Winter Update: January 2023

Winter Update January 2023

Dear traveller,

A new year begins and what better time to look ahead and plan. Among the extensive offering of tours, Martin Randall Festivals, chamber music breaks, history symposia, Culture Days and online talks are many extraordinary indeed once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

2023 marks 300 years since the death of Sir Christopher Wren and plans underway include a tour staying in London and Cambridge; William Byrd is the centrepiece of the new Martin Randall Festival in Lincoln, with a commemorative choral evensong on 4 July, 400 years to the day of his death; another anniversary focuses on Picasso, 1881–1973, with a dedicated tour to a Spain peppered with special exhibitions. Moving from death to birth, Martin Randall Travel celebrates 35 glorious years in November. Perhaps we should honour the occasion with the very first itinerary Martin himself planned aged 15, The Archaeology of Bedford.

May I make special mention of our three chamber music breaks taking place in the spring: in Taunton the Castalian String Quartet have a weekend to themselves, having performed in our Rising Stars event in 2018; the exciting and dynamic Linos Piano Trio perform there too, making their MRT debut; and in Lavenham, we welcome the return of the wonderful Elias String Quartet. The upcoming months also see tours to Albania, Andalucía, Valletta, Valencia, Berlin, Bukhara, Tuscany, Tokyo, Sicily, Scotland, Puglia, Prague, I could go on.

Our full programme is listed by date at the back of this Update, and of course everything is online at martinrandall.com. If you sign up to our e-newsletter you receive weekly updates including newly launched tours and other events.

I leave you with the temptation of our tours in the pages that follow, and our warmest wishes for the year ahead.

Fiona Charrington Chief Executive

January 2023

Contents

A selection of tours in 2023: Prague Spring ..........................................4 Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur ...........6 Leipzig Mahler Festival ..........................8 In Search of Alexander 10 Essential South India .......................... 12 The Venetian Land Empire 14 Florentine Palaces ................................ 16 Art in Tyrol, South & North 18 Gastronomy & the Golden Age ......... 20 Moldavia & Transylvania 22 Cities of Catalonia ............................... 24 Two Spains: The Spanish Civil War & its aftermath.................... 26 Walking Hadrian’s Wall ...................... 28 Great Houses of the North ................. 30 Martin Randall Festivals ............ 32–33 Tours and events by date ............ 34–39 Online talks ....................................... 40

Cover: Florence, Piazza della Santissima Annunziata, copper engraving c. 1750. Left: Granada, Alhambra, wood engraving c. 1860.

Martin Randall Travel Ltd 10 Barley Mow Passage, London W4 4PH Tel +44 (0)20 8742 3355 info@martinrandall.co.uk www.martinrandall.com

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Prague Spring

The International Music Festival in the capital of Bohemia

15–21 May 2023 (mj 720) 7 days • £3,540 (including tickets to 6 performances) Lecturer: Dr Michael Downes

Prague’s celebrated Spring Festival remains one of the most illustrious in Europe and in May the city is at its loveliest.

Two staged operas bookend the tour: Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, the iconic Czech opera, at the sumptuous 19th-century National Theatre; and Mozart’s The Magic Flute, at the beautiful and intimate Estates Theatre.

We include three great orchestral concerts at the Rudolfinum and the Obecní dům with the Czech Philharmonic, Essen Philharmonic and Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Soloists include Antoine Tamestit, Jan Mráček and Frank Peter Zimmermann.

Czech mezzo-soprano Bella Adamova performs with pianist Malte Schäfer in a morning recital at St Agnes Convent.

Visits and walks led by Martina Hinks-Edwards with free time before performances.

Itinerary

Day 1. Fly at c. 10.15am from London Heathrow to Prague and drive to the hotel. Private visit to the Obecní dům (‘Municipal House’) to see the glorious suite of assembly rooms created 1904–12.

Day 2. Walk through the Old Town, a dense maze of streets and squares with buildings of all ages and an exceptionally lovely main square. The 13th-century convent of St Agnes houses one of the worlds greatest collections of medieval painting. Some free time before an early dinner. Evening opera at the National Theatre: Smetana, ‘The Bartered Bride’; Alice Nellis (director).

Right: Prague, Estates Theatre, wood engraving c. 1880.

Day 3. Visit Prague Castle, an extensive hilltop complex and long-time residence of the Dukes and Kings of Bohemia – now the seat of the President. See also the medieval Old Royal Palace, within it the largest stone hall in Europe with incredible late-Gothic vaulting, and the Cathedral of St Vitus, a pioneering monument of High Gothic. Evening concert at the Rudolfinum with the Czech Philharmonic, Klaus Mäkelä (conductor), Antoine Tamestit (viola): Schnittke, Viola Concerto; Mahler, Symphony No.1.

Day 4. Visit the Veletržni (Trade Fair) Palace of 1928 which now houses fascinating Czech art of the 19th and 20th centuries and a remarkable holding of modern French art. Evening concert at the Obecní dům with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cornelius Meister (conductor), Jan Mráček (violin), Marschner, Hans Heiling Overture; Dvořák, Violin Concerto in A minor, Op.53; Martinů, Symphony No.1.

Day 5. Walk across the 14th-century Charles Bridge, the greatest such structure in Europe. In the Lesser Town visit St Nicholas, one of the finest Baroque churches in Central Europe. Evening concert at the Rudolfinum with the Essen Philharmonic, Tomáš Netopil (conductor), Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin): Elgar, Violin Concerto, Op.61; Dvořák, Symphony No.5.

Day 6. Morning recital at the Convent of St Agnes with Bella Adamova (mezzo-soprano), Malte Schäfer (piano): works by Schumann, Miroslav Srnka, György Kurtág, Janáček, Stefan Wolpe, Mahler. Lunch and free afternoon. Evening opera at the Estates Theatre: Mozart, ‘The Magic Flute’.

Day 7. Strahov Monastery has commanding views over Prague and two magnificent library halls, which by special arrangement we enter. Walk down the hill, passing the formidable bulk of the Černín Palace and the delightful façade of the Loreto Church. Fly to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 2.45pm.

Contact us: +44 (0)20 8742 3355 | info@martinrandall.co.uk | www.martinrandall.com

Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur

Picasso, Matisse, Chagall and their contemporaries

22–28 October 2023 (mj 928) 7 days • £3,060

Lecturer: Mary Lynn Riley

Europe’s greatest concentration of classic modern art in the idyllic setting where it was created. Outstanding work by Renoir, Bonnard, Braque, Léger, Miró, Giacometti, Cocteau, Chagall, Matisse, Picasso.

Based in Nice, visit the Mediterranean coastal towns and villages that inspired the artists.

From the late 19th century a special category of visitor – and settler – 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 StTropez 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 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. At Antibes the Picasso Museum is housed in the Château Grimaldi, lent to Picasso as studio space in 1946 where he produced life-affirming paintings.

Old and new galleries abound, such as the Fondation Maeght, St-Paul-de-Vence, whose building (designed by José Luis Sert, 1963) makes it a work of outstanding sympathy to its natural surroundings, in gardens enlivened by Miró’s Labyrinthe and other sculptures.

Itinerary

Day 1: Nice. Fly at c. 11.15am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Nice. Afternoon visit to the Musée des Beaux Arts Jules Chéret.

Day 2: Nice. The Musée Matisse unites a wide range of the artist’s work. In the afternoon, visit the Marc Chagall Museum in a peaceful garden in a salubrious suburb of Nice.

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. Renoir’s house at Cagnes-sur-Mer is a memorial to the only major Impressionist to settle in the south.

Day 4: St-Tropez, Biot. St-Tropez 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). The Musée National Fernand Léger, Biot, was built to house works bequeathed to his wife.

