid-20th century Dubai was a small fishing port and entrepôt around an inlet, the Creek. Amid the bustle of Deira, location of the Gold Souk and workaday shops and businesses, there survive buildings c.1890/1920 including a school and a pearl merchant’s house, now museums. Maximum contrast: staked out by countless skyscrapers, the modern business district marches south for many miles. See some excellent recent architecture, The Gate financial centre and the Emirates Towers. Ascend the world’s highest building, Burj Khalifa (828 metres). Overnight Dubai. Day 3: Sharjah. Sharjah begins only ten minutes from the Dubai hotel. With the profusion of tower blocks it is initially indistinguishable from Dubai, but government and public buildings adopt traditional Islamic forms. The vast university campus is a striking and beautiful example of this. Sharjah strives to be pre-eminent among the Emirates for arts and culture. The Art Museum has an excellent collection of recent Arab art, and the Museum of Islamic Civilization presents Arab achievements through historic artworks. By special arrangement, visit the College of Fine Arts. Overnight Dubai. Day 4: Al Ain. 130km inland and a contrast to the coastal cities, Al Ain arose around a string of oases. The one-time governor and later founder of the OAE, Sheikh Zayed, exploited its natural
resources and ancient irrigation system to plant innumerable trees and gardens. It acquired unesco World Heritage status in 2011 for its historical and cultural heritage. Visit a couple of picturesque mud-brick forts, the National Museum and the archaeological remains of tombs of the 3rd century bc. Overnight Dubai. Day 5: Dubai. The biggest cluster of preserved premodern houses is at Shindagha near the mouth of the Creek. Among them are museums devoted to traditional architecture and to photographs which graphically illustrate the recent changes. Another group of old buildings is in the Bastakiya district, some of which are now art galleries. In the late afternoon fly to Qatar (the new airport is by HOK Architects). The hotel is within the Wafiq Souk, a vibrant traffic-free district of retail and restaurants. Overnight Doha. Day 6: Doha. Msheireb is a district which has been handsomely redeveloped while retaining some old courtyard houses which are now enlightened museums examining local history. Then visit the Museum of Islamic Art, the finest of its kind in the world. In a beautiful lakeside building by I.M. Pei a spectacular collection brilliantly displayed. Plenty of time here, and some free time after returning to the hotel. Overnight Doha. Day 7: Al Zubarah, Doha. Drive through the desert to Al Zubarah, the remains of a 17thcentury fishing and pearl trading town, now a unesco World Heritage Site. The fort is impressive – but dates only to 1938. Return to Doha, see contemporary buildings at the university, and visit the Arab Museum of Modern Art. Invariably there are several good exhibitions here. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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The pace of change in the city states of the Arabian Gulf beggars belief. In scarcely more than three generations, within the lifetime of some of those living there, these tiny territories on the rim of Arabia have grown from underdeveloped fishing ports and trading emporia into global conurbations of unimaginable size and wealth. At the last count, Dubai had 17 of the world’s 100 tallest skyscrapers – the same number as the whole of the United States, and this for a population of not much over 2 million. The first oil in the region was struck in 1932, in Bahrain, but initially the impact locally was slight and inadequate as a substitute for the vanishing pearling industry. Amazingly, no oil was exported from any of the Emirates until 1969. But the story is more complex than black gold; to cite Dubai again, the city derives only 5% of its revenues from oil. With riches has come some of the most exciting urban architecture in the world (and lots of vulgar horrors as well), and huge expenditure on cultural infrastructure, with starry architects to the fore. Currently the outstanding example of this is I.M. Pei’s Museum of Islamic Art in Doha (Qatar), which together with its wonderful collection provides one of the finest museological experiences in the world. The imminent opening of Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhabi will provide it with a worthy rival. The rags to riches story provides part of the fascination of this tour, but equally interesting, and a salutary foil to the massiveness of modernity, are the remains of traditional culture. Preservation and restoration of vernacular architecture arrived in the nick of time; obliteration might otherwise have ensued. There is also a rich seam of archaeology to explore, but ‘old’ tends to mean not much more than a hundred years. Perhaps one of the least expected features of the region is the indigenous contemporary art scene. Much of the work is approachable and appealing but not bland, often expressive and sometimes political. Museums, exhibition halls and commercial galleries are a significant feature of the tour. Part of the excitement of the tour arises from the different characteristics of each state. We visit five, including three of the seven United Arab Emirates, Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
The Arabian Gulf continued
The Sheikh Faisal Museum has a vast, various and wonderfully old-fashioned private collection of art and antiques and all sorts (e.g. 200 vintage cars). Overnight Doha. Day 8: Bahrain. Fly from Qatar to the Kingdom of Bahrain. An island, the first oil in the Gulf was pumped here in 1932. Manama is less intensively high-rise than the cities of the Emirates, and an exploration begins at the Bab Al Bahrain, the recently restored 1930s centre. Two beautiful recent buildings stand beside water, the National Theatre and the National Museum. The museum has an excellent archaeological section and changing art exhibitions. Overnight Bahrain. Day 9: Bahrain. A day largely outside the city. Qal’at al-Bahrain, a unesco heritage site, has impressive remains of a waterfront settlement which thrived from the 3rd millennium bc to the 18th century ad – Dilmun, Roman, Islamic and Portuguese. Dilmun sites elsewhere include a partially excavated town, a temple and 85,000 round barrows, the largest necropolis in the world. The first oil well survives as part of a museum in an area of desert crisscrossed with still-functioning pipes and pumps. Overnight Bahrain. Day 10: Bahrain. Before Manama expanded, the main Bahraini town was Muharraq, which thrived on the pearl trade. A number of old houses have been preserved and converted to cultural and educational uses in a rare convergence of conservation and contemporary design. Also seen today are the Riffa Fort at the water’s edge in Muharraq and the Beit al Quran, an excellent
and well presented collection of early Koranic manuscripts. Overnight Bahrain. Day 11: Abu Dhabi. Fly to Abu Dhabi, which is blessed with the largest oil reserves of the seven Emirates. Measured by skyscrapers Abu Dhabi has lagged behind Dubai, but its ambitions for cultural development outstrip other Gulf states. By the time of the tour an outpost of the Louvre will have opened on Saadiyat Island, in a building designed by Jean Nouvel. The afternoon is spent here. Overnight Abu Dhabi. Day 12: Abu Dhabi. Return to Saadiyat Island to see the New York University campus, the preview exhibitions of the Guggenheim and of the Sheikh Zayed Museum, developed in partnership with the British Museum. Among other sights are the World Trade Centre; designed by Foster Partners it’s an alluring take on traditional forms, and the Emirates Palace Hotel where glamour is underpinned by real grandeur and finesse. Overnight Abu Dhabi. Day 13: Abu Dhabi. Visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, perhaps the most opulent mosque in the world. Fly from Dubai and arrive Heathrow at 8.00pm.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Dr Karen Exell Studied at Oxford University and St Andrews and obtained a PhD from Durham. She is Honorary Senior Research Associate at UCL Qatar, and a consultant at Qatar Museums. She has published several works on the cultural heritage of the Arabian Peninsula, including a monograph, Modernity & the Museum in the Arabian Peninsula, in 2016.
Practicalities in 2017 Price, per person. Two sharing: £5,410 or £4,820 without international flights. Single occupancy: £5,980 or £5,390 without international flights. Included meals: 5 lunches, 9 dinners, with wine. Accommodation. Sheraton Creek Hotel Dubai (sheratondubaicreek.com): originally built in the 1970s, the first five-star hotel in Dubai, it was thoroughly refurbished in 2013–15. Beside the Creek and with good views from most of the rooms. Mirqab Hotel, Doha (souqwaqifresort. com): one of a group of boutique hotels in the vibrant Souq Wafiq, a traditional shop and restaurant area though largely reconstructed and traffic-free. Comfortable and characterful. SwissBelhotel Seef, Bahrain (swiss-belhotel.com): recently built 4-star hotel with contemporary decor and spacious rooms. The Beach Rotana, Abu Dhabi (rotana.com): an opulent and expansive 5-star resort close to Saadiyet island. All hotels have swimming pools and free wifi. How strenuous? As on most of our tours, there is quite a lot of walking involved and the tour would not be suitable for anyone who has difficulties with everyday walking and stair-climbing. Group size: between 12 and 22 participants.
MIDDLE EAST: QATAR, UAE Illustrations. Previous page: Dubai, International Finance Centre (‘The Gate’). Left: Bahrain (unknown location), early20th-century etching.
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Essential China A selection of the most celebrated sights in China
2–14 May 2018 (me 842) 13 days • £5,940 International flights not included Lecturer: Dr Rose Kerr Planned as an introduction to China featuring many of China’s most fascinating places. Several unesco World Heritage Sites are visited. Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai: more time in these three main centres than on most tours as well as a selection of small-town and rural sites including a lesser-visited section of The Great Wall. Special access is a feature including areas closed to the public at the Forbidden City in Beijing and a special viewing platform for the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an. (Subject to confirmation). Led by Dr Rose Kerr, leading sinologist and expert in Chinese porcelain.
Itinerary Day 1: Beijing. The tour begins with lunch at the hotel. (Flights from London are not included – see ‘Practicalities’). The Temple of Heaven (Tiantan) complex, effectively a sacred park set with platforms for Imperial rites, forms both a fitting antidote to jet lag and a memorable introduction to the unique qualities of Chinese sacred sites. First of four nights in Beijing. Day 2: Beijing. The Forbidden City is at once enthralling and imposing; past the formidable walls and moat are vast courtyards punctuated with terraced pavilions, palaces and gardens. Marble paving and bridges and finely-carved balustrades mark the imperial way along which lie three ceremonial halls; beyond these are the comparatively closeted living quarters. There
MONGOLIA Jinshanling Beijing
Xi’an
Luoyang
China Shanghai Hangzhou
c. 400km
Illustration: the Great Wall, wood engraving 1864.
is special access (subject to confirmation) to the Shufang Zhai, where banquets and operas were held. Afternoon visits include the 17th-century Lama Temple, formerly an imperial residence before its conversion to a Buddhist place of worship, and a Confucian temple founded during the Yuan dynasty. Day 3: Greater Beijing. The Ming Tombs in countryside outside the city are the final resting place of 13 of the 16 Ming emperors. The tomb of Emperor Yongle (1402–1424) consists of a 7-km Sacred Way flanked by stone animals and courtiers, a succession of courts with ceremonial gateways and a man-made hill concealing the tomb itself. Lunch by the Summer Palace, a peaceful setting popular with the emperors since the Jin, periodically enlarged and embellished; after its destruction in 1860 Empress Dowager Cixi expended vast sums in constructing her pleasure palace here. Day 4: Jinshanling, Beijing. Morning excursion to a particularly spectacular (though relatively little visited) stretch of the Great Wall at Jinshanling. Walk along a section where it climbs and plunges over hilly terrain. Return to Beijing in the afternoon for some free time. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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For the average westerner, learning about China’s past is a progressively more astonishing journey, and a humbling one. Much that we regard as constituting the fundamentals of civilization were prevalent in China two or even three millennia ago: skills artistic and technological, laws and governance humane and commonsensical, mastery of the arts of war and the arts of peace, building and engineering projects of staggering magnitude, and the possibility, for some, of a life devoted to the pursuit of beauty and intellectual refinement. And then there is the fascination of present-day China, likely soon to be the world’s largest economy and destined to have an impact on all of our lives. The most important Chinese capitals have always been in the north. Xi’an is where the imperial story began, and for centuries it was the capital of the great empire in the east, hosting the grandiose designs of the first emperor with his terracotta warriors and later anchoring one end of the Silk Road. Beijing has been the grandest city on the planet for much of the past 800 years since Khubilai Khan made it the capital of his China-centric empire.
When the Mongols were finally expelled by the Chinese Ming dynasty, Beijing soon became the most perfectly planned cosmological capital, one that would serve the Ming and Manchurian Qing dynasties for over 500 years. Hangzhou brings us to the lands of rice and fish, where the climate is gentle and the land generous. The Yangtse Valley breadbasket first supported numerous northern governments and later bestowed its cultural riches and leisure activities throughout the entire empire. Marco Polo was enchanted by the grace and charm of Hangzhou, and in the surrounding hills monks developed some of the finest tea plantations in China. Hangzhou lives on today as a locus of relaxation and culture with profound cultural resonances for the Chinese. Shanghai, by contrast, is a law unto itself: originally a small fishing village, it began its rise with the foreign settlements that followed the first opium war in the mid-nineteenth century. A capitalist machine, it has also been the home of much political radicalism and was where the Chinese Communist Party came into being. These sometime conflicting and irreconcilable roles give Shanghai a vibrancy and timbre like no other Chinese city.
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Day 5: Beijing, Xi’an. The massive National Museum in Tiananmen Square has superb collections of early Chinese artefacts, Zhou bronzes, painting and the whole range of porcelain from Tang (ad 618–907) to Qing (ended 1911). Fly in the afternoon (China Eastern) to Xi’an. First of four nights in Xi’an. Day 6: Xi’an. Full day excursion east and north of the city. The tomb of the first emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, is yet to be excavated but his legacy was secured in 1974 when farmers digging a well discovered his terracotta army of infantry, cavalry and civil servants. There may be 20,000 of them, over 1.5 metres tall; only a relatively small part of the site has been uncovered, but it is nevertheless one of the most spectacular archaeological finds of all time. The pottery warriors at the later tomb of the fourth Han emperor, Liu Qi, display striking attention to detail; some eunuch figures have been found here, providing the earliest known evidence of this phenomenon in China. Day 7: Xi’an. The Shaanxi History Museum explains the history and culture of the province, the heartland of ancient Chinese civilisation. The Beilin Museum displays a collection of stone stelae, engraved with classic texts and masterpieces of calligraphy, and a fine collection of Buddhist statues. The day ends with a walk through the winding streets of the city’s Muslim Quarter. The Great Mosque, one of the largest in China, was originally built in ad 742 although the present fabric dates from the Qing Dynasty. 20th-century Chinese woodcut.
Day 8: Luoyang. Day trip by high-speed train to Luoyang to see the Longmen Caves, an extraordinary collection of statuary carved into the hillside that runs along the western bank of the Yi River. Begun by the Buddhist Northern Wei rulers (ad 386–534) and added to during the later Sui and Tang dynasties. There are over 100,000 statues clustered in 2,000 caves and crevices. Day 9: Xi’an, Hangzhou. Adjacent to the hotel stands the Great Goose Pagoda, first built in ad 652 for the monk Xuanzang to house the sutra he brought back from his pilgrimage to India. Fly to Hangzhou (Xiamen Air), capital of the Southern Song Dynasty 1138–1279. First of two nights in Hangzhou. Day 10: Hangzhou. Start the day at the Lingyin Temple, one of China’s largest though now much reduced. Just outside the complex are dozens of Buddhist sculptures carved into the rock face, many dating back to the 10th century. Drive out of the city to Longjing (Dragon Well) Village, source of one of China’s most famous varieties of green tea. The scenic tranquillity of the West Lake has been immortalised by countless poets and painters over the centuries. Day 11: Hangzhou to Shanghai. By train to Shanghai (luggage is sent separately by van). For its density, vibrancy and extent, both horizontal and vertical, Shanghai is the city of cities. Despite frenetic building activity, enclaves of low-rise structures remain in the centre, though there is little here that is more than a hundred years old. Walk along the Bund, Shanghai’s iconic riverside stretch of Art Deco and Neoclassical buildings, symbolic of the city’s burgeoning wealth in the 1920s and 1930s. First of two nights in Shanghai.
Dr Rose Kerr Honorary Associate of the Needham Research Institute in Cambridge, having retired as Keeper of the Far Eastern Department at the V&A. She graduated in Chinese studies and spent a year as a student in China during the last year of the Cultural Revolution, 1975–6. In 2014 she became an Honorary Citizen of Jingdezhen. Day 12: Shanghai. Visit the Shanghai Museum, outstanding for porcelain, jade, furniture and, in particular, Shang and Zhou bronzes. See also the city’s finest traditional Yu Garden. Day 13: Shanghai. The tour ends after breakfast. There is a transfer to the airport in time for the direct flight at 11.00am from Shanghai to London, arriving at c. 4.30pm (c. 12 ½ hours).
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £5,940. Single occupancy: £6,910. Included meals: 10 lunches, 7 dinners, with wine. Flights. International flights, from London to Beijing and Shanghai to London, are not included in the price of the tour. We will send the recommended flight options (that will be accompanied by our lecturer and/or tour manager) when they are available to book and ask that you make your own flight reservation and inform us of the details. The cost of a World Traveller (economy) seat at the time of going to press is c. £700 and will be available to book towards the end of May 2017. Visas: required for most foreign nationals, and not included in the tour price. We will advise on the process.
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Accommodation. Waldorf Astoria, Beijing (waldorfastoria.hilton.com): recently-opened, 5-star luxury hotel in the city centre. Hyatt Regency Hotel, Xi’an (xian.regency.hyatt. com): A recently opened five-star hotel within the city walls of Xi’an. Sofitel West Lake Hotel, Hangzhou (sofitel.com): 4-star hotel, located on the east side of the West Lake (rooms do not have lake views). Yangtze Boutique Hotel, Shanghai (theyangtzehotel.com): 4-star, Art Deco hotel ideally situated close to the Shanghai Museum. How strenuous? A good level of fitness is essential. Unless you enjoy entirely unimpaired mobility, cope with everyday walking and stair-climbing without difficulty and are reliably sure-footed, this tour is not for you. Uneven ground and irregular paving are standard. There are some long coach journeys during which facilities are limited and may be of poor quality. Average distance by coach per day: 48 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Ceramics in China, 15–26 May 2018 (opposite). 200
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Ceramics in China Collections, kiln sites and trade routes in China and Taiwan 15–26 May 2018 (me 872) 12 days • £4,790 International flights not included Lecturer: Dr Lars Tharp
Day 3: Jingdezhen. Fly (Shenzhen Airlines) to Jingdezhen. In the afternoon visit the studios of working potters Felicity Aylieff and Takeshi Yasuda (by special arrangement). There is time to explore Tao Xi Chuan, a recently restored former ceramic production site. Overnight Jingdezhen.
A celebration of Chinese porcelain, a sweep through China’s material culture and landscapes.
Days 4 & 5: Jingdezhen. Two days are spent in and around Jingdezhen. In these hills around lay the once secret resource of kaolin clay and china stone, which, when processed in the water-powered mills, formed the potters’ basic material. Traditional manufacture is demonstrated at the Ancient Kiln Complex. The new, impressive China Ceramics Museum excellently displays pottery and porcelain from various periods and kiln sites.
Includes the world’s greatest collection of Chinese art, the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. A day’s excursion to Mt. Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) immortalised in Chinese painting and poetry. Three nights in historic Jingdezhen, porcelain capital of the world.
Day 6: Jingdezhen to Huangshan. In the morning, visit a ceramic research institute (subject to special permission) before driving to Huangshan (c. 2½ hours) for two nights.
Led by cultural historian and ceramics specialist Lars Tharp, author, film-maker and broadcaster.
Day 7: Huangshan. Conditions permitting, there is a full-day excursion by coach and cable car to the magnificent peaks of Mt. Huangshan (Yellow Mountain). Jutting granite and ancient pines, often shrouded by clouds, have long inspired Chinese art and literature and consequently the world’s imaginings of oriental landscape. (If Mt. Huangshan cannot be visited, there will be alternative visits to traditional villages in the foothills.) Day 8: Huangshan to Hangzhou. Drive through the southern tip of Anhui province, dominated by the spectacular mountain scenery, stopping for lunch in a traditional village in Shexian County (formerly Huizhou). Reach Hangzhou in time for supper. First of two nights in Hangzhou.
Itinerary Day 1: Shanghai. The tour begins with lunch at the hotel. (Flights from London are not included – see ‘Practicalities’). A relatively young city by Chinese standards, Shanghai is now the nation’s largest and most dynamic. There is an afternoon walk along the Bund, the imposing and well preserved riverside stretch of Art Deco and Neoclassical buildings from the period when Shanghai was one of the world’s greatest financial centres. First of two nights in Shanghai. Day 2: Shanghai. The world-class Shanghai Museum is home to an extensive collection of masterpieces of Chinese arts from the Neolithic period to the Qing dynasty. The fabulous ceramics galleries offer a superb narrative foundation for the days ahead. There is time for independent exploration of the museum’s superb bronze, painting, jade and furniture collections. The 16thcentury Yu Garden is visited in the afternoon, an excellent example of classical garden design.
Illustration: ‘The Oriental potter’s wheel and kiln’, engraving for a Chinese window design by W.B. Scott (1811–90).
Day 9: Hangzhou. The scenic tranquillity of the city’s West Lake has been immortalised by countless poets and painters over the centuries. See the excavated imperial dragon-kiln site of Guan wares, one of China’s most treasured wares. Visit the Grand Canal Museum before crossing over the historic waterway into the neighbouring traditional village area. Day 10: Hangzhou to Taipei. Fly at c. 9.30am (Air China) from Hangzhou to Taipei. After lunch visit the Confucius Temple, the only such temple in Taiwan with southern Fujian-style ceramic adornments. First of two nights in Taipei. Day 11: Taipei. Spend a full day at the National Palace Museum for a detailed study of its comprehensive ceramics collection. There is also time for independent exploration of the other, equally impressive, collections in the museum. Day 12: Taipei. The tour ends after breakfast. There is a transfer to the airport in time for the flight at 10.50am from Taipei to Hong Kong, arriving at c. 12.30pm (c. 1 ½ hours).
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £4,790. Single occupancy: £5,460. Included meals: 11 lunches, 7 dinners, with wine. Flights. International flights, from London to Shanghai and Taipei to London, via Hong Kong, are not included in the price of the tour. We will Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Chinese porcelain has been called the first globally traded luxury. For centuries its magical whiteness and translucency, its vibrant blues and later its gorgeous colour painting held princes and aesthetes in its spell. It was not until a whole millennium after its emergence in China that the secret of its manufacture was discovered in Europe in the early eighteenth century. In ad 1004 the reigning Song emperor conferred his name upon the porcelain-making city of Chang-Nan, later known as Jingdezhen. It supplied the imperial household in Beijing, transporting its wares along the Yangtze and the Grand Canal, while other river and laborious overland routes were established to fulfil orders from Persia and later from foreign merchants in Java, Macao and Shanghai. To this day Jingdezhen continues as a major centre for ceramic production with a happy co-existence of ancient traditions and modern processes. The journey from Jingdezhen to Hangzhou passes the dramatic Mt. Huangshan and ancient villages nestling in landscapes first revealed to Europeans in depictions on vases and tea services. The Southern Song capital of Hangzhou is the southern terminus of China’s – and one of the world’s – greatest civil engineering achievements, the Grand Canal. Begun in ad 612 it ran northwest to Beijing via Luoyang. Across the straits in Taipei, capital of Taiwan, the fabled imperial treasures are on display at the National Palace Museum. Amassed over centuries by the emperor-collectors of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, it is the world’s finest collection of Chinese art. In 1949, as the war between Nationalist and Communist forces neared its conclusion, Chiang Kai-shek ordered that the collection be shipped to Taiwan to prevent the treasure falling into the hands of the victorious Communists. There it remains, a collection so large that the NPM rotates 3000 of its exhibits every three months. For the devotee of Chinese porcelain this tour provides a unique opportunity to study some of the finest examples in the context of its manufacture, trade, cultural framework and proximate landscapes. For the merely interested, it is likely to bequeath a lifelong capacity to delight in one of the world’s most intensely beautiful artforms.
Ceramics in China continued
Sacred China Spring 2019 Full details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest A unique itinerary that takes in many of China’s most remarkable religious sites, from ancient temples in Beijing to the sacred mountains of Wutaishan. Visit the Mogao Caves, the most fascinating repository of Buddhist art in China. Several unesco World Heritage Sites including the temple and cemetery of Qufu, birthplace of Confucius, and the Yungang Grottoes in Datong. Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism – the ‘three teachings’, are all represented.
Ming & Qing Civilization October 2018 Full details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest send the recommended flight options (that will be accompanied by our lecturer and/or tour manager) when they are available to book and ask that you make your own flight reservation and inform us of the details. The cost of a World Traveller (economy) seat at the time of going to press is c. £800 and will be available to book towards the beginning of June 2017.
Ruling from 1368 to 1911, the Ming and Qing dynasties bequeathed the most spectacular imperial buildings in China.
Visas: required for most foreign nationals, and not included in the tour price.
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Accommodation. Yangtze Boutique Hotel, Shanghai (theyangtzehotel.com): 4-star, Art Deco hotel ideally situated close to the Shanghai Museum. Taoxichuan Traders Hotel, Jingdezhen: 4-star hotel opened in 2016 in one of the very recently and sensitively restored buildings on a former ceramic production site. Crowne Plaza, Huangshan (crowneplaza.com): a large international 4-star hotel on the outside of the city. Sofitel West Lake Hotel, Hangzhou (sofitel. com): 4-star hotel located on the east side of the West Lake (rooms do not have lake views). Landis Hotel, Taipei (taipei.landishotelsresorts.com): centrally located, 4-star, Art Deco-style hotel. How strenuous? A good level of fitness is essential. Unless you enjoy entirely unimpaired mobility, cope with everyday walking and stair-climbing without difficulty and are reliably sure-footed, this tour is not for you. Uneven ground and irregular paving are standard and the tour involves a lot of standing around in museums. There are two long coach journeys during which facilities are limited and may be of poor quality. Average distance by coach per day: 49 miles Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Essential China, 2–14 May 2018 (p.199). 202
Focuses on the five centuries when China reached its greatest extent, greatest unity and longest periods of peace.
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Porcelain, painting and garden design reached a peak of perfection; this tour sees many of the best surviving examples of all the arts.
China Shanghai Hangzhou Jingdezhen
Taipei c. 400km
Dr Lars Tharp Ceramics historian and frequent broadcaster, including 30 years on the BBC Antiques Roadshow and two notable films on Chinese ceramics. Also an authority on the life and works of William Hogarth; he is Hogarth Curator of the Foundling Museum and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
Illustrations. Above: A tea house in Shanghai, watercolour by Mortimer Menpes, publ. 1903. Right: after a drawing by Mortimer Menpes, publ. 1909.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
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Painted Palaces of Rajasthan Jodhpur, Nagaur, Bikaner, the Shekhawati and Jaipur 7–19 November 2017 (me 674) 13 days • £5,710 International flights not included Lecturer: Dr Giles Tillotson A chronological survey of the remarkable phenomenon of architectural paintings. Architecture of forts and palaces, from the grimly defensible to filigree finesse. Includes places rarely visited by tourists, and lingers longer in well-known places. Private visit of the painting gallery of Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur. Led by Dr Giles Tillotson, a leading expert in Rajput and Mughal history and architecture. Rajasthan has long been famous for the great forts and palaces built by the Rajputs. These Hindu maharajas first resisted Muslim expansion in North India but then became co-architects of the Mughal empire. Their fine cities have been magnets for tourists and travellers since the days of Pierre Loti and Rudyard Kipling. Some have ancient origins, but in the more settled times of the heyday of the Mughals and of the period of British rule, they built increasingly elaborate and delicately ornamented palace apartments within the embattled forts of their forebears. These deservedly rank among the most visited and admired of Indian sites.
More recently rediscovered are the exquisite painted mansions built by the merchant classes in some of the smaller towns of the region. The Rajput rulers represent the warrior class, the people who carved out kingdoms and asserted the right to rule by force of arms. Powerful as they were, they could never work alone and they looked to other communities – to the priests and the merchant classes – to provide the administrative brains and business acumen that ensured their states were well governed and prosperous. The most successful people among these groups developed their own styles of architectural opulence. This unusual tour of Rajasthan presents both aspects of the state, combining relatively short travel distances with maximum cultural impact. The three forts of Mehrangarh (in Jodhpur), Ahichhatragarh (in Nagaur) and Junagadh (in Bikaner) include some of the finest painted interiors in all of Rajasthan, dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The stylistic starting point is the composite culture that the Rajputs developed with their Mughal contemporaries; but in these interiors that style is invigorated by elements drawn from Rajasthan’s distinctive folk culture. There are also exquisite gardens, especially the extensive and recently restored garden complex in Nagaur. And with the later palace buildings of Jodhpur, the Sufi shrine of Nagaur and the temples of Bikaner, these three cities have much else to offer besides.
The second part of the tour takes us through the best preserved towns in the area known as Shekhawati. Here especially, the merchant communities constructed elegant palatial homes or courtyard houses known as havelis. In the arid landscape these buildings appear like a colourful pageant celebrating the muralists’ art. Even the exterior walls are covered with lively scenes drawn from religion, folklore and everyday life. Ironically some of the leading patrons never got to live in these homes. With the rise of British power in the nineteenth century, they migrated to Calcutta, where the greater business opportunities lay. They continued to remit funds in generous quantities to the towns of their origins, funding public welfare schemes as well as their own estates – all undertaken against the day of eventual return, which has still not come to pass. The tour begins in Delhi, India’s capital, where the Mughal and British monuments place the various phases of our Rajasthani odyssey in the larger imperial context; and ends in Jaipur, the celebrated capital of Rajasthan, built according to the Vastu Shastra, the architectural treatise from the Vedic age which enjoyed a revival under the Hindu rulers of Rajputana in the eighteenth century. Jaipur, the Amber Palace, from ‘Indian India, As Seen by a Guest in Rajasthan’ by C.W. Waddington, 1933.
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Itinerary
Dr Giles Tillotson
Day 1: Delhi. The tour begins in Delhi with a pre-lunch talk in the hotel bar, followed by lunch in the hotel restaurant at c. 12.45pm. Your room is available from 2.00pm the previous afternoon. (Flights from London are not included – see ‘Practicalities’). In the afternoon visit the National Museum’s impressive and well-displayed collection of miniature paintings, from both Mughal and Rajput traditions, studying their differences and similarities. Overnight Delhi.
Dean of Ansal University, Gurgaon and writer and lecturer on Indian architecture, art and history. His books include Taj Mahal, Jaipur Nama: Tales from the Pink City, and the novel, Return to Bhanupur. He is a Fellow, and the former Director, of the Royal Asiatic Society and was Chair of Art & Archaeology at SOAS.
Day 2: Delhi, Jodhpur. Fly from Delhi to Jodhpur in the morning (Jet Airways). Presiding over the capital of one of the largest Rajput states in western Rajasthan is the magnificent Mehrangarh Fort. Described by Kipling as the ‘work of angels, fairies and giants’, it was built in 1459 and has some of the most imposing fortifications in the world. Private dinner in the fort’s garden. First of two nights in Jodhpur. Day 3: Jodhpur. Created in resplendent white marble, Jaswant Thada is the large 19th-cent. memorial of Jaswant Singh II and cremation ground of the Marwar rulers. The visit to Mehrangarh examines the painting tradition of the Marwari Rajputs, with special admission to the gallery led by the curator. The buildings of the lively Old City are painted in a variety of blues, originally the colour denoting the homes of Brahmins. Overnight Jodhpur. Day 4: Mandore, Nagaur. Mandore was the capital of the Marwari state until 1895 when it moved to Jodhpur. On the ancient cremation grounds, the royal cenotaphs are unique in Rajasthan as they resemble Hindu temples. In the afternoon, drive through the desert to Nagaur, one of the earliest Rajput settlements and an important Sufi centre. First of two nights in Nagaur.
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Day 5: Nagaur. Ahichhatragarh Fort (linked to the hotel by a corridor) was founded in the 4th cent. and developed and embellished in the 18th. Pre-Mughal and Mughal architecture is well preserved in the palace chambers; the Akbari Mahal, built to commemorate the visit of the Emperor Akbar in 1570, has some original floral murals, while the Hadi Rani Mahal houses some 16th-cent. murals in shades of green depicting daily and courtly scenes. The rest of the day is free. Overnight Nagaur. Day 6: Nagaur, Bikaner. In the morning, drive to Bikaner for lunch at the Laxmi Vilas Palace, a masterpiece of Indo-Saracenic architecture designed by Sir Swinton Jacob (1902). The Jain Bhandasar Temple is said to be older than the city itself, although the current building dates from the 15th cent. and has fine paintings. First of two nights in Bikaner. Day 7: Bikaner. Unlike most Rajput strongholds, Junagadh Fort is not built on a hill. Founded in 1588, it displays a variety of painting styles, from traditional Rajput motifs to early 20th-cent. depictions of trains. The Monsoon Palace has some highly unusual paintings of rain clouds and lightning, while the Diwan-i-Khas, the hall of private audience, is profusely decorated with gold leaf. There is a special opening of the Phool Mahal, the oldest part of the palace. Overnight Bikaner. 204
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £5,710. Single occupancy: £6,660. Included meals: 9 lunches, 9 dinners, with wine.
Day 8: Bikaner, Mandawa (Shekhawati). The desert villages of the Shekhawati region of northern Rajasthan are celebrated for their painted havelis (merchants’ mansions), which go back to the 18th century. The Nand Lal Devra haveli in Fatehpur has some newly restored examples. A leisurely walk in Mandawa reveals some interesting depictions of flying machines and other modern appliances. Overnight in Mandawa. Day 9: Mandawa, Jaipur. The four-hour coach journey to Jaipur drives through the scenic Aravalli range. Founded in the 18th cent. by the prominent Rajput ruler Sawai Jai Singh, the design of Jaipur demonstrates its creator’s obsession with mathematics and science. The dramatically located site of Galta outside Jaipur features temples, leisure pavilions, sacred water spring and tanks. First of three nights in Jaipur. Day 10: Jaipur. The City Palace contains an unsurpassed collection of paintings and artefacts. The Jantar Mantar, the 1730s observatory is equipped with massive astronomical instruments that are astonishingly accurate. A walk takes in the many-windowed façade of the pink sandstone Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds) and attractive havelis. The former duck-hunting lodge Jal Mahal is situated in the middle of Man Sagar lake (visit by special permission). Overnight Jaipur. Day 11: Jaipur. Athwart a natural ridge, the magnificent yellow walls of the 18th-cent. Amber Palace conceal fine craftsmanship – mirrored chambers, latticed windows, carved alabaster. In the afternoon there is free time to visit the painting and gem markets for which Jaipur is famous. Overnight Jaipur. Day 12: Jaipur, Delhi. Fly to Delhi around lunchtime (Jet Airways). Overnight near the airport. Day 13: Delhi. Car transfers to Delhi Airport can be arranged for your onward journey.
