Join My Tour of Italy this Fall

I am leading a group tour to Italy from October 30th through November 9th of this year. We will visit some of the best places to see in Italy, including Venice, Florence, Pisa, Pompeii, Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, and Rome. Our tour company has organized tours for more than 60 years. Professional tour guides will take us to magnificent archaeological and historical sites, galleries that hold some of the world’s greatest art and sculpture, and some of the principal places associated with Church history.

I love visiting Italy. It is rich in so many things that illustrate the talent and beauty God put into Creation. Italy is a place where one may touch, smell, see, and feel multiple eras of civilization. This kind of trip is an investment in your understanding of the things that shaped who we are today. If you love history, archaeology, art, religious history, food, nature, architecture, travel, or any combination of these, this trip is designed for you.

You can learn more about this tour here. Just send me your name and mailing address, I will send a brochure with complete details and a registration form. My contact information is on the tour web site.

Tidbits for the Trip: Did you know…?

• The Sistine Chapel was built to the same dimensions as Solomon’s Temple in the Bible. (Think about that the next time you stand inside.)
• The formal name of the Colosseum in Rome is the Flavian Amphitheater. “Flavius” was the family name of Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian. All three of them were successive Caesars in the late 1st century. They built the massive amphitheater on prime land Nero had appropriated for himself after the Great Fire of Rome. In building the theater, they returned the land to the people.
• The Flavian Amphitheater’s more popular name, “Colosseum,” comes from a colossal statue of Nero that once stood nearby.
• Venice was once a powerful and influential city-state. Venice directed the Fourth Crusade to attack a rival, the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. (The city had defeated every attacker since its founding some 900 years earlier by Constantine.) The Crusaders took the city and much of the loot found its way back to Venice. St. Mark’s cathedral is still decorated inside and out with statues, columns, and art taken from Constantinople in the year 1204.
• The Leaning Tower of Pisa is actually a bell tower for the nearby Romanesque cathedral. Architects began constructing bell towers as separate structures upon discovering that sound vibrations from the large bells were damaging cathedral superstructures.
• Some of Italy’s best gelato (the especially creamy Italian-style ice cream) can be found along the streets of Florence.
• In 1938, American archaeologist Indiana Jones visited Venice and was caught up in an incident involving assault & battery, vandalism, arson, destruction of artifacts, desecration of tombs, theft, discharge of firearms in public, and the destruction of property by explosions that resulted in the deaths of multiple individuals. Remarkably, no charges were ever filed against Dr. Jones or others involved.

One side of the Colosseum in Rome (aka the Flavian Amphitheater). To give an idea of the massive size of this nearly two-millennia old structure, I am leaning against a column at the bottom center of the photo. Impressive, no? The Colosseum has begun to undergo a multi-year restoration. Ancient frescoes and graffiti are coming to light again inside the theater.