Day 5: Villefranche-sur-Mer, St-Jean-CapFerrat, 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. The afternoon is free in Nice or there is an optional visit to the Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain with its collection of postwar 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 once) and for its architecture and setting. In the afternoon visit the Chapelle du Rosaire, a Dominican chapel designed by Matisse.

Day 7: Le Cannet. The first museum dedicated to Bonnard opened in Le Cannet in 2011. Fly from Nice arriving at London Heathrow at c. 4.45pm.

Contact us: +44 (0)20 8742 3355 | info@martinrandall.co.uk | www.martinrandall.com

Nice, etching c. 1925 by Frederick Farrell.

Leipzig Mahler Festival

A celebration of Mahler’s orchestral works

18–29 May 2023 (mj 729) 12 days • £5,980 (including tickets to 13 performances) Lecturer: Dr Paul Max Edlin

Mahler’s monumental symphonies in the city where he composed his first, featuring first-class international orchestras and star conductors.

Explore also the architecture and museums of this historic and lively city, and take day excursions to Dessau and Dresden.

Daily talks on the music by composer, artistic director and lecturer, Dr Paul Max Edlin.

Itinerary

Day 1. Fly at c. 10.45am from London Heathrow to Berlin, and drive to Leipzig.

Day 2. Morning lecture and guided walk around the city centre, ending at the Bach Museum. Free afternoon. Concert at the Gewandhaus with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Tugan Sokhiev (cond.), Christiane Karg (soprano), Ekaterina Gubanova (alto), Andreas Schager (tenor): Mahler, Symphony No.4; Das Lied von der Erde.

Day 3. Free morning. Afternoon chamber concert with Frank-Michael Erben (violin), Luke Turrell (viola), Valentino Worlitzsch (cello), Yulianna Avdeeva (piano): Mahler, Schnittke and Brahms. Dinner, and evening concert with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Myung-Whun Chung (cond.): Mahler, Symphony No.5.

Day 4. Concert with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and MDR Leipzig Radio Choir, Andris Nelsons (cond.), Ying Fang (soprano), Gerhild Romberger (mezzo-soprano): Mahler, Symphony No.2. Free afternoon. Evening concert with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (cond.): Mahler, Symphony No.10.

Day 5. Drive to Dessau to visit the restored Bauhaus Building (1926) and view other Bauhaus buildings. Return to Leipzig. Evening concert with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Harding (cond.): Mahler, Symphony No.7.

Day 6. A walk concentrating on Leipzig’s musical heritage. Free afternoon. Evening concert with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer (cond.): Mahler, Symphony No.9.

Day 7. Drive to Dresden to visit the Zwinger and the fabulously rich Old Masters Gallery.Return to Leipzig for dinner. Evening concert with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, Daniele Gatti (cond.): Mahler, Symphony No.1.

Day 8. Free morning and afternoon. Evening concert with the Staatskapelle Dresden, Women of the Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden, Children’s Choir of the Semperoper Dresden, Christian Thielemann (cond.), Christa Mayer (alto): Mahler, Symphony No.3.

Day 9. Visit the Mendelssohn House Museum, and the Grassi Museum for a guided tour of the collection of musical instruments. Evening concert with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Andris Nelsons (cond.): Mahler, Symphony No.8.

Day 10. Concert with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Octet, Torsten Kerl (tenor), Katija Dragojevic (alto): Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde. Free afternoon. Evening concert with the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra and MDR Leipzig Radio Choir, Dennis Russell Davies (cond.), Chen Reiss (soprano), Sophie Harmsen (alto), Attilio Glaser (tenor): Mahler, Todtenfeier, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Das Klagende Lied.

Day 11. Morning concert with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Semyon Bychkov (cond.): Mahler, Symphony No.6. Free afternoon. Dinner in the Gewandhaus’s excellent restaurant.

Day 12. Return to Heathrow, arriving c. 3.45pm.

Contact us: +44 (0)20 8742 3355 | info@martinrandall.co.uk | www.martinrandall.com

Leipzig, Gewandhaus.

In Search of Alexander

Classical sites in northern Greece

16–22 October 2023 (mj 934)

7 days • £3,090

Lecturer: Professor Antony Spawforth

Classical, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine heritage in the homelands of Alexander the Great.

The history of ancient Macedonia and the rule of the great Temenid kings, to the end of Byzantium.

Fertile pastures and mountainous landscapes in a culturally rich, little-visited part of Greece.

To many Classical Greeks the Macedonians were barbarians. Hailing from beyond Mount Olympos, only relatively recently had they abandoned nomadism for settled agriculture and life in cities, and they persisted with the system of hereditary kingship that city-state Greeks considered politically primitive. But military monarchy served the Macedonians well. In three dramatic decades in the fourth century bc, Philip II subdued most of the southern Balkans, and his son, the legendary Alexander the Great extended Macedonian rule through Anatolia, the Middle East into Central and South Asia.

After Alexander, Macedonian kings based at Pella maintained a flourishing kingdom until they were toppled in the second century bc, when the whole area became part of the Roman Empire. Athenian snobbishness notwithstanding, the Macedonians embraced Greek culture (Euripides and Aristotle, among others, graced the royal court).

Macedonia flourished under the Pax Romana, with important centres at Philippi and Thessalonica (Salonica). The latter went on to become a cultural and religious bastion of the medieval Byzantine empire, second only to Constantinople itself.

Itinerary

Day 1. Fly at c. 7.00am from London Gatwick to Thessaloniki (British Airways). Drive to the harbour town of Kavala. First of two nights here.

Day 2: Thasos, Kavala. By ferry to Thasos. The remains of the ancient city include one of the best-preserved agora complexes in Greece. A Byzantine castle, sits on a promontory above the port behind by a massive Ottoman aqueduct.

Day 3: Philippi, Amphipolis. Philippi is known for the battles in 42 bc that led to the victory of Octavian and Antony over Brutus and Cassius. Amphipolis was an important and prosperous city from its founding as an Athenian colony in 437 bc until its demise in the 8th–9th centuries. First of four nights in Thessaloniki.

Day 4: Thessaloniki. A walk in the upper town along the ramparts takes in the Vlattadon Monastery and the church of Hosios David with its early-Byzantine mosaics. The Archaeological Museum is an excellent, extensive and well presented collection. Free afternoon or an optional visit to three great Byzantine churches.

Day 5: Pella, Lefkadia, Vergina. Pella was the luxurious capital of Macedonia, birthplace of Philip II and his son Alexander the Great. A Macedonian tomb at Lefkadia has rare, highquality paintings. Vergina is the site of the tombs of Philip II and members of his family. The astonishing grave goods are among the finest survivals from the ancient world.

Day 6: Olynthos. Olynthos never recovered after destruction by Philip II (348 bc). The ruins provide the best evidence of Greek town-planning and a chance to walk residential streets of a Classical Greek city. Back in Thessaloniki, the award-winning Museum of Byzantine Culture displays artworks and artefacts dating from the 2nd to the 20th centuries.

Day 7: Thessaloniki. Free morning. Fly from Thessaloniki, arriving at London Heathrow at c. 2.20pm (British Airways).

Right: detail from a building in Thessaloniki.

Contact us: +44 (0)20 8742 3355 | info@martinrandall.co.uk | www.martinrandall.com 10

Essential South India

Temples, Empires and Spices in Tamil Nadu and Kerala

30 Nov.–13 Dec. 2023 (mj 132) 14 days • £5,810 International flights not included Lecturer: Asoka Pugal

Hindu art, architecture and rituals in the finest temples of Tamil Nadu. Colonial history in Chennai, Pondicherry, Kochi.

Silk and coir weaving, bronze moulding, teapicking and spice-growing. Tropical landscapes.