Illustration: A palace in Rajasthan (unknown), after a painting by Mortimer Menpes, publ. 1905.
book online at www.martinrandall.com
Flights from London to Delhi are not included in the price of the tour. We will send the recommended flight options with your confirmation of booking and ask that you make your own flight reservation. The cost of a World Traveller (economy) seat at the time of going to press is c. £750 and will be available to book towards the end of November 2016. Visas: required for most foreign nationals, and not included in the tour price. We will advise all participants on the process. Accommodation. Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi (tajhotels.com): 5-star centrally located hotel. Hotel Raas, Jodhpur (raasjodhpur.com): boutique hotel within the walled city. Hotel Ranvas, Nagaur (ranvasnagaur.com): 17th-century palace converted into a luxury hotel. Narendra Bhawan Hotel, Bikaner (narendrabhawan.com): A 5-star luxury hotel. Hotel Vivaana, Mandawa (vivaana. com): painted haveli converted into a comfortable hotel. Trident, Jaipur (tridenthotels.com): A comfortable 4-star hotel close to Man Sagar lake. Leela Gurgaon, Delhi (theleela.com): A 5-star hotel overlooking the Rajokri nature reserve. How strenuous? A good level of fitness is essential. Unless you enjoy entirely unimpaired mobility, cope with everyday walking and stairclimbing without difficulty and are reliably sure-footed, this tour is not for you. A rough indication of the minimum level of fitness required is that you ought to be able to walk briskly at about 3 miles per hour for at least half an hour, and undertake a walk at a more leisurely pace for an hour or two unaided. Uneven ground and irregular paving are standard. There are a few fairly steep ascents to hilltop forts and temples. There are three 3-hour coach journeys during which facilities are limited and may be of poor quality. Most sites have some shade but the Indian sun is strong, even in the cooler seasons. Average distance by coach per day: 60 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Sacred India Ancient religious art and architecture 5–18 March 2018 (me 777) 14 days • £5,930 International flights not included Lecturer: Asoka Pugal A journey through the heartland of India to see many of India’s most remarkable religious sites. Varanasi, India’s most sacred city and Sarnath, where the Buddha preached his first sermon. The Hindu temples of Khajuraho and the caves of Ajanta and Ellora.
Day 2: Delhi to Varanasi. Fly to Varanasi (Benares) in the morning. Afternoon walk through the old city and a boat ride on the holy Ganges at sunset to witness the Aarti ritual. This fire offering, which dates back to the time of the Buddha himself and revived in the 19th century, is a daily blessing ceremony and a central element of the religious life of this sacred city. First of three nights in Varanasi. Day 3: Sarnath, Varanasi. Sarnath is where the Buddha preached his first sermon and remains an active Buddhist centre. The Dhamek stupa in the Deer Park marks the spot where the
Buddha sat to preach. The Sarnath museum houses the Ashokan lion capital, the symbol of modern India since independence. Afternoon visit to the Bharat Kala Bhavan, the university museum. Overnight Varanasi. Day 4: Varanasi. An early morning boat ride to witness the morning prayers and ablutions of the devout is followed by a walk among the sacred temples and holy ponds of the south part of the city, near Assi Ghat. Breakfast on the ghats (stepped embankments). Some free time in the afternoon. Overnight Varanasi. Illustration: Khajuraho, Kandariya Mahadev Temple, wood engraving from ‘India & its Native Princes’ 1876.
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‘The sacredness of India haunts me like a passion.’ So declared that great proconsul Lord Curzon just over a century ago. To this day the notion of India as a specially sanctified space continues to shape but perhaps also to distort our image of the subcontinent, thanks in part to the Beatles, the Guru Maharishi and the Swinging Sixties. But what really sets India apart from other exotic corners of the globe is not so much its religiosity as the sheer abundance and variety of religious expression to be found there, together with the remarkable art and architecture it has generated. It is through the visual arts that the religious impulse finds its finest expression, and in India that expression extends over a period of some 3,500 years, moving from the snake- , treeand fertility-goddess-worship of the original forest dwellers right through to the present. This span of time encompasses the advent of the Aryan pastoralists with their Vedic gods; the challenges to Brahmanical authority by the founders of Buddhism and Jainism; Emperor Ashoka’s unifying imperial dharma; the counterreformation of devotional Hinduism and the cults of Shiva, Vishnu and Krishna; and the advance of Islam in both Sufic and militant form – to say nothing of Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, Christianity and even Judaism. This ambitious and varied tour of India takes you on a journey through its very heartland which includes almost a dozen of India’s most remarkable religious sites, many of them on the World Heritage list. But it must be stressed that this is not a religious tour per se. Its object, quite simply, is to explore and, above all, enjoy India’s varied forms of religious experience in their proper context: not in museums and galleries but in those theatres where they have found their highest expression, both in terms of religious practice and artistic activity, whether beside the bathing ghats at Kashi, the City of Light (otherwise known as Benares and Varanasi), the finely carved temples at Khajuraho with their Tantric erotic carvings (yet to be fully understood), the ancient and austere rock-cut caves and temples at Ajanta, Ellora and Elephanta, or the sublime artistry of the great Buddhist stupa complex at Sanchi.
established in 1193 on the grounds of a defeated Rajput fort. Overnight Delhi.
Itinerary Day 1: Delhi. The tour begins in Delhi with a lecture and lunch in the hotel restaurant at c. 12.00 midday. (Flights from London are not included – see ‘Practicalities.’) Your room is available from 2.00pm the previous day. In the afternoon, visit the towering minaret and mosque at Qutb Minar, site of the first Islamic city of Delhi, Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £5,930. Single occupancy: £6,880. Included meals: 11 lunches (including 2 packed lunches) and 10 dinners with wine. Flights from London to Delhi and Mumbai to London are not included in the price of the tour. We will send the recommended flight options with your confirmation of booking and ask that you make your own flight reservation. Visas: required for most foreign nationals, and not included in the tour price. We will advise all participants on the process.
Day 5: Varanasi to Khajuraho. Fly to Khajuraho (Jet Airways) in the morning. After lunch, visit the Jain temples in the eastern group. The Parasnath Temple is conspicuous for its absence of erotic depictions. First of two nights in Khajuraho. Day 6: Khajuraho. In the morning, visit the spectacular western group of temples built during the Chandela Rajput dynasty, famous for the beautifully carved erotic scenes. The awe-inspiring 11th-cent. Kandariya Mahadev Temple is one of the finest examples of North Indian temple architecture, richly embellished with sensuous sculptures depicting the god’s heavenly abodes. Nearby, the Jagadambi Temple contains excellent carvings of Vishnu. In the afternoon, visit the eastern and southern groups of temples. Overnight Khajuraho.
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Day 7: Khajuraho to Orchha. Drive to Orchha. Located close to the Betwa River on dramatic rocky terrain, Orchha’s former glory as capital of the Bundela kings is evident in the multichambered Jehangir Mahal with lapis lazuli tiles and ornate gateways. The Raj Mahal palace contains some beautiful murals with religious and secular themes. Elegant Royal Chhatris (cenotaphs) line the ghats of the Betwa. Overnight Orchha. Day 8: Orchha to Bhopal. Drive to Jhansi and take an express train (3½ hours) to Bhopal in the morning. Arrival at the hotel c. 3.00pm. Some free time in the afternoon. First of two nights in Bhopal. Day 9: Sanchi, Vidisha. Remotely located in open, hilly and sparsely populated countryside, Sanchi is one of the treasures of India and a unesco heritage site. On top of a hill with lovely views all around, the site was supposedly founded by the Great Ashoka. The 2nd-cent. ad stupa with stone railings and four magnificently elaborately carved gateways survives almost intact. Nearby Vidisha was an important Hindu centre under the Gupta dynasty as seen in the majestic carving of Varaha, the boar incarnation of Vishnu. Overnight Bhopal. 206
Day 10: Bhopal to Mumbai. In the morning, fly to Mumbai. The Dr Bhau Daji Lad City Museum (built 1885) was formerly known as the Victoria & Albert and is the oldest museum in Mumbai. A private visit led by the curator explores the city’s distinctive communities and their respective religious practices. Overnight Mumbai. Day 11: Mumbai, Aurangabad. In the morning, take a privately chartered boat to Elephanta Island. The largest of the two groups is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The relief panels depict the god in various forms. The central Trimurti image, or threeheaded Shiva, is said to represent the three aspects of the deity and considered a masterpiece of Gupta art. After lunch, fly to Aurangabad. First of three nights in Aurangabad. Day 12: Ajanta. Cut into the volcanic lava of the Deccan plateau, the Buddhist caves at Ajanta were first excavated around the 2nd cent. bc. A later group of caves was built during the Gupta era in the 5th–6th cent. ad before the site was abandoned in the 7th century in favour of Ellora. Celebrated for their fine statuary and the refined wall paintings, they are often considered one of the greatest achievements in Indian art. Overnight Aurangabad. Day 13: Ellora. With their uninterrupted sequence spanning four centuries, the caves and rock-cut temples at Ellora are both artistic masterpieces and technological achievements. The various monasteries dedicated to Buddhism, Jainism and Brahmanism also attest to the religious tolerance which prevailed under the Rashtrakuta dynasty. The impressive rock-cut, monolithic Kailashanatha Temple marks the transition between rock-cut and structural architecture, which took place around the 8th century across the Deccan. Overnight in Aurangabad. Day 14: Mumbai. Fly early in the morning to Mumbai where the tour ends.
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Accommodation. The Taj Mahal, Delhi (tajhotels. com): a modern and comfortable hotel catering for both the business and leisure traveller, ideally situated in the heart of Lutyens’s Delhi; attractive garden and swimming pool. The Clarks Hotel, Varanasi (clarkshotels.com): comfortable 5-star hotel, complete with modern amenities and set in over three acres of grounds. The Lalit Temple, Khajuraho (thelalit.com): a modern hotel within walking distance of the main site, surrounded by a well-tended garden; rooms are spacious with large windows overlooking the pool or garden. Hotel Amar Mahal, Orchha (amarmahal.com): the most basic of the hotels on the tour, this 3-star equivalent is conveniently located and adequately equipped. The Jehan Numa Palace, Bhopal (jehannuma.com): a former royal residence on the edge of the city with gardens, verandas and a swimming pool. Bedrooms vary but all are comfortable and well equipped. The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai (tajhotels.com): an iconic landmark and a masterpiece of Indo-Saracenic architecture, comfortable, centrally located and with excellent service. The Taj Residency, Aurangabad (tajhotels.com): a pleasant hotel set amid well-tended gardens. The rooms are comfortable, with private balconies. How strenuous? A good level of fitness is essential. Unless you enjoy entirely unimpaired mobility, cope with everyday walking and stair-climbing without difficulty and are reliably sure-footed, this tour is not for you. A rough indication of the minimum level of fitness required is that you ought to be able to walk briskly at about 3 miles per hour for at least half an hour, and undertake a walk at a more leisurely pace for an hour or two unaided. Uneven ground and irregular paving are standard. Sure-footedness is essential to board the river boats. Unruly traffic and the busy streets of larger cities require vigilance. There are some fairly steep ascents to hilltop forts and temples and numerous steps in Ajanta and Ellora. There are 2 coach journeys over 2 hours during which facilities are limited and may be of poor quality. Most sites have some shade but the Indian sun is strong, even in the cooler seasons. Average distance by coach per day: 38 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Illustration: Varanasi, Mosque of Aurangzeb, from Across India at the Dawn of the 20th Century, 1898.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235.
Indian Summer Delhi, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Shimla 13–24 March 2018 (me 780) 12 days • £4,970 International flights not included Lecturer: Raaja Bhasin A fascinating selection of places which have the common feature of relating to the last years of the Raj. Led by Raaja Bhasin, historian, author, lecturer and Shimla resident. Shimla, the grandest hill station, the buildings a hotch-potch of bastardised European styles. Reached by the famous mountain ‘toy train’. Chandigarh, the modern ideal city built by Le Corbusier.
Illustration: Amritsar, the Golden Temple, watercolour from ‘World Pictures’ by Mortimer Menpes, publ. c. 1910.
inspection reveals Buddhist and Mughal motifs. Subject to special permission, it may be possible to visit the interior of the vast Rashtrapati Bhavan, the former Viceroy’s residence. The fortress-like garrison church of St Martin, designed by Arthur Shoosmith (1930), has been called one of the great buildings of the 20th century. Overnight Delhi. Day 3: Delhi to Amritsar. The Teen Murthi Bhavan was built in Classical style in the 1930s as Flagstaff House before becoming the home of the first Indian prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Today, it is a museum dedicated to one of the fathers of modern India. Fly from Delhi to Amritsar at c. 12.30pm. First of two nights in Amritsar. Day 4: Amritsar, Wagah. Amritsar was founded by the 4th Sikh guru in 1579 and is home to Sikhism’s holiest shrine, the Golden Temple. The sacred lake surrounding the temple dates from this period but the current form of the temple is 18th century, and the gilt early 19th century. Jallianwala Bagh was the scene of the massacre of demonstrators against British rule in
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Both the high noon of the British Empire in India and its closing years were played out in the city of Delhi and in the ‘summer capital’, Simla (now Shimla), dubbed by many the grandest outpost of the Pax Britannica. Tracing the ebb and flow of the Raj in two imperial capitals, this tour covers architecture, events, lifestyles, and landscapes of the Western Himalaya and numerous stories of places and people. Amritsar is part of this story, and Chandigarh provides a glimpse into Indian Utopia after Independence. Built, destroyed and rebuilt a dozen times, Delhi is one of the oldest cities in the world, and also one of the most multilayered. It is home to some fifteen million people and its heterogeneous population has genetic strands that span the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and several other parts of the world. Today, towers of chrome and steel stand side by side with centuries-old monuments built by the Mughal rulers. Between the two, the immense architectural momentum of the Raj culminated in the creation of New Delhi, still the core of this fast-expanding city. Up in the hills of the Western Himalaya, Simla was the summer capital of British India, the grandest of the British hill stations. For around a century, a fifth of the human race was ruled from its heights for the better part of every year. The architecture is practically a gazetteer of western styles, but often with a twist, a nod to the heritage of the subcontinent. The town created an enigmatic way of life and the steamier side of its social world gave inspiration to Rudyard Kipling, who as a young correspondent spent some summers amidst the cedars. Many decisions that shaped India and the region were made within sight of the snowclad Himalayas. Today it is the capital of the state of Himachal Pradesh and many of the grander buildings, bungalows and streets still evoke the heyday of a past age. West of it lies the fertile ‘Land of Five Rivers’, the Punjab. Here is the sacred city of Amritsar, site of the Golden Temple, the most sacred shrine of the Sikh faith. This was also where the Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place in 1919, when a crowd of unarmed civilians was fired upon. The event totally altered the face of Indian nationalism. Even Winston Churchill was moved enough to remark, ‘It is an extraordinary event, an event which stands in singular and sinister isolation’. The border with Pakistan is close to Amritsar,
and with belligerence which is almost histrionic, the sundown ceremony of lowering the flags and closing the gates is played out daily. Nearby is the former princely state of Kapurthala where the Francophile ruler, Jagatjit Singh, completed a palace in 1908, loosely modelled on Versailles. He tried to introduce French as his court language. When the Punjab was divided between India and Pakistan in 1947 the state capital Lahore was replaced in the Indian portion by a brand new city, Chandigarh. Its building in the 1950s was a deliberate break with the past. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru called it ‘a new city of free India, totally fresh and wholly responsive to the future generations of this great country.’ Led by Le Corbusier, the city design and urban elements were unabashedly modern and western. Still admired and criticized in equal measure by planners, architects and urban historians, it is yet rated as among the best cities in India in which to live.
Itinerary Day 1: Delhi. The tour begins in Delhi with lunch in the hotel restaurant at c. 12.30pm (flights from London are not included – see ‘Practicalities’). In the afternoon, visit Old Delhi for a short walk on The Ridge, taking in Flagstaff Tower, a safe haven for the British during the Mutiny of 1857. The Mutiny Memorial commemorating those killed in action is a Neo-Gothic spire with elements of Indian design. First of two nights in Delhi. Day 2: Delhi. New Delhi was created 1912–31 by Lutyens, Baker and others as a uniquely grand and spacious city. The Secretariat buildings on Raisina Hill are Classical at first glance, but closer
1919 and now is a moving memorial garden. In the afternoon, drive to Wagah for the theatrical sunset closing ceremony of the border with Pakistan. Overnight Amritsar. Day 5: Kapurthala, Chandigarh. In the morning, drive to Kapurthala, where the local ruler, an ardent francophile, built his palace (1900–1908) loosely modelled on the palace of Versailles and the chateau of Fontainebleau. Now a boys’ school, the interior is lavish, while the gardens are embellished by fountains and statuary in the traditional French style. Continue to Chandigarh to arrive at the hotel in time for dinner. First of two nights in Chandigarh. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Day 6: Chandigarh. The joint capital of the states of Haryana and Punjab emerged from the partition of the Punjab in 1947. Conceived by Le Corbusier and Maxwell Fry following the principles of the International Modern movement, it is laid out on the grid principle. The Capital Complex is the home of the administrative buildings, the ‘head’ of the city and some of Le Corbusier’s most ambitious planning. Overnight Chandigarh.
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Day 7: Chandigarh, Shimla. Transfer to Kalka in the foothills of the Himalayas to board the ‘toy train’ to Shimla. The Kalka–Shimla Railway has been operating daily since 1903 and is a remarkable feat of engineering. After a 5-hour ride through stunning scenery, transfer to the hotel. First of three nights in Shimla. Day 8: Shimla, Mashobra. The former summer capital of British India, Shimla is set in the lush pine and cedar forests of the Himalayan foothills. Its impressive colonial architecture is best admired through walks along the Mall. Viceregal Lodge, the summer residence of the British viceroy is probably Shimla’s best-known building. Built in 1888, the grey sandstone structure retains the British royal coat of arms on its façade. After lunch at Wildflower Hall, visit Bishop Cotton School, Shimla’s oldest educational institution, founded in 1859. Overnight Shimla. Day 9: Shimla. Walk eastward along The Mall towards Christ Church. The Gaiety Theatre was built in 1887 as the original Town Hall. The Gothic building has been the centre of Shimla’s social life for over a century. The tower of Christ Church (1857) dominates Shimla’s skyline from the Ridge, 208
above the town. Time for independent exploration in the afternoon. Overnight Shimla. Day 10: Kasauli, Chandigarh. Morning drive to Kasauli via Dagshai, scene of the Connaught Rangers’ Mutiny in 1920. The Central Jail (1849) is where the executions took place. The pretty hill station of Kasauli has some interesting 19thcentury buildings such as Christ Church and the Kasauli Club. Afternoon drive to Chandigarh. Overnight Chandigarh. Day 11: Chandigarh to Delhi. In the morning, fly to Delhi. Coronation Park in north Delhi was the location of the 1911 Durbar, at which George V announced the shift of the British capital from Calcutta. Following Independence, it became the resting place of the statues of kings and officials of the British Raj. Overnight Delhi. Day 12: Delhi. Car transfers to Delhi Airport can be arranged for your onward journey.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £4,970. Single occupancy: £5,960. Included meals: 8 lunches (including 1 packed lunch) and 8 dinners with wine. Flights from London to Delhi are not included in the price of the tour. We will send the recommended flight options with your confirmation of booking and ask that you make your own flight reservation. Illustration: Shimla, steel engraving 1845.
book online at www.martinrandall.com
Visas: required for most foreign nationals, and not included in the tour price. We will advise all participants on the process. Accommodation. Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi (tajhotels.com): modern, comfortable hotel with attractive garden and swimming pool. Situated in the heart of Lutyens’s Delhi and caters for both the business and leisure traveller. Ranjit Svaasa, Amritsar (svaasa.com): attractive colonial mansion converted into a characterful 4-star boutique hotel down a narrow alley off the main road. Taj Chandigarh, Chandigarh (tajhotels. com): modern 5-star hotel; elegantly furnished and well-appointed rooms. The Oberoi Cecil, Shimla (oberoihotels.com): landmark 19th-century 5-star heritage hotel, converted in the 1930s. How strenuous? A good level of fitness is essential. Unless you enjoy entirely unimpaired mobility, cope with everyday walking and stair-climbing without difficulty and are reliably sure-footed, this tour is not for you. A rough indication of the minimum level of fitness required is that you ought to be able to walk briskly at about three miles per hour for at least half an hour, and undertake a walk at a more leisurely pace for an hour or two unaided. Uneven ground and irregular paving are standard. There are some steep walks. Unruly traffic and the busy streets of larger cities require some vigilance. There is a 5-hour train journey during which facilities are limited and may be of poor quality. Most sites have some shade but the Indian sun is strong, even in the cooler seasons. Average distance by coach per day: 33 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Gastronomic Kerala Traders, spices and churches of the Malabar Coast 18–27 February 2018 (me 756) 10 days • £4,940 International flights not included Lecturer: Dr Elizabeth Collingham Surveys the history and distinctive culture of the region through its cuisine: Jewish, Muslim, Christian. The lecturer is Dr Elizabeth Collingham – food historian and writer. Three nights in Fort Cochin, the spice trade centre of the Arabian Sea.
pepper eventually came to dominate Indian cookery, ousting black pepper from its position as the hottest spice. The Portuguese also introduced cassava (tapioca), now widely eaten in Kerala. Tea cultivation was introduced to India by the British and one of the Raj’s most enduring legacies was to persuade Indians to drink tea after a concerted campaign in the late nineteenth century. The hallmark of Keralan, and Indian, cuisine is that it has absorbed influences from each wave of visitors, from early Christians and medieval Muslim Sultans to the English bureaucrats of the Raj. Food, then, is one of the best vehicles
Day 3: Fort Cochin. Jewish merchants and Christian settlers arrived in Kerala with St Thomas the Apostle in ad 52. The Paradesi Synagogue, built in 1568 by European Jews, is tucked away in the heart of the Jewish Quarter. Its airy interior is enhanced by hand painted Chinese floor tiles and European glass chandeliers. A cooking demonstration is followed by a Christian lunch in a private home. Opened in 2009, the Folklore Museum houses a private collection of Keralan artefacts and is the venue for a Kathakali dance performance. Overnight Cochin. Illustration: Kottayam, Kerala, wood engraving c. 1880.
From tea and spice plantations to lush backwaters, a leisurely paced tour amid varied scenery. Three cooking demonstrations followed by lunch and two privately hosted lunches. Eco-friendly hotels set in natural surroundings.
to explore India’s colourful history and Kerala’s cuisine is no exception. Cooking demonstrations and privately hosted lunches allow participants to revel in Kerala’s rich and delicious culinary history, while gentle walks in tea and spice plantations provide some insight in the production of these once luxurious goods.
Itinerary Day 1: Cochin. The tour begins in Cochin with lunch in the hotel restaurant at c. 12.30pm (flights from London are not included – see ‘Practicalities)’ Your room is available from 2.00pm on the previous day. Later in the afternoon, visit the Mattancherry Palace. First built by the Portuguese in 1557, it was rebuilt by the Dutch in 1663. The murals in the king’s bedroom which depict mythical scenes from the Raas Leela and the Ramayana are a masterpiece of Keralan paintings. Dinner in the hotel restaurant explores the rich culinary heritage of this trading centre. Overnight Cochin. Day 2: Cochin. A morning walk around Fort Cochin includes the Chinese fishing nets, which have been in use since the 14th century and St Francis Church (c. 1510), one of the earliest Catholic churches in India and the temporary resting place of Vasco da Gama. A cooking demonstration focusing on the Mopilah (Muslim) culinary tradition of northern Kerala precedes a private lunch. Muslim traders may have settled on the Malabar Coast as early as in the 7th century and have since developed a cuisine with distinctive flavours. Afternoon at leisure. Overnight Cochin.
Day 4: Cochin, Munnar. In the morning, drive through the coconut palms and spice plantations of the low- and midlands to Munnar, the centre of Kerala’s tea industry. Located at an altitude of 1,600 metres, this hill station was discovered by Scottish planters in the 19th century and was once the British Summer capital of south India. Tea tasting session in the afternoon. First of two nights in Munnar. Day 5: Munnar. Drive around the rolling hills to one of the 30 tea estates in the area. After a walk around the plantation witnessing pickers at work, visit the processing factory. The Tamil lunch in the estate’s bungalow reflects the tea workers’ origin from the neighbouring state. Overnight Munnar. Day 6: Munnar to Kumily. Leaving the tea growing region of the high altitudes, drive through thick forests of teak and rosewood to reach Thekkady. Afternoon walk around a spice plantation to explore the growing process and the complex network of correlations between species. In the evening, dinner focuses on locally farmed produce. Overnight Kumily. Day 7: Kumily to Kumarakom. Drive to a planter’s home for a privately hosted Britishinfluenced lunch. Afternoon drive to the backwaters, a network of lakes, lagoons and canals with its unique ecosystem. First of three nights in Kumarakom. Day 8: Kumarakom. Morning walk around Alappuzha (Allepey), the first planned city in Kerala, dating from 1776. The dilapidated mansions of the Gujarati spice merchants are easily Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Kerala has supplied the world with spices since antiquity. Roman ships sailed to the Malabar Coast laden with sacks of gold to trade for their favourite spice, black pepper. Modern Kerala is still a major producer of black pepper and this tour follows in the footsteps of Chinese, Persian, Jewish, Arab and European merchants who have been coming here ever since in search of spices. The warm but cloudy climate of the Western Ghats provides the perfect conditions for cultivating pepper vines that wither in strong sunlight. On the distinctively-shaped knolls, pepper plants straggle among the fronds of cardamom trees while large tracts of the hills are covered by neat rows of bright green tea bushes. When the Portuguese discovered the sea route to India in the fifteenth century they stumbled into the most intense commercial zone in the world. Kerala’s spice markets attracted merchants trading African slaves, gold and ivory, precious stones, dyes and rugs from the Persian Gulf, Chinese silks and porcelain, nutmeg and cloves from the Indonesian archipelago. The Portuguese quickly established a trading base at Fort Cochin and within thirty years of their arrival on the scene dominated Indian Ocean trade until they were superseded by the Dutch in the seventeenth century; their churches are a testimony to their determination to demonstrate their religious hegemony as well as their military might. The Paradesi synagogue in the Jewish quarter is almost the last trace of Kerala’s Jewish community (most of Cochin Jews have now emigrated to Israel). However, the community have left behind a cookery tradition influenced by the Middle Eastern and Spanish origins of the Indian Jews. Kerala’s Syrian Christian community is also thought to have been founded as long ago as the first century ad. St Thomas the Apostle is said to have made a number of converts to Christianity while on a proselytising mission to South India. This Nesrani community is famous for its appam, soft rice breads, fluffy in the centre and crispy on the edge, perfect for dipping in the stews which characterise their cuisine. A fragrant biryani is the best-known contribution of the Arab spice traders to the Keralan culinary repertoire. The Portuguese introduced creamy custards and pastries as well as an array of foods which they had only just discovered themselves in the Americas: the chilli
Gastronomic Kerala continued
Textile Arts of India Courtly and private collections of North West India
recognisable with their intricately carved wooden gates. After the final cooking demonstration, lunch is sadhya, the Keralan banquet consisting of a variety of vegetarian dishes and traditionally served on a banana leaf. Return to the hotel by boat. Overnight Kumarakom. Day 9: Kumarakom. In Kottayam, the 450-year old Cheria Palli – ‘Small’ St Mary’s Church – displays unusual symbols on its façade. The original murals inside were painted using natural pigments. Nearby, the Valia Palli – ‘Big’ St Mary’s Church – houses 2 Nestorian crosses, one of which may be the oldest Christian artefact in India. The hosted lunch highlights the distinctive culture of the region and is followed by a walk around the farm. The rest of the afternoon is at leisure. Overnight Kumarakom. Day 10: Kumarakom. Transfers to Cochin Airport can be arranged for your onward journey.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £4,940. Single occupancy: £6,200 Included meals: 8 lunches, 7 dinners, with wine. Flights from London to Cochin are not included in the price of the tour. We will send the recommended flight options with your confirmation of booking and ask that you make your own flight reservation. Visas: required for most foreign nationals, and not included in the tour price. We will advise all participants on the process. Accommodation. Brunton Boatyard Hotel, Cochin (cghearth.com): sea-front property, ideally located within the heritage area of Fort Cochin. Windermere Estate, Munnar (windermeremunnar.com): family-run property offering stunning views of the surrounding plantations. Spice Village Hotel, Kumily (cghearth.com): eco-friendly hotel set in the lush landscape of the Western Ghats. Hotel Coconut Lagoon, Kumarakom (cghearth.com): comfortable bungalows in natural lake-side settings.
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How strenuous? A good level of fitness is essential. Unless you enjoy entirely unimpaired mobility, cope with everyday walking and stair-climbing without difficulty and are reliably sure-footed, this tour is not for you. A rough indication of the minimum level of fitness required is that you ought to be able to walk briskly at about three miles per hour for at least half an hour, and undertake a walk at a more leisurely pace for an hour or two unaided. You may be on your feet for lengthy stretches of time. Uneven ground and irregular paving are standard. Sure-footedness is essential for boarding and disembarking the boats; jetties may be slippery. Walks in the tea and spice plantations are over uneven ground and there are some uphill climbs. There are two coach journeys of 4 hours or more where facilities may be limited. Average distance by coach per day: 35 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Textile Arts of India, 3–16 February 2018 (see opposite). 210
3–16 February 2018 (ee 755) 14 nights • £6,470 International flights not included Lecturer: Rosemary Crill In conjunction with HALI, the leading magazine for antique carpets and textiles. An opportunity to gain exclusive access to the iconic carpets and textiles of India. Includes places rarely visited by tourists. Private curator led visits throughout including the textile stores of Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur and the TAPI collection in Surat. Led by Rosemary Crill, former Senior Curator of Indian art at the V&A museum With guest speaker and Indian carpet expert, Steven Cohen – the May Beattie Visiting Fellow in Carpet Studies at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. For millennia, northern India was the battleground for a succession of external powers vying with local rulers. The most renowned and longest-lasting of these invaders was the Mughal dynasty, whose founder Babur overthrew the Lodi Dynasty and entered India in 1526. His successors ruled much of India until they were deposed by the British in the mid-nineteenth century. The Hindu Rajputs (‘sons of kings’) were forced into uneasy alliances with the Muslim Mughals in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, by giving their daughters in marriage and by accepting high ranks in the Mughal armies, but they nevertheless maintained their Hindu traditions at their great forts and palaces in what is now Rajasthan.
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Some of the most spectacular textiles and carpets ever made were the product of the patronage of these Mughal and Rajput rulers. Many have since been dispersed into the world’s museums, but some royal palaces in India, notably those of Jaipur and Jodhpur, have retained many historic pieces, tents, carpets, furnishings and garments made for the courts. India is also home to two of the world’s greatest collections of historic Indian textiles built up in more recent times - the Calico Museum of Textiles in Ahmedabad and the TAPI collection in Surat – as well as the notable holdings of other museums such as the National Museum in New Delhi and the CSMVS (former Prince of Wales Museum) in Mumbai. The tour focuses on Rajasthan and Gujarat in northwest India. Rajasthan is the heartland of Rajput culture, and the astonishing fortified palaces of Mehrangarh in Jodhpur and Amer outside Jaipur are the most spectacular manifestations of this rich hybrid tradition, blending Hindu and Islamic architectural and decorative styles. The City Palace in Jaipur, built when the new capital was founded in 1727, is now a museum displaying magnificent royal garments and furnishings, including a rare Mughal pashmina carpet of the seventeenth century. Gujarat also came under Mughal rule – many of the finest silks and embroideries for the Mughal court were made in royal workshops in Ahmedabad – but some of its finest monuments date from the pre-Mughal period of Islamic rule. The ornately decorated fifteenth and sixteenth century mosques of Ahmedabad and Champaner with their sinuous tree patterns and geometric jali screens speak of a rich and complex tradition of architecture and design in the region. Both Rajasthan and Gujarat are known for their rich local textile arts, especially of embroidery,
block-printing and tie-dyeing, and these traditions are on view at the Shreyas Foundation in Ahmedabad and the Anokhi Museum of Hand Block-Printing at Amer. It is no exaggeration to say that the extraordinary richness and variety of textile collections in these two states make the region unique not only in India but in the world.
of Indian textiles. Highlights include unique 14thand 15th-century textiles traded to Indonesia and Mughal textiles including tent-hangings and early Kashmir shawls. Overnight Surat. Day 13: Surat, Mumbai. Train from Surat to Mumbai (c. 4 hours). After lunch, visit CSMVS (formerly Prince of Wales Museum). It houses important collections of sculpture, paintings and decorative arts, including a newly opened textile gallery; the curator of textiles takes us behind the scenes. Overnight Mumbai.
Itinerary Travel day: Delhi. There is nothing planned on this day, but rooms have been booked at the Hotel Imperial and will be available for occupation any time during the night. (Flights are not included – see Practicalities.)
Day 14: Mumbai. Tour ends. Car transfers to Mumbai Airport can be arranged.
Practicalities
Day 1: Delhi. The tour begins in Delhi with a pre-lunch talk in the hotel bar, followed by lunch in the hotel restaurant at c. 12.45pm. (Your room is available from 2.00pm the previous afternoon.) In the afternoon visit the National Museum. We go behind the scenes with the Curator of Textile and Decorative Arts, who shows us some rarely-seen pieces including Mughal lampas-weaves. First of two nights in Delhi. Day 2: Delhi. Founded in 1978, the Sanskriti Kendra campus houses small individual museums of terracottas, everyday art and textiles. Based on the private collection of its founder O.P. Jain, the textile display provides an overview of India’s textile traditions. In the afternoon visit the Handicraft and Handlooms Museum for its wideranging display of textiles. Overnight Delhi. Day 3: Delhi, Jodhpur. Fly from Delhi to Jodhpur (Jet Airways). Presiding over the capital of one of the largest Rajput states in western Rajasthan is the magnificent Mehrangarh Fort. Described by Kipling as the ‘work of angels, fairies and giants’, it has some of the most imposing fortifications in the world. The buildings of the lively Old City are painted in a variety of blues, originally the colour denoting the homes of Brahmins. First of two nights in Jodhpur.
