BARI, ROMANESQUE WORKS OF ART. Arrival in Bari and meeting with our Tour Leader to visit the Adriatic city with its ancient Romanesque-Norman Cathedral dedicated to San Nicola. We can admire its solidity and sobriety, glorious chivalrous scene on the Portal of Lions, the crypt and the ciborium, the fresco of the Crucifixion, the Triptych and the Pala del Vivarini. An exceptional underground walk will reveal ancient secrets of the place among early Christian mosaics, tombs, ceramic and archaeological remains of the Roman age. Lunch in a typical seafood restaurant and transfer to Gargano peninsula. Enjoy a welcome cocktails and settle at the hotel. 

CASTEL DEL MONTE AND LUCERA, ANGEVIN AND NORMAN TESTIMONIES. After breakfast excursion to Castel del Monte, UNESCO site, and visit of the castle conceived and designed by Federico II on the highest hill of the Murges. Our guide takes us into its octagonal walls and describe life at the court of this unique Medieval building, a perfect art work of Swabian architecture. We discover not only its military function, but also its cultural one. The structure of the “Diadema Apuliae”, as Federico II called it, will shows astronomic suggestions. Lunch at restaurant with specialities of local cuisine. Afternoon excursion to Lucera, ancient and beautiful city dominated by a towering Angevin castle. We visit the Gothic Cathedral, built on the square defined as the rock sitting room of the city. According to Carlo D’Angio’s will, the project was realized after the victory against the Saracens by architect Pierre d’Angicourt on the remains of a mosque. We walk to noble palaces, loggias of the seventeen hundreds and convents sided by gardens. Dinner and night at the hotel.

RODI GARGANICO, PESCHICI AND MONTE SANT’ANGELO, PICTURESQUE VILLAGES. Breakfast and excursion to Gargano peninsula. We go through mythical villages, overlooking the sea and immersed in the nature of Umbra forest to discover myths of the classic and dark ages. Places still preserve Byzantine, Norman, Swabian and Angevin traces linked to the Via Micaelica and the French sanctuary of Mont Saint-Michel. Lunch and visit to the Sanctuary of San Michele built in Romanesque style in Monte Sant’Angelo. Our guide will tell us about the apparition of the Archangel Michele to the Bishop of Siponto. We enter a unique atmosphere where we to feel the presence of Templar Knights. Dinner and overnight stay.

TRULLI AND CASTELLANA CAVES. Breakfast and excursion to the Valley of Itra to reach the historic settlement of Alberobello, site recognised as UNESCO heritage. We visit ancient homes, the “casedde” built with assembled rough masses and without foundations. Discover their extraordinary construction technique that let the inhabitants to disassemble their houses in one night in order to avoid feudal tributes. We live the experience of a journey in everyday life of a farmer and have lunch with typical food in the white walls of a Trullo restaurant. Afternoon visit to a winery in Locorotondo and the spectacular Castellana Caves. We go down into their depths where time stopped 50 million years ago. Dinner and overnight stay at hotel.

HANDICRAFT AND GASTRONOMY SHOPPING. Breakfast and free time for shopping before departure.

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