The geographical features of the Indian Subcontinent have played a major role in its long history. While the riverine plains of northern India have allowed migrations and invasions, the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula has remained protected from the north by a series of mountain ranges and rivers, uncrossable for centuries. Surrounding the peninsula the Indian Ocean brings a distinctive tropical climate. Its predictable monsoon rains make the land highly productive; rice paddy fields, coconut groves and spice plantations have sustained many Hindu kingdoms and empires for millennia. Monsoon winds have also brought settlers and traders from East Africa and Europe to both coasts since antiquity; early Christians and Jews landed on the Malabar Coast in 52 ad, while the Portuguese, Dutch, French and English all established trade posts, following the sea route supposedly discovered by Vasco de Gama in 1498.

Itinerary

Day 1: Chennai, Mahabalipuram. The hotel is situated on the peaceful, coastal outskirts. First of three nights near Chennai.

Day 2: Mahabalipuram. The Shore Temple combines shrines to Shiva and Vishnu. 7thcentury shrines catalogue the architectural possibilities inherent in the Dravida tradition.

Right: Pondicherry, portico of a pagoda, engraving c. 1880.

Day 3: Chennai. The bronze collection of the Government Museum; Fort St George and St Mary’s, India’s oldest surviving British church.

Day 4: Pondicherry. A former French enclave retaining much of its colonial architecture. Overnight Pondicherry.

Day 5: Kumbakonam, Thanjavur. Kumbakonam has numerous Chola temples. The Airavateshvara temple, Darasuram, is a late Chola masterpiece. First of two nights in Thanjavur.

Day 6: Thanjavur. The colossal Brihadishvara temple of Thanjavur was built c.1010; the museum in the Thanjavur palace houses Chola sculpture.

Day 7: Chettinad. Lunch at The Bangala, renowned for its food and cooking classes; saree silk-weaving at a Chettiar family mansion. First of two nights in Kanadukathan.

Day 8: Kanadukathan. Excursion to two rural temples, the Vijayalaya-Cholishvara, Narthamalai and the Arivar Koil cave temple (8th-century).

Day 9: Madurai. The vast Meenakshi Temple complex, the epitome of a South Indian ‘templecity’. Overnight in Madurai.

Day 10: Kumily. Leave Tamil Nadu for Kerala. Afternoon walk around a spice plantation. First of two nights in Kumily.

Day 11: Peermade. Full tour of a tea plantation in the hills of the Peermade region, with tea-tasting and lunch on the estate.

Day 12: Keralan backwaters. Cruise on a houseboat modelled on the traditional kettuvallams. Kochi for two nights.

Day 13: Kochi. A walk through Fort Cochin; Mattancherry Palace (the murals in the king’s bedroom are a masterpiece of Keralan painting); the Paradesi Synagogue, built in 1568.

Day 14. Transfers to Kochi Airport are arranged for your onward journey.

Contact us: +44 (0)20 8742 3355 | info@martinrandall.co.uk | www.martinrandall.com

The Venetian Land Empire

A spectrum of north-east Italy’s finest art and architecture

24 April–3 May 2023 (mj 691)

10 days • £4,370

Lecturer: Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

Huge range of art and architecture from ancient Roman to modern, with the Middle Ages and Renaissance predominating.

Encompasses some of the greatest historic cities and loveliest hill towns in Italy, with landscapes ranging from mountains to alluvial plains.

While the touch of Venice is visible, these great centres have their own traditions and histories.

The maritime empire of the Republic of Venice consisted of a congeries of colonies along the Adriatic and into the eastern Mediterranean, acquired to protect the all-important trade with Constantinople and the East. But Venice had two empires; and the land empire, the terra ferma, was markedly different in character. Stretching across northern Italy from the lagoon to within 30 miles of Milan, these densely populated and highly sophisticated cities and territories were no mere subordinate appendages to La Serenissima – indeed they had histories far longer than that of the relatively upstart maritime republic.

Itinerary

Day 1: Castelfranco Veneto, Asolo. Fly c. 8.45am from London Heathrow to Venice. Drive to the walled town of Castelfranco: see Giorgione’s Madonna Enthroned in the cathedral. Continue to the hilltop town of Asolo for the first of six nights.

Day 2: Treviso. Once an important fortress city, Treviso’s cathedral has a Titian Annunciation, and memorable 1352 frescoes by Tommaso da Modena at the Friary of St Nicholas and in Sta Caterina. See the Villa Barbaro at Maser, designed by Palladio and containing frescoes by Veronese.

Day 3: Belluno, Feltre. Belluno is a beautiful small city with a Renaissance cathedral and Venetian-style palaces. Stacked along a ridge,

Feltre has striking buildings in various styles; see the Rizzarda collection of early 20th-century arts and the 1802 theatre in the town hall.

Day 4: Padua’s medieval town hall and squares are among the finest in Italy. See outstanding 14th-century fresco cycles: by Giotto in the Arena Chapel, by Giusto de’ Menabuoi in the Baptistry, and by Altichieri in the Basilica of St Anthony as well as a bronze altar by Donatello.

Day 5: San Vito, Vicenza. The Brion cemetery complex by Carlo Scarpa is 20th-century architecture at its most moving. Vicenza is architecturally the noblest and most homogenous city in northern Italy, much of the fabric consisting of 16th-century aristocratic residences.

Day 6: Asolo, Bassano. Afternoon visit to Bassano del Grappa, a picturesque hill town with attractive squares and a bridge designed by Palladio. Home of the Bassano family of painters, there is a major holding of their works in the civic museum.

Day 7: Vicentine villas, Montecchio, Verona. See Palladio’s villa ‘La Rotonda’, Villa Valmarana ‘ai Nani’, and Villa Cordellina in Montecchio. Drive to Verona and stay for three nights here.

Day 8: Verona was a major Roman settlement, a powerful medieval nation-state and an important fortress through to 19th-century Austrian rule. Visit the art museum in the elegant red-brick castle, refurbished by Carlo Scarpa.

Day 9: Brescia, Verona. See remarkable art and artefacts at Brescia’s City Museum and the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo. Visit the 12thcentury Rotunda (round church), the Broletto (town hall) and the Renaissance Loggia. In Verona visit the Romanesque church of San Zeno.

Day 10: Bergamo’s impressive ramparts befit the westernmost outpost of the Venetian empire. Visit the Romanesque cathedral and the Renaissance Cappella Colleoni with Tiepolo frescoes. See the outstanding paintings in the Accademia Carrara. Fly from Milan, arriving Heathrow at c. 8.15pm.

Contact us: +44 (0)20 8742 3355 | info@martinrandall.co.uk | www.martinrandall.com

Verona, Piazza Delle Erbe, etching by Francis Dodd.

Florentine Palaces

Defence, humanism, magnificence and beauty

29 March–2 April 2023 (mj 661)

5 days • £2,630

Lecturer: Professor Andrew Hopkins FSA

Examine one of the most fascinating aspects of the Florentine Renaissance: the private palace.

Our tour also includes Medieval, Baroque, Neo-Classical and 19th-century examples.

Several special arrangements to see palaces not usually open to the public.

Renaissance Florence experienced one of the most spectacular property booms of all time. From the second half of the 14th to the beginning of the 16th century, almost 100 private palazzi were built there. 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.

Constructed on a magnificent scale, three times the height of a three-storey building today, the typical palace’s spread was equally expansive. 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.

By the end of the 16th century, the Florentine palazzo was being adapted to accommodate more elaborate households and lifestyles, but splendour remained their defining characteristic.

Itinerary

Day 1. Fly at c. 8.30am from London Heathrow to Pisa. Drive 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, and 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 See the exterior of the 16th-century Palazzo Lanfredini, with handsome sgraffiti on the façade. Visit also the chapel in the Palazzo MediciRiccardi with exquisite frescoes, and the Palazzo Budini Gattai, designed by Renaissance architect and sculptor Bartolomeo Ammannati.