Day 5: Jodhpur, Jaipur. Travel east by train from Jodhpur to Jaipur (about 6 hours). In the afternoon visit the Albert Hall Museum, purposebuilt in flamboyant ‘Indo-Saracenic’ style, opened in 1887, including a special presentation by guest speaker Steven Cohen. Highlights are six 17thcent. Mughal carpets and the renowned ‘Persian Garden Carpet’ formerly at Amer palace. First of three nights in Jaipur. Day 6: Jaipur. The City Palace contains an unsurpassed collection of paintings and artefacts and the Jantar Mantar, a 1730s observatory with astonishingly accurate astronomical instruments. The private Gyan Collection, in a new dramatic building designed by Paul Mathieu, houses the collection of the late Shri Gyan Chand Dhaddha. It includes Mughal and 19th-century carpets,
Included meals: 12 lunches, 10 dinners, with wine. Flights to and from India are not included in the price of the tour. We will send the recommended flight options with your confirmation of booking and ask that you make your own flight reservation. artefacts and textiles. (By special arrangement.) Overnight Jaipur. Day 7: Jaipur, Amer. Brigitte Singh produces the highest-quality hand-block printing in India. We visit her workshop to see printing being done as well as blocks being carved. Athwart a natural ridge, with magnificent yellow walls, Amer (or Amber) Fort was the capital of the Kachhwaha Rajputs before the foundation of Jaipur in 1727. Overnight Jaipur. Day 8: Jaipur, Ahmedabad. Fly from Jaipur to Ahmedabad in the morning (IndiGo). Visit a local artist’s textile collection. First of two nights in Ahmedabad. Day 9: Ahmedabad. The morning is dedicated to the Calico Museum, the world’s greatest collection of Indian textiles. Highlights include a wealth of 17th-century Mughal textiles, a unique Mughal dhurrie (flat-weave), folk embroideries, trade cloths and courtly garments. A private dinner is held at the Hutheesing Haveli with a viewing of the family collection of Umang Hutheesing, ‘aesthete-at-large and patron of the arts’. Particularly strong are the pichhwais (textiles for Krishna shrines) and goldembroidery. Overnight Ahmedabad. Day 10: Ahmedabad, Champaner. A morning walk takes in the many teak havelis in the maze of lanes or pols. After lunch, drive to Champaner (c. 4 hours). Overnight Champaner. Day 11: Champaner, Surat. A unesco Heritage site, Champaner is a spectacular abandoned 15thcentury city which was for a time the capital of the Gujarati Sultanate. The main mosque (Jami Masjid) with its blend of Hindu and Muslim decoration is one of the finest in western India. After lunch, drive to Surat (c. 4 hours) First of two nights in Surat. Day 12: Surat. The day is dedicated to a curatorled visit of the private TAPI Collection, assembled by textile manufacturers Praful and Shilpa Shah, now one of the world’s most important holdings
Visas: required for most foreign nationals, and not included in the tour price. We will advise all participants on the process. Accommodation. The Imperial, New Delhi (theimperialindia.com): 5-star centrally located hotel. Hotel Raas, Jodhpur (raasjodhpur.com): Boutique hotel within the walled city. Trident, Jaipur (trident.com): modern 4-star hotel on the outskirts of the city. House of MG, Ahmedabad (houseofmg.com): boutique hotel in the centre of the city. Champaner Heritage Resort, Champaner (palacesofindia.com): country house style hotel set in tended gardens. Taj Gateway, Surat (gateway.tajhotels.com): comfortable 4-star hotel. Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai (tajhotels. com): centrally located, iconic landmark. It offers impeccible service. How strenuous? A good level of fitness is essential. Unless you enjoy entirely unimpaired mobility, cope with everyday walking and stair-climbing without difficulty and are reliably sure-footed, this tour is not for you. A rough indication of the minimum level of fitness required is that you ought to be able to walk briskly at about 3 miles per hour for at least half an hour, and undertake a walk at a more leisurely pace for an hour or two unaided. Uneven ground and irregular paving are standard. There are a few fairly steep ascents to hilltop forts. There are two 4-hour coach journeys, and two train journeys of 6 and 4 hours, during which facilities are limited and may be of poor quality. Most sites have some shade but the Indian sun is strong, even in the cooler seasons. Average distance by coach per day: 32 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with: Gastronomic Kerala, 18–27 February 2018 (p.209).
Illustrations. Left: Ceremonial hanging, Gujarat, c.1450–1500 (c) TAPI Collection, India. Above: after a drawing by Mortimer Menpes, in ‘World Pictures’ c. 1900.
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Day 4: Jodhpur. Mehrangarh fort was founded in the mid-15th century and lived in by the royal family of Jodhpur-Marwar until the 20th century. It houses an important collection of paintings and textiles, including royal tents and garments dating back to the 17th century. Our after-hours visit is by special admission to the gallery led by the curator. Private dinner in the fort’s garden. Overnight Jodhpur.
Price, per person. Two sharing: £6,470. Single occupancy: £7,700.
Art in Japan Art, craft, architecture and design presented in the eponymous museum, a purposebuilt space with a delightful garden. Highlights include world-renowned Chinese bronzes and intricate utensils related to the tea aesthetic. Day 3: Nikko. Full-day excursion to Nikko, an historically important Shinto and Buddhist pilgrimage site in a national park with breathtaking mountain vistas. The 17th-century Tosho-gu Shrine complex was established here by the powerful Tokugawa Shoguns (the first shogun of the Edo period, Tokugawa Ieyasu, is enshrined here); set amid towering Japanese cedars and pines, the architecturally extravagant buildings are decorated with elaborate wood-carvings and beautiful paintwork. Day 4: Tokyo to Kyoto. The morning is dedicated to the Ota Memorial Art Museum and its collection of ukiyo-e woodblock prints. In the afternoon travel by high-speed train to Kyoto (luggage is delivered on day 5). Kyoto is considered the centre of Japanese culture and today’s city and the surrounding hills are dense with examples of art and architecture of the highest importance. First of five nights in Kyoto.
13–26 October 2017 (me 610) This tour is currently full 15–26 October 2018 (mf 247) 12 days • £6,080 International flights not included Lecturer: Dr Monika Hinkel Many of the finest collections of Japanese art, in museums and in situ in temples and shrines. World Heritage sites at Nikko, Kyoto, Nara and Horyu-ji, and the art island of Naoshima. Outstanding museum buildings by Tadao Ando, I.M. Pei and other leading architects. Also other aspects of Japanese culture, past and present, including gastronomy and gardens.
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In 2018, led by Dr Monika Hinkel, lecturer and curator in the field of Japanese art. Japan has one of the richest and most continuously active art traditions in Asia, perhaps anywhere. Some of the earliest known ceramics have been found here, as is the world’s oldest standing wooden building. But Japanese contemporary art also ranks with the best in the world and is eagerly imitated and avidly collected. Between those chronological poles is a wealth of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines from all periods, and some impressive military architecture. National, regional and private collections are to be found in great profusion throughout the country; Japan has a long and impressive lineage of art-historical scholarship and connoisseurship. Added to this in recent times have been a network of conservation and restoration labs and the latest technology for archaeological investigation. In short, despite the large number of wars and natural disasters that have periodically overwhelmed the country, 212
Japanese arts are to be enjoyed in extraordinary abundance. The great majority of important pieces remain in the country. Throughout history, Japan has tended to make a less emphatic division between art and craft than is the case in Western countries. Of equal rank alongside the ‘fine arts’ of painting and sculpture there are outstanding examples of ceramic, textile and metalwork, as well as uniquely beautiful gardens and a special aesthetic of food and eating. This tour exposes participants to Japan across the ages, sampling excellent works from many periods, genres and styles. As a deeply hierarchical society until modern times, there is ‘high’ art and ‘low’ art, from royal and shogunal works to that of the urban populace (the fabled ‘art of the floating world’). Modern Tokyo is part of the experience as well as the ancient capital of Kyoto, as are the yet more ancient city of Nara and the celebrated art colony of Naoshima in the Inland Sea. World Heritage sites figure on the tour, but we also visit less well-known sites such as ceramic studios and mausolea.
Itinerary in 2018 Day 1: Tokyo. The tour begins in Tokyo with lunch in the hotel. (Flights from London are not included – see ‘Practicalities’). In the afternoon there is a visit to the Edo-period Korakuen Garden, one of the oldest and best preserved in the city. First of three nights in Tokyo. Day 2: Tokyo. The morning is dedicated to the Tokyo National Museum, which occupies several buildings in Ueno Park and houses some of the finest Japanese art in the world. The main gallery (Honkan) traces the development from prehistoric, sculptural earthenware to exquisite paintings and decorative objects of courtly patronage. Nezu Kaichiro’s extraordinary and diverse collection of Japanese and other Asian arts is perfectly
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Day 5: Kyoto. Kyoto’s National Museum opened its Heisei Chishinkan wing in 2014, an impressive construction displaying ceramics, painting, sculpture, sumptuous textiles and much else. At the foot of the forested Higashiyama mountains the zen temple complex Nanzen-ji is distinguished by its massive gate (Sanmon) and the quarters of the abbacy (Hojo) which contain very fine 17thcentury painted screens (fusuma) by Kano Tan’yu. The Kodai-ji Temple is richly decorated with early 17th-century maki-e, gold and silver set in lacquer. Day 6: Nara and its environs. A full-day excursion to Nara, first capital of Japan (ad 710–794). Modelled on the Tang capital of Chang’an (Xi’an) in China, Nara was the birthplace of major cultural and religious development. Here Buddhism firmly established itself and prolific production of splendid temples and devotional art ensued, much of which is in situ. Here are some of the oldest wooden structures in the world. The temple of Todai-ji contains an arresting monumental bronze Buddha; the dry-lacquer and bronze statues of the Hokke-do and Kofuku Temple are sublime in their detail. Nearby Horyu-ji is Japan’s earliest Buddhist temple, founded ad 607. Day 7: Kyoto environs. A morning excursion to the Miho Museum, designed by I.M. Pei and harmoniously integrated into a forested nature reserve. The approach on foot via a tunnel and bridge leads to a glass structure on the crest of a hill and a sequence of luminous interiors incorporating traditional Japanese motifs. Collections include Greco-Roman and Islamic antiquities and important Japanese artworks. The Sanjusangen-do is an unusually long hall containing 1001 subtly differentiated 12th/13thcentury gilded statues of Kannon, divinity of Mercy, cumulatively a potent visual effect. The home of potter Kawai Kanjiro (d. 1966), a key figure in the folk art revival of the 1930s, is an intimate space furnished with his work and an intact ‘climbing’ kiln.
Day 8: Kyoto. The large walled temple compound of Daitoku-ji, established in the 14th century, is an important foundation of Japanese Zen. Its many sub-temples contain dry landscape gardens; one of the finest (and smallest) is in the Daisen-in, a Chinese ink-painting rendered in stone. The Raku Museum holds exhibitions of its eponymous ware, most often in the form of understated tea bowls. Nijo Castle, shogunal residence, has a lavish interior containing brilliantly painted fusuma (screens) by the Kano school. Day 9: Kyoto to Naoshima. Travel by coach from Kyoto to Uno and from there take the ferry across to Naoshima Island, located in the Inland Sea. Together with the islands of Teshima and Inujima, Naoshima forms part of the ‘Benesse Art Site’. A number of striking galleries by architect Tadao Ando and outdoor installations dot the landscape. First of two nights in Naoshima. Day 10: Naoshima. The Benesse House Museum is a vast structure of concrete, glass and natural light. In addition to works by contemporary Japanese artists, the collection includes works by Andy Warhol, David Hockney and Bruce Nauman. The Chichu Art Museum houses several Monet paintings as well as sculptures by Walter de Maria in underground spaces lit only by natural light. Day 11: Naoshima, Tokyo. The eponymous Lee Ufan Museum houses works by this Korean-born artist and is the latest addition to the collection of Benesse museums. The Art House Project is a collection of traditional buildings in the old fishing village of Honmura that have been restored and transformed by artists to house creative contemporary installations. Ferry to Uno and transfer to Okayama for the train to Tokyo (luggage is transferred separately). Overnight Tokyo.
Dr Monika Hinkel Lecturer and curator specialising in Japanese woodblock prints and Research Associate of the Japan Research Centre at SOAS. She studied at Bonn University, was curator for Japanese art at the Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne, and a researcher at Gakushuin University, Tokyo. She has lectured at Birkbeck, the V&A and Morley College.
Sea of Japan
Nikko
Japan Naoshima
Tokyo
Kyoto Osaka, Nara c. 200km
How strenuous? A good level of fitness is essential. Unless you enjoy entirely unimpaired mobility, cope with everyday walking and stair-climbing without difficulty and are reliably sure-footed, this tour is not for you. A rough indication of the minimum level of fitness required is that you ought to be able to walk briskly at about three miles per hour for at least half an hour, and undertake a walk at a more leisurely pace for an hour or two unaided. The tour involves a lot of standing in museums. Average distance by coach per day: c. 59 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
‘Very comprehensive, with lots of variety. The days were full without being exhausting.’ Illustrations. Left: ‘Makino Heinei gets blown away in the storm’, an illustration from ‘Ancient Tales & Folklore of Japan’ by R. Gordon Smith, 1908. Below: Japanese woodblock.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Day 12: Tokyo. The tour ends after breakfast. There is a transfer to the airport in time for the direct flight at 12.55pm from Tokyo Narita to London, arriving at c. 5.30pm (c. 12 ½ hours).
Practicalities in 2018 ASIA: JAPAN
Price per person. Two sharing: £6,080. Single occupancy: £7,070. Included meals: 8 lunches, 7 dinners with wine. Flights. International flights, from London to Tokyo and Tokyo to London, are not included in the price of the tour. We will send the recommended flight options with your confirmation of booking and ask that you make your own flight reservation. The cost of a World Traveller (economy) seat at the time of going to press is c. £980 and will be available to book in November 2017. Accommodation. Royal Park Shiodome, Tokyo (rph-the.co.jp/shiodome): 4-star hotel in the redeveloped district of Shiodome with wellappointed but small rooms. Celestine Kyoto Gion, Kyoto (celestinehotels.jp): 4-star hotel opening in 2017 in central Kyoto. Benesse House Hotel, Naoshima (benesse-artsite.jp): comfortable, modern hotel designed by Tadao Ando (subject to confirmation).
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Japanese Gardens Tokyo, Kyoto, Hikone, Nara and Kanazawa Day 2: Tokyo. At Edo, the daimyo (feudal lords) built grand residences with vast gardens. The 17thcentury landscape garden, Koishikawa Korakuen, reflects their sumptuous, eclectic tastes. Nezu Kaichiro’s collection of Far Eastern arts is well presented in the eponymous museum, which has a delightful wooded garden dotted with teahouses. In the afternoon, visit Kiyosumi, a superb, late19th-century landscape garden built for Iwasaki Yataro, founder of the Mitsubishi conglomerate. Day 3: Kyoto. Bullet train to Kyoto (luggage by road). In the afternoon, drive to the picturesque Arashiyama district west of the city, where the famed Togetsukyo Bridge crosses the Katsura River. Visit the 14th-century Tenryu-ji, a Zen Buddhist temple and its panoramic pond garden with a ‘dragon-gate’ waterfall. First of five nights in Kyoto.
8–20 November 2017 (me 676) This tour is currently full 25 October–5 November 2018 (mf 290) 12 days • £5,760 International flights not included Lecturer: Yoko Kawaguchi A study of the evolution of Japanese gardens through the centuries at the time of striking autumn colours. From Kyoto’s wealth of exquisite temple gardens to Tokyo’s hill-and-pond gardens with time in each city to explore other aspects of Japanese culture. Fine examples of ‘borrowed scenery’ at Nara, with its Buddhist temples and deer park, and Hikone Castle on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa.
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Led by Yoko Kawaguchi, cultural historian and author of Japanese Zen Gardens and Authentic Japanese Gardens. Japanese gardens possess an aura of timelessness, against which background the cycle of the seasons unfolds its pageantry. Throughout the 1,600-year-old Japanese tradition of creating gardens, the chief consideration has consistently been the depiction of a landscape. This approach to design was firmly established with the earliest gardens built in Japan during the fifth and sixth centuries under the expertise of architects and artisans from Korea and China, who introduced their scholarly taste for the elegant pond garden. From the continent, a variety of sacred landscapes deriving from Buddhist as well as Chinese religious cosmographies entered Japanese culture; Mt. Sumeru, the centre of the universe according to Buddhist legend, has frequently been represented through the centuries, as have been the Taoist Islands of the Blessed Immortals. Above all, the Japanese took the Chinese tradition of landscape gardens and transformed it 214
into an expression of their love for their own native natural landscapes. Verdant mountains sloping down to the sea; waterfalls and streamlets; rugged shores and shingle beaches; an ever-varying coastline of inlets, coves and jutting promontories – these have always provided a beloved subject matter. Trees and shrubs are carefully selected and arranged to create a seasonal palette, while ponds symbolise the sea, and the rocky outcrops set in them reflect the self-image of the Japanese as an island people. The idea of landscape links together the two major types of Japanese gardens: the pond garden, on the one hand, and the rock garden on the other, a style that emerged during the fifteenth century, in which serene and contemplative spaces are enhanced by the symbolic representation of water through the use of gravel. In the latter half of the following century, the great tea master Sen-no-Rikyu sought to reproduce the ambience of forest glades for his tea rooms. Lack of space has never been considered as an inhibiting factor, and through the judicious choice and symbolic placing of stones and plants, beautiful panoramic vistas have been created in the tiniest of gardens. This tour presents a variety of superb gardens from all periods of Japanese history, from the aristocratic ‘paradise’-style temple gardens and the enigmatic Zen Buddhist rock gardens of Kyoto, to the borrowed castle scenery at Hikone and the tea gardens of Kanazawa, to the amalgamation of all these various styles in the imposing gardens of the samurai elite in Tokyo. It offers an insight into the symbolism incorporated into the various styles and the opportunity to appreciate the relationship of gardens to the Japanese way of life.
Itinerary in 2018 Day 1: Tokyo. The tour begins in Tokyo with lunch in the hotel. (Flights from London are not included in 2018– see ‘Practicalities’). In the afternoon, visit the Imperial Palace (formerly Edo Castle), and the reconstructed East Palace Garden. First of two nights in Tokyo.
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Day 4: Kyoto. Ryoan-ji’s walled stone garden, with its fifteen boulders, is one of Japan’s most abstract gardens. Nearby, the garden of Kinkaku-ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion), a shogun’s villa later turned temple, retains aspects of the ‘paradise’ style. In the afternoon, visit the large walled temple compound of Daitoku-ji, many of whose subtemples possess notable examples of dry-landscape gardens. One of the finest is at Daisen-in, a miniature landscape heavily influenced by Chinese ink-brush paintings. Day 5: Nara. A full-day excursion to Nara, first capital of Japan (ad 710–794) and modelled on the Tang capital of Chang’an (Xi’an) in China. The 12th-century Joruri-ji has a rare surviving example of a paradise-style pond garden with a pagoda and hall with nine golden Buddhas. Much of Nara is parkland dotted with ancient temples including Todai-ji which contains an arresting monumental bronze Buddha. The nearby Isuien garden incorporates a borrowed vista of the surrounding hills. Day 6: Kyoto. Morning visit to Ginkaku-ji (Temple of the Silver Pavilion), where its pavilion overlooks an elaborate dry-landscape garden with raked gravel featuring an enigmatic flat-topped conical mound. Entsu-ji, in Kyoto’s northern hills, borrows a vista by incorporating nearby Mt Hiei. The superb garden at Chishaku-in resembles an unfolding landscape scroll painting, and Entoku-in is a flamboyant 17th-century garden in the lively Gion district. Day 7: Kyoto. Nanzen-ji is distinguished by its massive gate and quarters of the abbacy (Hojo) which contain very fine 17th-century painted screens (fusuma) by Kano Tan’yu. Together with its sub-temples, it contains important drylandscapes created by the eminent 17th-century tea master and garden designer Kobori Enshu. Nearby Murin-an, boasts a landscaped pond garden, a masterpiece of the late 19th-century garden designer Ogawa Jihei VII. Day 8: Hikone, Kanazawa. Drive to Hikone on the shores of Lake Biwa, and its two adjoining parks Genkyu-en and Rakuraku-en. Genkyu-en is a famous feudal landscaped garden incorporating the view of the early-17th-century keep at Hikone Castle. Continue to Kanazawa, an attractive city which retains much of its old character. First of two nights here.
Myanmar: Ancient to Modern History and landscape: Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay, Inle Lake Day 9: Kanazawa. Kenrokuen, one of Japan’s finest strolling landscape gardens, was created for the powerful local feudal lord of Kagawa. It has a superb view of its pine trees trained with rope in readiness for winter. The elegant villa Seisonkaku, which sits in the grounds, was built for the widow of the 12th-century lord and has wonderful courtyard gardens. The rest of the day is at leisure. Day 10: Kanazawa, Tokyo. The Nagamachi area has many surviving samurai houses, among them is Nomura House with a superb domestic garden. Visit Gyokusen-en for a tea ceremony (by special arrangement). There is free time in the Higashi geisha district with charming latticed wooden houses and centre for gold leaf, before boarding the bullet train to Tokyo (luggage by road). First of two nights in Tokyo. Day 12: Tokyo. The 18th-century Rikugi-en offers superb views over its lake. There is free time to explore the colourful, traditional Japanese area surrounding the Asakusa Kannon Temple. Take a local boat down the Sumida River to Hamarikyu, originally a tidal garden and hunting lodge belonging to the Tokugawa Shogunate and now a peaceful retreat in the heart of the metropolis. Day 13: Tokyo. The tour ends after breakfast. There is a transfer to the airport in time for the direct flight at 12.55pm from Tokyo Narita to London, arriving at c. 5.30pm (c. 12 ½ hours).
Practicalities in 2018 Price, per person. Two sharing: £5,760. Single occupancy: £6,940. Included meals: 8 lunches, 7 dinners, with wine. Flights. International flights, from London to Tokyo and Tokyo to London, are not included in the price of the tour. We will send the recommended flight options with your confirmation of booking and ask that you make your own flight reservation. The cost of a World Traveller (economy) seat at the time of going to press is c. £980 and will be available to book towards the end of November 2017.
How strenuous? A good level of fitness is essential. Unless you enjoy unimpaired mobility, cope with everyday walking and stair-climbing without difficulty and are reliably sure-footed, this tour is not for you. A rough indication of the minimum level of fitness required is that you ought to be able to walk briskly at about three miles per hour for at least half an hour, and undertake a walk at a more leisurely pace for an hour or two unaided. The tour involves a lot of walking in gardens. Average distance by coach per day: c. 44 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Illustrations. Left: tea garden at Nagasaki, Japan, wood engraving c. 1880. Right: Yangon, shrine on the platform of the Shwedagon Pagoda, watercolour by R. Talbot Kelly, publ. 1909.
Includes Myanmar’s most celebrated places as well as many less-visited sites.
Yangon is juxtaposed with the natural serenity of Inle Lake, imposing gilt Buddhist pagodas with nat spirit shrines. This carefully designed and original itinerary is not the usual tourist trail. Even though most of the items included are seen by most tourists, we usually handle the visit differently.
More time than most tours in Mandalay, Myanmar’s cultural capital, and Yangon.
Itinerary
Stay in luxurious hotels that complement their surroundings. Led by Dr John Clarke, curator of Buddhist and Himalayan art at the V&A Museum. Myanmar – or Burma, as it was called when ruled by the British – is a land of living history. Teak monasteries have withstood weathering and terracotta stupas have endured earthquakes while ancient customs have become woven into the fabric of contemporary daily life. The Myanmar we see today is a complex tapestry of the tangible and intangible, evocative vestiges of fallen kingdoms and empires and simple spirituality infusing quotidian concerns. From the eleventh-century Kingdom of Pagan to Mandalay, the last of Burma’s royal capitals, and on to colonial Yangon (Rangoon), the tour shows the whole gamut of material culture of the country, and reveals the influences that have shaped modern Myanmar. Theravada Buddhism has had an enormous influence on the country. The richest concentration of its art and architecture is to be found at Bagan. The building frenzy that occurred on these plains in the eleventh century coincided with King Anawratha’s unification of Burma and the region’s transition to Theravada Buddhist practice. Completed in 1057, Shwesandaw is square and squat, more temple than pagoda, far removed from the Indian models that inspired it. By the end of Anawratha’s reign a prototype for Burmese pagoda design had evolved. Over 3,000 monasteries and stupas survive from three centuries of construction, creating an unforgettable panorama. North-east from Bagan along the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River is Mandalay. This is the land of capitals; hilltop Sagaing, Amarapura, Ava and finally Mandalay itself have all been seats of power. Their legacy is clear to see. The Shwenandaw Kyaung is an exquisitely carved pavilion, formerly part of the royal palace, and close by is the unique mile-long bridge built across Taungthaman Lake by U Bein in 1850; the longest teak bridge in the world. Myanmar is renowned for its ethnic diversity and has 135 distinct groups within its borders. Inle Lake is home to the Intha people who carry on a way of life barely changed for centuries –houses are raised over the water on stilts, crops are grown on floating beds of water-weed and monks are paddled in wooden canoes from home to home to collect their daily alms. In the surrounding villages young boys conduct their Shin Byu, or novitiation ceremony, regaled in golden robes and drawn on brightly decorated bullock carts on their way to the monastery. This tour tries to present the essence of Myanmar, offering an insight into this mysterious ancient land that only recently has opened to the modern world. The faded grandeur of colonial
Day 1: London to Yangon. Fly at c. 11.50am from London Heathrow to Yangon via Bangkok (Thai Airways) where there is a two-hour stop. Those not taking our group flight from London can check in at the Yangon hotel from 2.00pm. Day 2: Yangon. Reach the hotel c. 11.30am (time difference from the UK is 6½ hours). The rest of the day is free until an afternoon visit to Shwedagon Pagoda. This dreamlike structure, in existence by the 11th century, rises 325 feet into the air and is covered with over 50 tonnes of gold leaf. First of two nights in Yangon. Day 3: Yangon. This morning’s walk provides a survey of the colonial core of Yangon’s (formerly Rangoon’s) administrative buildings, including the Secretariat, site of General Aung San’s assassination in July 1947, and the Inland Waterways Department, former home of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company. In the afternoon visit the National Museum housing the Lion Throne, and Bogyoke Aung San Museum, the family home of Aung San Suu Kyi.
ASIA: JAPAN, MYANMAR
Accommodation. New Otani, Tokyo (newotani. co.jp): 5-star hotel in the centre. It has a historical garden dating from the 17th century. Celestine Kyoto Gion, Kyoto (celestinehotels.jp): 4-star hotel opening in 2017 in central Kyoto. Tokyu Hotel, Kanazawa (tokyuhotelsjapan.com) 4-star hotel, walking distance from the former samurai district.
1–12 February 2018 (me 752) 12 days • £5,570 Lecturer: Dr John Clarke
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Myanmar: Ancient to Modern continued
Day 4: Bagan. Fly from Yangon to Bagan at c. 8.50am (Air KBZ). Visit Ananda Temple. On a Greek cross plan, it is one of the four great Buddhist monuments of Myanmar. After lunch by the banks of the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River, explore Bagan’s smaller, less visited pagodas and stupas. Some of these display fine murals and stucco work. First of two nights in Bagan. Day 5: Mount Popa. South-east of Bagan rises lush Mount Popa, home of the nats: spirit gods, part of an intricate web of animism that exists alongside Buddhism. A walk through Popa village visits these shrines and reveals how nat culture is deeply ingrained. In the afternoon there is free time to revisit the pagodas and temples of Bagan.
ASIA: MYANMAR
Day 6: Mandalay. Fly at c. 10.30am to Mandalay (Air KBZ). After lunch take a leisurely boat ride along the Ayeyarwady to Mingun. It was here that King Bodawpaya began constructing a mammoth pagoda; should it have been finished it would have stood 150 metres high. The bell accompanying the pagoda was the heaviest functioning bell in the world at several times in history. Dinner takes the form of a barbeque on a sandbank. First of three nights in Mandalay. Day 7: Amarapura, Sagaing. Amarapura Mahagandayon Kyaung is an important teaching monastery home to some 1300 monks and novices. Walk across U Bein’s teak bridge, built in 1850 from teak reclaimed from Inwa palace. In the afternoon, continue to Sagaing Hill. U Min Thonze has 45 Buddha images, one for each stage of his life, as well as offering views over Mandalay city. Day 8: Mandalay. This morning focuses on Mandalay’s royal centre. Shwenandaw Kyaung, or the Golden Palace Monastery, was orginally part of King Mindon’s palace. It was dismantled 216
and moved to its current location by his son, Thibaw Min, in 1880. The image of the Buddha at Mahamuni temple was brought from Arakan in modern Rakhine State and was reportedly embraced by Gautama Siddartha himself.
Practicalities
Day 9: Pindaya, Inle Lake. Fly at c.8.50am from Mandalay to Heho (Air KBZ). A beautiful drive leads to Pindaya cave where some 6,000 Buddha images are arranged among stalagmites. After lunch, continue to Inle Lake, which we reach by motorised canoe. First of two nights on Inle Lake.
Included meals: 8 lunches, 8 dinners, with wine.
Day 10: Inle Lake. The day is spent on the lake, travelling by motorised canoe. A five-day market circulates around the lake where farmers from the surrounding Shan mountains and fishermen congregate to sell their wares. Phaung Daw U pagoda is one of Myanmar’s principle shrines, with five golden Buddha images. Nga Phe Monastery contains fine carved Buddhas representing the diverse regional styles of Myanmar art. Day 11: Yangon. Fly at c. 11.10am from Heho to Yangon (Air KBZ). After lunch there is free time for a return visit to Shwedagon Pagoda or Bogyoke Market (formerly Scott’s Market). In the evening there is a private viewing and dinner at Deitta Gallery. Located in a colonial building in downtown Yangon, this not-for-profit organisation supports independent documentary projects focusing on the social landscape of Myanmar. Overnight in Yangon. Day 12: Yangon. After a 1½ hour stop over in Bangkok, the flight arrives at London Heathrow at c. 7.35pm.
Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £5,570 or £5,060 without flights. Single occupancy: £6,820 or £6,310 without flights. Visas: required for most foreign nationals, and not included in the tour price. We will advise all participants on the process. Accommodation. Belmond Governor’s Residence, Yangon (belmond.com): 5-star coverted colonial-style 1920s mansion in the embassy quarter. Bagan Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort, Bagan (thiripyitsaya-resort.com): a luxury resort located on the Ayeyarwady River, walking distance from the pagodas. Hotel by the Red Canal, Mandalay (hotelredcanal.com): boutique hotel in the centre of Mandalay. Sanctum Inle Resort, Inle Lake (sanctum-inle-resort.com): luxury resort in the backwaters of Inle lake. How strenuous? A good level of fitness is essential. Unless you enjoy entirely unimpaired mobility, cope with everyday walking and stair-climbing without difficulty and are reliably sure-footed, this tour is not for you. A rough indication of the minimum level of fitness required is that you ought to be able to walk briskly at about three miles per hour for at least half an hour, and undertake a walk at a more leisurely pace for an hour or two unaided. The tour involves a lot of walking. There are four internal flights and embarking and disembarking boats requires stability. Average distance by coach per day: c. 22 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Above: Mandalay, wood engraving from ‘The Graphic’ 1880.
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Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235.
Samarkand & Silk Road Cities with Khiva, Bukhara, Tashkent & Shakhrisabz 15–25 May 2018 (me 841) 11 days/10 nights • £3,490 Lecturer: Dr Peter Webb 4–14 September 2018 (mf 101) 11 days/10 nights • £3,490 Lecturer: Professor James Allan 2–12 October 2018 (mf 202) Exclusively for solo travellers 11 days/10 nights • £3,570 Lecturer: Professor Charles Melville The best of Uzbekistan and some of the most glorious sights in the Islamic world. Led by experts in Central Asian archaeology and history. Magnificent mosques and madrassas, acres of wonderful wall tiles, intact streetscapes, memorable landscapes. Remote, difficult to access, remarkably unspoilt.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 9.30pm (Uzbekistan Airways) from London Heathrow for the 7-hour flight to Tashkent (currently the only direct flight from London). Day 2: Tashkent. Touch-down c. 8.30am. Hotel rooms in the centre of Tashkent are at your disposal for the morning. Afternoon drive around the city centre, a modern city with wide avenues, spacious parks and glistening new government buildings. Among the places seen are the Hazret Imam complex, a group of mosques and madrassas (seminaries) from the 16th to the 20th centuries
and Independence Square, home to government buildings and the Monument of Independence. Overnight Tashkent. Day 3: Tashkent to Samarkand. High-speed train at 8.00am from Tashkent to Samarkand (duration: 2 hours; luggage transferred separately). Begin with the Registan, ‘the noblest public square in the world’ (Lord Curzon, 1889), bounded on three sides by magnificent madrassas of the 15th and 17th centuries. Also seen are the Gur Emir Mausoleum, burial place of Timur, and the Bibi Khanum Mosque, commissioned by Timur in honour of his wife, an impressive exercise in gigantism despite partial destruction and over-zealous restoration. First of three nights in Samarkand.
