Day 1 Saturday: SORRENTO -
CASTEL DEL MONTE - ALBEROBELLO - SELVA DI FASANO
Early morning departure
for Apulia, on the way, stop to visit Castel del Monte, imposing
octagonal castle, with eight octagonal towers at each side built
in 1250 by the emperor Federico II, on a hill of 570 meters that
dominates all the valley.
Free time for lunch.
The journey continues to
Alberobello, the town of “trulli” and Unesco Heritage. “Trulli”
are typical houses with a cone roof that were uses as homes and
to keep the farmer utensils. In the afternoon, arrival at the
hotel, accommodation, dinner and overnight.
Day 2 Sunday: SELVA DI
FASANO - LECCE - CASTELLANA CAVES - SELVA DI FASANO
Breakfast and departure to
Lecce and its “famous baroque” form of art and architecture that
developed between the end of the XVI century and the first half
of the XVII century. Very rich and beautiful are the decorations
of the church of S.Oronzo, the Basilica of Santa Croce, the
Celestini Palace. In the square of S.Oronzo we can admire the
roman amphitheatre from the II century ac that could seat up to
25.000 spectators and the column of S.Oronzo, 29m high with a
copper statue oh the saint on the top.
Free time for lunch.
Departure to Castellana Caves.
Discovered in 1938, the
entrance is represented by an enormous vertical tunnel 60 metres
long. At the end of the visit, return to the hotel.
Dinner and overnight.
Day 3 Monday: SELVA DI
FASANO - MATERA - SORRENTO OR ROME
Buffet breakfast.
Departure for Matera that has gained international fame for its
“Sassi”. The Sassi originated from a prehistoric (troglodyte)
settlement, and are suspected to be some of the first
settlements in Italy. The Sassi are houses dug into the tuff
rock itself, which is characteristic of Basilicata and Puglia.
Many of these “houses” are really only caverns, and the streets
in some parts of the Sassi often are located on the rooftops of
other houses. One of the benefits of this ancient city, is that
with there is a great similarity in the look of the Sassi with
that of ancient sites in and around Jerusalem. This has caught
the eye of film directors and movie studios.
Principally due this
reason the Sassi were the set of many film, as for example “The
Gospel According to St Matthew” (Pasolini,1964), “King David”
(Bruce Beresford,1985), “The Passion of the Christ" (Gibson,
2004) and "The Nativity Story" (Hardwicke, 2006). Matera is also
a Unesco heritage. Time for a snack and return to Sorrento or
Rome. End of the tour and of our service.
Lunch