Day 3. The Bargello: a medieval palazzo housing Florence’s finest sculpture with works by Donatello, Verrocchio and Michelangelo. Visit the Palazzo Corsini al Prato (by special arrangement): begun 1591 to designs by Bernardo Buontalenti, it was acquired in 1621 by Filippo Corsini and most of the palace and gardens date to his refurbishment. Lunch here, hosted by the owner. 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 and walk from here through the Vasari Corridor (by special arrangement), viewing the collection of artists’ self-portraits. In the afternoon, visit the privatelyowned Palazzo Gondi (by special arrangement), designed in 1490 by Giuliano da Sangallo, the favourite architect of Lorenzo de Medici. Dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Day 5. In the morning visit the Palazzo Pitti, housing several museums including the Galleria Palatina, outstanding for High Renaissance and Baroque paintings. The visit includes rooms not generally open to the public. Fly from Pisa to London Heathrow Airport, arriving at c. 8.30pm.

Right: Florence, watercolour by Edwin Glasgow, 1904.

Contact us: +44 (0)20 8742 3355 | info@martinrandall.co.uk | www.martinrandall.com

Art in Tyrol, South & North

Frescoes, carvings and collections in Italy and Austria

12–18 June 2023 (mj 763) 7 days • £2,920

Lecturer: Dr Ulrike Ziegler

A mountainous region with an exceptional heritage of medieval and Renaissance art.

Fresco paintings from throughout the Middle Ages, spectacular Gothic altarpieces, exquisite 16th-century artworks in many media.

Superb mountain and foothill scenery, lovely towns and villages in the Val Venosta and Strada del Vino, picturesque historic cities.

Straddling both sides of the main Alpine range, Tyrol is well known as one of Europe’s most beautiful regions. Much less well known, among English speakers at least, is that it possesses an astounding holding of medieval art. Uniting Italians in the south and German-speakers in the north (the geopolitical split between Austria and Italy only came about in 1919), the ‘Land in the Mountains’ for centuries assimilated cultural influences from normally divergent northern and southern traditions.

Through sublime Alpine vistas, we journey from the Italian stretches, dominated by lush vineyards and orchards soaked by the Mediterranean sun, to Innsbruck, ‘Capital of the Alps’, in Austria. Churches, chapels and castles punctuate the mountain scenery throughout.

Itinerary

Day 1. Fly at c. 8.45am from London Heathrow to Venice. Drive to Termeno, visiting a winery en-route. See the church of San Giacomo di Castellaz’s mysterious frescoes (c. 1220) and continue to Bolzano for the first of four nights.

Day 2: Bolzano, Castel Roncolo. Explore the historic centre of Bolzano, capital of South Tyrol. A highlight is San Giovanni in Villa (special admission) with pristine 14th-century frescoes. See one of Michael Pacher’s finest carved

altarpieces (1471) at Bolzano-Gries and visit Castel Roncolo where frescoes include secular topics, introducing us to the frolicsome life of the jeunesse dorée (c. 1400).

Day 3: Merano, Naturno. Merano evolved in the 19th century into a spa resort for Habsburg, Russian, French and British aristocracy, an era tangible in the promenades and architecture. Drive into the beautiful Val Venosta where the tiny church of San Procolo houses a fresco cycle of the eighth century.

Day 4: Hocheppan, Bolzano. The castle of Hocheppan is probably the most impressively situated of any in Tyrol. Perched high on a peak it offers wide views over the Adige and Isarco valleys, and into the snow-clad Dolomites in the distance. The castle chapel surprises with Byzantine-influenced frescoes (c. 1200). Return to Bolzano for a free afternoon.

Day 5: Bolzano to Innsbruck. Bressanone has a picturesque old town and Baroque cathedral. The museum at the episcopal palace (c. 1600) has medieval art and is embellished with terracotta sculptures of members of the Habsburg dynasty. In Vipiteno (Sterzing), see medieval wall paintings in the hospital church; the parish church and museum contain the remains of a 1456 wooden altarpiece by Hans Multscher. Enter Austria; first of two nights in Innsbruck.

Day 6: Innsbruck. Favourite residence of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor 1496–1519. His legacy includes the Goldenes Dachl, a ceremonial balcony, and the monumental cenotaph in the Hofkirche. See the art collection at the Museum Ferdinandeum. Schloss Ambras, Maximilian’s country retreat, has the world’s best collections of arms and armour, the finest surviving Kunstkammer of the age and Habsburg portraits by Titian, Van Dyck and Velazquez.

Day 7. Fly, Munich to Heathrow; arrive c. 5.30pm.

Right: Innsbruck, early 20th-century etching.

Contact us: +44 (0)20 8742 3355 | info@martinrandall.co.uk | www.martinrandall.com

Gastronomy & the Golden Age

Food, art & architecture in Belgium and the Netherlands

7–14 June 2023 (mj 755) 8 days • £4,460

Lecturer: Gijs van Hensbergen

Historic cities, unspoilt coastline, bucolic countryside. Travel by Eurostar, there and back.

Wide-ranging menus from local delicacies to Michelin-starred meals.

Outstanding art with particular focus on the 17th-century Golden Age.

The banquet masterpieces from the Low Countries’ Golden Age have always attracted our gaze. Their carefully orchestrated bounty of golden ripe cheeses, oysters, bright red lobsters and the ubiquitous peppercorns twisted up in the faded page of an old almanac are set off against a cornucopia of blushing fruit and the sparkling glass flute of finest Moselle wine. Our eyes and taste buds, in anticipation, are teased by the graceful curve of a twisted lemon peel. Or, perhaps, we are offered instead a humble bread roll, a pickled herring and a frothy glass of beer that speaks to us of other times. Belgians, they proudly boast, live to eat.

In pursuit of the flavours of the Golden Age, we uncover masterpieces of craft from the Michelin 3-star chef Jannis Brevet at Inter Scaldes. Built around this, the tour is a series of privileged encounters with passionate providers of utterly exquisite food.

Itinerary

Day 1: Ghent. Depart at c. 11.00am from London St Pancras by Eurostar for Lille. Drive to Ghent. Introduction to this most beautiful city via its waterways. First of four nights in Ghent.

Day 2: Ghent, Lo-Reninge, Vleteren. Begin at Ghent cathedral to see the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb polyptych by Hubert and Jan van Eyck. Drive out to the rural west for lunch in LoReninge. In the surrounding Belgian hop fields, a

group of friends age golden beers to perfection in Ardbeg whisky casks or limousin oak barrels that once hosted Châteauneuf du Pape. Upon return to Ghent a tasting of exquisitely refined chocolate.

Day 3: Antwerp. Visit the house and studio Rubens built for himself, also the small, outstanding collection of Old Masters at the Snijders & Rockox House. Tastings follow, of the curated cheeses of the world’s best ‘affineur,’ van Tricht, and of the rarest air-dried beef.

Day 4: Yerseke, Kruiningen. Cross into the Netherlands to the watery landscapes of the Eastern Scheldt. Tour and tasting at a family-run mussel and oyster farm at Yerseke. From here to lunch at Inter Scaldes, contemporary creations in a beautiful country estate.

Day 5: Etten-Leur, Utrecht. Visit a winery and asparagus farm. Continue to Utrecht. Dinner is a chance to explore some of the Netherlands’ best rijstafel (Indonesian rice tables). First of three nights in Utrecht.

Day 6: Rotterdam, Leiden. In Rotterdam’s Delfshaven from where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail we taste lightly cured herring and the freshest of baby brown shrimp. Drive to Leiden and visit the Museum De Lakenhal. Dinner nearby is a chance to feast on the national dish – hutspot

Day 7: Lunteren, Zwolle. In homage to the Netherlands’s dairy culture we visit the Remeker farm to taste the only 100% grass-fed Jersey herd that produce a quite incredible cheese. In the Veluwe forest we lunch at Het Koetshuis, with 1 Michelin star. The Kröller-Müller Museum, holds outstanding works by Van Gogh.