Day 4: Shakhrisabz. Cross the Hisor Mountains (by car; coaches are not permitted), a dramatic drive with long views down the sun-baked valley the other side. Shakhrisabz was transformed by Timur (1336–1405) whose home town it was. An astounding survival is the most imposing palace portal in the history of architecture, an arch 22 metres wide with a wondrous range of tiled decoration. Further Timurid remnants include a mosque complex with three turquoise domes. Day 5: Samarkand. Visit Shah-i-Zinda, an ensemble of mausolea gorgeously apparelled in many types of dazzling glazed tiles, the Afrosiab History Museum, which documents pre-Islamic Samarkand, and the remains of the extraordinary observatory built by Ulug Bek in the 15th century. Optional excursions to a silk weaving workshop and a tour of Samarkand’s Russian architecture. Day 6: from Samarkand to Bukhara. A 5-hour drive, reaching Bukhara in time for lunch. The afternoon walk begins in the social heart of the city, the Lyab-i Hauz square built around a 15thcentury pool and flanked by the Nadir Divanbegi Madrassa and Khanaga. Time for tea under the mulberry trees. Continue to Central Asia’s oldest surviving mosque, Magok-i-Attari. First of three nights in Bukhara. Illustration: Uzbek tile decoration.
Day 7: Bukhara. Genghis Khan ensured in 1220 that with notable exceptions (including the Kalon Minaret, at 48 metres then the tallest in the world) little of Bukhara’s first golden age remains, but of the second, the 15th and 16th centuries, there survives much magnificent architecture, lavishly embellished. Today’s walks take in the vast Kalon Mosque (finished 1514) with a capacity of 10,000, several grand madrassas, the formidable citadel of the Khans and the Zindan, their infamous prison. Day 8: Bukhara. The perfectly preserved 10thcentury Samani Mausoleum displays exquisite brickwork. From here walk through the park to the Bolo Hauz Mosque with a particularly elegant patio of timber columns. The Emir’s summer palace, 1911, is a riotous mix of Russian and Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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ASIA: UZBEKISTAN
Oxiana, Tartary, Turkestan, Khiva, Bukhara, Samarkand: names to produce a frisson. They evoke alluring images of shimmering turquoise domes and exquisite glazed wall tiles, of lost libraries and renowned scholars, of the delicious decadence of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, of gardens, poetry and wine, of the fabulous riches of the Silk Road between China and Christendom. Less agreeable images are also induced: of Ghengis Khan and Timur (Tamerlane), the most far-reaching conquerors in history; of the tyranny and cruelty of the khans, perpetuating the last redoubts of mediaeval misrule; of the Great Game, the 19th-century Cold War between Britain and Russia; of terrain as hostile as the tribesmen and petty tyrants who inhabited its desert and mountain fastnesses; and of a post-Soviet penumbra of Stans of suspect politics and allegiances. The four cities of the subtitle lie now in Uzbekistan, independent since 1991 but an entity that has its origins in late 19th-century Russian imperialism, which agglomerated a number of independent khanates, and whose borders were settled in the 1920s. It lies at the very centre of Central Asia. One of only two double landlocked nations in the world, it has a capital that is a thousand miles north of the Indian Ocean (Afghanistan and Pakistan intervene), 1,400 miles east of the Black Sea and 400 miles from Xinjiang, China’s largely Islamic western province. This is as the crow flies; extremes of topography and climate – as well as banditry – slowed or terminated the progress of many travellers. A slave-trading oasis khanate, Khiva was, and remains, the smallest of the four cities. It is perhaps the most intact and homogenous urban ensemble in the Islamic world, with biscuit-coloured brick and blue and turquoise maiolica. In Bukhara, gorgeously adorned architecture spanning a thousand years still rises above a streetscape of indeterminate age. Samarkand has the largest and most resplendently caparisoned historic buildings of all. There are also visits to Shakhrisabz, which has breathtaking remains of Timur’s palace, and to Tashkent, the spacious modern capital with good
museums and galleries. Space is not at a premium in this part of the world. Broad tree-lined boulevards encircle the historic town centres and no expanding girdle of high-rise apartments disfigures the approach. Modernity has made relatively unobtrusive inroads and the whitewashed villages and farmsteads with their awnings of vines would hold few surprises for Tolstoy. It is not unusual to see women in traditional costume, brightly coloured ankle-length dresses, and also some of the older men. In the wake of economic liberalisation since independence, streets and courtyards are draped with the dazzling hues of carpets and textiles; the glories of the Silk Road in its heyday are not hard to imagine.
Samarkand & Silk Road Cities continued
Practicalities Price, per person in May & October 2018. Two sharing: £3,490 or £2,870 without all flights. Single occupancy: £3,760 or £3,140 without all flights. Price, per person in September 2018 (exclusively for solo travellers): £3,570 or £2,950 without all flights. Included meals: 10 lunches, 9 dinners, with wine. Internal flight: the flight between Urgench and Tashkent is not included in our ‘without flights’ price. We can book this on your behalf quoting the price at the time, or you can choose to book this independently. If the latter, we recommend you book as soon as possible as if this flight is sold out, it will not be possible for you to join the group. Please also note that the flight schedule between Urgench and Tashkent can vary and is not confirmed until c. 6 months before the tour departs. The hotel stay on day 10 will either be in Khiva or Tashkent depending on this schedule.
traditional Bukharan decoration with rose garden, aviary and swimming pool. Free afternoon with the option to visit Chor Bakr, a memorial complex built over the burial place of Abu-Bakr, a descendant of the prophet Mohammed.
ASIA: UZBEKISTAN
Day 9: from Bukhara to Khiva. The 280-mile journey starts and finishes in an unspoilt landscape of green fields, plentiful trees and adobe farmsteads, while the central section is undulating desert, specked with tufty shrubs that are briefly green in the spring. There are periodic sightings of the meandering Oxus, the mighty river crossed by Alexander the Great in 329 bc. Reach Khiva in time for a walk before dinner. First of two nights in Khiva. Day 10: Khiva. No modern intrusions spoil the timeless fabric within a rectangle of crenellated
and turreted ramparts. Most of the buildings are 19th-century, but such was Khiva’s isolation and conservatism that to the inexpert eye they could date to any time from the 16th century. The Friday Mosque, a forest of carved wooden columns some dating to the 10th century, the Tash Hauli Palace, whose harem quarters constitute the loveliest secular spaces in Central Asia, and the Paklavan Mahmoud Mausoleum where tiled interiors reach a peak of opulence. Second of two nights in Khiva/overnight in Tashkent (this is dependent on domestic flight schedules). Day 11: from Khiva to London. Drive a short distance to Urgench before a morning internal flight to Tashkent. Morning visits include the Fine Arts Museum with collections from pre-Islamic sculpture to 20th-century painting and the Chorsu Bazaar. The 4.00pm flight from Tashkent arrives at Heathrow c. 8.00pm.
Illustration: Khiva, Grand Minaret, wood engraving c. 1880.
K A Z A K H S TA N
Uzbekistan
K Y R G Y Z S TA N
Khiva
Tashkent
Bukhara
T U R K M E N I S TA N
TA J I K I S TA N
c. 200 km
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Accommodation. Hotels on this tour can be subject to change. We use what we consider the best available but once out of Tashkent choice is limited. Lotte City Hotel Tashkent Palace (lottehotel. com): spacious, opulent and comfortable. Madrassa Mukhammad Hotel, Khiva: converted madrassa, impressively restored, each room a former student’s cell opening onto the courtyard. Omar Khayyam Hotel, Bukhara: excellent location in the centre of the old city, adequately comfortable, or Hotel Asia, Bukhara: also located in the old part of the city with attractive gardens. City Hotel, Samarkand: small (27 rooms), friendly hotel, refurbished in 2016 or Hotel Sultan, Samarkand: also small and recently refurbished, with rooftop terrace. How strenuous? This is a long and demanding tour which begins with an overnight flight. You will be on your feet a lot, walking and standing around – sometimes on exposed sites in warm temperatures. The tour would not be suitable for anyone with difficulties with everyday walking and stair climbing. There are very long journeys on two of the days but many days with minimal driving. The average distance by coach per day is 56 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Samarkand Shahrisabz
Visas: British citizens and most other foreign nationals require a tourist visa. This is not included in the price of the tour. Visa applications can only begin three months before the tour departs. UK residents will need to submit passports to the Consular section of the Uzbekistan Embassy in London prior to departure. Processing times are approx. 10 working days. Citizens of Australia and New Zealand have their visas issued at Tashkent airport but will need to apply for a letter of invitation within three months of the departure date via Martin Randall Travel. Other nationalities should check their entry requirements with the relevant authorities.
book online at www.martinrandall.com
In September, combine this tour with: Classical Greece, 15–24 September 2018 (p.91). Or in October with: Civilizations of Sicily, 15–27 October 2018 (p.142).
The Making of Argentina A creative history from the Atlantic to the Andes 25 October–7 November 2018 (mf 296) 14 days • £7,180 Lecturer: Chris Moss A comprehensive overview of history, politics, art, architecture, gastronomy, and music.
between native identity and nationhood, indigenous traditions and imported values. We also sample the country’s famous wines in Cafayate, south of Salta, where vines grow at altitude. Huge alternations in temperature favour small-grained grapes with a high concentration of aromas and flavours.
Spectacular scenery and geology in the Calchaquí Valleys.
Itinerary
Delicious high-altitude wines of Bodega Colomé and Cafayate. A private tango show in Café Tortoni. Led by Chris Moss, journalist, author and former resident of Buenos Aires.
Day 2: Buenos Aires. Arrive at Buenos Aires Ezeiza airport at 9.00am. Rooms will be ready to allow for some time to rest before lunch and a lecture. Walk to the nearby Recoleta cemetery, with its architecturally diverse and ornate tombs, burial place of many of the country’s leaders and cultural figures, including Eva Perón. Day 3: Buenos Aires. Walk down the grand Avenida de Mayo, with fine belle-époque architecture, to the Casa Rosada, seat of the government of Argentina. Tour its beautiful interiors and gain further insight into the country’s history and politics. In the afternoon see the neoclassical cathedral and the Manzana de las Luces, an 18th-cent. Jesuit centre of culture and learning. There is the possibility of an evening performance at the Teatro Colón, with one of the world’s best acoustics (programmes announced in February 2018). Day 4: Buenos Aires. Explore Latin American art at the Museo de Bellas Artes and modern art gallery, MALBA. Trace the life and work of Eva Perón at the Museo Evita, housed in a 1923 mansion that belonged to her social foundation.
Day 5: San Antonio de Areco, Pampas. Journey outside the city to the Pampas grasslands to discover gaucho history and culture in the delightful town of San Antonio de Areco, home to renowned silversmiths. Enjoy an Argentine beef lunch, grilled in front of you at a majestic estancia in the countryside, surrounded by horses and cattle. Day 6: Córdoba. Fly at midday from Buenos Aires to Córdoba (1 hour 30 minutes, LATAM). Visit on arrival the country’s first university, founded by the Jesuits in 1610, and their most historic church, Templo de la Compañía de Jesús, dating to 1675. Overnight in Córdoba. Day 7: Córdoba. Drive into the countryside to see the Jesuit estancias of Jesús María, famous for its wine production, and Santa Catalina with its splendid church. Fly in the late afternoon to Salta (1 hour 30 minutes, Aérolineas Argentinas). First of two nights in Salta. Day 8: Salta. A day to explore the charming town of Salta with its fine colonial and neoclassical architecture. The rose-coloured cathedral houses the tomb of another Argentine liberator, General Güemes, while the italianate church of San Francisco was designed by Luigi Giorgi. Salta’s excellent archaeological museum presents the incredible Inca ritual of child sacrifice. Free afternoon and evening lecture by a local expert on the geology of the Calchaquí Valleys, in preparation for the onward journey. Illustration: Buenos Aires, wood engraving c. 1880.
AMERICAS: ARGENTINA
Tango, Evita, Las Malvinas, Maradona, meat and Malbec… much about Argentina is familiar to many of us, and yet it remains something of an enigma. It’s about as far from Europe as a South American country can be, and yet is famously – or perhaps infamously – European in so many regards. Argentina is South America’s second-biggest country and the eighth-largest in the world, ranking between India and Kazakhstan. Yet it has a population smaller than that of Spain and its economic power has more often than not brought it woe instead of wealth. After giving the continent one of its great liberators, José de San Martín, the country was plunged into decades of civil war. For much of the twentieth century, military dictators and populists squandered the nation’s huge potential and repressed its citizens. How has this decline been managed, and how did Argentines manage to retain their creative vigour and distinctive glamour? What about Argentina’s relationship with the UK, an important trading partner, builder of South America’s most ambitious railway network and colonialist villain in the Falkland Islands? When and how did the remote backwater of Buenos Aires emerge to become a world-class city? Is ‘Paris of South America’ anything other than a nostalgialaden nickname? This tour aims to forge an understanding of Argentina through its multi-layered history and multi-faceted culture. Starting in Buenos Aires, we visit aspiring cities and civic palaces, museums and art galleries, cafés and steakhouses, and the necropolis where Evita is entombed alongside the society figures she spurned. It’s a short hop from the capital to the pampas, one of the world’s great breadbaskets and stockyards, and the backdrop against which the figure of the gaucho emerged. Follow the old Camino Real or Royal Highway, that once connected Buenos Aires with the silver mines of Alto Peru and the seats of Spanish power. In the northwest visit the Jesuit ranches and religious sites of Córdoba, Argentina’s second city. From here, continue towards the Andes to survey a pre-Columbian site at Quilmes, see the cactusstrewn landscapes of the Calchaquí Valleys and visit the colonial treasures of Salta. Along the way, we taste the criollo cuisines of the pampas as well as the foods of the Andean Valleys, many of which have their origins in pre-Hispanic societies. As with so many aspects of Argentine reality, from music to literature to religion, there has been a complex interplay
Day 1. Fly at c. 10.15pm (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Buenos Aires. Those not taking our flights from London may check in from 3.00pm today.
Private tango show in the early evening at Café Tortoni, dating to 1858, frequented by Carlos Gardel as well as other painters, writers, artists and musicians.
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The Making of Argentina continued
Lands of the Maya Maya civilization ancient and modern in Mexico and Guatemala
Day 9: Calchaquí Valleys, Cachi, Molinos. In two minibuses drive through the dramatic and constantly changing scenery of the Calchaquí Valleys (c. 4 hours 30 minutes). From lush green countryside and deep red mountains, through fields covered in thousands of giant cacti we reach the tiny and pretty town of Cachi with a small archaeological museum. Continue to our hotel in Molinos, opposite the 18th-century church. Overnight in Molinos. Day 10: Bodega Colomé, Cafayate. Nestled deep in vine-clad hills, drive to Bodega Colomé for a tasting and lunch with their aromatic and flavourful wines. Owner Donald Hess has combined his love of wine and art by building a James Turrell museum on-site, a fascinating playground of light and space. The drive to Cafayate (c. 3 hours) reveals yet more astonishing geological features. First of two nights in Cafayate. Day 11: Quilmes, Cafayate. Morning excursion to the pre-Inca remains at Quilmes. Inhabited from the 9th century ad, its 3000 inhabitants resisted evangelisation and enslavement resulting in bitter punishment. Taste some of Cafayate’s best wines, including lunch in the vineyards of El Porvenir, spectacular views at Yacochuya and dinner at our hotel, owned by El Esteco. Day 12: Cafayate to Buenos Aires. Another breathtaking drive through the reds, ochres and pinks of the Cafayate gorge (c. 4 hours 30 minutes). Return to Salta for a flight to Buenos Aires (2 hours, LATAM) and a final dinner in the capital. Day 13: Buenos Aires. Take an afternoon flight departing from Buenos Aires Ezeiza airport at c. 2.15pm. Day 14. Land at London Heathrow at c. 6.30am.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £7,180 or £6,270 without international flights. Single occupancy: £7,990 or £7,080 without international flights. Included meals: 8 lunches, 9 dinners, with wine.
AMERICAS: ARGENTINA, GUATEMALA, MEXICO
Music: we hope to be able to secure tickets to a performance at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Programme details and tickets to be released in February 2018. Accommodation. The Brick Hotel, Buenos Aires (accorhotels.com): modern 5-star hotel in the elegant La Recoleta district. Hotel Windsor, Córdoba (windsortower.com): functional 4-star with a good restaurant, centrally located. Solar de la Plaza, Salta (solardelaplaza.com.ar): 4-star hotel in a converted neoclassical mansion with spacious rooms. Hacienda de Molinos (haciendademolinos. com.ar): simple 3-star hotel with rooms around pretty, shaded courtyards. Patios de Cafayate (patiosdecafayate.com): 4-star hotel with the feel of a colonial estate. How strenuous? This is a long tour that involves a lot of walking and standing. Drives in the northwest are long, roads are not paved and the terrain dictates travel by minibus. Cachi sits at an altitude of 2531 metres above sea level. Average distance by coach per day: 63 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. 220
5–21 March 2018 (me 770) 17 days • £6,120 Lecturer: Professor Norman Hammond Magnificent Maya cities including Chichén Itzá, Palenque and Tikal, with time also for the little visited. An insight into modern Maya life: customs, religion and colourful handicrafts. Splendid colonial architecture. Spectacular scenery: jungle, lakeside, coastal and volcanic. Led by a leading authority on Maya civilization, Professor Norman Hammond. Ever since explorers revealed the existence of their jungle-clad ruins in the 1840s, the ‘lost’ civilization of the Maya has been a cause of astonishment and speculation. For while Europe was struggling through the ‘Dark Ages’, Maya peoples were enjoying the apogée of their civilization in seemingly the most unlikely of places – the rainforests of Central America. With organisational skills that can only be the product of a highly sophisticated society, the Maya created magnificent cities replete with elegant palaces, mighty temples and broad plazas studded with carved stelae and altars. They were great mathematicians and astronomers who conceived one of the most complex and accurate calendars the world has known. They also devised an elaborate and beautiful system of hieroglyphic writing, the only fully-developed written language in the pre-Columbian Americas. Maya art was complex and loaded with arcane symbolism, yet to our sensibilities it appears remarkably naturalistic and accessible. All this was achieved by a people still technically in the Stone Age and who, despite many colourful theories to the contrary, developed in complete isolation from the civilizations of the ‘Old World’, of Europe and Asia.
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Until some forty years ago a powerful mystique had grown up about the Maya. They were thought to have been a peaceable society of independent cities governed by priest-kings who devoted their days to astronomy and divination on behalf of their people. Today, however, this image has been dramatically changed by the continuing discoveries of archaeologists and by one of the great investigative triumphs of the century, the decipherment of Maya writing. Visitors to the great Maya cities can learn of their changing fortunes over almost a thousand years in extraordinary detail. We now know the history of the royal families and can also understand the essentials of Maya religious beliefs and how Maya rulers saw themselves, like Egyptian pharaohs, as god-kings on earth whose elaborate rituals of blood-letting and sacrifice sustained the Maya world. In the tenth century ad the heartland of Maya civilization in the tropical forests collapsed. Construction in the great cities ceased, temples and palaces were invaded by the jungle. It now seems that environmental disaster – land clearance under population pressure exacerbated by severe droughts – was a major factor. But this was not quite the end, as new cities emerged in other areas, such as Uxmal and Chichén Itzá in the north of the Yucatán peninsula, which continued in much reduced form until extirpation by Conquistadores and missionaries in the sixteenth century. Today there are some six million speakers of Maya languages, the largest group of native Americans north of Panama. They reveal a distinctive living culture, an intriguing mixture of both ancient beliefs and practices adopted since the Spanish conquest.
Itinerary Day 1: Cancún. Fly at c. 10.45am from London Gatwick direct to Cancún with British Airways, arriving in time for a light dinner. Those not taking our flights can check in from 4.00pm today. Overnight Cancún.
Martin Randall Travel is a member of LATA – the Latin American Travel Association, the authoritative voice in the UK for Latin American Travel and Tourism.
Day 2: Ek’ Balam, Chichén Itzá. The little-visited site of Ek’ Balam is known for its defensive walls and well-preserved stucco sculpture. Situated in the Northern Lowlands, Chichén Itzá was the New Rome of the Maya world, where Maya culture was reborn in a different guise that was to last until the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors in the 16th cent. Prominent among the constructions here is El Castillo pyramid, simple in appearance but functioning as a complex Maya calendar. See also the great ball court, El Caracól observatory and the sacred well. First of two nights in Mérida. Day 3: Mérida. Morning walk through the colonial centre including the cathedral and main square. The 19th cent. Palacio del Gobierno houses impressive murals by local artist Fernando Castro Pacheco depicting the violent struggle of the Maya against the Spanish. The new Museum of the Maya World contains c. 500 artefacts including sculpture, jewellery and ceramics. Free afternoon. Day 4: Uxmal, Campeche. Uxmal arose towards the end of lowland Maya civilization but was abandoned around ad 900. Here are to be found some of the most beautiful of Maya buildings, distinguished by their long and low proportions and characterised by elaborate stone mosaics on the façades. Continue to Kabah, with its eccentric Palace of the Masks. The night is spent in the charming colonial city of Campeche, with historic defences. Day 5: Edzná, Palenque. Little visited Edzná has the longest building in the Maya world and an impressive five-story pyramid. Drive south to Palenque (c. 8 hours including stops) for the first of three nights. Day 6: Palenque. Enjoying a magnificent location in the jungle of the foothills of Chiapas, Palenque rose to a dominant position through war and marriage alliances in the Late Classic period, ad 600 to 800. The sculpture found here is particularly outstanding. The largest structure, the Temple of the Inscriptions, housed the spectacular tomb of the great ruler Pacal.
Day 11: Guatemala City, Panajachel. Early morning flight to Guatemala City to visit the Archaeological Museum, a major collection of Maya art and artefacts. From here drive west to Panajachel, splendidly situated on the shores of Lake Atitlán. First of three nights in Panajachel.
Practicalities
Day 12: Santiago de Atitlán. Early morning boat trip across this spectacular lake (which is surrounded by volcanoes) to the traditional Maya town of Santiago de Atitlán. Here the curious wooden effigy of Maximón is still worshipped and can be visited in his ‘house’.
Included meals: 10 lunches, 14 dinners, with wine.
Day 13: Chichicastenango. Optional morning excursion to Chichicastenango, with its centuriesold, colourful market. The wide range of wares reflect the local traditions of weaving and woodcarving. An interesting mix of Maya and Catholic worship takes place in the church of Santo Tomás. Day 14: Iximché, Antigua Guatemala. Iximché is an excellent example of a Late Postclassic site, established c. 1470 with three plazas, temples, palaces and ball courts, and with defences which were stormed by the Spanish under Pedro de Alvarado in 1524. Continue to Antigua, the splendid, colonial capital of Guatemala for the first of two nights. Day 15: Antigua Guatemala. Though shattered by earthquakes in 1773, much of Antigua’s old fabric survives. See colonial architecture of great charm and impressive Baroque churches, some of which still remain in picturesque ruin. Day 16: Antigua Guatemala. Drive to Guatemala City for an early afternoon flight to Miami. Change planes here for an overnight flight to London. Day 17. Arrive at London Heathrow at c. 10.30am. Please note this tour departs from London Gatwick and returns to London Heathrow.
Price, per person. Two sharing: £6,120 or £5,540 without flights on days 1 and 16. Single occupancy: £6,700 or £6,120 without flights on days 1 and 16. Accommodation. JW Marriott, Cancún (marriott.co.uk/cancun): modern, comfortable resort hotel. Hotel Gran Real Yucatán, Mérida (granrealyucatan.com): modern hotel in a converted 19th cent. house, centrally located. Hotel Plaza Campeche, Campeche (hotelplazacampeche.com): functional and comfortable; in a colonial building. Hotel Villa Mercedes, Palenque (hotelesvillamercedes.com): well-maintained hotel near the site. Hotel Villa Maya, Flores (villasdeguatemala.com): low rise bungalows beside a lake, surrounded by jungle. Hotel Atitlán, Panajachel (hotelatitlan.com): located on the shores of the lake; beautiful gardens and views. Hotel Casa Santo Domingo Antigua (casasantodomingo.com.gt): restored colonial hotel. All hotels are locally rated as 4- or 5-star. How strenuous? Though the itinerary has been planned to be less strenuous than most tours to the region, it must be stressed that the tour is nevertheless quite taxing, with some long drives, some early starts and frequent changes of hotel. Many of the archaeological sites are vast, located in humid jungle and on rough ground. The tour should not be undertaken by anyone who has the slightest problem with everyday walking and stair-climbing, or who is not sure-footed. Average distance by coach per day: 89 miles. Group size: between 14 and 22 participants. Illustrations. Left: Mexican pueblo, watercolour by Mortimer Menpes publ. 1903. Below: Glyphs from the altar of the Temple of the Sun, engraving c. 1840.
AMERICAS: GUATEMALA, MEXICO
Day 7: Bonampak. The small site of Bonampak has remarkably well-preserved murals with graphic scenes of royal rituals, a savage battle and sacrifice of the captives. Day 8. Most of the day is occupied with driving from Mexico into Guatemala (c. 7 hours), the destination being the small town of Flores on the shores of Lake Petén Itzá. Stop here for refreshments before continuing to the hotel. Day 9: Yaxhá. In the Petén jungle of the Guatemalan lowlands the huge city of Yaxhá is surrounded by lakes and teeming with wildlife. Its forty stelae and nine pyramids date from the Preclassic and Classic era. Day 10: Tikal. Even bigger than Yaxhá, Tikal was a thriving metropolis of maybe 100,000 at its height. Its massive pyramid-temples still pierce the forest canopy making it architecturally the grandest of all Maya cities. One of the great powers of the Maya world, its changing fortunes over almost a thousand years can be followed in the hieroglyphs. Progressive clearance and excavation have revealed an intricate pattern of urban planning. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Peru: the Andean Heartland Pre-Columbian to present day
6–21 September 2018 (mf 107) 16 days • £6,930 International flights not included Lecturer: Dr David Beresford-Jones A thorough exploration of pre-Columbian civilisations in Peru: Chachapoya, Moche, Chimú, Inca. The lecturer, Dr David Beresford-Jones, is a fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge.
AMERICAS: PERU
Stay on site at Machu Picchu and visit at quieter times. Lesser-visited sites of northern Peru are included, including remote Kuelap, only recently made more accessible by cable car. See spectacular Andean scenery, and sample this country’s world famous cuisine. Of all the world’s vanished civilisations, few evoke as much mystique as the Incas of Peru. Stumbled upon and shattered by a handful of Spanish adventurers in 1538, the Inca Empire was the last great pristine civilisation on earth – a current aside from the mainstream of human history. Tawantinsuyu (the ‘Four Realms Together’), as the Incas called their empire, had been conquered with neither pen nor sword. In many senses ‘Neolithic’, it was administered through the khipu, a recordkeeping system of intricate knotted cords, born of the marvellous textile traditions intrinsic to Andean civilisation. 222
And yet its dominion was vast, stretching over a distance greater than from London to Moscow, along the spines of the world’s highest cordilleras outside the Himalayas and home to scores of different ethnic groups. This tour seeks to understand and re-imagine the Inca Empire on a journey through its Andean heartland of Cuzco, following the sacred Vilcanota river. We take in classic Inca sites where their cyclopean stonework melds into the grandeurs of the Andean landscape to attain a Zen-like architectural aesthetic. The culmination is the most spectacular site of all, Machu Picchu, perched on the very fringes of Amazonia. Yet the Incas were but the final flourish of an Andean cultural trajectory with roots many millennia deeper, a roll-call of cultures perhaps more magnificent still. So our exploration begins by the Pacific, from the excellent public and private museum collections in Lima, to the legacy of the Chachapoya or Cloud Warriors in the Amazonian Andes and the vestiges of Moche and Chimor on the northern coast. En route we have ample chance to indulge in Peru’s extraordinary cuisine, acclaimed by chefs such as Ferran Adrià as ‘key to the future of gastronomy’. As with the ancient Andean civilisations, that cuisine is founded upon native food crops originating in one of humanity’s precious few ancient hearths of agriculture. It is set amid the world’s richest and densest concentration of ecotones, from desert coast to eternal snows to tropical rainforest, and adjoining one of its richest marine resources. Indeed, it is this that connotes the real importance of the Andes to our wider human story.
Itinerary Day 1. The tour begins with a light dinner at the hotel at c. 8.30pm. You may check in to the hotel from 2.00pm. (Flights from London are not included – see Practicalities). First of two nights in Lima. Day 2: Lima. After an introductory lecture in the hotel, visit the Larco Herrera Museum with its famous collection of Moche and other pre-Inca ceramics. Continue to the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History with its collections of artefacts from Chavín, Nasca, Moche and Chimú cultures. Day 3: Lima, Cocachimba. Fly north to Jaen (LATAM Airlines) and continue by coach to Cocachimba in the Amazonas region (c. 4 hours) with a packed lunch. Overnight Cocachimba. Day 4: Kuelap, Chachapoyas. Drive and take a cable car amid jungle-clad mountains to Kuelap, occupied by the Chachapoya culture from c. 6thcent. ad and sitting at 3000m above sea level. With 20m-high city walls and more than four hundred circular houses it is the largest stone structure in South America. Continue to nearby Chachapoyas for the night. Day 5: Leymebamba, Cocachimba. Visit the Centro Mallqui, a museum which displays more than 200 Chachapoya-Inca mummies and their burial offerings. It also houses the largest number of khipus in Peru. Return to Cocachimba for the night.
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Day 6: Chiclayo. A long but extremely scenic drive to Chiclayo (c. 9 hours) with a packed lunch. Overnight Chiclayo. Day 7: Lambayeque, Trujillo. Visit the impressive museum dedicated to the ornaments and treasures discovered in the royal tombs of the Temple of Sipán (200–600 ad). Continuing south, El Brujo is a ceremonial centre of the Moche culture (1–700 ad) and the mausoleum of the Lady of Cao, an important priestess of that period. Her tomb is surrounded by painted relief murals, while her mummy still records the vestiges of the tattoos on her hands and legs. Day 8: Trujillo. The Huaca de la Luna and Huaca del Sol are the core of the ancient capital of the Moche empire. The former is adorned with superb polychrome reliefs indicative of its importance as a ritual and sacrificial centre. After lunch by the Pacific visit Chan Chan, the world’s largest adobe city and citadel of the Kingdom of Chimor for 500 years before its was destroyed by the Incas in 1470 ad. Its rich marine iconography reflects the importance of the sea to this civilisation. Day 9: the Sacred Valley. Fly to Cuzco, via Lima and on to the Sacred Valley. Here, en route to the Amazon, the Urubamba (or Vilcanota) river twists through stunning mountain scenery and terraced farmland cultivated by the Incas. Urubamba sits at 2,870m above sea level and so the afternoon is free to rest and adjust to the altitude. First of three nights in Urubamba. Day 10: Chinchero, Maras, Moray. At Chinchero a 17th-cent. church was built on top of an Inca temple. In the afternoon drive to the impressive Maras salt mines, exploited since before Inca times, and on to the marvellous concentric circular agricultural terraces of Moray. Day 11: Pisac, Ollantaytambo. Visit the terraces and buildings of an Inca royal estate at Pisac. Lunch is at an hacienda of one of the valley’s oldest families, with its interesting private collection of art and antiques. Drive to the Inca citadel of Ollantaytambo, one of the last lines of resistance to the Spanish conquest, and site of elaborate water gardens amidst extraordinary cyclopean Inca stonework. Day 12: Machu Picchu. Take the morning train to Machu Picchu, a scenic journey down the valley enjoyed through panoramic windows. Have lunch and settle in to the hotel before entering the site as the crowds disperse and the light fades. Forgotten during the Spanish conquest, the temples and buildings of Machu Picchu are consequently uniquely well-preserved, which, together with its setting high above the river amidst spectacular mountain landscapes, makes the site the most extraordinary archaeological site in South America. Overnight Machu Picchu. Day 13: Machu Picchu, Cuzco. Free morning to return to Machu Picchu, perhaps at first light, before returning to Cuzco by rail and road. First of two nights in Cuzco. Day 14: Cuzco. The Korikancha, the most sacred precinct and centre of the Inca Empire today beneath the Dominican Monastery, still preserves the finest examples of mortar-less Inca stonework with its trapezoidal doors and windows. The
East Coast Galleries From Boston to Washington DC Inca Museum contains some 10,000 artefacts while Cuzco Cathedral has paintings of the colonial period. Visit the massive Inca fortress of Sacsayhuaman with its monumental walls built using stones up to 400 tons in weight and the Inca ceremonial site of Qenko. Day 15: Cuzco, Lima. The morning is free for independent exploration. Suggestions include the pre-Columbian art museum, or an optional walk through the city with the lecturer to view the many remains of its Inca palaces, fine Colonial churches and bustling markets. In the evening fly back to Lima. Overnight Lima. Day 16: Lima. The day is free, with the option to visit the Amano Museum’s collection of pre-Columbian textiles. There is a transfer to the airport in time for the direct flight at c. 8.00pm from Lima to London Heathrow with British Airways.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £6,930. Single occupancy: £8,290. Included meals: 13 dinners, 10 lunches, with wine. Flights. International flights, between London and Lima, are not included in the price of the tour. We will send the recommended flight options (that will be accompanied by our lecturer and/or tour manager) with your confirmation of booking and ask that you make your own flight reservation. The cost of an economy seat at the time of going to press is c. £700 and will be available to book in September 2017.
9–22 May 2018 (me 858) 13 nights • £6,890 Lecturer: Mary Lynn Riley Every major art gallery from New England to Washington DC, providing an astonishingly rich artistic experience. The whole range of western art is covered, with Impressionism and Post-Impressionism particularly well represented. Includes the Barnes Foundation in its new home in central Philadelphia and the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven. Centrally located hotels in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington. Led by Mary Lynn Riley, a specialist in 19thand 20th-century art, who previously worked at the Smithsonian. Any art lover who has not seen the great galleries of the USA is in for a big surprise. Not only are there so many art museums with so many masterpieces, splendidly displayed in buildings which are often great works of architecture, but usually they are also vital, welcoming institutions where the delight of the visitor is the main priority. This tour includes every major art gallery from New England down to Washington DC. Many of the very good smaller ones are also featured.
