Trip to Sicily

• Arrival at Palermo airport.
• Meet and greet with Tour Manager.
• Transportation by exclusive coach from Airport to your 4-star Hotel.
• Check-in at the hotel (standard time is at 3:00p but, according to the rooms availability, we’ll try to assign your room as early as possible).
• Lunch Time at leisure for relax.
• In the late afternoon panoramic tour of Palermo by coach or a little walk on the road facing the ocean in Mondello.
• Dinner at the Hotel.

Happy Labor Day!

• After breakfast departure to the Valley of the Temples (entrance fee EUR 10.00 to be paid on spot)
• The temples are incredibly well preserved even though they witnessed centuries of history.
• You will see The Temple of the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux), the legendary twins born from the union of the queen of Sparta with Jupiter, now has only four columns and has become the symbol of the city of Agrigento.
• The Temple of Olympian Zeus (Jupiter) was built to thank the god Zeus for the 480 BC victory of the Agrigentines over the Carthaginians. Here are the Telamones, gigantic statues with human features.
• The Temple of Concordia, also built around the 5th century, is located along the Via Sacra and is the best preserved. In the 6th century, it was transformed into a sacred building. The name Concordia comes from a Latin inscription found in the vicinity of the temple. In front of the temple, we can admire the Statue of Icarus, donated by the Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj. The statue represents the fall of Icarus, who disobeyed his father Daedalus, flew too close to the sun, burnt his wax wings and fell into the Mediterranean.
• The Temple of Heracles (Hercules) is the oldest. It housed a bronze statue of the hero Hercules himself, who was particularly venerated by the Akragantines. The temple, destroyed by war and probably by an earthquake, today retains only eight columns of the original 38.
• The Temple of Aesculapius The temple of Aesculapius was built well outside the ancient city walls, a place of pilgrimage for the sick who sought healing. The walls of the temple bore the inscriptions of the sick who were cured.
• La Tomb of Theron, near the Porta Aurea – The Golden Gate, is an imposing pyramid-shaped tufa stone monument. It was erected to commemorate those who died in the Second Punic War.
• The Temple of Vulcan, whose ruins suggest an imposing construction, dates back to the 5th century.
• The Temple of Juno, spectacularly located on the eastern summit of the magical hill, housed the cult of the goddess of fertility. Its name, like that of the nearby Temple of Concordia, is conventional, the result of a misinterpretation of a Latin inscription that confuses it with the Temple of Hera in Crotone. The traces of fire, still clearly visible on the walls of the cella, are a reminder of the terrible year 406 BC, when this magnificent temple, almost identical to that of Concordia, was also destroyed by the Carthaginians. Nearby, a large altar for sacrifices (to the east) and a stretch of road deeply furrowed by chariot wheels, coming from Gate III of the city, are still clearly visible.
• After lunch in a local restaurant, we’ll proceed to Piazza Armerina where we’ll visit Villa del Casale with its amazing mosaic floors (Entrance fee EUR 10.00).
• Piazza Armerina, located in the center of Sicily, has in the Villa Romana del Casale its highest artistic and historical expression. With over 40 rooms and 4 well-defined areas it is one of the most representative examples of what were called representative residences. Probably belonged to a governor of Rome, there are large rooms, banquet halls, spas and gardens that at the time also housed exotic plants. What distinguishes the villa in its multitude of environments are the mosaics, completely restored and among the most beautiful of this historical period. The iconographies, stylistically influenced by African culture, resume moments of private life, habits of the owner and stories with an epic background.
• Next stop will be in the eastern coast of Sicily in a 4star hotel.
• Dinner at the hotel

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Departure to Syracuse and visit of the old town, with the temple of Minerva and the Fountain of Arethusa, the Greek Theatre, the Roman Amphitheatre, the latomies and the so called ‘ear’ of Dionysius.
• After lunch we’ll proceed to Noto; pleasant stroll in this old town.
• Dinner and overnight.

• Breakfast at Hotel.
• City Tour of Palermo that will include a visit to Monreale, few miles from Palermo, with the Cathedral and the Cloister.
• In Palermo visit to Monte Pellegrino where we’ll have an unforgettable view of Palermo and visit Santa Rosalia Sanctuary.