Day 8: Amsterdam. At the Rijksmuseum we feast our eyes on Holland’s culinary past. Our visit concentrates on its unrivalled collection of 17thcentury paintings. A final meal in the museum restaurant celebrates gloriously modest Dutch produce. The Eurostar to London St Pancras arrives c. 8.00pm.

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‘Still Life with Cheese’, Floris Claesz van Dijck, c. 1615 ©Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Moldavia & Transylvania

Towns, villages and painted churches on the edge of Europe

18–28 May 2023 (mj 727) 11 days • £2,940 Lecturer: Dr Shona Kallestrup

15th and 16th-century painted Orthodox churches, a unique phenomenon in Byzantine art. Medieval towns among the most picturesque in central and eastern Europe.

Scenic coach journeys through enchanting countryside where traditional rural life continues.

During the second Millennium, Romanian history was defined by its geographical juxtaposition to expansionist states. Resistance to foreign domination from the 14th to the 16th centuries led to the gradual establishment of independent principalities – Wallachia (c.1310), Moldavia (1359) and Transylvania (1541).

Four years after the fall of Constantinople, Stefan cel Mare (Stephen the Great) became Prince of Moldavia and for the next 50 years led a spirited defence against constant Turkish invasions. It was against this backdrop that Stefan and his son, Petru Rares, established almost 30 fortified monasteries and churches deep in the foothills of the Eastern Carpathians. To educate the illiterate soldiers and camp-followers who would gather inside the monasteries’ walls, the exteriors of the churches were adorned with paintings of Christian themes and anti-Ottoman messages. Byzantine in style, the frescoes have remarkable finesse of draughtsmanship.

Across the Carpathians, in the former Principality of Transylvania, many Saxon villages remain, dating from the 12th century. In due course, they also became bulwarks against incursions from the East. Hence the extraordinary fortifications around village churches, constructed as citadels, permanently stocked in expectation of siege.

Bucovina and Transylvania feature landscapes of gentle hills, dense woods and villages of painted houses. Horses are still to be found in harness, transporting produce to markets. The towns are

marvellous survivals, revealing cityscapes as architecturally interesting as anywhere in the former Austro-Hungarian empire.

Itinerary

Day 1: Bucharest. Fly from London (Tarom Airlines). First of two nights in Bucharest.

Day 2: Bucharest. The National Art Museum. Cotroceni Palace is now the official residence of the Romanian Head of State. The Village Museum presents a collection of traditional peasant houses.

Day 3: Bucharest, Gura Humorului. Calea Victoriei and Revolution Square. See Stavropoleos Church (1724) and the Ceaușescu-built Palace of Parliament. Internal flight from Bucharest to Suceava. First of three nights in Gura Humorului.

Day 4: Humor, Râșca, Voroneț Three monasteries with exceptional frescoes.

Day 5: Arbore, Suceviţa, Moldovița. Three more exquisite decorated monasteries. Overnight Gura Humorului.

Day 6: Târgu Mureș, Sighișoara. Cross the Carpathians into Transylvania. First of three nights in Sighișoara.

Day 7: Sighișoara, Alma Vii, Mediaș. At Alma Vii the fortified church gives an insight into the customs of Transylvanian Saxons.

Day 8: Criș, Mălâncrav, Biertan, Richiș. The village church at Mă lâ ncrav is celebrated for the remarkably well-preserved murals of 1421.

Day 9: Sinaia. The road south passes through the Transylvanian Alps. First of two nights in Sinaia.

Day 10: Prejmer, Brașov, Sinaia. Stop at Prejmer for one more fortified church. Freetime in Brașov.

Day 11: Sinaia, Bucharest. Descend to the Wallachian plain and fly from Bucharest, returning to Heathrow in the afternoon.

Right: Suceviţa, lithograph by Oskar Laske (1874–1951)

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Cities of Catalonia

2,000 years of art & architecture, from Romans to Modernistas

13–22 May 2023 (mj 718) 10 days • £3,970

Lecturer: Gijs van Hensbergen

A journey through the rich, complex and colourful cities of this beautiful, varied region.

From Roman and Greek sites to the creative genius of the 20th century.

Five-star hotels in rural northern Catalonia and central Barcelona, plus two nights in Tarragona.

Few geographical areas in Europe have such a complex history, have created such an extraordinary culture or engendered such contemplation. The first invaders in the 6th century bc were the Phocaean Greeks, who founded the trading city of Empurion, a pilgrimage site dedicated to Asklepius, the Goddess of Medicine. Soon the Romans followed suit to establish the powerful western empire of Hispania with its northern capital Tarraco, dwarfing its little sister Barcino – now Barcelona.

By the beginning of the 5th century ad, the small land channel from Perpignan to Port Bou was overrun in turn by Vandals, Suevi, Ostrogoths and Alans, with Visigoths chasing hard on their tail. For a few brief centuries the highly sophisticated Arabs from Córdoba took control, before the marcher territory fell under the influence of the trans-Pyrenean Franks and the Counts of Barcelona. Eventually the condado was absorbed into the Crown of Aragón, fomenting an explosion of Romanesque sculptural masterpieces and dramatic high-keyed fresco cycles.

Barcelona is Catalonia’s beating heart. During the 19th-century Catalan Renaixença, the Ciudad Condal was reimagined and refurbished by Indianos – Cuba trade millionaires showing off their new-found wealth with carved fantasy façades of ironwork, stained glass and tiles. But it was out in the countryside and the provincial cities that true genius was born.

On his farm in Mont-roig, Joan Miró nursed his magical vision to life. In nearby Reus, Josep

Jujol and Catalonia’s architect–patron saint Antoni Gaudí reinvented forever the language of architecture. High in the mountains, the abstract artist Antoni Tàpies created zen-like mindscapes from cast-offs, rubbish and the utterly mundane. In the isolated village of Horta de Ebro, meanwhile, the myth of Picasso was born, while, out in the sleepy bay of Cadaqués, Salvador Dali exploded rudely into life.

Itinerary

Day 1: Barcelona, Peralada. Fly at c. 10.45am from London Heathrow to Barcelona. First of three nights in Peralada.

Day 2: Empúries, Cadaqués, Figueres. Dalí’s house in Cadaqués and his museum in Figueres. Dinner at Michelin-starred Castell de Peralada.

Day 3: Girona. Visit the medieval Jewish quarter, Gothic cathedral and 13th-century Arab baths.

Day 4: Besalu, Vic, Tarragona. First of two nights in Tarragona.

Day 5: Mont-roig del Camp, Reus, Tarragona. The farmhouse where Miró spent his summers.

Day 6: Sitges, Barcelona. The Museu Maricel with Sert’s frescoes. First of four nights in Barcelona.

Day 7: Montserrat. Gaudí’s crypt at the Colònia Güell. In Montserrat, the Benedictine abbey and a gallery with works by Dalí and Picasso.

Day 8: Barcelona. The National Museum of Catalan Art; the Miró Foundation. An evening visit to Gaudí’s La Pedrera building of 1906–10.

Day 9: Barcelona. The Picasso Museum. Lunch in Domènech’s Hotel España.

Day 10: Barcelona. Morning visit to Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia. Afternoon flight from Barcelona to London Heathrow, arriving c. 4.00pm.

Right: Barcelona Cathedral, lithograph c. 1840.

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Two Spains: The Spanish Civil War & its aftermath

27 September–5 October 2023 (mj 908) 9 days • £3,360

Lecturer: Giles Tremlett

A turbulent period of Spain’s recent history explored with acute analysis of its impact.

Led by Madrid-based historian Giles Tremlett, who has interviewed Spaniards on both sides.