The whole range of mainstream western art is represented, from antiquity to the present day. If there is a particular emphasis, it is on American art, Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. There are frequent doses of modern and contemporary production. However full and comprehensive the tour may be in terms of works of art, we have not omitted the opportunity to see something of America beyond the museum doors. There will be some general sightseeing, sometimes with a local expert, and free time for independent exploration. Most of the hotels we have selected are within walking distance of the main museums and historic centres.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 11.15am from London Heathrow to Boston (direct, British Airways), arriving at c. 1.45pm (time in the air: c. 7 hours). Visit Trinity Church, opposite the hotel. First of three nights in Boston. Day 2: Boston. Founded in 1630, Boston is an historic city with a long-standing reputation for culture and learning. Now a centre of the high-tech revolution, sleek glass towers co-habit with districts of narrow cobbled streets and brick houses and an important set of monuments from the colonial and revolutionary era. The Museum of Fine Arts has a fabulous collection, particular strengths being the Barbizon School, American
AMERICAS: PERU, USA
Accommodation. Casa Andina Private Collection, Lima (casa-andina.com): comfortable 5-star hotel in the Miraflores district. Gocta Lodge, Cocachimba (goctalodge.com): colonial style lodge, equivalent to a 3-star, with breathtaking views of the Gocta waterfalls. Hotel La Xalca, Chachapoyas (laxalcahotel. com): 3-star hotel in the centre of Chachapoyas with large but basic rooms. Hotel Libertador Trujillo (libertador.com.pe): 5-star colonial-style hotel in the main square. Hotel Tambo del Inka, Urubamba (starwoodhotels.com): 5-star hotel with an excellent restaurant. Sanctuary Lodge, Machu Picchu (belmond.com): 5-star, the only hotel at the entrance to the site. Palacio del Inka, Cuzco (starwoodhotels.com): 5-star hotel in a converted palace with attentive service. How strenuous? This is a long tour with some lengthy drives. There is a substantial amount of walking on the rough ground of archaeological sites, uphill and down so a good level of fitness is essential. Much of the tour is spent at high altitude (max. 3399m above sea level) which can exacerbate fatigue. Additional insurance may be required and anyone with heart or respiratory problems should seek advice from their doctor. Average distance by coach per day: 62 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Illustrations. Left: Ollantaytambo, wood engraving c. 1880. Right: New York, watercolour by Donald Maxwell, publ. 1928.
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East Coast Galleries continued
art, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. An afternoon walking tour of historic Boston. Overnight Boston.
museum of modern art, and the Freer Gallery, part of the Smithsonian Institution, with a fine Asian collection and Whistler’s Peacock Room. Overnight Washington.
Day 3: Cambridge, Boston. Separated from Boston by the Charles River, Cambridge is the home of Harvard University. Visit the University Art Museums, which include the long-established Fogg Museum, outstanding particularly for early Italian paintings and Impressionists, and the Busch-Reisinger Museum of German and Nordic painting. Back in Boston, visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Collection, a sumptuous Renaissancestyle mansion crammed with magnificent works of art and furnishings. Overnight Boston. Day 4: North Adams, Williamstown. Drive through very attractive New England countryside to the Berkshires in the west of Massachusetts. Housed on a vast 19th-century factory campus in North Adams, MASS MoCA is the largest centre for contemporary art in the USA. Williamstown is a small university town with the Sterling and Francine Clark Institute, a wonderfully rich and varied collection outstanding for Post-Impressionist paintings, beautifully displayed in a mansion, and a brand new building designed by Tadao Ando, opened in 2014. Overnight Williamstown. Day 5: Hartford, New Haven. En route to New York visit the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, America’s oldest public art museum, founded in 1842. In New Haven, the Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art, the largest and most comprehensive display of British art outside the United Kingdom. Continue to New York City arriving early evening. First of four nights here. Day 6: New York. Visit the Guggenheim Collection in the famous spiral building (Frank Lloyd Wright), with primarily modern paintings. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) houses some of the greatest paintings of the 20th century in its beautifully enlarged Manhattan home. Overnight New York.
AMERICAS: USA
Day 7: New York. Walk through Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum, undoubtedly the number one art museum in America, embracing the whole gamut of artistic production from around the world. Magnificent benefactions and inspired curatorship have provided many great works of art and a superb standard of display, particularly the galleries devoted to the Impressionists, Tiepolo, and to English Decorative Arts. See also the Frick Collection, the salubrious Fifth Avenue mansion with a small but brilliant collection of great paintings. Overnight New York. Day 8: New York. A morning architectural walk with a local lecturer looking at the Art Deco monuments of midtown Manhattan. In the afternoon drive to The Cloisters set in a delightfully tranquil part of north Manhattan overlooking the Hudson river. A branch of the Met, devoted to art of the Middle Ages and incorporating arcades from five cloisters and other salvaged architecture, it is a marvellous home for sculpture, metalwork, tapestries, stained Illustrations. Above: Boston, Trinity Church, wood engraving c. 1880. Right: Fallingwater, photograph courtesy of Western Pensylvania Conservancy.
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Day 13: Washington. A free day for independent visits. Optional visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Further suggestions include the White House, the US Capitol or another of Washington’s many museums: the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (art from southeast Asia) or the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (20th-century painting and sculpture), all branches of the Smithsonian Institution. Drive to Washington Dulles Airport for the flight to London departing at c. 10.30pm. Day 14. Arrive Heathrow at c. 11.00am.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £6,890 or £6,310 without flights. Single occupancy: £8,100 or £7,520 without flights. Included meals: 8 dinners with wine.
glass, manuscripts and panel paintings. Overnight New York. Day 9: Philadelphia. Drive to Philadelphia. As historically the nation’s most important art school, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has accumulated a fine collection of American art. The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the third-largest museum in the country, has a wide-ranging collection, including a 12th-century cloister, a Robert Adam interior from Berkeley Square and excellent Impressionists. First of two nights in Philadelphia. Day 10: Philadelphia. The Barnes Foundation, one of the world’s largest private collections of Impressionists and Post-Impressionists housed in a new, state-of-the-art gallery in the heart of Philadelphia’s arts district. Some free time in the city: explore the Independence National Historical Park or visit the Rodin Museum, which has the largest collection of his sculpture outside Paris. Overnight Philadelphia. Day 11: Baltimore, Washington. Continue south to the seaport of Baltimore. The Walters Art Gallery is an extraordinary and eclectic collection ranging from ancient Egypt to Art Nouveau, with a Raphael, mediaeval stained glass and historic jewellery among the outstanding items. The Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland’s largest art museum, houses the Cone Collection, a group of 500 works by Matisse, and an impressive sculpture garden. Drive on to Washington for the first of two nights. Day 12: Washington. A capital conceived and built on a truly grand scale. At its heart lies the Mall, a two-mile-long park with many monuments and museums. Foremost among them is the National Gallery of Art, with a major collection representing the whole spectrum of western painting; the East Wing (architect: I.M. Pei) contains modern works. Other visits include the Phillips Collection, America’s first
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Visas: British citizens can apply for a visa waiver. We will advise on the process. If you have travelled to Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria since March 2011 you are not eligible for the waiver and will need to apply for a visa. Additional arrangements. We can request flight upgrades, extra nights in the hotel and delay your return flight. Please let us know if you would like us to make these additional arrangements and we will obtain a quote. There is an amendment fee for making these changes. Music: there may be performances in New York. Details will be available nearer the time. Accommodation. Fairmont Copley Plaza, Boston (fairmont.com/copley-plaza-boston/): elegant hotel near Boston Common. The Orchards, Williamstown (orchardshotel.com): small hotel with a courtyard garden, a retreat from the city scene. The Lucerne, New York (thelucernehotel. com): smart boutique hotel close to Central Park. Sheraton Society Hill, Philadelphia (sheratonphiladelphiasocietyhill.com): functional but comfortable hotel near the Independence National Historical Park. Sofitel Lafayette Square, Washington (sofitel.com): modern hotel, well located for the major monuments. How strenuous? You should be prepared to walk. Within Washington and New York we reach some of the museums on foot, journeys of up to 20 minutes or more, though taxis can be used. Within the museums, there will be a lot of walking and standing around. Average distance by coach per day: 49 miles. Group size: between 12 and 22 participants. Combine this tour with New Orleans to Natchitoches, 25 April–6 May 2018 (p.226).
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Frank Lloyd Wright and the Chicago School 30 June–11 July 2018 (me 940) 11 nights • £5670 Lecturer: Tom Abbott 22 September–3 October 2018 (mf 175) 11 nights • £5670 Lecturer: Tom Abbott Includes Fallingwater, Jacobs, Robie and Taliesin houses, Johnson Wax Building and numerous other works by Frank Lloyd Wright – many of them visited by special arrangement. Four nights in Chicago, with visits to the masterworks of the Chicago School and Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House. Magnificent art collections: Chicago Institute of Art, Carnegie Collection in Pittsburgh and Milwaukee Art Museum. Drive through the countryside of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Illinois. Led by architectural historian Tom Abbott.
Frank Lloyd Wright (1869–1959), his own greatest admirer, said he had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. Frustratingly, visiting his work makes this seem fair: in an extraordinarily long career Wright created a modern organic architecture infused with the artistic freedom and reverence for nature of his nineteenth-century American inheritance. Wright embraced the Arts and Crafts, Japanese art and architecture, as well as the material advances of steel and concrete cantilevers to ‘break the box’. Interiors merge inside and out, with their fluid plans reverently anchored by their great hearths. Exteriors stress continuity with nature, and brilliantly amplify their location; be it the Wisconsin hills of Taliesin, or the Pennsylvanian gorge of Fallingwater. That Chicago was the centre of Wright’s sphere is no coincidence. Carl Sandburg’s ‘City of Big Shoulders’ is still the continent’s most enjoyably assertive and distinctly ‘American’ city. Following the fire of 1871, it reinvented itself as the first modern metropolis, with the ‘Chicago School’ developing the technical means for, and artistic
expression of, a new kind of city, and of course, the skyscraper. Little wonder that it became so natural a home to the New Bauhaus and Mies van der Rohe, through whose elegantly sparse work Chicago’s influence extends to this day. As well as building, Chicago’s citizens collected; and the Chicago Art Institute quickly established itself as one of the great galleries of America; a status shared by the Carnegie collection in Pittsburgh where the tour begins. Beautifully sited on the confluence of two rivers, Pittsburgh epitomises American self-belief and its capacity for self-regeneration, and is unrecognisable from its former ‘rust-belt’ image. Santiago Calatrava’s Milwaukee art museum, spreading out over Lake Michigan, bears equal testament to that city’s revival. In contrast to these urban scenes, the tour meanders through the gently prosperous midwestern countryside of three states, staying in the leafy university town of Madison sited on the isthmus between two lakes, and finishing at Mies’s sublime Farnsworth House on the banks of the Fox river.
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Itinerary Day 1: Pittsburgh. Fly at c. 9.45am (British Airways) from London Heathrow, via New York J.F.K., to Pittsburgh, arriving c. 5.00pm (total flying time c. 8½ hours). Set between the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers, Pittsburgh is modern, dynamic, sleek, the smoke and steel of the past having been replaced by glass and aluminium. Carnegie, Frick and Mellon, great patrons of the arts, all made their money here before moving to the East Coast. First of three nights in Pittsburgh. Day 2: Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob. Drive out to Fallingwater, quintessential Frank Lloyd Wright (1936). In a spectacular setting amongst the woodland of Bear Run nature reserve, the house seems to grow from, and float above, the water and rocks. You will see not only the waterfall but experience it from inside the house; ‘the most sublime integration of man and nature’ (New York Times). Kentuck Knob (Wright 1953), a hexagonal building with panoramic views of the Pennsylvanian countryside, now owned by Lord Palumbo. Day 3: Pittsburgh. Begin with a walk around Pittsburgh passing H.H. Richardson’s Allegheny Courthouse, the Mellon bank building and Philip Johnson’s PPG Place. The Carnegie Museum of Art has an extensive and varied collection including the Heinz Architectural department, European and contemporary art. End with a cable car ride up the Duquesne Incline. Day 4: Pittsburgh to Madison. Morning flight to Chicago and from there continue by coach to Madison. Stop en route in Rockford to visit the Laurent House, commissioned in 1951 by Kenneth and Phyllis Laurent and their home until 2012. First of two nights in Madison.
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Day 5: Spring Green, Madison. Set in the beautiful Wisconsin countryside just outside Spring Green lies Wright’s former home and studio, Taliesin. Here he established the Taliesin Foundation to train architects; Hillside School (1932) exemplifies Wright’s break away from the ‘Victorian box’. The Romeo and Juliet Windmill and several homes and farms designed for members of Wright’s family are also seen from the exterior. In the suburbs visit the recently restored Jacobs House (1936), the purest and most famous example of Wright’s Usonian concept. Day 6: Madison, Milwaukee. Walk to the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, a monumental civic building set on the shores of Lake Monona (based on Wright’s 1938 design, it was completed in 1997). Visit the Unitarian Meeting House (1946), distinguished by its soaring copper roof and glass-prowed sanctuary. Drive to the excellent Milwaukee Art Museum to see the Prairie School Archives, with free time for the collection of European and 20thcent. American art. End the day with a visit to one of Wright’s American System-Built homes (1916). Overnight Milwaukee. Day 7: Wind Point, Racine, Chicago. At Wind Point visit Wingspread: the expansive low-lying building designed for the head of the Johnson Wax Corporation. Continue south to Racine on 226
Tom Abbott Specialist in architectural history from the Baroque to the 20th century with a particular interest in German and American modern. He studied Art History in the USA and Paris and has a wide knowledge of the performing arts. Since 1987 he has lived in Berlin.
the shores of Lake Michigan and the Johnson Wax Building built in 1936 with its half acre Great Workroom, unique mushroom columns and innovative use of glass. Drive further south still to Chicago; our hotel is in Burnham & Root’s restored Reliance Building, the first ‘skyscraper’ built in the 1890s. First of four nights in Chicago. Day 8: Chicago. The morning walk looks at the outstanding monuments of ‘The Loop’ to which Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Louis Sullivan and Frank Gehry have all contributed. Afternoon at the Chicago Art Institute, extended by Renzo Piano; the architectural courtyard contains several interesting pieces of sculpture and art glass from former Wright and Sullivan buildings. See also a reconstruction of Sullivan’s stock exchange trading room. Free time to enjoy one of the world’s great art galleries. Day 9: Chicago. Drive to the South Side to the Mies van der Rohe-designed Illinois Institute of Technology (1940–56), with additions by Rem Koolhaas. Continue to the Robie House (FLW 1910); epitome of the Prairie Style. The afternoon is free; we suggest an architectural cruise along the Chicago River, or a walk along the Magnificent Mile. Day 10: Oak Park. In Oak Park visit Wright’s Chicago home and studio (1889) for 20 years and the birthplace of the Prairie School of architecture: ‘I loved the prairie by instinct as a great simplicity… I had an idea that the horizontal planes in buildings, those planes parallel to earth, identify themselves with the ground, make the building belong to the ground’. The surrounding residential streets are home to a number of Wright designs and his Unity Temple (currently closed for restoration until the end of 2017). Day 11: Chicago, Plano. Drive at midday into the Illinois countryside to Plano. Here, built beside the Fox River, is one of Mies van der Rohe’s most significant works, the Farnsworth House (1951). Drive to Chicago O’Hare airport, arriving by 5.30pm (in time for the direct flight to London, departing c. 8.30pm). Day 12: London. Arriving at London Heathrow at c. 10.15am. A number of these buildings are not usually open to the public and it is possible we will not be able to include everything listed.
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Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £5670 or £5000 without flights on days 1 and 11. Single occupancy: £6510 or £5840 without flights on days 1 and 11. Included meals: 1 café lunch and 7 dinners with wine (plus meals on flights). Visas: British citizens can enter the USA without a visa by applying for a visa waiver online. We will advise on this. If you have travelled to Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria since March 2011 you are not eligible for the waiver and will need to apply for a visa. Accommodation. The Renaissance Pittsburgh (renaissancepittsburghpa.com): centrally located, comfortable, spacious rooms and good amenities. Madison Edgewater Hotel (theedgewater.com): on the shores of Lake Mendota with fine views from rooms and public areas. The Pfister, Milwaukee (thepfisterhotel.com): historic hotel with grand public areas. The Alise, Chicago (formerly Hotel Burnham) (thealisechicago.com): boutique hotel in the landmark Reliance Building; good location in ‘The Loop’ within walking distance of the Chicago Institute of Art. How strenuous? Quite tiring with a lot of walking and standing around, and a fair amount of coach travel. Average distance by coach per day: 50 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
‘Tom Abbott is truly amazing. His grasp of his subject and the background context is beyond belief. He is also a warm and caring person.’
New Orleans to Natchitoches 25 April–6 May 2018 Full details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest A journey through Louisiana and its extraordinary history, architecture, food and music. Four nights in New Orleans before venturing to Baton Rouge, Lafayette and north to sweet, historic Natchitoches on the Cane River. Colonial architecture of the French and Spanish, Art Deco and the 20th Century are all represented, and, of course, a variety of plantation houses including Houmas House, our exuberant base for the final two nights. Jazz is an ever-present backdrop, and our tour coincides with the New Orleans Jazz Fest.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Galleries of the American Midwest From Chicago to Detroit 6–18 June 2018 (me 897) 12 nights • £5,980 Lecturer: Gijs van Hensbergen A journey to some of the greatest art galleries in the US, through Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. Begin in Chicago with the world-renowned Art Institute and end in Detroit, a city undergoing huge regeneration. In between see the outstanding collections at St Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Oberlin and Toledo. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism are very well represented, along with American art, Old Masters and modern and contemporary sculpture. The architecture of Finnish émigré Eliel Saarinen, and his son Eero, is a subtheme throughout, culminating in the incredible campus at Cranbrook. Led by art historian, Gijs van Hensbergen, an expert on American collections and collectors. collections in the US); the Max Beckmanns and Gerhard Richters in St Louis; and the Japanese Edo period paintings in Indianapolis. After twelve nights and five states the notion that the Midwest is an empty canvas is dispelled by the artistic richness of this particular slice of America.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 11.15am from London Heathrow to Chicago (direct, British Airways), arriving at c. 1.45pm (time in the air: c. 7 hours 30 minutes). Drive to the hotel in ‘The Loop’, a short walk from the Art Institute. Time to settle in before dinner. First of two nights in Chicago. Day 2: Chicago IL. The day is largely dedicated to the Art Institute, one of the world’s greatest galleries, and within the US matched only by the Met. The superb and encyclopaedic collection is best known for its Impressionist and PostImpressionist masterpieces, as well as a wonderful display of American paintings. Renzo Piano’s Modern Wing houses the Institute’s remarkable collection of 20th-and-21st-century art. Guided tours of selected galleries are interspersed with independent time. The adjacent Millennium Park has noteworthy installations by Anish Kapoor and Jaume Plensa. Overnight Chicago. Day 3: Chicago, St Louis MO. An architectural walk through ‘The Loop’ to see skyscrapers and monuments of the Chicago School as well as some of the public art more recently installed. Return to the Art Institute for a further tour or some independent time. Continue to the airport for the late-afternoon flight to St Louis. First of two nights in St Louis. Day 4: St Louis. Walk through the Citygarden (works by Fernand Léger, Richard Serra, Aristide Maillol) to the landmark Gateway Arch. Designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, and inaugurated in 1965, it soars over the Mississippi and the city. The Pulitzer Arts Foundation is in a sleek Tadao Ando building and is renowned for its high-calibre exhibitions. There are just
three permanent works, two of which were commissioned specifically for this space: Serra’s Joe and Ellsworth Kelly’s Blue Black. Continue to the St Louis Art Museum, built in the heart of Forest Park for the 1904 World’s Fair. The collection is wonderfully rich and varied, with modern European art at its core. It is also home to the world’s largest collection of Max Beckmann paintings. Overnight St Louis. Day 5: Indianapolis IN. Morning drive to Indianapolis (255 miles). The Museum of Art is one of the oldest collections in the US and is in a beautiful setting on a leafy campus north of the city. We explore the highlights: Gauguin and the Pont-Aven school, Japanese Edo-period paintings, and contemporary art including an installation by James Turrell. Free time to see the gardens and sculpture park. Overnight Indianapolis. Day 6: Columbus IN, Cincinnati OH. Drive to Columbus for a private visit of the Miller House. Commissioned in 1953 by industrialist, philanthropist and architectural patron, J. Irwin Miller, this is a perfect example of a complete modernist house. Architecture by Eero Saarinen, interior design by Alexander Girard and landscape design by Dan Kiley all remain remarkably intact. Continue to Cincinnati to the Contemporary Arts Center, a stunning new build by Zaha Hadid which opened in 2016. Our hotel is next door. Overnight Cincinnati. Day 7: Cincinnati, Columbus OH, Cleveland OH. Founded in 1881, the Cincinnati Art Museum is long-established with a wide-ranging collection. Impressionists feature strongly and there are notable Fauvist and Cubist works, as well as an entire wing devoted to local artists and decorative arts. En route to Cleveland (240 miles), stop at the Columbus Museum of Art, which has a fine collection of modern European and American painting, including early Cubist works by Picasso and Juan Gris. First of two nights in Cleveland. Illustration: Georges Seurat. ‘A Sunday on La Grande Jatte’ – 1884, 1884/86. Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection. The Art Institute of Chicago.
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The Midwest may be a byword for cultural annihilation but it’s a lazy stereotype. American states such as Illinois and Michigan are powerhouses of manufacturing, mining and agriculture, yet they also harbour a civic pride and commitment to self-improvement that have resulted in world-class art collections, exhibited in buildings and settings that are often astonishing in their own right. And between the major urban centres are lesser-known, often delightfully surprising pockets of cultural distinction in Missouri, Ohio and Indiana. The Chicago Art Institute is one of the finest art museums in the world (in the US, second only to the Met in New York), notable for its Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces as well as works by Abstract Expressionists such as Rothko and de Kooning. We enjoy two visits, part-guided and part-independent, as well as exploring the stupendous architectural environment that surrounds it in ‘The Loop’ (our hotel is right there). Ground-breaking buildings are a consistent theme of the tour, as we take in Eero Saarinen’s Gateway Arch, which soars over the Mississippi in St Louis, and enjoy private visits to another Saarinen commission, the Miller House in Columbus, and to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Smith House on beautiful Cranbrook campus outside Detroit. ‘Motor City’ was running on empty - it filed for municipal bankruptcy in 2013 - but is undergoing a regeneration that we witness on a locally guided walk through the Art Deco skyscrapers of the downtown area. Detroit’s Institute of Arts has always been a beacon of excellence and remains one of America’s finest galleries, featuring among many exceptional works a Van Gogh self-portrait and Diego Rivera’s vast Detroit Industry mural. The latter is contextualised by a visit to the Ford automobile plant, birthplace of the Model T. But it’s the more unsung treasures of the Midwestern hinterlands that really add a patina to the tour – the Glass Pavilion in Toledo, showcasing more than 5,000 works of art in glass; the mediaeval collection in the incredible Cleveland Museum of Art; the exquisite Allen Memorial Art Museum outside Cleveland (one of the finest university
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Gijs van Hensbergen Art historian and author specialising in Spain and the USA. His books include Gaudí, In the Kitchens of Castile, Guernica and La Sagrada Familia. He studied Art History at the Courtauld and is a Fellow of the Cañada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies at the LSE. Day 8: Cleveland. On the shores of Lake Erie, Cleveland’s manufacturing centre is being revitalised in the 21st century. The city’s art museum is testament to this with a programme of massive expansion, including a magnificent light-filled atrium by Rafael Viñoly. There are many treasures here, particularly in European and American painting from the 19th and 20th centuries, and in the world-class holding of Asian art. The mediaeval and Renaissance galleries in the original museum building are beautifully displayed. Free time here or to walk to the Museum of Contemporary Art, a reflective, geometric form in the heart of the university circle. Overnight Cleveland. Day 9: Oberlin, Toledo OH, Detroit MI. A short drive out of Cleveland to the Allen Memorial Art Museum, one of the finest university collections in the US, housed on the edge of the charming Oberlin college campus. This small but eclectic collection contains important holdings of 16th and 17th century Dutch and Flemish paintings. Continue to Toledo. The city’s glass-manufacturing heritage is reflected in the elegant, Japanese-designed Glass Pavilion, home to a superb collection of over 5,000 works of art in glass. The main museum includes European painting from the Renaissance to Impressionism, with notable works by Rubens, Rembrandt, David and El Greco. There is a strong American Art and Modern collection and a fascinating display of Japanese Netsuke. Continue to Detroit. First of three nights here.
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Day 10: Detroit. A morning walk looking at the Art Deco monuments of downtown. Continue to the Detroit Art Institute, one of the finest collections in the US. Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry fresco and an expansive collection of American art are among the highlights here but there are many gems: a Van Gogh self-portrait, Bruegel’s The Wedding Dance and a fine collection of German Expressionist works. Overnight Detroit. Day 11: Cranbrook. The day is dedicated to the enchanting campus of Cranbrook, one of the leading graduate art schools in the US. Here Eliel Saarinen taught and his son Eero studied. Visits include Saarinen’s Art Deco house, the Art Museum, and special access to works from some of the 20th century’s leading artists and designers, all of whom had connections to Cranbrook. End with a private tour of the Smith House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Usonian style for two teachers in Detroit. Overnight Detroit. 228
Day 12: Detroit. Visit the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, Henry Ford’s factory and the birthplace of the Model T. Drive to the airport for the flight to Chicago departing at c. 3.15pm, connect to the overnight flight to London departing c. 6.00pm. Day 13. Arrive London Heathrow at c. 7.45am.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £5980 or £5,130 without flights on days 1 and 12. Single occupancy: £6,800 or £5,950 without flights on days 1 and 12. Included meals: 1 packed lunch and 7 dinners with wine(plus meals on flights). Visas: British citizens can enter the USA without a visa by applying for a visa waiver online. We will advise on this. If you have travelled to Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria since March 2011 you are not eligible for the waiver and will need to apply for a visa. Accommodation. The Alise, Chicago (staypineapple.com): boutique hotel in the landmark Reliance Building; good location in ‘The Loop’ within walking distance of the
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Chicago Institute of Art. The Ritz-Carlton, St Louis (ritzcarlton.com/St_Louis): elegant 5-star in classical style with three restaurants, a martini bar, cigar club, and gym. All rooms have a balcony. Le Meridien, Indianapolis (lemeridienindianapolis.com): 4-star boutique hotel in the heart of downtown that has undergone complete renovation. 21c Museum Hotel, Cincinnati (21cmuseumhotels.com/cincinnati): 4-star hotel, nextdoor to the Contemporary Arts Center designed by Zaha Hadid; facilities include a restaurant and a rooftop bar with views of downtown. Renaissance Cleveland Hotel (marriott.co.uk): dating to 1918 with grand public areas; adequately comfortable rooms. Westin Book Cadillac, Detroit (bookcadillacwestin.com): Landmark 4-star hotel built in 1924 in downtown; three restaurants, bar and indoor pool. How strenuous? A long tour with frequent hotel changes, a lot of coach travel and standing around in museums. Fitness and stamina are essential. Average distance by coach per day: 89 miles. Group size: between 12 and 22 participants. Illustration: Chicago, wood engraving c. 1880.
West Coast Architecture A century of building in Arizona and California 3–14 September 2018 (mf 105) 11 nights • £5970 Lecturer: Professor Harry Charrington The whole gamut of architecture, 1908 onwards, some of it usually closed to the public. Begin at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona, and end at his Hanna House in Stanford, California. Louis Kahn, Rudolf Schindler, Richard Neutra, Bernard Maybeck, Greene & Greene are also well represented. Contemporary architects include Rafael Moneo, Frank Gehry, Mario Botta, Herzog & de Meuron, Richard Meier, Arata Isozaki, Daniel Libeskind and practices Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Snøhetta. Great landscapes, from desert to coast, plus a journey by rail from L.A. to San Francisco through countryside not seen by road. Time to visit the excellent art collections at the Getty Center, Norton Simon, de Young, Legion of Honor and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Four bases: Phoenix (Arizona), La Jolla (California), Los Angeles, San Francisco. Led by Professor Harry Charrington, an expert in the history of modernism.
that he’d achieved on the flat expanse of the Midwest. Wright’s approach was extended by his ex-pupils Rudolf Schindler and Richard Neutra who threw away the cloak of their native Vienna to create a series of exquisite, ecologically responsive dwellings that would lead to the ‘Case Study Houses’ and the ‘Bay Area School’ around San Francisco. Wright also built his combined home and fellowship at Taliesin West in the desert outside Phoenix. Gradually shaped over thirty years, this complement to his earlier Taliesin East, is Wright at his most successful – and moving. A blurring of building and landscape formed from desert rocks and sand, its inspiration lies in the light touch of the native Sinagua Indians. Paolo Soleri’s eco-city of Arcosanti, still being constructed today far out in the Arizona desert, pays homage to Taliesin and is either a suggestion of an ecologically viable future, or the American Dream at its most indulgent and eccentric.
Itinerary Day 1: London to Phoenix (Arizona). Fly at c. 2.45pm from London Heathrow to Phoenix (direct flight; time in the air: c. 10 hours). Located in salubrious, suburban Scottsdale, our hotel was built in 1929 under the supervision of Frank Lloyd Wright, a luxurious low-lying complex with lawns, pools and landscaping. Arrive in time for dinner. First of two nights in Phoenix. Day 2: Phoenix, Taliesin West. The morning is dedicated to Taliesin West, Wright’s desert camp and means of escape from Wisconsin winters. The tour includes desert shelters, performance spaces
and offices. The afternoon is free back at the hotel. Overnight Phoenix. Day 3: Arcosanti, La Jolla (California).Deep in the Arizona desert, Arcosanti, Paolo Soleri’s dream city, is built around objectives of self-sufficiency and a resistance to urban sprawl. Begun in the 1970s, it remains work in progress. Fly in the afternoon to San Diego and drive north to the seafront town of La Jolla. Overnight La Jolla. Day 4: La Jolla, Palos Verdes, Los Angeles. In La Jolla, visit Louis Kahn’s magisterial Salk Institute (1958), designed to create an inspiring space in which to carry out scientific research: pozzolanic concrete, travertine marble, oak, and, above all, natural light. In the afternoon, drive north to Los Angeles with a detour to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Wayfarer’s Chapel (1951), the most highly acclaimed work by Lloyd Wright Jr, has a spectacular ocean setting; a perfect integration of architecture and landscape. First of four nights in Downtown Los Angeles. Day 5: Los Angeles: Santa Monica, West Hollywood. Drive out to beachside Santa Monica to see Frank Gehry’s own house (exterior only), a reworking of a conventional Californian suburban residence. Up above in Pacific Palisades, visit the house-cum-studio of Charles and Ray Eames (Case Study No. 8, 1948): prefabricated cabins, colour panels, glass, in a meadow with ocean views. Meier’s hilltop Getty Center, an astonishing sequence of travertine, glass and steel structures interspersed with courtyards and gardens; modernist objectives of space and light dictate Image: Getty Center Los Angeles.
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Modernism was made for California. Just as it was on the West Coast that the twentieth century’s dominant art form, the movie, was to flourish, so Modernist architecture blossomed unencumbered by the concerns and limitations of the Old World. Here was a climate that adored flat roofs and a hilly topography of brilliant views that called for structural daring, a place with a self-conscious lack of history in which displaced Europeans – and Americans freed from the waspish East Coast – could create whole new worlds and lifestyles facing the seemingly boundless freedom of the desert and the Pacific. Superlatives abound: the ‘cast stone’ of Louis Kahn’s Salk Institute is perhaps the most sublimely generous construction of post-war architecture; while right at the beginning of the century, Greene & Greene and Bernard Maybeck’s Arts & Crafts was as vivid a reimagining of William Morris as you can imagine. Equally remarkable are the cities, from the captivating milieu of San Francisco to its unfathomable cousin Los Angeles, the City of 4 Ecologies: hills, mesa, littoral, autopia. The chutzpah of patron and architect hasn’t let up in the twenty-first century with Richard Meier’s hilltop Getty Center, Raphael Moneo’s Cathedral of Our Lady of Our Angels – both in L.A. – and Herzog & de Meuron’s de Young Museum in San Francisco. If one looks for a beginning to all this, beyond the fragments of the Pueblo and the Spanish Mission architecture, it is found in Frank Lloyd Wright. While Europeans spent the 1920s and 30s playing catch-up to Wright’s disciplined Prairie houses, he went wild in the West. In Los Angeles, beginning with the extraordinary Hollyhock House, he demonstrated a virtuosity on California’s slopes equal to
West Coast Architecture continued
Professor Harry Charrington Architect and Head of Architecture at the University of Westminster. He studied at Cambridge and obtained his PhD from the LSE. His research focuses on modernism, and his books include the award-winning Alvar Aalto: the Mark of the Hand and contributions to Artek and the Aaltos: Creating a Modern World (Yale University Press, 2016). Day 12. Arrive London Heathrow at c. 1.30pm. A number of these buildings are not usually open to the public and it is possible we will not be able to include everything listed.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £5970 or £5200 without international flights. Single occupancy: £6960 or £6190 without international flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 7 dinners with wine.
AMERICAS: USA
but the effect is overwhelmingly contemporary. Free time to see the extensive art collections and immaculate gardens. Overnight Los Angeles.
Obispo. Lunch and dinner on board. Short drive from Oakland to San Francisco for the first of three nights.
Day 6: Downtown Los Angeles. Downtown is spread over an extensive, often hilly, grid, nevertheless today provides a rare opportunity to dispense with vehicular transport and walk. See the intricate Bradbury Building (1893) and Moneo’s Cathedral (2002) of gargantuan proportions flooded with warm light. Close by are the Walt Disney Concert Hall (Gehry, 2003), Isozaki’s Museum of Contemporary Art (1983) and The Broad (Diller Scofidio + Renfro, 2015). Free time here to see the excellent collection of post-war and contemporary art. Overnight Los Angeles.
