ITINERARY

Day 1 – (Sunday) ROME

Arrival in Rome. Transfer to the hotel. Balance of the day at leisure. Overnight.

Day 2º (Monday) ROME – PIETRELCINA – SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO (430 kms)

After breakfast we depart to San Giovanni Rotondo, located in the charming region of Puglia, whose coastal strip stretches with sand from Oso Torre to Porto Cesario and rocks in Otranto and Santa Maria di Leuca. We will make a stop in the beautiful village of Pietrelcina located in Campania, in the province of Benevento. Birthplace of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), who was born in a small house in this old village in 1887. We continue to San Giovanni Rotondo. Overnight.

Day 3º (Tuesday) SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO – MONTE SANT’ANGELO – SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO

Breakfast. Visit of the city, symbol of Christianity, charity and love of neighbor. We visit the Sanctuary of Padre Pio, the spiritual heir of St. Francis of Assisi. Padre Pio was sent to the convent of San Giovanni Rotondo on September 4th, 1916. He was the first priest to have printed on his body the marks of the crucifixion (The Stigmata). He spent his life in San Giovanni Rotondo in the realization of two initiatives following two directions: the vertical one, towards God, with the establishment of the “Groups of Prayer”, and the horizontal one, towards the brothers, with the construction of a modern hospital, the “House of Relief from Suffering.” We visit the old monastery with the room where Padre Pio lived with his clothes and articles of daily use, the old Church of “Santa Maria delle Grazie” where he celebrated masses every day. The grave is in the new church, visited by millions of pilgrims. In the afternoon, we visit Monte Sant’Angelo and the mystic Sanctuary dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel. His story is related to the appearance of the Saint in the Grotto, on May 8th, 490 and the following apparitions (492 and 493) that made this place a devotional and pilgrimage site. We visit its beautiful Basilica, the Via Franciscana also called Via Sacra de los Longabardos, the bell tower, as well as other pilgrim’s points of interest. Return to San Giovanni Rotonto. Overnight.

Day 4º (Wednesday) SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO- LANCIANO – LORETO – ASSISI (450 kms)

Breakfast. Departure to Lanciano and visit to the Shrine of the Eucharistic Miracle. Lanciano is a small medieval town, inside the Church of St. Francis we can still see the first and greatest Eucharistic miracle occurred more than 12 centuries ago. After visit we continue towards Loreto, to visit the Santa Casa, located in the Great Basilica, that is the same house in Nazareth that Archangel Gabriel visited at the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary and where the “Word became Flesh and dwelt among us”. This sanctuary has become one of the greatest Marian pilgrimage sites. We then continue to Assisi, the city of St Francis. Passing through the medieval Porta Nova we walk to the Church Santa Clara, then continue to the New Church and the Piazza del Comune with the two municipalities buildings and the Temple of Minerva. We continue with a visit to the Basilica of Saint Francis, rebuilt after the earthquake of 1997 that damaged part of the upper basilica as well as the frescoes. In a small crypt, under the main altar, are the remains of the Saint. Overnight.

Day 5º (Thursday) ASSISI – CASCIA – ROME (250 kms)

Breakfast. Departure for Cascia and its Sanctuary dedicated to St. Rita. Here the saint lived for more than forty years her experience of monastic life, until her death. The complex, built in the 13th century, was originally dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, and then in the 18th century it was enlarged to become the home of the community of the Augustinian Sisters. In the monastery you can see some sites related to the life of Santa Rita, the patio with a well, the old choir that preserves the frescoes of the 16th century and paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries, the oratory where Santa Rita received the stigmata, the cells, the bedroom of the saint and containing objects that belonged to her, like her wedding ring, and various sarcophagi. The rose garden, recreated to remember the miracle of the rose and figs. Continue to Rome the Eternal city. Overnight.

Day 6º (Friday) ROME

Breakfast. At the established time, transfer to the local airport to board our flight back. End of services. 

NOTE: this tour will operate with a mínimum of 2 pax.