Time in Madrid and Barcelona, as well as some of the most attractive countryside in Catalonia.

In a tragically prescient poem written in 1912, Antonio Machado warned infant Spaniards that they had been born into a divided country. “May God take mercy on you/ One of the two Spains will freeze your heart”. In 1936, the confrontation between those two Spains provoked a ferocious, civil war between the Republicans and the Nationalists in which 400,000 died – many of them victims of death squads or tribunals set up by the victor, Francisco Franco. Spain returned to democracy after his 40-year dictatorship, but ghosts from that time still haunt the country. This tour investigates these two Spains and the violent conflict in which both sides committed atrocities. How did they emerge? What sparked the final collision between fascist-backed, traditionalist reactionaries and their opponents, ranging from moderate democrats and separatists to violent anarchists and communists? Spain has tried to turn its back on the civil war, so accessing its history is difficult. Where is it today?

This is not a battlefield tour with a focus on military logistics, though battlefields will be seen and contemplated. We will visit secret museums, hidden graves, underground basilicas, research institutes and galleries that help to explain what happened and why. Goya, Picasso, Gaudí, Orwell all provide clues. The International Brigades who fought against Franco – from Laurie Lee and John Cornford to Orwell and Simone Weil – will help us assess the impact of the conflict. Those who came to watch – Hemingway, Dos Passos, Robert

Capa, Gerda Taro and Martha Gellhorn – will shed light on why this war was so important to a world preparing for the confrontation of ideologies that began in 1939.

Itinerary

Day 1: Madrid. Fly at c. 9.15am from London Heathrow to Madrid (Iberia). History paintings in the Prado set the scene for the tour. First of three nights in Madrid.

Day 2: Madrid, Valle de Los Caídos, Brunete. Picasso’s Guernica and Franco’s vast mausoleum outside the Madrid are both powerful symbols.

Day 3: Madrid, Jarama. The hills at Jarama appear to reveal little of the battle of February 1937 in which 10,000 Republicans were killed.

Day 4: Madrid, Belchite, Zaragoza. Belchite, with its medieval and baroque buildings, was decimated in summer 1937. The ruins remain as a living monument of war. Overnight Zaragoza.

Day 5: Zaragoza, L’Espluga de Francolí, Falset. A rural museum in the hills of Catalonia contains a fascinating archive of photos relating to the civil war. First of two nights in Falset.

Day 6: Falset, Priorat. The landscape of Priorat is one of striking natural beauty. A vast cave was transformed in 1938 into a remarkable field hospital where many volunteers spent time.

Day 7: Castelldefels, Barcelona. Colònia Güell, a factory complex for millworkers was a hotbed of activism; Gaudí’s crypt is exquisite. Castelldefels’ fort holds ‘frescoes’ made by incarcerated Republicans. First of two nights in Barcelona.

Day 8: Barcelona. A walk follows in the footsteps of Orwell. The National Museum of Catalan Art has collections produced during the conflict.

Day 9: Barcelona. The cemetery at Fossar de la Pedrera is a memorial site. Late afternoon flight from Barcelona to Heathrow, arriving c. 7.45pm.

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Belchite (photo used under license from shutterstock.com).

Walking Hadrian’s Wall

Roman civilisation at the edge of an Empire

8–14 May 2023 (mj 705) 7 days • £2,930

Lecturer: Dr Matthew Symonds

The archaeology and history of the largest Roman construction in northern Europe.

As the most spectacular stretches are accessible only on foot, this is by necessity a walking tour.

Coach excursions enable the inclusion of all the major Roman sites and relevant museums.

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 15-foot-high wall 73 miles long through harsh, undulating terrain, with 80 milecastles, 161 intermediate turrets and flanking earthwork ditches and ramparts.

Fifteen or 16 forts, many straddling the Wall, housed a garrison of 12–15,000 soldiers from radically different climes elsewhere 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 will-power, Hadrian’s Wall ranks among the most extraordinary of all Roman achievements. A study of it leads to an examination of practically every aspect of Roman civilisation, from senatorial politics in Rome to the mundanities of life for ordinary Romans – and Britons – who lived in its shadow.

To see the best surviving stretches of the Wall there is no substitute for leaving wheels behind and walking along its course.

Itinerary

Day 1: Housesteads. The coach leaves Newcastle Central Station at 2.15pm (or from the hotel,

Matfen Hall, at 1.30pm) directly to Housesteads. With standing remains of up to 10 feet, this is the best preserved of the Wall’s forts. Remote and rugged, there are superb views.

Day 2: walk Steel Rigg to Cawfields; Corbridge. A thrilling but challenging walk (2.6 miles, c. 3 hours). Terrain is consistently rugged, sometimes steep. It follows long, well-preserved stretches of wall, through moorland above the cliffs of the Whinsill Crag, the Wall’s highest point.

Day 3: walk Housesteads to Steel Rigg; Chesters. Another challenging walk that rides the crest of the faultline of dolerite crags, dipping and climbing (3.2 miles, c. 3 hours). The rewards include excellently preserved milecastles and staggering views. Chesters is the most salubrious of the forts in an enchanting river valley setting.

Day 4: Vindolanda; Brocolitia, Chesters. The fort and town of Vindolanda is the site of ongoing excavations. Drive to a couple of archaeological remains, the Mithraic temple at Brocolitia and the bridge abutments across the river from Chesters.

Day 5: walk Gilsland to Birdoswald. An easy walk through low-lying farmland (2 miles, c. 2 hours). Included is the only mile with both milecastles and turrets visible.

Day 6: walk Walltown to Cawfields; Carlisle, Bowness-on-Solway. The final walk is spectacularly varied, from rocky hilltops to lowland pasture (c. 3 miles, c. 2½ hours). See the Wall collections in the Tullie House Museum, Carlisle. The Wall ended at the remote village of Bowness-on-Solway.

Day 7: South Shields, Wallsend. At South Shields, Arbeia presents fine reconstructions of a fort gateway, soldiers’ barrack block and an opulent officer’s house. At aptly named Wallsend, Segedunum was the most easterly of the forts. The coach takes you to Newcastle railway station by 2.00pm.

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Hadrian’s Wall at Walltown, linescape by Mark Richards. (www.markrichards.info)

Great Houses of the North

Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Co. Durham, Northumberland

15–23 June 2023 (mj 768) 9 days • £3,870

Lecturer: Dr Steven Parissien

The finest country houses in northern England, with an emphasis on the 18th century.

All aspects are studied – architecture, contents, gardens; historical context and custodianship.

Special arrangements feature, with access to parts not normally seen by the public.

Unrushed: time absorb. Only two hotel changes.

Itinerary

Some appointments still to be confirmed.

Day 1: Kedleston (Derbys). The coach leaves Derby railway station at 1.45pm. Supreme monument of Classical architecture and decoration, Kedleston Hall (1759–65) was the creation of Sir Nathaniel Curzon and, initially, three architects, of whom Robert Adam emerged the victor. First of three nights near Chatsworth.

Day 2: Chatsworth, Haddon (Derbys). Home of the Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth House was rebuilt in the 1690s and further augmented in the 1820s. The steady acquisition of fine furniture, sculpture and pictures created one of the finest private art collections in the world. ‘The most perfect English house to survive from the Middle Ages’, Haddon Hall evolved from c. 1370 to the 17th century. The gardens are exceptionally lovely.

Day 3: Hardwick, Bolsover (Derbys). Hardwick Hall (1590) is the finest of all Elizabethan great houses, a highpoint of the English Renaissance. The unaltered interiors are filled with textiles and furniture. Bolsover Castle is an elaborate Jacobean folly, a splendid late-Renaissance sequence of rooms in medieval fancy dress.

Right: Chatsworth House, wood engraving c. 1880.