Day 9: San Francisco, Berkeley. A morning walk includes the Hallidie Building, the world’s first glass-curtain-walled structure (Willis Polk, 1918), Frank Lloyd Wright’s Morris Gift Shop (1948), a prototype for the New York Guggenheim and the newly expanded San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (Mario Botta, 1995; Snøhetta, 2016). Time to visit the collection independently. Drive mid-afternoon to the university town of Berkeley. Bernard Maybeck’s First Church of Christ the Scientist (1910) is an almost fairy-tale construction, incongruously tucked between the modern halls of residence. Overnight San Francisco.
Day 7: Los Angeles & early Modernism. The Schindler House is one of the finest examples of environmentally conscious architecture anywhere, designed in the 1920s as an experiment in cooperative living. Built by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1922 for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall, the recently restored Hollyhock House departed radically from his previous prairie-style houses (and his patron’s brief), resembling instead a Mayan temple. In Pasadena, visit the brilliant collection of the Norton Simon Museum and tour the Gamble House (Greene & Greene, 1908), a perfect Swiss chalet with original furnishings; Arts & Crafts with a twist. Overnight Los Angeles. Day 8: Train from L.A. to San Francisco. Depart at c. 10.15am on the Coast Starlight to Oakland. The 12-hour journey passes through spectacular scenery: long stretches of sandy beach, abundant in birdlife, give way to emerald green fields rolling gently into the distance, the overwhelming sense of isolation interrupted only by livestock, the odd rodeo ranch and the mission town of San Luis de 230
Day 10: Marin County, San Francisco. Drive across the Golden Gate Bridge to Frank Lloyd Wright’s final commission: the Marin County Civic Center (completed after his death in 1962). Spend the afternoon in the Golden Gate Park, home to Herzog & de Meuron’s landmark De Young Museum (2005), built from recycled redwood, eucalyptus and copper, the oxidising exterior is progressively blending with its environment. Opposite is Renzo Piano’s ‘green museum’, his extension to the California Academy of Sciences (2009). Overnight San Francisco. Day 11: Stanford. Walk through the Stanford University campus (Cantor Art Center, Anderson Collection and the McMurtry Building by Diller Scofidio + Renfro). The tour ends at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hanna House (mid 1930s), home to the professor and family for nearly forty years and Wright’s most sophisticated ‘Usonian’ house. Fly from San Francisco at c. 7.30pm.
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Visas: British citizens can enter the USA without a visa by applying for a visa waiver online. We will advise on this. If you have travelled to Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria since March 2011 you are not eligible for the waiver and will need to apply for a visa. Additional arrangements. We can request flight upgrades to World Traveller Plus, Club or First Class and can request extra nights in the hotel at the end of the tour and delay your return flight. Please contact us for a quote. An amendment fee will apply. Accommodation: Arizona Biltmore, Scottsdale (arizonabiltmore.com): an attractive hotel complex in beautiful grounds with numerous swimming pools, a good restaurant and comfortable rooms. La Valencia, La Jolla (lavalencia.com): colourful hotel with eclectically furnished rooms, gardens and pool overlooking the Pacific. Omni Los Angeles, Downtown (omnihotels.com/hotels/ los-angeles-california-plaza): well-equipped, functional hotel with spacious bedrooms. Palace Hotel, San Francisco (sfpalace.com): an elegant 5-star hotel, located within walking distance of Union Square, Embarcadero and Yerba Buena Gardens and a 30-minute coach drive from the Opera House. Rooms are classically furnished, of a good size and excellent standard. How strenuous? There is a lot of walking and standing around and getting on and off coaches. Some visits are on rough ground (desert) and require sure-footedness. With transatlantic flights, a day-long rail journey and four hotels, the tour is tiring. Average distance by coach per day: 55 miles. Music tickets. There may be performances in Los Angeles or San Francisco. Programmes will be available nearer the time. Group size: between 14 and 22 participants. Illustration: San Francisco, wood engraving from ‘United States Pictures’ 1891.
Art in Texas Outstanding collections in city and desert 8–19 November 2017 (me 677) This tour is currently full Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com November 2018 Details available in September 2017 Please contact us to register your interest World class collections of art and sculpture, public and private, housed in exceptional buildings.
As rich as the art is the architecture. The Dallas Arts District includes buildings by four Pritzker Prize winners (Norman Foster, Rem Koolhaas, I.M. Pei and Renzo Piano); while in Houston, admirers of Mies van der Rohe can view one of his very rare museum buildings at the Fine Arts Museum, followed by Piano’s simple and striking cypress-clad Menil. However, it is without doubt Louis Kahn’s Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth that shows off these big hitters at their memorable best.
Tanglewood Festival August 2018 Details available in January 2018 Please contact us to register your interest
Illustration: Houston, from ‘Esquire’ magazine, c. 1950/60.
Big names include the Kimbell in Fort Worth, Menil in Houston, Blanton in Austin, McNay in San Antonio, Fine Arts in Dallas and Houston, and Donald Judd’s Chinati Foundation. The range is considerable from Renaissance to contemporary, European and American, with emphasis on the modern. The variety continues in city and landscape: big brother Houston, leafy and lush; to tiny Marfa, way out west in the desert; alongside the Rio Grande to prettified San Antonio; to end in Dallas, the home of hospitality and a terrific arts scene. Led by art historian, Gijs van Hensbergen, an expert on American collections and collectors.
AMERICAS: USA
The cultural resonance of ‘Texas’ may not be overwhelming, yet the oil and livestock barons of this southern state were philanthropists to rival any on the eastern or western seaboards. The result: art collections of staggering richness in buildings developed by the leading architects of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Among the highlights are some of the very personal collections these patrons of the arts acquired. The Meadows Museum in Dallas, for example, the gift of oilman Algur Meadows, houses the finest display of Spanish art outside the Prado. While John and Dominique de Menil’s dazzling Menil Collection in Houston – built up with money from the Schlumberger oil-drilling fortune – contains over 15,000 works by the greatest names of twentieth-century European and American art. Painter and heiress Marion Koogler McNay, too, used an oil fortune to establish The McNay – the first modern art museum in the Lone Star State – in her colonial revival mansion in San Antonio. But private wealth in Texas has always been matched by public investment and the entire history of art is abundantly represented in the major city galleries. The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, one of the largest in the US, has an extraordinary 62,000 works spanning six thousand years, while the Dallas Museum of Art is as renowned for its Impressionists and Post Impressionists as Austin’s The Blanton is for its Renaissance masterpieces. The searing Texan landscape, with its expanses of sand and scrub and distant sierras, is a work of art in its own right, and a visit to Marfa provides the moment where art, architecture and nature meet. The Chinati Foundation was established by minimalist sculptor Donald Judd to display large installations of his own work and other leading contemporary sculptors and, in its wake, this tiny desert town has become one of the liveliest contemporary art scenes in the US. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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The Ring in San Francisco ‘Theatrically dazzling, thought–provoking, powerful’ life, with excellent art galleries and museums and some of the best-preserved Victorian architecture in the world.
Itinerary The included visits may change once details of the special events supporting the Ring performances from San Francisco Opera House are available. Day 1. The tour begins with dinner at the hotel at c. 7.30pm. (Flights from London are not included – see ‘Practicalities’). Day 2. Morning lecture on the music, followed by a guided tour of the financial district with a local architectural historian. Some free time followed by dinner. 7.30pm, San Francisco Opera House: Das Rheingold, Donald Runnicles (conductor) , Greer Grimsley (Wotan), Brian Mulligan (Donner), James Egglestone (Froh), Stefan Margita (Loge), Jamie Barton (Fricka), Ronnita Miller (Erda), Stacey Tappan (Woglinde), Lauren McNeese (Wellgunde), Renée Tatum (Flosshilde), Falk Struckmann (Alberich), David Cangelosi (Mime), Andrea Silvestrelli (Fasolt), Raymond Aceto (Hunding).
25 June–2 July 2018 (me 930) 8 days • £5880 • flights not included (including tickets to 4 performances) Lecturer: Barry Millington ‘Thoughtful, arresting and visually spectacular’ Chicago Tribune on Francesca Zambello’s Ring in San Francisco.
AMERICAS: USA
Zambello’s Ring returns as strongly cast as ever with Evelyn Herlitzius as Brünnhilde, Greer Grimsley as Wotan, Karita Mattila as Sieglinde, Brandon Jovanovich as Siegmund and the leading Wagnerian Donald Runnicles on the podium. Top-category seats (‘Grand Tier Premium’) to all four performances. Opportunity to attend events organised by the San Francisco Opera House supporting the Ring performances. Talks on the operas by Barry Millington, editor of The Wagner Journal and chief music critic for London’s Evening Standard. Walks and visits with local guides. It is perhaps no coincidence that Wagner began work on his vast tetralogy The Ring of the Nibelung – a project that was to occupy him for the next quarter of a century – in precisely the same year, 1848, as the Californian Gold Rush. That is a piquant point reflected in Francesca Zambello’s ‘American Ring’, in which the dwarf Alberich is characterised as a Californian miner in baggy overalls panning for gold. Other striking images include the ocean-liner gangplank to Valhalla for the gods and motorway arches 232
out of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. But Zambello’s conception also picks up another important theme latent in the work, with women shown as active rather than passive agents (Sieglinde helps to pull the sword out of the tree, Brünnhilde lays herself down for her long sleep). In the climactic Immolation Scene, Brünnhilde (aided only by Gutrune), the Rhinemaidens and the Gibichung women, are represented as more caring, nurturing forces for good than the men who had caused the catastrophe. As Zambello herself puts it: ‘The great themes of the Ring – nature, power and corruption – resound through America’s past and haunt our present.’ Described by one critic as ‘theatrically dazzling’, and by the Washington Post as ‘strong and moving, thought-provoking and powerful’, Zambello’s Ring returns to San Francisco after a triumphant outing in Washington, with a strong cast led by the Brünnhilde of Evelyn Herlitzius, one of the outstanding Wagner sopranos of our age, with the highly praised Siegfried of Daniel Brenna and the experienced Wotan of Greer Grimsley. With the luxury casting of Karita Mattila as Sieglinde, not to mention Falk Struckmann as Alberich, Brandon Jovanovich as Siegmund, James Egglestone as Froh, and Jamie Barton as Fricka and Waltraute, this promises to be a musical feast. The conductor is the music director of San Francisco Opera, Donald Runnicles, highly acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic for his thrilling interpretations of Wagner. With the performances arranged over six days, there is plenty of time to see San Francisco and to attend events supporting the Ring performances. Refined and grand, the city enjoys a rich cultural
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Day 3. Morning lecture followed by a visit to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), now housed in a striking building designed by Mario Botta. It has good temporary exhibitions, and was reopened in 2016 following an expansion designed in partnership with Snøhetta. Some time before this evening’s performance at 7.00pm: Die Walküre, Donald Runnicles (conductor) , Greer Grimsley (Wotan), Jamie Barton (Fricka), Brandon Jovanovich (Siegmund), Karita Mattila (Sieglinde), Raymond Aceto (Hunding), Evelyn Herlitzius (Brünnhilde), Anna-Louise Cole (Gerhilde), Olivia Cranwell (Ortlinde), Jamie Barton (Waltraute). Day 4. Morning walk with a local architectural historian ending at City Hall. The Asian Art Museum has been installed in the former public library, a project undertaken by architect Gae Aulenti. The collection is the finest in the USA. Day 5. Morning lecture. The day is free until the evening opera. Suggestions include the Immigration Museum in the Old Customs House. 6.30pm: Siegfried, Donald Runnicles (conductor) , Daniel Brenna (Siegfried), Evelyn Herlitzius (Brünnhilde), Ronnita Miller (Erda), David Cangelosi (Mime), Greer Grimsley (Wotan), Falk Struckmann (Alberich), Raymond Aceto (Fafner), Stacey Tappan (Forest bird). Day 6. On the other side of the peninsula amid Monterey pines and cypresses sits the pristine colonnaded building of the Palace of the Legion of Honor. Here French art, particularly Rodin sculpture, is prominent. Spend the afternoon in the Golden Gate Park, a centre of cultural and botanical beauty. Visit Herzog & de Meuron’s landmark De Young Museum (2005): built from recycled redwood, eucalyptus and copper, the oxidising exterior is progressively blending with its environment. It houses a collection of American Art from the pre-Columbian era to the present day. Opposite is Renzo Piano’s ‘green museum’, his extension to the California Academy of Sciences (2009).
Music in New York at Christmas Music, art and architecture Day 7. Morning lecture. Afternoon performance. 1.00pm: Götterdämmerung, Donald Runnicles (conductor) , Daniel Brenna (Siegfried), Brian Mulligan (Gunther), Falk Struckmann (Alberich), Andrea Silvestrelli (Hagen), Evelyn Herlitzius (Brünnhilde), Melissa Citro (Gutrune), Jamie Barton (Waltraute), Stacey Tappan (Woglinde), Lauren McNeese (Wellgunde), Renée Tatum (Flosshilde), Ronnita Miller (First Norn). Day 8: Stanford. Free morning. Early afternoon departure for Stanford University to see the campus and Anderson Collection and Cantor Center for Visual Arts. Continue to San Francisco airport in time for the recommended direct flight to London, arriving at Heathrow the next day at c.2.00pm (c. 10 ½ hours). (Flights from London are not included – see ‘Practicalities’).
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £5,880. Single occupancy: £6,640. Included meals: 1 lunch and 6 dinners with wine. Music: top-category tickets (‘Grand Tier Premium’) for all 4 performances are included, costing c. £1,770. Flights. International flights from and to London to San Francisco are not included in the price of the tour. We will send the recommended flight options (that will be accompanied by our lecturer and/or tour manager) when they are available to book and ask that you make your own flight reservation and inform us of the details. The cost of a World Traveller (economy) seat at the time of going to press is c. £800 and will be available to book towards the end of July 2017. Visas: British citizens can enter the USA without a visa by applying for a visa waiver online. We will advise on this. If you have travelled to Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria since March 2011 you are not eligible for the waiver and will need to apply for a visa.
How strenuous? Stamina is required for the long performances – and to cope with jet lag if flying from the UK. There is unavoidably a lot of walking in the city centre. Fitness is essential. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Santa Fe Opera July 2018 Details available in August 2017 Please contact us to register your interest
Illustrations. Left: Valkyries, engraving 1883 by A. Becker. Right: mid-town New York, after a watercolour 1929.
Lecturers’ biographies are on page 235.
Five performances including Le Nozze di Figaro, Hänsel und Gretel (conducted by Donald Runnicles) and The Merry Widow. Performers include Cristiane Karg, Serena Malfi, Rachel Willis-Sørensen, Gerhard Siegel, Susan Graham and Thomas Allen. Concerts with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the New York String Orchestra. Talks on the music by Professor Jan Smaczny and a programme of walks, led by a local expert. New York’s unrivalled capacity to attract stars across all areas of the performing arts is what makes this programme of seasonal operatic and orchestral favourites so enticing. Among the many fine singers is the acclaimed German tenor Gerhard Siegel taking the part of the Witch in Hänsel und Gretel, and the rising American star Rachel Willis-Sørensen as the Countess in Richard Eyre’s stimulating and attractive production of Le Nozze di Figaro. In addition to the operatic riches the veteran conductor and viola soloist, Jaime Laredo, leads the New York String Orchestra in a programme that includes Mozart’s evergreen Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola in Carnegie Hall. A second concert at the Lincoln Center, another of New York’s superb concert venues, has Ravel’s colourful orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition as a rousing finale to five memorable evenings of music. But music is unlikely to be the only star of the week with one of the most extraordinary, unique cities in the world as ‘backdrop’. Nothing can prepare the first-timer for the awesome
impact of its towers, so varied and beautiful, its breathtaking cityscape contrasting with the village-like atmosphere of many of its districts. But perhaps the most remarkable feature of New York – although it would be more precise to say Manhattan – is its undying vitality, allied to its ability for regeneration. New York has never been other than a global leader of fashion and style, a crucible for the contemporary and home to some of the most outstanding museums and art collections in the world. The danger in writing about it is an excessive use of superlatives. As with all of our music tours, there will be a gentle programme of optional walks and excursions, with care being taken not to tax participants’ energies at the expense of the music. The lecturer will give talks on the operas and concerts, and will be happy to accompany participants to the places and museums visited.
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 1.00pm from London Heathrow to New York, arriving c. 4.15pm. There is some time to settle into the hotel before dinner. Day 2. Walk through Central Park to the Frick Collection, in a salubrious Fifth Avenue mansion with a small but brilliant collection of paintings. Evening opera at the Met: Hänsel und Gretel (Humperdinck), Donald Runnicles (conductor), Lisette Oropesa (Gretel), Tara Erraught (Hansel), Dolora Zajick (Gertrude), Gerhard Siegel (The Witch), Quinn Kelsey (Peter). Day 3. Morning lecture followed by a private tour of the Met opera house before the afternoon opera at The Met: Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart), Harry Bicket (conductor), Rachel Willis-Sørensen (Countess Almaviva), Christiane Karg (Susanna), Serena Malfi (Cherubino), Luca Pisaroni (Count Almaviva), Adam Plachetka (Figaro). Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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AMERICAS: USA
Accommodation. Palace Hotel (sfpalace. com): elegant 5-star hotel decorated in Regency style, within walking distance of Union Square, Embarcadero and Yerba Buena Gardens and a 30-minute coach drive from the Opera House. Rooms are of a good size and excellent standard.
21–30 December 2017 (me 733) 9 nights • £5940 (including tickets to 5 performances) Lecturer: Professor Jan Smaczny
Music in New York at Christmas continued
(conductor), Susan Graham (Hannah Glawari), Andriana Chuchman (Valencienne), Paul Groves (Danilo), Taylor Stayton (Camille de Rosillon), Thomas Allen (Baron Mirko Zeta). Day 8. Visit the Guggenheim Collection in the famous spiral building by Frank Lloyd Wright, with primarily modern paintings. Evening concert at the Lincoln Center: Bramwell Tovey (conductor), Yefim Bronfman (piano), Smetana, Overture to ‘The Bartered Bride’; Bartók, Piano Concerto No.2; Mussorgsky / Orch. Ravel, ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’. Day 9. Murray Hill is the Pierpont Morgan Library, former office of the financier and home to his immense collection of books, manuscripts and artworks. Completed in 1906 the building was overhauled a century later by Renzo Piano. Drive to JFK airport for the flight to London, departing at c. 8.15 pm. Day 10. Arrive at London Heathrow at c. 8.15am.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £5940 or £5110 without flights. Single occupancy: £6750 or £5920 without flights. Included meals: 1 lunch and 5 dinners with wine. Music: tickets (top category) to 5 performances are included, costing c. £525. Details of the optional Nutcracker performance will be sent to participants c. 3 months before the tour. Accommodation: The Empire Hotel (empirehotelnyc.com): elegant 4-star ‘boutiquestyle’ hotel in Upper West Side, located beside the Lincoln Center. Bedrooms are on the small side but comfortable and furnished in modern décor with earthy colours. Visas: British citizens can enter the USA without a visa by applying for a visa waiver online. We will advise on this. If you have travelled to Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria since March 2011 you are not eligible for the waiver and will need to apply for a visa.
AMERICAS: USA
How strenuous? For the daytime excursions you should be prepared to walk for journeys of 20 minutes or more, though taxis can be used, and there will be some walking and standing around in museums. There will be some late nights after the operas. Average distance by coach per day: 8 miles. Group size: between 12 and 22 participants.
Day 4. An architectural walk with a local expert looking at the Art Deco monuments of midtown Manhattan. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) houses some of the greatest paintings of the 20th century. Evening concert at Carnegie Hall with the New York String Orchestra: Jaime Laredo (conductor and viola), Pamela Frank (violin), Vivaldi, Violin Concerto in A Minor, RV.522; Mozart, Sinfonia Concertante in E flat, K.364; Haydn, Symphony No.102 in B flat, Hob.I:102. Day 5, Christmas Day. The morning is free to attend a church service or visit the Jewish Museum. An afternoon walking tour through historic lower Manhattan. 234
Day 6. Spend the morning in the Metropolitan Museum, undoubtedly the number one art museum in America embracing the whole gamut of artistic production from around the world. The afternoon is free, or attend an optional ballet: The Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky): New York City Ballet. Day 7. Drive to The Cloisters, a branch of the Met set in a tranquil part of North Manhattan overlooking the Hudson river. Devoted to art of the Middle Ages and incorporating arcades from five cloisters and other salvaged architecture, it is a marvellous home for sculputre, metalwork, tapestries, stained glass, manuscripts and panel paintings. Evening opera at the Met: The Merry Widow (Lehár), Ward Stare
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‘I had high expectations of this tour and they were fulfilled. The Opera House was stunning.’
Illustration: scene from ‘The Marriage of Figaro’, from a synopsis published c. 1930.
What else is included in the price? See page 7.
Our lecturers
Tom Abbott. Specialist in architectural history from the Baroque to the 20th century with a particular interest in German and American modern. Studied Art History in the USA and Paris and has a wide knowledge of the performing arts. Since 1987 he has lived in Berlin.
Dr Paul Bahn. Archaeologist and Britain’s foremost specialist in prehistoric art. He led the team which discovered Britain’s only known Ice Age cave art at Creswell in 2003 and his books include Prehistoric Rock Art, Journey Through the Ice Age and Images of the Ice Age.
Professor James Allan. Expert in Islamic art and architecture. He read Arabic at Oxford, worked as a field archaeologist in Jerusalem and at Siraf, and spent most of his career in Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, where he also lectured for the Faculty of Oriental Studies.
Richard Bassett. Journalist and historian. He was a foreign correspondent for The Times throughout the 1980s and early 90s, covering central and eastern Europe. His books include Austrians: Tales from the Vienna Woods, Hitler’s Spy Chief: The Wilhelm Canaris Mystery, Balkan Hours and A History of the Habsburg Army.
Louisa Allen. Horticulturist and garden designer. She has worked for the City of London Corporation, managing 200 modern and historic green spaces in the Square Mile. She has an MA in Horticulture from the RHS. Her particular interest is urban environments and the impact these can have on well-being and engaging communities. Dr John Allison. Writer and music critic. He is Editor of Opera magazine, music critic for The Daily Telegraph and former critic for The Sunday Telegraph and the Times. He has written two books and has served on the juries of various international music competitions. Dr Paul Atterbury. Lecturer, writer and broadcaster specialising in the art, architecture and design of the 19th and 20th centuries. He has published widely on pottery, porcelain, canals, railways, and the Thames. He curated the V&A exhibitions Pugin and Victorian Vision and is an expert on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow.
Patrick Bade. Historian, writer and broadcaster. He studied at UCL and the Courtauld and was senior lecturer at Christies Education for many years. He has worked for the Art Fund, Royal Opera House, National Gallery and V&A. He has published on 19th- and early 20th-century painting and on historical vocal recordings. His latest book is Music Wars: 1937–1945.
Hugh Belsey mbe. Art historian, curator and lecturer. For 23 years he curated Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury where he formed one of the largest collections of the artist’s work and in 2004 was awarded an MBE. He is currently writing a catalogue of Thomas Gainsborough’s works for Yale University Press. He studied at Manchester and Birmingham Universities. Gail Bent. Expert on British architectural history and historic interiors. She studied at Toronto and Leeds Universities, where she has also taught, and Edinburgh College of Art. She lectures for The Art Fund, The National Trust, The Arts Society and at Christ Church, University of Oxford Summer Programme. She has acted as an expert on country houses for the BBC. Dr David Beresford-Jones. Fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge University. His research interests include the ancient south coast of Peru, the origins of agriculture, Pre-Colombian textiles and the synthesis of archaeology and historical linguistics, particularly in the Andes. Raaja Bhasin. Author, historian and journalist. He has published several books on the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh and its capital Shimla and is a recognised authority on both. He is the state Coconvenor of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.
Photographs. Top row, left–right: Tom Abbott; Louisa Allen, John Allison; Paul Atterbury; Helena Attlee; Patrick Bade; Paul Bahn; Richard Bassett; Lydia Bauman. Second row, left–right: Hugh Belsey; Gail Bent; David Beresford-Jones; Raaja Bhasin; Steven Blake; Tim Blanning; Flavio Boggi; Zahira Bomford; Xavier Bray.
Professor Tim Blanning. Emeritus Professor of Modern European History at the University of Cambridge, Fellow of Sidney Sussex College and Fellow of the British Academy. Among his many books are The Culture of Power & the Power of Culture, The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648–1815, and Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, awarded the British Academy Medal 2016. Dr Flavio Boggi. Art historian specialising in mediaeval and Renaissance Italian art. He trained both in Scotland and Italy and is now head of the department of Art History at University College Cork, Ireland. He has published on the artistic culture of Tuscany and has co-written two books on Lippo di Dalmasio. Monica Bohm-Duchen. Writer, curator and lecturer specialising in 20th-century art. Studied Art History at UCL and the Courtauld, and has lectured for the National Gallery, Tate, Royal Academy, Courtauld, Sotheby’s and Birkbeck College. Her latest book is Art & the Second World War, and her essay, The Two World Wars, will appear in the anthology War & Art in 2017. Dr Zahira Bomford. Senior Conservator of Paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Completed her PhD at the Courtauld, where she has also lectured, in addition to Rice University, Houston, UCL and the V&A. She has worked in conservation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Prado and the National Trust and has published extensively on Spanish art. Dr Xavier Bray. Art historian specialising in Spain and Director of the Wallace Collection. Former Chief Curator of Dulwich Picture Gallery and an Assistant Curator at the National Gallery. He curated The Sacred Made Real: Spanish Painting and Sculpture 1600–1700 (National Gallery), Murillo & Justino de Neve: The Art of Friendship (Dulwich) and Goya: The Portraits (National Gallery). Dr Steven Brindle. Read History at Oxford and worked for English Heritage for 27 years. He was also involved in the post-fire restoration of Windsor Castle, 1993–97. His books include Brunel, the Man who built the World. His history of Windsor Castle for the Royal Collection is soon to be published. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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LECTURERS
Helena Attlee. Writer and lecturer with an expert knowledge of Italian gardens. Among her books are Italian Gardens: A Cultural History and most recently The Land Where Lemons Grow. She was Writer in Residence at the University of Worcester from 2009–2012 and is a Consultant Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund.
Lydia Bauman. Art historian, artist, and lecturer at the National Gallery. Lydia studied at Newcastle University and the Courtauld Institute, specialising in Matisse and 19th- and 20th-century European and American art. She has lectured at the Tate, National Portrait Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts Boston and Arts Club of Chicago.
Dr Steven Blake. Historian and lecturer, specialising in the history of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire and mediaeval architecture. He worked for 30 years at Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum and has served on many society councils in the West Country. He obtained his PhD from Reading University and is a Fellow of the Museums Association and Society of Antiquaries.
Our lecturers continued
Professor Dominic Brookshaw. Associate Professor of Persian Literature and Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University. He holds a DPhil in pre-modern Persian poetry and a BA in Arabic with Persian from Oxford. His latest book is Ruse & Wit: The Humorous in Arabic, Persian & Turkish Narrative. He has travelled widely in the Middle East and south west/central Asia. Professor John Bryan. Professor of Music at the University of Huddersfield, member of the Rose Consort of Viols, and founder of the North East Early Music Forum. Artistic adviser to York Early Music Festival and contributor on BBC Radio 3. His book Early English Viols: Instruments, Makers and Music was published in 2016.
Top row, left–right: Steven Brindle; Dominic Brookshaw; John Bryan; John Butt; Katie Campbell; Sophie Campbell; Jon Cannon; Cathie Carmichael; Harry Charrington. Second row, left–right: Dawn Chatty; Kevin Childs; Felicity Cobbing; Elizabeth Collingham; Ian Colvin; Peter Cormack; Gordon Corrigan; Imogen Corrigan; Rosemary Crill.
Terry Charman. Leading authority on Churchill, the Battle of Britain, the Blitz and VE and VJ Days. Former Senior Historian at the Imperial War Museum, historical advisor for TV and radio, co-commentator for the BBCs VE and VJ coverage, and member of the IWM Academic Advisory Panel for the 1939–1945 gallery. Professor Harry Charrington. Architect and Head of Architecture at the University of Westminster. He studied at Cambridge and obtained his PhD from the LSE. His research focuses on modernism, and his books include the award-winning Alvar Aalto: the Mark of the Hand and contributions to Artek and the Aaltos: Creating a Modern World.
LECTURERS
Professor John Butt obe. Lecturer, writer and musician, specialising in historical performance. Professor of Music at Glasgow University, Director of the Dunedin Consort, Principal Artist with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and guest conductor for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Stavanger Symphony Orchestra.
Professor Dawn Chatty. Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Forced Migration at the University of Oxford, former Director of the Refugee Studies Centre, and Emeritus Fellow of St Cross College. She has long been involved with the Middle East as a lecturer, development practitioner, and advocate for indigenous rights. She was made a Fellow of the British Academy in 2015.
Dr Katie Campbell. Writer, garden historian and lecturer. She has taught at Birkbeck, Buckingham and Bristol Universities. Her books include British Gardens in Time (to accompany a BBC TV series), Icons of 20th-century Landscape Design and Paradise of Exiles: The Anglo-American Gardens of Florence.
Dr Kevin Childs. Writer and lecturer on culture and the arts with a focus on the Italian Renaissance. He obtained his doctorate from the Courtauld Institute and has been a Fellow of the Dutch Institute in Florence and the British School at Rome. He blogs for The Huffington Post and has published in The New Statesman.
Sophie Campbell. A travel writer for the past 25 years, she has written for the Telegraph, Times, Guardian and Condé Nast Traveller. She lectures on travel writing and is a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide. Her book on the traditional events of the summer, The Season: A Summer Whirl Through the English Social Season was published in 2013.
Dr John Clarke. Curator of Himalayan and South East Asian Art at the V&A Museum in London. He specialises in the arts of Tibet and of South East Asia, in particular of Burma and Thailand. He is Lead Curator for the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Buddhist Art Galleries which opened in 2017 the V&A.
Jon Cannon. Writer, lecturer and broadcaster, specialising in historic religious architecture. He teaches at Bristol University and co-wrote and presented the BBC’s How to Build a Cathedral. He has travelled extensively in China and published on the country in the London Review of Books and in his The Secret Language of Sacred Spaces.
Felicity Cobbing. Executive and Curator of the Palestine Exploration Fund in London. She has excavated in Jordan with the British Museum and travelled throughout the Middle East. Widely published, she is co-author of Beyond the River – Ottoman Transjordan in Original Photographs and Distant Views of the Holy Land.
Professor Cathie Carmichael. Professor of European History at the University of East Anglia. She studied at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia in the 1980s before independence. Her books include Slovenia & the Slovenes, Language & Nationalism in Europe, Genocide before the Holocaust and Bosnia e Erzegovina, Alba e tramonto del secolo breve.
Dr R. T. Cobianchi. Art historian and researcher specializing in Italian art and architecture of the Renaissance and Baroque. His interests also span from the iconography of the late Middle Ages to the sculpture of Neoclassicism.
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Dr Elizabeth Collingham. Food historian and writer. She obtained her PhD at Cambridge and is now an independent writer and Associate Fellow at Warwick University. Books include Imperial Bodies:
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the Physical Experience of the Raj. c. 1800–1947, Curry: A Tale of Cooks & Conquerors and The Hungry Empire: How Britain’s Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World. Ian Colvin. Historian and Byzantinist specialising in Late Antiquity and the South Caucasus. Trained at Oxford, he is now a researcher at Cambridge. He has directed an ongoing archaeological expedition to ancient Archaeopolis in the South Caucasus since 2001. Peter Cormack. Art historian and curator. He is the Honorary Curator of William Morris’s Oxfordshire home, Kelmscott Manor, and was formerly Keeper of the William Morris Gallery, London. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and VicePresident and Honorary Fellow of the British Society of Master Glass-Painters. Major Gordon Corrigan mbe. Military historian and former officer of the Royal Gurkha Rifles. The latest of his numerous books is Waterloo – A New History of the Battle & its Armies. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and a Member of the British Commission for Military History. Imogen Corrigan. Specialist in Anglo-Saxon and mediaeval history, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She spent 20 years in the army, retiring in the rank of Major, then obtained a first-class degree in Medieval History from the University of Kent, and has been studying and lecturing ever since. Rosemary Crill. Recently retired as Senior Curator for South Asia at the V&A Museum, where she is now an Honorary Senior Research Fellow. Over 30 years she has published widely on Indian textiles and paintings. Books include Indian Embroidery, Indian Ikat Textiles and The Fabric of India, which accompanied the major exhibition of the same name at the V&A. Steven Desmond. Chartered Horticulturist specialising in the conservation of historic gardens. He writes for Country Life and lectures for The Arts Society. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture and a Professional Associate of the Royal Horticultural Society. His book Gardens of the Italian Lakes was published in 2016. Misha Donat. Writer, lecturer and senior music producer for BBC Radio 3 for more than 25 years. He writes programme notes for Wigmore Hall and other venues, and CD booklets for various labels. Currently he is working on a new edition of the Beethoven piano sonatas, to be published by Bärenreiter.
Top row, left–right: Misha Donat, Michael Douglas-Scott; Michael Downes; Simon Esmonde Cleary; Ben Evans; Richard Evans; Karen Exell; Andrew Farrington; Margrethe Floryan. Second row, left–right: Frances Fowle; Lucia Gahlin; Jana Gajdošová; Garth Gilmour; David Gowan; Mark Grahame; Sheila Hale; Michael Hall; Norman Hammond.
‘The lecturer was a gifted teacher, and in my mind, went far beyond the call of duty.’
Dr Michael Douglas-Scott. Associate Lecturer in History of Art at Birkbeck College, specialising in 16th-century Italian art and architecture. He studied at the Courtauld and lived in Rome for several years. He has written articles for Arte Veneta, Burlington Magazine and the Journal of the Warburg & Courtauld Institutes.
Dr Margrethe Floryan. Art historian and curator with a PhD in garden history. Studied at the University of Aarhus and the École du Louvre. Author of Great European Gardens: An Atlas of Historic Plans. She has published extensively on art, architecture and landscape design.
David Gowan cmg. British Ambassador in Belgrade from 2003–6 and Minister and Deputy Head of Mission in Moscow from 2000–3. He was Kosovo War Crimes Co-ordinator in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1999 and has published papers on Serbia and Kosovo.
