• Enter the sophisticated world of the renaissance courts of north-eastern Italy

• Meet the Este, Farnese and Gonzaga dynasties at Ferrara, Mantua, Parma & Modena

• Visits to marvellously preserved medieval & renaissance cities of Emilia-Romagna & Mantua in Lombardy

• Rare opportunity to visit a fortified palatial village, Sabbioneta & the important city of Modena

• Comfortable city centre hotel in the heart of historic Ferrara

• Excellent wine & food throughout in one of Italy’s great culinary regions

Italy at the end of the Middle Ages fragmented into a complex mosaic of states, both large and small. Freed from the subject authority of the Pope and Holy Roman Emperor, they initially formed into autonomous city-republics often ruled as a comune from a central municipal authority. Lordly rule and power were handed down through the families who gradually came to dominate the political and cultural landscape of these cities ruled through their, dynasties. Legitimacy was achieved and expressed through political intrigue, diplomacy, rivalry, war, the exaltation of the prince, demeanour and the artistic and image-related needs of their courts. Courtiers, diplomats, condottieri, philosophers, architects, painters, sculptors and musicians all sustained the sophisticated patronage of these dynasties and their courts above all in northern Italy but also elsewhere on the Italian peninsula.

This is the renaissance world we shall encounter during our week of visits to the former city-states in modern-day Emilia-Romagna and southern Lombardy. We shall encounter the Este of Ferrara and later Modena, the Gonzaga of Mantua and the Farnese in Parma. Our visit will be based in Ferrara, a truly lovely small city, with its distinct atmospheric medieval and renaissance quarters. It is the perfect setting for our visit, full of magnificently preserved buildings, both secular and non, and a quite unique atmosphere rooted in its renaissance past.

We shall also visit magical Mantua which is completely different in style and mood.  The home of the Gonzaga family for centuries, it is perhaps the most surprising of these northern Italian ‘courtly’ cities with its masculine city palace and the much more sophisticated villa-like Palazzo Te in its outskirts. In addition, we shall spend a day in the handsome small city of Parma ruled, at times, by the Farnese and later the House of Bourbon-Parma. An ensemble of wonderful medieval buildings and one of the finest small galleries in Italy are some its joys. We shall visit the fortified and princely town created at Sabbioneta by a member of the Gonzaga family. Our final day will be spent in Modena, to where the Este family were exiled at the end of the sixteenth century and from where came that unhappy princess, Mary of Modena, to marry James, Duke of York, brother of Charles II and eventually the short-lived James II.

Day 1: Monday 5 October – We fly from Heathrow to Venice, arriving late afternoon.  We then drive southwards to Ferrara and check into our hotel, the 4* Hotel Ferrara. In the evening, we have our first group dinner in a local restaurant – wine, water and coffee are included with all group lunches and dinners.

Day 2: Tuesday 6 October –We begin our first day exploring Ferrara. We begin at the Duomo, famed for its portal sculptures and with some good paintings inside. The nearby Cathedral Museum, though small, has exquisite paintings and very fine tapestries. After a coffee break, we visit the Palazzo Schifanoia, a late fourteenth century building extended over two centuries. The famous Salone dei Mesi has renowned frescoes of the Months, now somewhat decayed. After a group lunch, we conclude with visits to Palazzo Costabile to view Il Garofalo’s Sala del Tesoro and the Convent of Corpus Christi containing several tombs of the Este dynasty. This evening will be free.

Day 3: Wednesday 7 October – Today we drive to Mantua, perhaps the most sophisticated of all these courtly cities? Here, the splendours of the Gonzaga family include Alberti’s church of S. Andrea and the huge semi-fortified Palazzo Ducale.  This contains rooms frescoed by Pisanello and above all the remarkable Camera degli Sposi by Andrea Mantegna, the most influential of all the artists working at these courts.  After a group lunch, we visit Giulio Romano’s profoundly mannerist work in architecture and painting at the Palazzo Te. On moving from Rome to Mantua in 1524, he became one of the principal artists introducing mannerism to northern Italy. This evening will be free.

Day 4: Thursday 8 October – Our half of activities in Ferrara commences at the great Castello Estense, the former palace of the Este counts, marquises and dukes.  A limited number of the former family rooms, some with fine frescoes, are on show. After coffee, we shall go on to the renaissance quarter of the city to the Palazzo Diamante, now the Pinacoteca Nazionale, to see the city’s picture collection.  While some of the great works of art once in the Este family collection were long ago dispersed, enough remains to make the collection rather more than just a ‘cul-de-sac’ destination. Lunch (not included) and the remainder of the day will be free for private explorations. 

Day 5: Friday 9 October – We spend the day in Parma and begin with its medieval centre. The Baptistery is one of the finest medieval examples in Italy. The Duomo is dominated by a series of frescoes painted in the sixteenth century by Correggio, the master of renaissance illusionism. His work is also displayed nearby at San Giovanni Evangelista and the delightful Camera di San Paolo. After lunch (not included), we visit the Galleria Nazionale, within the renaissance Palazzo della Pilotta, originally built by the Farnese family, Parma’s sometime ruling dynasty. The gallery collection includes works by Leonardo, Bernini and many others. The palazzo also contains the Teatro Farnese, a huge wooden theatre modelled on Palladio’s more famous Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. This evening will be free.

Day.6: Saturday 10 October – This morning, we drive over to visit Sabbioneta.  This is a unique survival, a fortified town built by Vespasiano Gonzaga in 1556.  Here we shall see the fine Palazzo, the Galleria degli Antichi and the Teatro Antico, this last designed by Palladio’s assistant and successor, Vincenzo Scamozzi. We pause for lunch (not included) and return to Ferrara. Later that evening we shall have our final group dinner.

Day.7: Sunday 11 October – Our final day is spent in the small city of Modena. In the late sixteenth century the Este family of Ferrara became embroiled in a disastrous conflict with the Papacy.  This led to their defeat and exile by Pope Clement VIII to Modena where they remained as rulers until 1796. We begin at the town’s main art gallery, the Galleria Estense after which we have our final festive group lunch. The most important building in Modena is the splendid Romanesque Duomo, one of the finest in northern Italy and this will be our final visit of the week. We then travel the short distance to Bologna Airport for the evening return flight to London Heathrow.

Price £2975pp  Without Flights £2775pp Deposit £450pp  Single Supplement £250 (Double for Sole Use)

Hotel 6 nights inc breakfast - 4* Hotel Ferrara

Flights British Airways:

Outward: BA606 Depart London Heathrow (Terminal 5) 1245 arrive Venice 1600

Return:  BA543 Depart Bologna 2010 arrive Heathrow(Terminal 5) 2120

Price includes 2 Dinners & 3 Lunches with wine, water & coffee, all local transfers, entry fees & gratuities, services of Tom Duncan and James Hill 

Not included Travel to/from Heathrow, 4 Dinners & 3 Lunches

Please note our tours generally involve a significant amount of standing and walking, sometimes across uneven ground, or over cobbled streets, or up and down steps and inclines. We do not have an upper age limit for participants, but we require you to have a level of fitness which does not affect other participants' enjoyment of the tour. Please also note that many palaces, gardens, villas, museums and galleries have limited seating and perhaps do not have lifts. You should be able to walk at a reasonable pace and/or stand for at least twenty minutes without aid or requiring a rest. If you are in any doubt, please do contact us for advice on the tour’s suitability for you.