Day 4: Wentworth Woodhouse (S Yorks), Harewood (W Yorks). The largest private house in England, Wentworth Woodhouse, has a complex building history. Afflicted by existential threats for 70 years, its future and public access were secured only in 2017. Harewood House is famously grand, with interiors by Adam and furniture by Chippendale. First of three nights in York.

Day 5: Burton Agnes (E Yorks), Castle Howard (N Yorks). Burton Agnes Hall is a final flourish of the Elizabethan age; topiary, marvellous carving and plasterwork. Vanbrugh’s Castle Howard (1699) is the most palatial house on the tour. Excellent works of art; park with famous temples and follies.

Day 6: Newby, York (N Yorks). A William-andMary house (1693), Newby Hall was subject for the next two centuries to refurbishment and extension of the highest quality. Set in 25 acres of fine gardens. Some free time in York.

Day 7: Raby, Bishop Auckland (Co. Durham). Within the 14th-century fortifications of Raby Castle are suites of 18th- and 19th-century rooms. One of the best preserved episcopal palaces in Europe. First of two nights in Newcastle.

Day 8: Belsay, Cragside (Nthumb). After Sir Charles Monck’s return from Greece in 1805 he built Belsay Hall in a severely Grecian style. A wonderful sequence of late-Victorian taste and technology, Cragside is a Tudor-style pile (1869–84) designed by Norman Shaw for William Armstrong, inventor and manufacturer.

Day 9: Alnwick (Nthumb), Newcastle. Since 1309 the seat of the Percys, Dukes of Northumberland, Alnwick Castle remains a striking medieval fortress while the interiors are a lavish exercise in Victorian medievalism. There is a superb painting collection and a new 12-acre garden. The coach takes you to Newcastle railway station by 3.30pm.

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For full details visit:

Photo ©Ben Ealovega.

Tours and events by date

The majority of our tours and events in 2023 are now available to book – to find their full details, visit www.martinrandall.com. If you cannot find the tour you are looking for on our website, this may mean that it is not yet on sale – please call us to register interest or send an e-mail to alerts@martinrandall.co.uk

January 2023

17–23 Valletta Baroque Festival (mj 605) Andrew Hopkins

28– 3 Mozart in Salzburg (mj 610) Richard Wigmore

February 2023

21– 2 Israel & Palestine (mj 626) Dr Garth Gilmour

27– 4 Palaces & Villas of Rome (mj 624) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

28– 6 Essential Rome (mj 625) Dr Thomas-Leo True

March 2023

3– 5 UK Chamber Music Break: Castalian String Quartet at The Castle Hotel, Taunton (mj 632) Speaker: Richard Wigmore

13–20 Florence & Venice (mj 643) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

14–25 Indian Summer (mj 644) Raaja Bhasin

20–26 Cities of al-Andalus (mj 650) Dr Amira Bennison

21–25 Venetian Palaces (mj 652) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

27– 3 Gastronomic Valencia (mj 657) Gijs van Hensbergen

27– 4 Cyprus: Stepping Stone of History (mj 660) Dr Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

28– 4 Essential Puglia (mj 658) John McNeill

29– 2 Florentine Palaces (mj 661) Dr Fabrizio Nevola

April 2023

3–11

The Ring in Berlin (mj 662) Barry Millington

10–21 Art in Japan (mj 674) Dr Monika Hinkel

11–16 Palladian Villas (mj 677) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

12–19 Romans & Carolingians (mj 678) Dr Hugh Doherty

17–22 Pompeii & Herculaneum (mj 683) Dr Mark Grahame

18–27 Anjou & the West (mj 682) John McNeill

19–27 The Cathedrals of England (mj 684) Jon Cannon

19–28 Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity (mj 686) Carolyn Perry

20–24 Ravenna & Urbino (mj 687) Dr Luca Leoncini

20–25 Opera in Vienna

20–26 Southern Tuscany (mj 690) Dr Fabizio Nevola

21–23 UK Chamber Music Break: Linos Piano Trio at The Castle Hotel, Taunton (mj 689)

21– 2 Samarkand & Silk Road Cities (mj 688) Dr Peter Webb

24– 3 The Venetian Land Empire (mj 691) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

24– 6 Civilisations of Sicily (mj 692) Dr Philippa Joseph

Right: Gardens of Aranjuez, 18th-century copper engraving. Above right: Oxford, Magdalen College, engraving 1833.

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May 2023

8–10 UK Chamber Music Break: The Elias String Quartet at The Swan, Lavenham (mj 706)

Speaker: Richard Wigmore

8–13 Tuscan Gardens (mj 708) Dr Katie Campbell

8–14 Walking Hadrian’s Wall (mj 705) Dr Matthew Symonds

8–15 The Duchy of Milan (mj 716) Dr Luca Leoncini

8–20 Traditions of Japan (mj 717)

Professor Timon Screech

8–21 The Western Balkans (mj 714)

Professor Cathie Carmichael

10–18 Aragón: Hidden Spain (mj 715) Dr Zahira Bomford

12–19 Courts of Northern Italy (mj 723) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

12–19 Art in Scotland (mj 719) Christopher Baker

12–20 Great Irish Houses Anthony Lambert

13–22 Cities of Catalonia (mj 718) Gijs van Hensbergen

13–22 Classical Greece (mj 712)

Professor Tony Spawforth

15–21 Prague Spring (mj 720)

Dr Michael Downes

15–21 Great Swedish Houses Ulrica Häller

18–28 Moldavia & Transylvania (mj 727) Dr Shona Kallestrup

18–29 Leipzig Mahler Festival (mj 729) Dr Paul Max Edlin

19–25 Dresden Music Festival (mj 726) Dr Jarl Kremeier

19–30 Samarkand & Silk Road Cities (mj 725)

Dr Peter Webb

21–25 Castles of Wales (mj 730)

Dr Marc Morris

22–26 Great Private Houses in Norfolk (mj 735) Dr Andrew Moore

23– 1 The Medieval Pyrenees (mj 737) Dr Richard Plant

25– 3 Classical Turkey Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

30– 3 Berlin: New Architecture (mj 748) Tom Abbott

June 2023

3–10 Medieval Burgundy (mj 754) John McNeill

7–14 Gastronomy & the Golden Age (mj 755) Gijs van Hensbergen

9–12 Versailles: Seat of the Sun King Professor Antony Spawforth

12–18 Art in Tyrol, South & North (mj 763) Dr Ulrike Ziegler

12–18 Gastronomic Fruili-Venezia Giulia Marc Millon

12–19 Footpaths of Umbria Dr Thomas-Leo True

14–23 Great French Gardens (mj 765) Steven Desmond

15–23 Great Houses of the North (mj 768) Dr Steven Parissien

16–23 Medieval Alsace (mj 769) Dr Richard Plant

17–25 Gardens in the Highlands (mj 770) Colin Crosbie

19–23 Medieval Middle England (mj 772) John McNeill

19–23 Art in Switzerland

19–25 Walking in Southern Bohemia Martina Hinks-Edwards

22–28 Walking the Rhine Valley (mj 774) Richard Wigmore

23–30 MUSIC ALONG THE RHINE (mj 776) 27– 1 Lincolnshire Churches (mj 785) John McNeill

29– 3 Copenhagen Modern (mj 780) Professor Harry Charrington

30– 3 Dutch Painting Desmond Shawe-Taylor Glyndebourne & Garsington

July 2023

1– 5 CELEBRATING

WILLIAM BYRD (mj 787)

3– 7 West Country Churches (mj 790) John McNeill

5– 9 Flemish Painting Dr Sophie Oosterwijk

6–11 Savonlinna Opera (mj 792) Simon Rees

12–19 Cave Art of France (mj 795) Dr Paul Bahn

13–17 Verona Opera (mj 794)