Dr Frances Fowle. Senior Curator of French Art at the Scottish National Gallery, Reader in History of Art at the University of Edinburgh and Senior Trustee of the Burrell Collection. She has curated exhibitions including Inspiring Impressionism: Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh. Her books include Soil & Stone: Impressionism, Urbanism Environment.
Dr Mark Grahame. Archaeologist, lecturer and Member of the Chartered Institute of Archaeologists (MCIfA), whose research interests focus on Roman Pompeii. He has taught courses on the archaeology and history of the Roman Empire including for Cambridge University’s Institute of Continuing Education.
Lucia Gahlin. Teaches Egyptology for the University of Exeter, and is a Research Associate at UCL’s Institute of Archaeology. She works closely with the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology and has excavated at Amarna in Egypt. Her publications include Egypt: Gods, Myths & Religion.
Dr Jamie Greenbaum. Historian specialising in Ming dynasty cultural history. He is a Visiting Fellow in the School of Culture, History and Language at the Australian National University and lectures at the Renmin University, Beijing. He has published books on the late-Ming literary world and the early 20th-century political figure Qu Qiubai.
Dr Michael Downes. Director of Music at the University of St Andrews, musical director of St Andrews Chorus and founding artistic director of Byre Opera. He writes programme notes for Wigmore Hall and Aldeburgh Music and is a music critic for the Times Literary Supplement. He is author of a highly praised study of British composer Jonathan Harvey. Professor Simon Esmonde Cleary. Archaeologist specialising in the western Roman Empire. He studied at London University and Oxford. He is Professor of Roman Archaeology at the University of Birmingham and has conducted field-work in the UK and France. He has written books on Gaul and Spain in late antiquity, and on Roman Britain. Ben Evans. Editor of HALI magazine – the leading specialist publication in antique carpets and textiles. In 2005 he also launched COVER magazine to represent the contemporary market. With extensive travel experience and strong relations with scholars and curators, Ben has a comprehensive knowledge of world weavings.
Dr Karen Exell. Studied at Oxford University and St Andrews and obtained a PhD from Durham. She is Honorary Senior Research Associate at UCL Qatar, and a consultant at Qatar Museums. She has published several works on the cultural heritage of the Arabian Peninsula, including a monograph, Modernity & the Museum in the Arabian Peninsula, in 2016. Dr Andrew Farrington. Assistant Professor in Ancient History at the Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, in northern Greece. He also teaches for the Greek Open University and previously held academic posts in Australia and New Zealand. His specialism is the sporting life of the ancient Greeks, especially under the Roman empire.
Dr Alexandra Gajewski. Architectural historian and lecturer specialising in the mediaeval. She obtained her PhD from the Courtauld Institute, and has lectured there and at Birkbeck College. She is currently in Madrid researching The Roles of Women as Makers of Medieval Art and Architecture. Dr Ffiona Gilmore Eaves. Read Archaeology at Cambridge and obtained her PhD from Nottingham. Her special interest is in the Adriatic and she is the co-author of Retrieving the Record: A Century of Archaeology at Porec. She has lectured extensively in adult education, especially for the WEA, and for various extra-mural departments. Dr Garth Gilmour. Jerusalem and Oxford trained biblical archaeologist, now living and working in Jerusalem. His interests include eastern Mediterranean trade in the Late Bronze Age and the archaeology of religion in Israel. He has excavated at Ekron and Ashkelon and is currently researching the Palestine Exploration Fund’s excavation in Jerusalem in the 1920s.
Sheila Hale. Writer and lecturer with a focus on the Italian Renaissance. Among her books are Titian: His Life & the Golden Age of Venice and Verona: An Architectural History. She has contributed to numerous newspapers in the UK and US including the New York Times and London Review of Books. Michael Hall. Historian and writer on British architecture and design. He was architectural editor of Country Life and his books include The Victorian Country House, Waddesdon Manor: The Biography of a Rothschild House and, most recently, George Frederick Bodley & the Later Gothic Revival in Britain & America. Professor Norman Hammond. Leading expert on Maya civilization. He is a Senior Fellow at Cambridge University and Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at Boston University. His many books include Ancient Maya Civilization, Nohmul: a Prehistoric Maya Community in Belize and Cuello: an early Maya community in Belize. He is Archaeology Correspondent for The Times. Gijs van Hensbergen. Art historian and author specialising in Spain and the USA. His books include Gaudí, In the Kitchens of Castile, Guernica and La Sagrada Familia. He studied Art History at the Courtauld and is a Fellow of the Cañada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies at the LSE.
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Professor Sir Richard J. Evans. Regius Professor of History and President of Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge. He is author of numerous books on Central European history including, in 2016, The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815–1914, a volume in the Penguin History of Europe, recently issued in paperback.
Dr Jana Gajdošová. Art historian, and lecturer at the University of Cambridge and at Christie’s Education. She obtained her MA at the Courtauld Institute, and her PhD at Birkbeck College. Her research interests include late mediaeval art and architecture, especially in Central Europe, England, Germany and Italy.
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Dr Monika Hinkel. Lecturer and curator specialising in Japanese woodblock prints and Research Associate of the Japan Research Centre at SOAS. She studied at Bonn University, was curator for Japanese art at the Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne, and a researcher at Gakushuin University, Tokyo. She has lectured at Birkbeck, the V&A and Morley College. Dr Frank Høifødt. Art historian, lecturer and writer. Former Associate Professor at the University of Oslo and director of the Vigeland Museum. He is an expert on Edvard Munch and was for years a curator at the Munch Museum in Oslo. He has published extensively on the artist. In the summer of 2016, he curated a Munch exhibition at the Gallery F 15 in Moss. Caroline Holmes. Garden historian, autor and consultant. Lectures for Cambridge University’s ICE, The Arts Society and RHS. Her eleven books include Water Lilies & Bory Latour Marliac, and The Genius behind Monet’s Water Lilies. She has been a consultant for the Royal Opera House’s New Production Campus for the Performing Arts and Notre-Dame-de-Calais.
LECTURERS
Owen Hopkins. Writer, historian and curator. Senior Curator of Exhibitions and Education at Sir John Soane’s Museum, and former Architecture Programme Curator at the Royal Academy of Arts where his exhibitions included Nicholas Hawksmoor: Architect of the Imagination. He is author of From the Shadows: The Architecture and Afterlife of Nicholas Hawksmoor. Dr Jeremy Howard. Senior Lecturer in Art History at the University of St Andrews. He specialises in the art, architecture and design of central and eastern Europe, with a particular interest in the Baltic region. His books include Art Nouveau: International and National Styles in Europe and East European Art. Professor Maurice Howard. Professor Emeritus of Art History at Sussex University. His books include The Building of Elizabethan & Jacobean England. He has worked for the V&A and the National Portrait Gallery, is President of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain and former President of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Michael Ivory. Writer and translator, specialising in Central Europe. He studied modern languages at Oxford, and later qualified as a town planner and landscape architect, and taught these subjects at university level. His publications include guides to Prague and the Czech Republic, including the Berlitz Czech Republic. 238
Top row, left–right: Monika Hinkel; Frank Høifødt; Caroline Holmes; Owen Hopkins; Jeremy Howard; Maurice Howard; Michael Ivory; Stephen Johnson; James Johnstone. Second row, left–right: David Jones; Philippa Joseph; Shona Kallestrup; Yoko Kawaguchi; Jonathan Keates; Hugh Kennedy; Nicholas Kenyon; Rose Kerr; Helen King.
Luke Jennings. Author and dance critic of the Observer. He trained at the Rambert School and worked for ten years as a dancer and choreographer before turning to writing. With Deborah Bull, he wrote The Faber Guide to Ballet and as a journalist he has written for Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and Time, and various British titles.
Jonathan Keates. Author, journalist and teacher. His books include Purcell: A Biography and The Siege Of Venice, and fiction includes short story collections Allegro Postillions and Soon to be a Major Motion Picture. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Trustee of the London Library and Chairman of Venice In Peril.
Stephen Johnson. Writer, broadcaster and composer. For 15 years, a presenter of BBC Radio 3’s Discovering Music. Books include Bruckner Remembered, studies of Wagner and Mahler, and How Shostakovich Changed My Mind (2017). His orchestral piece Behemoth Dances had its première by the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra in 2016.
Professor Hugh Kennedy. Professor of Arabic at SOAS. He studied at the Middle East Centre for Arab Studies in Beirut, and read Arabic and Persian at Cambridge. He is author of The Early Abbasid Caliphate, The Prophet & the Age of the Caliphates, Crusader Castles and Muslim Spain & Portugal.
James Johnstone. Organist specialising in the Baroque. He is Professor of early keyboards at Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Trinity Laban. He has performed and recorded as a soloist, and with the Gabrieli Consort & Players and Monteverdi Choir. In 2016 he embarked on a major recording project of Bach’s organ works on historical instruments. Dr David Jones. Furniture historian specialising in English and Scottish furniture and Thomas Chippendale. He has taught at the University of St Andrews and the Smithsonian Institution. He advises on several collections including Hopetoun House, Dumfries House, and Paxton House, and uses these collections for teaching on site. Dr Philippa Joseph. Independent lecturer and researcher, and reviews editor for History Today. For 20 years, she published journals and books for learned societies in the humanities. Her research looks at societies in Andalucía and Sicily where Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultures flourished, each building on a Classical past. Dr Shona Kallestrup. Art historian specialising in Scandinavia and Central and Eastern Europe. She obtained an MA from the Warburg Institute, and an MA and PhD from the University of St Andrews, where she now teaches. She has worked at the Universities of Copenhagen, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Yoko Kawaguchi. Writer and cultural historian specialising in the relationship between Japan and the West. She holds an MA from Kyoto University, and has undertaken postgraduate research at Newnham College, Cambridge. Books include Butterfly’s Sisters: The Geisha in Western Culture, Japanese Zen Gardens and Authentic Japanese Gardens.
book online at www.martinrandall.com
Sir Nicholas Kenyon. Managing Director of the Barbican Centre, former Controller of BBC Radio 3 and Director of the BBC Proms. He has been music critic for The New Yorker and Observer, music editor of The Listener and editor of Early Music. He is author of the Faber Pocket Guides to Bach and Mozart, and edited Authenticity & Early Music and The City of London: a companion guide. Dr Rose Kerr. Honorary Associate of the Needham Research Institute in Cambridge, having retired as Keeper of the Far Eastern Department at the V&A. She graduated in Chinese studies and spent a year as a student in China during the last year of the Cultural Revolution, 1975–6. In 2014 she became an Honorary Citizen of Jingdezhen. Professor Helen King. Professor Emerita of Classical Studies at The Open University and Visiting Professor at the Peninsula Medical and Dental School (Exeter and Plymouth), and at the University of Vienna. Her publications include Greek & Roman Medicine and The One-Sex Body on Trial: The Classical & Early Modern Evidence. Caroline Knight. Architectural historian specialising in 16th–18th-century British architectural and social history. She studied at London University, followed by an MA at the Courtauld Institute. She lectures frequently at the V&A and for The Arts Society. She has published academic articles, contributed to various books, and written London’s Country Houses. Dr Konstanze Knittler. Art historian and lecturer specialising in 19th- and 20th-century Chinese art and ceramics. She studied in Vienna and at Sotheby’s Institute of Art. She obtained her PhD at the University of Glasgow. She lectures at Sotheby’s Institute and has run short courses on Asian art.
Top row, left–right: Caroline Knight; Konstanze Knittler; Anthony Lambert; Helen Langdon; Richard Langham Smith; Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones; Rowena Loverance; Gerald Luckhurst; Alexey Makhrov. Second row, left–right: Andrew Martin; John McNeill; Charles Melville; Patrick Mercer; Jeffrey Miller; Barry Millington; Marc Millon; Anna-Maria Misra; David Mitchinson.
Dr Jarl Kremeier. Art historian specialising in 17th- to 19th-century architecture and decorative arts. He teaches Art History at the Berlin College of Acting and Berlin’s Freie Universität. He is a contributor to the Macmillan Dictionary of Art and author of Die Hofkirche der Würzburger Residenz. Anthony Lambert. Historian, journalist and travel writer. He has worked for the National Trust for almost 30 years. His books include Victorian & Edwardian Country House Life. He writes regularly for the Historic Houses Association magazine. He has written numerous travel and guide books, including over twenty on railway history and travel. Dr Helen Langdon. Art historian and author. She studied at Cambridge and the Courtauld and was a Research Fellow at the Getty Institute, LA, and Visiting Fellow at Yale. Her books include Claude Lorrain, Caravaggio: A Life and Vision & Ecstasy: Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione’s St Francis. Professor Richard Langham Smith. Music historian, broadcaster and writer specialising in early music and 19th/20th-century French music. He is Research Professor at the Royal College of Music. In 1993 he was admitted as a Chevalier to the ‘Ordre des arts et des lettres’ for services to French Music, and was awarded an FRCM in 2016.
Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones. Chair of Ancient History at Cardiff University and specialist in the history and culture of ancient Iran, the Near East and Ancient Greece. Books include Ctesias’ History of Persia, Creating a Hellenistic World and King & Court in Ancient Persia. He has contributed to TV and BBC radio documentaries and is a regular reviewer for the Times and Times Higher Education. Rowena Loverance. Byzantine art historian specialising in sculpture, mosaics and icons. She studied History and Archaeology at Oxford and was Head of e-learning at the British Museum and a Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College, London. Her publications include the illustrated history Byzantium and Christian Art. Dr Gerald Luckhurst. Landscape architect and garden historian based in Lisbon. He works on the restoration of historic palaces and botanical gardens, including contemporary garden design.
Dr Alexey Makhrov. Russian art historian and lecturer. He graduated from the St Petersburg Academy of Arts and obtained his PhD from the University of St Andrews followed by postdoctoral work as a Research Fellow at Exeter. He now lives in Switzerland where he teaches courses on Russian art. Andrew Martin. Journalist, novelist, historian and author of Underground Overground: A Passenger’s History of the Tube (2012). During the 1990s he was ‘Tube Talk’ columnist for the Evening Standard. His most recent novel is Soot. John McNeill. Architectural historian and a specialist in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. He lectures for Oxford University’s Department of Continuing Education and is Honorary Secretary of the British Archaeological Association, for whom he has edited collections of essays on mediaeval Anjou, King’s Lynn and the Fens, Cloisters, and Romanesque and the Mediterranean. Professor Charles Melville. Professor of Persian History at Cambridge. He studied Arabic and Persian at Cambridge and Islamic History at SOAS. His main area of expertise is the history of Iran in the Mongol and Safavid periods. He is also Director of the Cambridge Shahnama Project and has travelled extensively in Iran and Central Asia. Patrick Mercer obe. Military historian. He read History at Oxford and then spent 25 years in the army, achieving the rank of colonel, and subsequently worked for BBC Radio 4 as Defence Correspondent and as a journalist. He was MP for Newark from 2001 to 2014 and is the author of two books on the Battle of Inkerman. Dr Jeffrey Miller. Art historian specialising in architecture of the Middle Ages. He teaches at the University of Cambridge and The Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL). He holds an MA from the Courtauld and a PhD from Columbia University. His research will feature in the forthcoming Decorated Revisited: English Architectural Style in Context, 1250–1400 (Brepols). Barry Millington. Writer, lecturer and broadcaster. He is founder/editor of The Wagner Journal and author of eight books on Wagner including The Wagner Compendium and Richard Wagner: The Sorcerer of Bayreuth. He is Chief Music Critic for the Evening Standard and has acted as dramaturgical adviser at various opera houses.
Marc Millon. Wine, food and travel writer. Born in Mexico, he was raised in the USA and then studied at the University of Exeter. He lives in Devon where he is closely involved with the food scene of the West Country. He is author of The Wine Roads of France, The Wine Roads of Italy, The Food Lover’s Companion to France, The Food Lover’s Companion to Italy and The Taste of Britain. Dr Anna-Maria Misra. Lecturer in Modern History at Oxford University and a specialist on Indian history and the British Empire. She has published widely including Vishnu’s Crowded Temple: India Since the Great Rebellion and she wrote and presented Channel 4 series An Indian Affair. David Mitchinson. Former Head of Collections and Exhibitions at the Henry Moore Foundation. He has curated exhibitions of, and written extensively on Moore’s life and work including Henry Moore: Unpublished Drawings, Celebrating Moore and most recently Henry Moore: Prints & Portfolios. Dr Andrew Moore. Writer and curator, and a specialist in the study of country houses and their art collections. He co-authored a reassessment of Sir Robert Walpole’s art collection at Houghton Hall in 2013. Formerly Keeper of Art at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery. Dr Marc Morris. Historian and broadcaster specialising in the Middle Ages. He studied and taught at the universities of London and Oxford. He presented the highly acclaimed TV series Castle. Books include The Norman Conquest, A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain and King John: Treachery, Tyranny and the Road to Magna Carta. Chris Moss. Journalist and writer specialising in Argentina, where he lived for a number of years. He studied theology, English literature and education. He has written for BBC History and Daily Telegraph and has edited several guidebooks, as well as a cultural history of Patagonia. He also writes on South American music for the publication Songlines. Professor Louis Nelson. Specialist in American colonial architecture and the architectures and landscapes of the early modern Atlantic world. He is Professor of Architectural History at the University of Virginia. The majority of his work focuses on the early American South, the Greater Caribbean, and the Atlantic rim.
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Dr Luca Leoncini. Art historian specialising in 15th-century Italian painting. His first degree and PhD were from Rome University followed by research at the Warburg Institute in London. He has contributed to the Macmillan Dictionary of Art and has written on Mantegna and Renaissance drawings.
His books include: The Gardens of Madeira, The Gardens of the National Palace of Queluz and Sintra: A Landscape with Villas.
‘...very committed to her subject, endlessly informative, passionate.’
Our lecturers continued
Professor Fabrizio Nevola. Chair and Professor of Art History and Visual Culture at the University of Exeter. His research focuses on the urban and architectural history of early modern Italy and he has published widely including Siena: Constructing the Renaissance City. He obtained his PhD at the Courtauld. Christopher Newall. Art historian, lecturer and writer. A specialist in 19th-century British art he also has a deep interest in southern Italy, its architecture, politics and social history. He studied at the Courtauld and has curated various exhibitions including John Ruskin: Artist & Observer at the National Gallery of Canada and Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Dr Charles Nicholl. Honorary Professor of English at Sussex University and the author of several books of biography, history and travel. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and recipient of the Hawthornden prize, the James Tait Black prize for biography and the Crime Writers’ Association ‘Gold Dagger’ award for non-fiction. Sarah Nichols. Writer and lecturer specialising in decorative arts. She works for the Attingham Trust for the Study of Historic House, and is involved in the Decorative Arts Society, The Furniture History Society and the York Georgian Society. She has written and lectured extensively on a wide range of topics from 18th-century furniture to contemporary ceramics and glass.
LECTURERS
Professor Geoffrey Norris. Writer, lecturer and former music critic. For many years, he was Chief Music Critic of The Daily Telegraph. At different times he has been lecturer at the Royal Northern College of Music and at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is Professor at the Rachmaninoff Music Academy in Russia and also teaches at the Gnesin Music Academy in Moscow. Dr Cathy Oakes. Associate Professor in Art History at Oxford University with a focus on the mediaeval. She worked previously in the Education Department at the V&A and ran the art history programme for the Department for Continuing Education at Bristol. She has published widely on French and English Romanesque and English Early Modern. Alan Ogden. Travel writer and historian. His books include Fortresses of Faith: The Kirchenburgen of Transylvania, Revelations of Byzantium: The Monasteries & Painted Churches of N.E. Moldavia and Moons & Aurochs: Romanian journeys. He has written four histories of the 240
Top row, left–right: Andrew Moore; Marc Morris; Chris Moss; Louis Nelson; Fabrizio Nevola; Christopher Newall; Charles Nicholl; Geoffrey Norris; Cathy Oakes. Second row, left–right: Alan Ogden; Sophie Oosterwijk; Muiris O’Sullivan; Ian Page; Stephen Parkin; Amanda Patton; Sarah Pearson; Carolyn Perry; Richard Plant.
Special Operations Executive covering Eastern Europe, Italy, Greece and the Far East. Dr Sophie Oosterwijk. Researcher and lecturer with degrees in Art History, Mediaeval Studies and English Literature. Her specialisms are the Middle Ages, and the art and culture of the Netherlands. She has taught at the universities of Leicester, Manchester and St Andrews, and lectures at Cambridge. She is co-editor of the journal Church Monuments. Professor Muiris O’Sullivan. Emeritus Professor of Archaeology and former Head of School at the UCD School of Archaeology, Dublin. He has conducted research at some of the more famous sites in Ireland, at Tara, Knowth and Newgrange. His publications include The Mound of the Hostages, Tara – From the Past to the Future, and Archaeology 2020. Ian Page. Conductor and Artistic Director of Classical Opera, who appear regularly at Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, the Barbican and Sadler’s Wells. He recently embarked on a new project to record all the Mozart operas and has been a professor at the Royal College of Music in London since 1993. Stephen Parkin. Curator at the British Library and specialist in early printing in Italy. He studied at Cambridge and UCL, and has a qualification in librarianship from the Vatican Library School in Rome. He has a particular interest in the history of bibliography and collecting and has published in these fields; he also works as a literary translator. Amanda Patton. Landscape and garden designer, writer, broadcaster and artist. A Registered Member of the Society of Garden Designers, British Association of Landscape Industries and member of the Garden Media Guild, she has created Show Gardens at the RHS Chelsea and Hampton Court flower shows. Her specialism is the development of the 20th-century garden. Dr Sarah Pearson. Architectural historian, writer and lecturer specialising in Italy. Her MA focused on Andrea Palladio and her PhD investigated convent building in Northern Italy with particular reference to the Duchy of Urbino and the architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini. She currently lectures at Madingley Hall at the University of Cambridge. Dr Alan Peatfield. Archaeologist specialising in the Minoan Bronze Age Civilisation of Crete. He obtained his PhD from University College London. From 1984–90 he was Knossos Curator
book online at www.martinrandall.com
for the British School at Athens and has lectured at University College Dublin since 1991. He has excavated on Crete and he writes on Minoan religion and ancient Greek combat. Carolyn Perry. Lecturer and museum consultant. Taught Ancient History and Mythology in the Department of Mediterranean Studies at Queen Mary College, University of London and has excavated in Italy. Established the Arab World Education Programme at the British Museum. She is also Chair of The British Foundation for the Study of Arabia. Dr Richard Plant. Architectural historian and lecturer specialising in the Middle Ages with a strong interest in the modern. He studied at Cambridge, followed by the Courtauld, where he obtained his PhD. He was Deputy Academic Director at Christie’s Education and has published on English and German architecture. Fred Plotkin. Writer specialising in Italian food, wine, culture and opera. Author of six books including Italy for the Gourmet Traveller. He has worked at La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera. He appears regularly on the BBC, and is a speaker at the Oxford Literary Festival. In 2015, he was awarded the Cavaliere della Stella d’Italia. Jane Pritchard mbe. Curator of Dance for the V&A and co-curator of the exhibition Diaghilev & the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes 1909–1929. She was Archivist for Rambert Dance Company and English National Ballet. Books include Anna Pavlova: Twentieth-Century Ballerina, and she has curated and written for BFI Southbank and the British Council. Asoka Pugal. Historian and lecturer. Born in Tamil Nadu, he graduated from the University of Madras followed by postgraduate studies at Madras Law College. He has worked in the tourist industry for many years and has produced TV documentaries. In 2001, he joined the Board of Studies in Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Madras. Professor Peter Wynne Rees cbe. City Planning Officer for the City of London 1985–2014 and a founder member and director of the British Council for Offices. He is Professor of Places and City Planning at UCL. He has an Honorary Fellowship from RIBA and Honorary doctorate from London SBU, and was awarded the CBE for services to architecture and town planning.
‘Clear, expansive, great continuity, a pleasure to listen to, great depth of knowledge, surprising insights, outgoing and connected with all attendees.’
Top row, left–right: Fred Plotkin; Jane Pritchard; Asoka Pugal; Peter Wynne Rees; Simon Rees; Mary Lynn Riley; Juliet Rix; Barnaby Rogerson; Sue Rollin. Second row, left–right: Timon Screech; Janet Sinclair; József Sisa; Guus Sluiter; Jan Smaczny; Roderick Smith; Antony Spawforth; Andrew Spooner; Gavin Stamp.
Simon Rees. Simon writes programme articles and surtitles for many British opera companies, and reviews for Opera, Opera Now, Musical Opinion, Early Music Today, Bachtrack and a range of other publications. A novelist, poet and librettist, from 1989 to 2012 he was dramaturg at Welsh National Opera.
Dr Paul Sanders. Associate Professor at NEOMA Business School (Reims, France). He obtained his PhD from Cambridge University and he is fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He specialises in the German occupation, his published works including The British Channel Islands under German Occupation 1940–1945.
Roderick Smith mw. Wine expert with specialist knowledge of regions in France and Italy. He has worked in senior roles for leading companies including Seagram and Mentzendorff, and was awarded the Master of Wine in 2006. He now lives on the Côte d’Azur where he runs a wine academy and judges wine competitions worldwide.
Mary Lynn Riley. Specialist in 19th- and 20thcentury modern and contemporary art. She lives on the Côte d’Azur where she teaches art courses at the Musée Bonnard in Le Cannet and the Espace de l’Art Concret at Mouans-Sartoux. Previously she worked at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.
Professor Timon Screech. Professor of History of Art at SOAS, University of London. He is an expert on the art and culture of the Edo period, including its international dimension, and has published widely on the subject. His books include Sex & the Floating World and Obtaining Images.
Juliet Rix. Award-winning journalist, writer and broadcaster with a particular interest in the history of Malta. She studied History of Art at Cambridge and is the author of the Bradt Guide: Malta and Gozo. Her career in journalism has involved working for the BBC and writing for British national newspapers, magazines and online media.
Dr Diane Silverthorne. Art historian specialising in late-19th and 20th-century art, design and architecture. She completed her PhD at the Royal College of Art and now lectures at Birkbeck, University of London. She recently contributed chapters to Music & Modernism c.1849–1950 and The Oxford Critical & Cultural History of Modernist Magazines V3, Europe 1880–1940.
Professor Antony Spawforth. Historian, broadcaster, lecturer and writer specialising in Greek and Roman antiquity and in rulers’ courts. Books include The Complete Greek Temples, Greece: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (with C. Mee), and Versailles: A Biography of a Palace. He is Emeritus Professor of Ancient History at Newcastle University.
Elizabeth Roberts. Historian, writer and lecturer. Former lecturer in Balkan history and politics at University College Dublin, and expert witness for the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Kosovo and Montenegro. Books include Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro and (ed. with David Madden and Othon Anastasakis) Balkan Legacies of the Great War: The Past is Never Dead.
Sue Rollin. Archaeologist, interpreter and lecturer, widely travelled in the Middle East. She speaks various ancient Near-Eastern and modern European languages. She lectures for the Art Fund, Arts Society and V&A. She has taught at UCL, SOAS and Cambridge, interprets for the EU and UN and is co-author of Blue Guide: Jordan. Professor Andrew Sanders. Lecturer and writer specialising in 19th-century literature and culture. He is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Durham and Past President of the Dickens Fellowship. Books include: The Short Oxford History of English Literature and English Cathedrals. He has written five books on Dickens, including Charles Dickens’s London.
Dr József Sisa. Art historian specialising in the 19th century. He is Head of Department at the Research Institute for Art History at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. A native Hungarian with fluent English, he lectures in the UK, across Europe and the USA and co-edited The Architecture of Historic Hungary. Dr Guus Sluiter. Art historian and Director of the Dutch Funeral Museum in Amsterdam. Prior to this he worked for the Mauritshuis in The Hague and the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. He has published widely in the Netherlands and Italy and is a Research Fellow of the Dutch Institute for Art History in Florence. Professor Jan Smaczny. Emeritus Professor of Music at Queen’s University, Belfast, and an authority on Czech music. An author, broadcaster and journalist, he has published books on the Prague Provisional Theatre, Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, Music in 19th-century Ireland and Bach’s B-minor Mass. He studied at the University of Oxford and the Charles University, Prague.
Andrew Spooner. Military historian specialising in the Great War. He runs his own battlefield tours and organises specialist study days for colleges and museums throughout the country. He is a regular visiting lecturer at the Imperial War Museum Duxford and has appeared in documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4. Professor Gavin Stamp. Architectural historian with an interest in 19th- and 20th-century British architecture. He has published on Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson, the Gilbert Scott dynasty and Sir Edwin Lutyens. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and RIBA, and Honorary Professor at Glasgow and Cambridge Universities. Dr Susan Steer. Art historian and lecturer specialising in Venice. Her PhD focused on Venetian Renaissance altarpieces, followed by work as researcher and editor on the National Inventory of European Painting, the UK’s online catalogue. She has taught History of Art for university programmes in the UK and Italy. Graeme Stobbs. Archaeologist with over 20 years experience in field archaeology and an expert on Hadrian’s Wall. He is Assistant Curator of Roman Collections of English Heritage’s Hadrian’s Wall Museums and until recently worked as Archaeological Project Officer for Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums. Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Barnaby Rogerson. Writer and publisher and owner of Eland Books, London’s leading independent travel publisher. He is descended from four generations of London brewers and has edited the London collection in the Poetry of Place series.
Janet Sinclair. Art historian, curator and lecturer. Studied at the Courtauld, Bretton Hall and the Barber Institute, Birmingham. She has held senior management posts at several heritage sites and is currently Collections Manager at Petworth for the National Trust. She is a panel member of the Sustainable Communities Fund in the South Downs National Park.
Dr Nigel Spivey. Senior Lecturer in Classical Art and Archaeology at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Emmanuel College. Among his publications are Understanding Greek Sculpture, Greek Art, Enduring Creation, The Ancient Olympics and Classical Civilization: A History in Ten Chapters. He presented the BBC2/PBS series How Art Made the World.
Our lecturers continued
Professor Richard Stokes. Professor of Lieder at the Royal Academy of Music. He has written books on English, French, German and Spanish song, including The Book of Lieder and The Penguin Book of English Song: Seven Centuries of Poetry from Chaucer to Auden. In 2012 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for services to German culture. Jane Streetly. Co-author of Blue Guide: Jordan and Istanbul: A Traveller’s Guide. She was born and raised in Trinidad, studied French and Spanish at university and now works as a conference interpreter and travel writer. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and has travelled widely throughout Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Tim Tatton-Brown. Former Consultant Archaeologist to Canterbury and Salisbury cathedrals, Westminster Abbey, Lambeth Palace and St George’s Chapel, Windsor. He has been Vice-President of the Royal Archaeological Institute. Books include Great Cathedrals of Britain and Salisbury Cathedral, the making of a Medieval Masterpiece. Neil Taylor. A leading expert on the former Communist world. He read Chinese at Cambridge and has worked in tourism in China, the USSR and many developing countries. His publications include Bradt Guides to Estonia, Tallinn and Baltic Cities and A Footprints Guide to Berlin.
LECTURERS
Dr Lars Tharp. Ceramics historian and frequent broadcaster, including 30 years on the BBC Antiques Roadshow and two notable films on Chinese ceramics. Also an authority on the life and works of William Hogarth; he is Hogarth Curator of the Foundling Museum and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Dr Giles Tillotson. Dean of Ansal University, Gurgaon and writer and lecturer on Indian architecture, art and history. His books include Taj Mahal, Jaipur Nama: Tales from the Pink City, and the novel, Return to Bhanupur. He is a Fellow, and the former Director, of the Royal Asiatic Society and was Chair of Art & Archaeology at SOAS. Dr Thomas-Leo True. Specialist in Renaissance and Baroque Italian art and architecture. He received his PhD from Cambridge University, and worked at Sir John Soane’s Museum, London. He is now Assistant Director of the British School at Rome, the UK’s leading humanities research centre abroad for the study of art, architecture and archaeology across the Mediterranean. 242
Top row, left–right: Susan Steer; Graeme Stobbs; Richard Stokes; Jane Streetly; Neil Taylor; Lars Tharp; Giles Tillotson; Thomas-Leo True; Gail Turner. Second row, left–right: David Vickers; Stephen Walsh; Bert Watteeuw; Peter Webb; Lucy Whitaker; Antonia Whitley; Richard Wigmore; Neil Younger; Ulrike Ziegler.
Gail Turner. Art historian, lecturer and artist with a special interest in Spanish history and art. She read Modern History at Oxford and completed her MA at the Courtauld. She lectures for the National Trust and Art Fund, and teaches on courses at the V&A. She has also lectured on the Courtauld Institute Summer School. Dr Geoffrey Tyack. Architectural historian with a particular interest in the 18th to 20th centuries in Britain and Europe. He is Fellow of Kellogg College, University of Oxford, and is the author of John Nash: Architect of the Picturesque. He is also Editor of the Georgian Group Journal. Dr David Vickers. Author, journalist, broadcaster and lecturer. He is co-editor of The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia and is preparing new editions of several of Handel’s music dramas. He is a critic for Gramophone and BBC Radio 3 and an essayist for many record labels. He teaches at the Royal Northern College of Music. Emeritus Professor Stephen Walsh. Writer on music. Author of a major biography of Stravinsky, and of Musorgsky & his Circle. His biographical study of Debussy will be published in 2018. Former deputy music critic for the Observer and contributor to other broadsheets. He is an Emeritus Professor of Cardiff University, where he taught from 1976–2013. Bert Watteeuw. Curator of research collections at the Antwerp Rubenianum. He has worked at the Department of Art History at the University of Leuven, and collaborated on exhibitions on Renaissance portraiture at The Frick Collection, New York and Rubenshuis, Antwerp. He is currently conceptualising a new visitor centre for the Rubens House, due to open in 2019. Dr Peter Webb. Arabist and historian, specialising in early and mediaeval Islam. He has travelled extensively in the Middle East and Central Asia and has taught at SOAS and the American University of Paris. He is now a Lecturer in Arabic at Leiden University. Lucy Whitaker. Senior Curator of Paintings in the Royal Collection and curator of the exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace (19 May–12 November 2017). She has co-authored several books including Canaletto & the Art of Venice and The Northern Renaissance.