10–16 Lusatia: Germany’s Eastern Borderlands (mj 797) Dr Jarl Kremeier

18–24 Opera in Munich & Bregenz

27– 3 The Hanseatic League Andreas Puth

Hindsgavl: Chamber Music in Denmark

Dr Michael Downes

Lofoten Chamber Music Festival Dr Michael Downes

Contact us: +44 (0)20 8742 3355 | info@martinrandall.co.uk | www.martinrandall.com

The Industrial Revolution

Paul Atterbury

Orkney: 5,000 years of culture

August 2023

2– 6 Verona Opera

15–20 King Ludwig II (mj 828) Tom Abbott

25–31 The Schubertiade (mj 835) Richard Wigmore

26– 3 Mediaeval Saxony Dr Ulrike Ziegler Organs of Bach’s Time Rossini in Pesaro Drottningholm & Confidencen

September 2023

1–12 Samarkand & Silk Road Cities (mj 842)

Dr Peter Webb

2– 9 The Heart of Italy (mj 848) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

3– 8 Isambard Kingdom Brunel Anthony Lambert

4–10 THE JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH JOURNEY (mj 850)

4–11 Gastronomic Basque Country Gijs van Hensbergen

5– 8 The Age of Bede Imogen Corrigan

5–16 Walking to Santiago (mj 851) Dr Rose Walker

6–11 Dutch Modern (mj 853)

Professor Harry Charrington

7–11 Ravenna & Urbino (mj 858)

Dr Luca Leoncini

7–15 Sacred Armenia (mj 854) Ian Colvin

8–15 Courts of Northern Italy (mj 859)

Professor Fabrizio Nevola

9–13 Chateaux of the Loire (mj 855) Dr Sarah Pearson

9–18 Classical Greece (mj 856) Dr Dan Jolowicz

11–18 Walking in Slovenia

Professor Cathie Carmichael

11–23 Civilisations of Sicily (mj 862) Christopher Newall

Below: Engraving c. 1840 after a wall painting from Pompeii. Above: lithograph (detail) c. 1800 by R. Martin.

16–26 Georgia Uncovered (mj 875) Ian Colvin

18–24 Walking a Royal River Sophie Campbell

20–27 English Georgian Towns (mj 895) Andrew Foyle

20–29 Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity (mj 898) Carolyn Perry

22– 3 Frank Lloyd Wright (mj 900) Tom Abbott

23–29 The Ligurian Coast Dr Luca Leoncini

24– 1 Walking in Northern Tuscany Dr Thomas-Leo True

25–30 Pompeii & Herculaneum (mj 903) Dr Nigel Spivey

25– 5 Essential Andalucía (mj 905) Dr Philippa Joseph

27– 5 The Cathedrals of England (mj 907) Jon Cannon

27– 5 Two Spains: The Spanish Civil War & its aftermath (mj 908) Giles Tremlett

28– 4 Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes Steven Desmond The Sibelius Festival Normandy Medieval Champagne Lucca

Siena & San Gimignano

October 2023

2– 7 Gardens & Villas of Campagna Romana (mj 923) Amanda Patton

5–13 Berlin, Potsdam, Dresden (mj 925) Dr Jarl Kremeier

9–15 Malta: prehistoric to present (mj 930) Juliet Rix

12–16 Ravenna & Urbino (mj 940) Dr Luca Leoncini

13–19 Gastronomic Lombardy Christine Smallwood

14–20 Gastronomic Piedmont Cynthia Chapman

16–22 In Search of Alexander (mj 934) Professor Antony Spawforth

16–23 Footpaths of Umbria Dr Thomas-Leo True

16–23 Design & Modernism in Turin & Milan Dr Philippa Joseph

16–25 Castile & León (mj 935) Gijs van Hensbergen

16–28 Civilisations of Sicily (mj 932) John McNeill

17–22 Palladian Villas (mj 955) Dr Sarah Pearson

18–24 Renaissance Rivals Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

20–22 THE THOMAS TALLIS TRAIL 21–29 Essential Jordan (mj 980) Felicity Cobbing

22–28 Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur (mj 928) Mary Lynn Riley

23–29 Malta: prehistoric to present (mj 982) Juliet Rix

30– 4 Wexford Opera Festival

31– 5 Palermo Revealed (mj 996) Dr R.T. Cobianchi Hamburg: Opera & ‘Elphi’ Parma Verdi Festival Art in the Netherlands Walking & Gardens in Madeira Istanbul Revealed Welsh National Opera In Churchill’s Footsteps Symposium: The Castle Hotel, Taunton (theme to be announced)

Contact us: +44 (0)20 8742 3355 | info@martinrandall.co.uk | www.martinrandall.com

November 2023

2– 5 Les Années Folles (mj 100)

Patrick Bade

7–11 Venetian Palaces (mj 105) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

9–20 Japanese Gardens (mj 108) Yoko Kawaguchi

13–19 Art History of Venice (mj 110) Dr Susan Steer

13–20 Gastronomic Sicily (mj 111) Marc Millon

15–19 Art in Madrid (mj 112)

Dr Xavier Bray

19–26 The Printing Revolution Dr Michael Douglas-Scott

20–26 The Art of Florence Dr Flavio Boggi

30–13 Essential South India (mj 132) Asoka Pugal Music in Paris Opera in Naples & Rome Oman, Landscapes & Peoples Picasso in Spain

December 2023

We usually offer around seven tours over Christmas and New Year. Please contact us to register your interest.

February 2024

25– 8

Vietnam: History, People, Food (mk 181) Dr Dana Healy

March 2024

9–22 Cambodia by River (mk 194)

Freddie Matthews

How to book

For full details of any tour or event listed in this brochure, please visit www.martinrandall.com or contact us.

Book on our website

Click ‘Book this tour’ on any tour page to initiate your booking. You can provisionally hold a space online and agree to our terms and conditions. We will then contact you about paying your deposit.

Book by telephone or e-mail Alternatively, call or e-mail us to make a provisional booking which we will hold for seven days. We then require you to complete a booking form and pay a deposit (10% of your total booking price). We will e-mail you a link to our online booking form, or post a paper form to you depending on your preference.

Confirming your booking

Upon receipt of your booking form and deposit we will send you formal confirmation. After this your deposit is non-refundable except in the special circumstances outlined in our booking conditions.

Booking conditions

It is important that you read these before committing to your booking. We will send these to you with your booking form, or you can find them online: www.martinrandall.com/terms

Above: Istanbul, copper engraving c. 1760 by Probst.

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If undelivered, return to:

Martin Randall Travel Ltd 10 Barley Mow Passage London W4 4PH United Kingdom

Online talks with expert speakers

Streaming now or starting soon: A History of Romanesque in Six Buildings • John McNeill Tuesdays, 6 December–17 January

Operas & Places • Simon Rees Tuesdays, 19 January–16 February

ATOL 3622 | ABTOT 5468 | AITO 5085

The Rise and Fall of the Italian Renaissance • Dr Michael Douglas-Scott Tuesdays, 24 January–28 February

Handel in London • Richard Wigmore Thursdays, 23 February–16 March

Modern China: history, economics and society since 1949 Prof. Kerry Brown • Tuesdays, 7 March–4 April

The Age of Power: science and globalisation in the 18th Century Patricia Fara • Thursdays, 23 March–20 April

Railway Romance: literature and culture of a British love affair Andrew Martin • Tuesdays, 11 April–9 May

Ivory, Apes & Peacocks: luxury, trade & exchange in the ancient world Prof. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones • Mondays & Wednesdays, 24 April–10 May

For full details and to subscribe: martinrandall.com/online-talks

Still available to watch:

Neanderthals: the history and science of our closest hominin relations Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes Available until 24 January

The Ancient Greeks: a short global history Professor Antony Spawforth Available until 9 February

Recordings are available for subscribers to view for up to eight weeks after the final live talk in a series.