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Dr Antonia Whitley. Art historian and lecturer specialising in the Italian Renaissance. She obtained her PhD from the Warburg Institute, University of London. She has lectured for the National Gallery and has taught in the War Studies department of King’s College, London. She organises adult education study sessions and has led many tours in Italy. Dr Gareth Williams. Curator at the British Museum and Honorary Reader at UCL. Senior Researcher for the research project The Viking Phenomenon and Academic Advisor to the Jorvik Viking Centre. He curated Vikings: Life & Legend at the British Museum and has published extensively on Anglo-Saxon and Viking history and archaeology. Richard Wigmore. Music writer, lecturer and broadcaster for BBC Radio 3. He writes for BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone and and has taught classes in Lieder history and interpretation at Guildhall, Trinity Laban and Birkbeck College. His publications include Schubert: The Complete Song Texts and Pocket Guide to Haydn. Dr Matthew Woodworth. Art historian with a focus on mediaeval architectural history. He obtained his MA from the Courtauld and completed his PhD on Beverley Minster at Duke University, North Carolina. He has published articles on English Gothic architecture, French Gothic sculpture, and the re-use of Gothic in the post-mediaeval period. Dr Neil Younger. Lecturer in History at the Open University, and has previously taught at the Universities of Birmingham, Durham, and Vanderbilt in the US. He specialises in Tudor politics, government and court culture and is author of War & Politics in the Elizabethan Counties. He is currently writing a biography of the Elizabethan courtier Sir Christopher Hatton. Dr Ulrike Ziegler. Specialist in mediaeval art and architecture. She studied art history and archaeology at the University of Regensburg and King’s College Aberdeen. Her PhD focused on art exhibitions and the cultural politics of postwar Germany. She lectures for various cultural institutions and organises her own study days and trips in Germany and Austria.
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BOOKING
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Martin Randall Travel Ltd Voysey House Barley Mow Passage London W4 4GF, United Kingdom
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Booking details Making a booking 1. Booking option
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Before booking, please refer to the FCO website to ensure you are happy with the travel advice for the places you are going to wwwfco.gov.uk
Fill in the booking form and send it to us with the deposit. It is important that you read the Booking Conditions at this stage, and that you sign the booking form. Full payment is required if you are booking within ten weeks of departure.
Upon receipt of the booking form and deposit we shall send you confirmation of your booking. After this your deposit is non-returnable except in the special circumstances mentioned in the Booking Conditions. Further details about the tour may also be sent at this stage, or will follow shortly afterwards.
If you cancel. If you have to cancel your participation on a tour, there would be a charge which varies according to the period of notice you give. Up to 57 days before the tour the deposit only is forfeited. Thereafter a percentage of the total cost of the tour will be due:
you receive an ATOL Certificate. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong. Most of our flights and flightinclusive holidays on our website and in our brochure are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. But ATOL protection does not apply to all holiday and travel services listed. Please ask us to confirm what protection may apply to your booking. If you do not receive an ATOL Certificate then the booking will not be ATOL protected. If you do receive an ATOL Certificate but all the parts of your trip are not listed on it, those parts will not be ATOL protected. In order to be protected under the ATOL scheme you need to be in the UK when you make your booking and/or one of the flights you take must originate or terminate in the UK with the group.
We recommend that you contact us first to make a booking option which we will hold for seven days. To confirm it please send the booking form and deposit within this period – the deposit is 10% of your total booking price.
Booking Conditions Please read these You need to sign your assent to these booking conditions on the booking form. Our promises to you •
We aim to be fair, reasonable and sympathetic in all our dealings with clients, and to act always with integrity.
•
We will meet all our legal and regulatory responsibilities, often going beyond the minimum obligations.
•
We aim to provide full and accurate information about our holidays. If there are changes, we will tell you promptly.
•
If something does go wrong, we will try to put it right. Our overriding aim is to ensure that every client is satisfied with our services.
What we ask of you That you read the information we send to you. Specific terms Our contract with you. From the time we receive your signed booking form and initial payment, a contract exists between you and Martin Randall Travel Ltd.
Insurance. It is a requirement of booking that you have adequate holiday insurance. Cover for medical treatment, repatriation, loss of property and cancellation charges must be included. If you are making your own flight/travel arrangements, please ensure you have insurance in place that protects you in the unlikely event of Martin Randall Travel cancelling the tour. Experience tells us that free travel insurance offered by some credit card companies is not reliable in the event of a claim. Passports and visas. British citizens must have valid passports for all tours outside the United Kingdom. For most countries the passport needs to be valid for six months beyond the date of the tour. If visas are required we will advise UK citizens about obtaining them. Nationals of other countries should ascertain whether visas are required in their case, and obtain them if they are.
40% 60% 80% 100%
If you cancel your booking in a double or twin room or cabin but are travelling with a companion who chooses to continue to participate on the tour, the companion will be liable to pay the stipulated single supplement. We take as the day of cancellation that on which we receive written confirmation of cancellation. If we cancel the tour. We might decide to cancel a tour if at any time up to eight weeks before there were insufficient bookings for it to be viable. We would refund everything you had paid to us. We may also cancel a tour if hostilities, civil unrest, natural disaster or other circumstances amounting to force majeure affect the region to which the tour was due to go. Safety and security. If the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against travel to places visited on a tour, we would cancel the tour or adjust the itinerary to avoid the risky area. In the event of cancellation before the tour commenced we would give you a full refund. We would also treat sympathetically a wish to withdraw from a tour to a troubled region even if the FCO does not advise against travel there. Seatbelts. Our tours and festivals subscribe to the health and safety legislation of the destination. In some parts of the world the law concerning seatbelts differs to the UK. The limits of our liabilities. As principal, we accept responsibility for all ingredients of a tour, except those in which the principle of force majeure prevails. Our obligations and responsibilities are also limited where international conventions apply in respect of air, sea or rail carriers, including the Warsaw Convention and its various updates. If we make changes. Circumstances might arise which prevent us from operating a tour exactly as advertised. We would try to devise a satisfactory alternative, but if the change represents a significant loss to the tour we would offer compensation. If you decide to cancel because the alternative we offer is not acceptable we would give a full refund.
We provide full financial protection for our package holidays that do not include a flight, by way of a bond held by ABTA The Travel Association. We will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where we aren’t able do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you with the services you have bought or a suitable alternative (at no extra cost to you). You agree to accept that in those circumstances the alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that alternative ATOL holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable). If we, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL certificate, are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the ATOL scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to those Trustees any claims which you have or may have arising out of or relating to the non-provision of the services, including any claim against us (or your credit card issuer where applicable). You also agree that any such claims maybe re-assigned to another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme. English Law. These conditions form part of your contract with Martin Randall Travel Ltd and are governed by English law. All proceedings shall be within the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
Financial protection. We provide full financial protection for our package holidays which include international flights, by way of our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 3622. When you buy an ATOL protected flight inclusive holiday from us Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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BOOKING
Eligibility. We reserve the right to refuse to accept a booking without necessarily giving a reason. You need to be in good health, free of infectious or contagious illness, and have a level of fitness which would not spoil other participants’ enjoyment of the holiday by either infecting them or slowing them down. To this end we ask you to take the fitness tests described on page 5. By signing the booking form you are stating that you have met these requirements. If during the tour it transpires you are not able to cope adequately, or are ill, you may be asked to opt out of certain visits, or be invited to leave the tour altogether. This would be at your own expense.
between 56 and 29 days: between 28 and 15 days: between 14 days and 3 days: within 48 hours:
Tours by date Combining tours Suggestions for tours to combine are found at the end of many of the tour descriptions in this brochure. Please contact us for advice on travel and accommodation between tours, or for further recommended combinations.
SEPTEMBER 2017 30– 4 Verdi in Parma & Busseto (me 587) Dr John Allison & Dr R. T. Cobianchi ......113
9–16 Walking in Southern Tuscany (me 601) Dr Antonia Whitley.....................................126 10
Great Railway Termini (le 607) Professor Gavin Stamp...................................33
11–15 Ravenna & Urbino (me 597) Dr Luca Leoncini..........................................115 11–17 Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur (me 600) Monica Bohm-Duchen..................................74 13–20 The Douro (me 612) Dr Gerald Luckhurst....................................156 13–22 Castile & León (me 617) Gijs van Hensbergen....................................166 13–26 Art in Japan (me 610) Dr Monika Hinkel........................................212
23–29 The Romans in Mediterranean Spain (me 605) Professor Simon Esmonde Cleary...............173 23– 2 Essential Andalucía (me 616) Dr Philippa Joseph.......................................178 24–27 Paintings in Paris: Autumn exhibitions (me 633) Patrick Bade...................................62 26
Ancient Greece (le 642) Professor Antony Spawforth..........................33
28– 5 Essential Jordan (me 666) Sue Rollin & Jane Streetly............................190 30– 5 Savouring Lombardy (me 636) Fred Plotkin..................................................109
Wines of Piedmont.......................................95
OCTOBER 2017
14–22 Le Corbusier (me 614) Dr Richard Plant............................................61
2–15 The Western Balkans (me 591) Elizabeth Roberts...........................................49
15–21 Art in the Netherlands (me 615) Dr Guus Sluiter............................................152
3–10 Mediaeval Alsace (me 594) Dr Alexandra Gajewski.................................68
16–28 Civilizations of Sicily (me 618) John McNeill.................................................142
3–11 Aragón: Hidden Spain (me 595) Dr Zahira Bomford......................................171
17–25 Palestine, Past & Present (me 606) Felicity Cobbing............................................195
1– 5 Venetian Palaces (me 720) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott...........................101
The London Backstreet Walk (le 608) Martin Randall...............................................33
18–26 The Cathedrals of England (me 604) Jon Cannon.....................................................18
5– 9 The Venetian Hills (me 596) Dr Kevin Childs............................................105
21–27 Gastronomic Piedmont (me 634) Marc Millon....................................................94
6–12 Memories of Monte Cassino (me 603) Patrick Mercer obe..................................... 136
22–29 Courts of Northern Italy (me 635) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott...........................108
9–14 Friuli-Venezia Giulia (me 598) Dr Kevin Childs............................................106
23–29 The Wines of Bordeaux (me 638) Roderick Smith mw........................................72
5
NOVEMBER 2017 1
Great Railway Termini (le 682) Dr Steven Brindle...........................................33
1
Canaletto & the Art of Venice (le 670) Lucy Whitaker................................................33
3– 5 SYMPOSIUM Scotland: History & Identity (me 685)......37
3– 6 London Exhibitions (me 671) Patrick Bade...................................................30 4–12 Essential Jordan (me 673) Sue Rollin & Jane Streetly............................190 6–11 VIVALDI IN VENICE (me 672)................98 7
Chinese Ceramics (le 681) Dr Konstanze Knittler....................................33
7–19 Painted Palaces of Rajasthan (me 674) Dr Giles Tillotson.........................................203 8–19 Art in Texas (me 677).................................231 Gijs van Hensebergen 8–20 Japanese Gardens (me 676) Yoko Kawaguchi...........................................214 13–19 Art History of Venice (me 695) Dr Susan Steer................................................98 13–19 The Printing Revolution (me 696) Stephen Parkin & Dr Michael Douglas-Scott...........................134 13–25 Civilizations of Sicily (me 697) Dr Ffiona Gilmore Eaves.............................142
TOURS BY DATE
24– 6 The Arabian Gulf (me 717) Dr Karen Exell..............................................197
DECEMBER 2017 2
Spanish Art in London (le 722) Dr Xavier Bray...............................................33
6
The Genius of Titian (le 723) Sheila Hale......................................................33
7
Ancient Greece (le 742) Professor Antony Spawforth..........................33
20–27 Vienna at Christmas (me 727) Dr Jarl Kremeier.............................................43 21–27 Christmas in Emilia-Romagna (me 730) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott...........................113 21–27 Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur (me 728) Lydia Bauman................................................74 21–28 Florence at Christmas (me 726) Dr R. T. Cobianchi.......................................123 21–30 Music in New York at Christmas (me 733) Professor Jan Smaczny.................................233
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book online at www.martinrandall.com
22–27 Bruges (me 732) Dr Sophie Oosterwijk.....................................47 20–27 Palermo at Christmas (me 731) Dr Luca Leoncini..........................................144 27– 2 Music in Berlin at New Year Tom Abbott.....................................................82
JANUARY 2018 6–16 Oman, Landscapes & Peoples (me 737) Professor Dawn Chatty................................194 13–20 Valletta Baroque Festival (me 742) Juliet Rix........................................................150 26–28 MUSIC WEEKEND: The Schubert Ensemble...............................31 27– 1 Mozart in Salzburg (me 750) Richard Wigmore...........................................45
FEBRUARY 2018 1–12 Myanmar: Ancient to Modern (me 752) Dr John Clarke..............................................215 3–16 Textile Arts of India (ee 755) Rosemary Crill..............................................210 6
Great Railway Termini (le 753) Professor Gavin Stamp...................................33
14
The Genius of Titian (le 754) Sheila Hale......................................................33
16–18 Archaeology at The Castle..........................31 18–27 Gastronomic Kerala (me 756) Dr Elizabeth Collingham.............................209 20–25 Connoisseur’s Rome (me 760) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott...........................133 20–25 Palermo Revealed (me 759) Dr Philippa Joseph.......................................144 20–26 Essential Rome (me 761) Dr Thomas-Leo True...................................132 27
Spanish Art in London (le 748) Dr Xavier Bray...............................................33
Welsh National Opera.................................39
Naples: Art, Antiquities, Opera...............141
MARCH 2018 2–13 Persia’s Great Empires (me 774) Professor Hugh Kennedy..............................186 5–11 Florence (me 768) Dr Antonia Whitley.....................................123
5–18 Sacred India (me 777) Asoka Pugal..................................................205 5–21 Lands of the Maya (me 770) Professor Norman Hammond.....................220 6– 9 Opera in Stockholm (me 773) Dr John Allison.............................................184 6–15 Israel & Palestine (me 755) Dr Garth Gilmour........................................188
9
Ancient Egypt at the British Museum (le 769) Lucia Gahlin...................................33
9–11 MUSIC WEEKEND: The Mandelring Quartet.............................31
9–12 Opera in Copenhagen (me 776) Dr John Allison...............................................56 Left: The Music Maker and his Pupil’, wood engraving c. 1880 after Vermeer. Above: Budapest, Parliament House, early-20th-century watercolour.
7–13 Gastronomic Emilia-Romagna (me 805) Marc Millon & Dr R. T. Cobianchi............110
12–18 Jonathan Keates’s Venice (me 778) Jonathan Keates............................................100
12–24 Civilizations of Sicily (me 775) Dr Luca Leoncini .........................................142
9–14 Pompeii & Herculaneum (me 807) Dr Mark Grahame.......................................140
13–24 Indian Summer (me 780) Raaja Bhasin................................................207
10
16–20 Opera in Vienna (me 784) Barry Millington............................................42
10–16 The Ring in Leipzig (me 812 ) Dr John Allison & Tom Abbott.....................85
19–28 Minoan Crete (me 787) Dr Alan Peatfield............................................92
11–17 Gardens of the Riviera (me 810) Caroline Holmes.............................................73
20–24 Venetian Palaces (me 789) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott...........................101
11–20 Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity (me 820) Carolyn Perry.................................................41
20–28 Normans in the South (me 790) John McNeill.................................................141
12–26 Persia’s Great Empires (me 815) Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones..................187
21–25 Art in Madrid (me 791) Dr Xavier Bray.............................................174 21–25 Vienna 1918 (me 792)..................................44 27–31 Music & Ballet in Paris (me 799) Dr Michael Downes.......................................63
Opera in Berlin.............................................82
APRIL 2018 3–8 Palladian Villas (me 804) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott...........................104
9–14 Gardens & Villas of Campagna Romana (me 813) Dr Katie Campbell.......................131
The Ever-Changing City Skyline (le 809) Professor Peter Wynne Rees cbe...................33
13–15 MUSIC WEEKEND The Chilingirian Quartet............................31 13–15 Royal Churches (me 814) Jon Cannon.....................................................20 15–20 Monet & Impressionism (me 816) Dr Frances Fowle............................................62 16–24 Western Spain: Extremadura & Toledo (me 826) John McNeill.................................................176
3–11 Western Andalucía.....................................181
16–28 Civilizations of Sicily (me 817) Christopher Newall......................................142
5–11 Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur (me 806) Mary Lynn Riley.............................................74
18–26 The Cathedrals of England (me 828) Jon Cannon.....................................................18 Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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TOURS BY DATE
5–12 The Printing Revolution (me 767) Stephen Parkin & Dr Michael Douglas-Scott...........................134
9–18 Eastern Andalucía: Caliphs to Kings (me 772) Gijs van Hensbergen....................180
Tours by date continued
19–25 Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes (me 829) Steven Desmond............................95
18–23 Walking to Derbyshire Houses (me 908) Dr Paul Atterbury..........................................13
19–28 The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (me 830) Dr Flavio Boggi............................................119
18–26 Norway: Art, Architecture, Landscape (me 909) Dr Frank Høifødt.........................153
23–29 Romans in the Rhône Valley (me 833) Professor Simon Esmonde Cleary.................71
19–23 Art in Madrid (me 910) Dr Zahira Bomford......................................174
23–30 Gastronomic Valencia (me 832) Gijs van Hensbergen ...................................175
20–27 THE RHINE VALLEY MUSIC FESTIVAL.......................................88
24–28 Modern Art in Sussex (me 836) Monica Bohm-Duchen..................................29
21–25 Copenhagen Modern (me 928) Professor Harry Charrington........................56
25–29 Ravenna & Urbino (me 834) Dr Luca Leoncini..........................................115
22–29 Kraków & Silesia (me 929)........................155 25–29 Mediaeval Middle England (me 931) John McNeill...................................................22
25– 6 New Orleans to Natchitoches...................226 30– 8 Mediaeval Saxony (me 840) Dr Ulrike Ziegler............................................84
Opera in Hamburg.......................................79
Gardens of Central Portugal....................156
MAY 2018 2–14 Essential China (me 842) Dr Rose Kerr.................................................199 6–12 Genoa & Turin (me 851) Dr Luca Leoncini............................................97 6–12 The Heart of Spain (me 850).....................168 7–20 The Western Balkans (me 845) Elizabeth Roberts...........................................49 7–12 Classic Catalan Wines (me 852)...............172 7–14 Footpaths of Umbria (me 854) Dr Antonia Whitley.....................................118
20–24 Occupation in the Channel Islands (me 874) Dr Paul Sanders.............................40 21–24 MUSIC IN THE COTSWOLDS (me 876)..............................15 25
Arts & Crafts (le 877) Dr Paul Atterbury..........................................33
28– 5 Berry & Touraine (me 887) John McNeill...................................................66
Irish Houses & Gardens..............................35
31– 4 Ballet in Copenhagen (me 890) Jane Pritchard mbe.......................................57
The Schubertiade..........................................45
Savouring Lombardy.................................109
The Leipzig Bach Festival............................85
Gardens of Naples & Amalfi.....................141
Rhine Masterpieces......................................88
Courts & Palaces of Rhine & Main............88
Rock Art in Norway & Sweden................185
JUNE 2018
8–13 Tudor Power in South & West (me 856) Professor Maurice Howard............................27
2– 9 The Venetian Terra Ferma (me 893) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott...........................102
9–22 East Coast Galleries (me 858) Mary Lynn Riley...........................................223
5– 9 Chippendale in Yorkshire...........................25
13–20 Courts of Northern Italy (me 864) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott...........................108 14–20 Walking Hadrian’s Wall (me 865) Graeme Stobbs................................................16
28– 6 Great Houses of the East (me 936) Dr Andrew Moore............................................9 30–11 Frank Lloyd Wright (me 940) Tom Abbott...................................................225
2– 8 The Duchy of Urbino (me 892) Dr Thomas-Leo True...................................130
12–21 Classical Greece (me 862) Professor Antony Spawforth..........................91
27–30 Dutch Painting (me 935) Dr Sophie Oosterwijk...................................151
27–30 Châteaux of the Loire (me 886) Steven Desmond.............................................65
8–12 Barcelona (me 855) Gijs van Hensbergen....................................170
11–18 St Petersburg (me 860) Dr Alexey Makhrov......................................158
25– 2 The Ring in San Francsico (me 930) Barry Millington..........................................232
5–16 Walking to Santiago (me 896) Dr Alexandra Gajewski...............................169 6–13 Treasures of Moravia (me 900) Dr Jarl Kremeier.............................................52 6–14 Northumbria (me 898) Christopher Newall........................................17
6–18 Galleries of the American Midwest (me 897) Gijs van Hensbergen....................227
TOURS BY DATE
14–21 Walking in the Cotswolds...........................15
8–13 Walking in Southern Bohemia (me 904) Dr Jana Gajdošová.........................................51
15–20 Gardens & Palaces of Berlin & Potsdam (me 875) Steven Desmond............................79
9–16 Mediaeval Burgundy (me 902) John McNeill...................................................67
15–22 Great Houses of the South West (me 870) Anthony Lambert.............................................8
13–19 A FESTIVAL OF MUSIC IN PRAGUE (me 905).................................52
15–25 Samarkand & Silk Road Cities (me 841) Dr Peter Webb..............................................217
15–21 Crown & Cromwell (me 906) Patrick Mercer obe........................................28
15–26 Ceramics in China (me 872) Dr Lars Tharp...............................................201 15–27 Wellington in the Peninsula (me 869) Patrick Mercer obe..................................... 182
The Orkney Islands......................................38
JULY 2018 2– 6 Castles, Campaigns, Conquest (me 942) Dr Marc Morris..............................................39 2– 8 Danish Castles & Gardens (me 944) Dr Margrethe Floryan...................................53 2– 8 Gastronomic West Country (me 943) Marc Millon....................................................21 2– 8 Western Ireland (me 941) Professor Muiris O’Sullivan...........................34 3
The Ever-Changing City Skyline (le 945) Professor Peter Wynne Rees cbe ..................33
3–10 Vikings & Bog Bodies (me 946) Dr Gareth Williams.......................................55 9–15 French Gothic (me 955) Dr Matthew Woodworth...............................60 17–21 Verona Opera Dr Luca Leoncini..........................................104 22– 4 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania...........................59 23–31 The Georgians in Scotland (me 966) Gail Bent...........................................................3
Britain before England: Prehistoric & Roman in the South.................................18
The Ryedale Festival.....................................14
Gardens of Cheshire & Shropshire............27
Shakespeare & His World............................29
Ireland: ‘A Terrible Beauty’.........................35
16–23 Gastronomic Veneto (me 871) Marc Millon & Dr R. T. Cobianchi............103
The Beaune Music Festival..........................68
Lofoten Piano Festival...............................154
16–25 Birthplace of Civilisations (me 819) Felicity Cobbing............................................192
Music in Savonlinna.....................................59
18–26 Journey Through Slovakia (me 873) Dr Jana Gajdošová.......................................161
Kuhmo Music Festival.................................59
The Ring in Munich.....................................86
Trasimeno Music Festival.........................118
Santa Fe Opera............................................233
16–22 The House of Hanover (me 868) Dr Jarl Kremeier.............................................78
19–28 Holy Russia..................................................160
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AUGUST 2018 6–11 The Industrial Revolution (me 975) Dr Paul Atterbury..........................................26 6–14 Estonia (me 976) Neil Taylor......................................................58 8–16 Baroque & Rococo (me 977) Tom Abbott.....................................................86 13–17 Frederick the Great (me 978) Professor Tim Blanning..................................81 13–20 The Victorian Achievement (me 980) Dr Paul Atterbury..........................................23 14–18 Royal Residences (me 981) Anthony Lambert...........................................12 16–20 Verona Opera Dr Michael Douglas-Scott...........................104 20–25 King Ludwig II (me 985) Tom Abbott.....................................................90 25– 1 A FESTIVAL OF MUSIC IN FRANCONIA..........................................89
Drottningholm & Confidencen...............185
Torre del Lago.............................................128
The Gstaad Menuhin Festival...................185
Tanglewood Festival...................................231
SEPTEMBER 2018 1– 5 Munich’s Masterpieces (mf 114) Patrick Bade...................................................89 3–10 Bilbao to Bayonne (mf 106) Gijs van Hensbergen....................................165
15–23 Sardinia (mf 151) Dr R. T. Cobianchi.......................................148 15–24 Classical Greece (mf 150) Dr Andrew Farrington...................................91 16–22 Early Railways: The North (mf 155) Anthony Lambert...........................................24 17–23 The Etruscans (mf 158) Dr Nigel Spivey.............................................135 17–23 History of Medicine (mf 159) Professor Helen King & Dr Luca Leoncini.....................................114 17–23 Walking a Royal River (mf 156) Dr Paul Atterbury..........................................11 17–24 Tastes of Le Marche (mf 161) Marc Millon..................................................128 17–29 Civilizations of Sicily (mf 157) Dr Ffiona Gilmore Eaves.............................142 20–26 Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes (mf 170) Steven Desmond.............................95 22– 3 Frank Lloyd Wright (mf 175) Tom Abbott...................................................225 24–28 THE DIVINE OFFICE................................22 24–29 Pompeii & Herculaneum (mf 193) Dr Nigel Spivey.............................................140 24–30 Lucca (mf 181) Dr Antonia Whitley.....................................127 24–30 Walking to Cornish Houses (mf 162) Dr Paul Atterbury..........................................14 27– 6 Provence & Languedoc (mf 186) Dr Alexandra Gajewski.................................69
3–10 Walking in Slovenia (mf 111) Professor Cathie Carmichael.......................162
28– 5 St Petersburg (mf 196) Dr Alexey Makhrov......................................158
3–14 West Coast Architecture (mf 105) Professor Harry Charrington......................229
30– 7 Art in the Po Valley (mf 199) John McNeill.................................................112
4–10 Cave Art in Spain (mf 103) Dr Paul Bahn................................................164
31– 3 Georgian Edinburgh....................................38
4–14 Samarkand & Silk Road Cities (mf 101) Professor James Allan...................................217
Arts & Crafts in the Cotswolds..................14
Music in the Regions....................................14
The Iron Curtain...........................................42
Haydn in Eisenstadt.....................................45
4–15 Walking to Santiago (mf 102) Dr Alexandra Gajewski...............................169 5– 9 Flemish Painting (mf 112) Dr Sophie Oosterwijk.....................................46
The Hanseatic League..................................81
Music in the Saxon Hills..............................85
6–14 Berlin, Potsdam, Dresden (mf 167) Dr Jarl Kremeier.............................................80
Musical Instruments in Cremona...........113
Moscow & St Petersburg...........................159
6–17 Persia’s Great Empires (mf 113) Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones..................186
Gastronomic Galicia..................................168
7–10 Poets & The Somme (mf 115) Andrew Spooner.............................................64 6–21 Peru: the Andean Heartland (mf 107) Dr David Beresford-Jones............................222 8–15 Franconia (mf 108) Dr Jarl Kremeier.............................................87 8–17 Georgia Uncovered (mf 117) Ian Colvin.......................................................76 9–16 Courts of Northern Italy (mf 109) Professor Fabrizio Nevola............................108 10–16 The Imperial Riviera (mf 124) Richard Bassett.............................................107 12–15 Dorset Churches...........................................19 12–19 Hungary (mf 141) Dr József Sisa..................................................93 12–21 Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity (mf 125). Carolyn Perry.................................................41 14–21 St Petersburg (mf 148) Dr Alexey Makhrov......................................158
OCTOBER 2018 1– 7 World Heritage Malta (mf 206) Juliet Rix........................................................149 1– 7 The Romans in Mediterranean Spain (mf 201) Professor Simon Esmonde Cleary...............173 1–10 Castile & León (mf 204) Gijs van Hensbergen....................................166 1–11 Essential Andalucía (mf 208) Dr Philippa Joseph.......................................178 1–14 The Western Balkans (mf 210) Elizabeth Roberts...........................................49 2– 7 Palladian Villas (mf 205) Dr Sarah Pearson.........................................104 2–12 Samarkand & Silk Road Cities (mf 202) Professor Charles Melville............................217 Left, top: Chinese bookbinding design, engraving from ‘The Magazine of Art’ 1882. Left, below: Ancient Greek pottery, engraving 1820. Right: Glimpse of the Kremlin from Ivan Veliki Tower, Moscow, wood engraving c. 1880.
Te l e p h o n e + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 8 7 4 2 3 3 5 5
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Tours by date continued
4– 7 Rubens & Baroque (mf 218) Bert Watteeuw................................................48
18–24 Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur (mf 252) Monica Bohm-Duchen..................................74
Paintings in Paris..........................................62
7–12 A FESTIVAL OF MUSIC IN BOLOGNA............................................111
21–27 Art in the Netherlands (mf 246) Dr Guus Sluiter............................................152
Opera in Parma & Bologna......................113
Gastronomic Spain.....................................174
8–13 Walking & Gardens in Madeira (mf 211) Dr Gerald Luckhurst....................................157
21–28 Courts of Northern Italy (mf 268) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott...........................108
Ming & Qing Civilization.........................202
8–15 Walking in Eastern Sicily (mf 212) Christopher Newall......................................146
22–28 The Wines of Bordeaux (mf 269) Roderick Smith MW......................................72
8–17 Roman Italy (mf 207) Dr Mark Grahame.......................................138
22–28 Piero della Francesca (mf 278) Dr Antonia Whitley.....................................117
10–14 Ravenna & Urbino (mf 235) Dr Luca Leoncini..........................................115
22–29 Gastronomic Sicily (mf 272) Marc Millon..................................................145
10–14 Siena & San Gimignano (mf 234) Dr Antonia Whitley.....................................122
22–29 Granada & Córdoba (mf 270) Gail Turner...................................................179
11–25 Persia’s Great Empires (mf 213) Professor James Allan...................................187
24– 1 The Cathedrals of England (mf 282) Jon Cannon.....................................................18
12–18 Memories of Monte Cassino (mf 214) Patrick Mercer obe......................................136
25– 5 Japanese Gardens (mf 290) Yoko Kawaguchi...........................................214
14–21 Dark Age Brilliance (mf 216) Dr Ffiona Gilmore Eaves.............................116
25– 7 The Making of Argentina (mf 296) Chris Moss....................................................219
15–22 Caravaggio: Lombardy to Naples............110
26– 3 Normans in the South (mf 297) Dr Richard Plant..........................................141
15–26 Art in Japan (mf 247) Dr Monika Hinkel........................................212 15–27 Civilizations of Sicily (mf 248) John McNeill.................................................142 16–23 Mediaeval Alsace (mf 250) Dr Alexandra Gajewski.................................68
27– 4 Essential Jordan (mf 298) Sue Rollin & Jane Streetly............................190 29– 4 Picasso in Spain Gijs van Hensbergen....................................171
Below: detail of Raphael’s fresco ‘The School of Athens’, 1508–11 in the Vatican, Rome, 19th-century lithograph. Opposite: San Lorenzo de El Escorial, late-18th-century copper engraving by Manuel Alegre.
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Wexford Opera..............................................35
NOVEMBER 2018 6–10 Venetian Palaces (mf 303) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott...........................101 7–11 Florentine Palaces (mf 304) Dr Kevin Childs............................................125 12–24 Civilizations of Sicily (mf 310) Dr Philippa Joseph.......................................142 13–18 Venice Revisited (mf 345) Dr Susan Steer................................................99 19–26 Florence & Venice (mf 346) Dr Kevin Childs............................................121
Villas & Palaces of Rome...........................133
The Arabian Gulf........................................197
Art in Texas.................................................231
DECEMBER 2018 We will run six or seven tours over Christmas and New Year. Details will be available for them in April–May 2018. Please contact us to register your interest.
Martin Randall Travel Ltd Voysey House Barley Mow Passage London W4 4GF United Kingdom Tel +44 (0)20 8742 3355 info@martinrandall.co.uk www.martinrandall.com Martin Randall Australasia PO Box 1024 Indooroopilly QLD 4068, Australia Tel 1300 55 95 95 New Zealand 0800 877 622 Fax +61 (0)7 3371 8288 anz@martinrandall.com.au USA 1155 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036, USA Tel 1 800 988 6168 usa@martinrandall.com Canada Tel (647) 382 1644 canada@martinrandall.ca (From 1 September 2017, calls and e-mails to the Canadian office will redirect to the USA office.)
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Contents About us................................................... 3–4 More about our tours Fitness requirements; Amendments; Responsible tourism; Financial protection; Travel insurance............................................5 Tours by country..................................... 6–7 What is included?........................................7 Britain & Ireland................................... 8–40 Mainland Europe..............................41–185 Middle East......................................186–198 Asia....................................................199–218 The Americas...................................219–234 Our lecturers...................................235–242 Booking details Making a booking Booking Conditions Booking form...................................243–245 Tours by date...................................246–251
M A RT I N R A N D A L L T R AV E L
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Front cover: Rome, Arch of Septimius Severus, copper engraving 1690. Back cover: Moscow, early-18th-century copper engraving.
M A RT I N R A N D A L L T R AV E L A RT • A R C H I T E C T U R E • G A S T R O N O M Y • A R C H A E O L O G Y • H I S T O R Y • M U S I C
2018
2018 & October to December 2017 Martin Randall Travel Ltd Voysey House Barley Mow Passage London W4 4GF United Kingdom Tel +44 (0)20 8742 3355 info@martinrandall.co.uk www.martinrandall.com
Martin Randall Australasia PO Box 1024 Indooroopilly QLD 4068, Australia
USA 1155 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036, USA Tel 1 800 988 6168 | usa@martinrandall.com
Telephone 1300 55 95 95 New Zealand 0800 877 622 Fax +61 (0)7 3371 8288 anz@martinrandall.com.au
Canada Tel (647) 382 1644 | canada@martinrandall.ca (From 1 September 2017, calls and e-mails to the Canadian office will redirect to the USA office.)