Offered by Journey, the continuing education arm of Western Theological Seminary
Facilitated by: Dr. Donald J. Bruggink
A rare opportunity: Visit Rome in the company of some of America's finest church architects and artists. The Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, and Architecture invites you to join them on their visit to Rome. All presentations will be made on site in the most important churches in Rome, presenting the Masters of Light.
PLUS AN OPTIONAL POST CONFERENCE TOUR TO SICILY ~ OCTOBER 17 - 26, 2008
Itinerary
Friday, October 10 -
Depart from the United States.
Saturday, October 11 - Rome
Arrive in Rome, check in at the Hotel Navona. Built in 1470, the hotel is operated
by the family that has owned the building since that time.
“Getting to know the neighborhood.” In the afternoon, Dr. Bruggink will do a walking tour of the hotel’s immediate surroundings. On the way to the Pantheon, we can visit the Church of Sant Eustacio. Near the Pantheon is the famous coffee bar, Tazza d’Oro. Nearby is Bernini’s Elephant in front of S. Maria Sopra Minerva where S. Chiara and Fra Angelico are buried. Then we’re on to S. Luigi dei Francesi with its splendid Caravaggios. Up the street is the Agostino where Martin Luther said mass during his visit to Rome, and from there it’s on to the Piazza Navona with Bernini’s famous Fountain of the Four Rivers, standing before St. Agnese with a façade by Borromini. On our way back to the hotel is the Sapienza, the University of Rome until 1935, with Borromini’s masterwork, Sant Ivo.
This evening we will have an early included dinner at an outdoor restaurant near the Pantheon.
Sunday, October 12 -
We will approach St. Peter’s through the Bernini Colonnade, discussing the
detailed iconographic program of the colonnade, fountains, obelisk, façade and dome, the porch, the great bronze doors depicting the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul, Bernini’s equestrian statue of Constantine, the nave, the crossing with Bernini’s great baldanquin, and the chair of Peter held up by the four doctors of the church, beneath the Gloria. Masses take place sequentially for all who wish to attend. Others may wish to ascend the dome, using the lift to reach the roof, and then climbing between the inner and outer shells of the dome to the exterior walkway around the lantern.
After a lunch of individual choice and a bit of leisure, we will proceed to the great
pilgrimage church of S. Paolo fuori le Mura for the other apostle martyr of Rome, St. Paul. Begun in 384, it suffered a disastrous fire in the 19th century, but was rebuilt to replicate the original. This seems an appropriate place to consider the biblical and theological background for the metaphor of light, á la “Masters of Light.”
An eight-minute ride from St. Paul’s takes us to the contemporary church of San Gregorio Barbarigo by Giuseppe Vaccaro. The evening is free to follow your fancy.
Monday, October 13
Today we will follow the “Masters of Light,” Bernini and Borromini. S. Maria
della Victoria with Bernini’s “Ecstasy of St. Theresa” will be our first stop. We could hardly walk past S. Susanna, built in the 4th century, redone in 795, and restored again in the 16th century, without stopping to view a fully frescoed church. Down the street is Borromini’s San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, and then Bernini’s Sant Andrea al Quirinale. Later we will visit Borromini’s sophisticated renovation of the ancient church of S. Giovanni in Laterno. Borromini’smasterpiece is the church nearest our hotel, Sant Ivo.
This evening we will dine together at the elegant L’Eau Vive.
Tuesday, October 14
A day of contemporary Roman religious structures, beginning with Paolo Portoghesi’s Moschea Islamica, with the architect as our guide. On our way a
stop at Renzo Piano’s Parco della Musica seems appropriate. S. Maria della Visitazioni is one of the more spectacular churches of the 70s. In the afternoon,while churches are closed, we must visit Meier’s elegant home for the Ara Pacis of Augustus.
Wednesday, October 15
By private motor coach we leave a morning of creative new Roman churches, including Santa Maria Maddelena di Pazzi, Carlo Bevilacqua & Anna Maria Fevi, architecht. Next we visit a new San Clemente by D. Staderini, G. Barchiesi Ghenzi, R. D'Aquino and P. Rampini. We conclude our morning with a visit to San Frumenzio by Eugenio Abruzzini, architech. Independent lunch will be in EUR, begun by Mussolini as an example of fascist might, the complex of "Mussolini Modern" has now been surrounded by contemporary office structures and high-end residences. After time to eat and explore EUR, we go to the outstanding Santo Volto di Gesu by Piero Sartogo & Nathalie Grenon, architects. Alternately, tickets to the general papal audience can be obtained for those who request them.
Thursday, October 16
Our private motor coach will take us to Richard Meier's Jubilee Church, formally known as Dio Padre Misericordioso. Allowing enough time for everyone to thoroughly absorb the church, we will then proceed to San Bernardo da Chiaravalle by Padre Constantino Ruggeri and Luigi Leoni, architect. If time permits, we will also visit the nearby San Francesco di Sales all Borgata Alessandrina by Lucrezio Carbonara. In the late afternnon the director, Carmela Vircillo Franklin, and Dr. R. William Franklin, will give us a tour of the American Academy, including the michael Graves Rare Book Room and the Villa Aurelia. Then there wil be an included cocktail hour and dinner at the Academy.
Friday, October 17
An 8:00 a.m. departure for the San Giovanni Rotondo and Renzo Piano’s mega pilgrimage church San Pio da Pietrelcina (1994-2004). Those staying for the extended tour of southern Italy and Sicily will stay with the bus, those flying back to the States on Saturday will return by train to Rome.
Saturday, October 18
Departure from Rome (FCO) for the United States via Washington D.C. (IAD)
____________________________________________________________________________
Under the supervision of James F. Williamson, IFRAA, and Douglas Paul, AIA, the conference has been organized by Dr. Donald J. Bruggink, Hon.MAIA, Hon.IFRAA, recipient of the Elbert M. Conover Award. Professor Bruggink has previously conducted nineteen seminars in Rome focusing on the way art and architecture interact with faith, and an additional ten overseas seminars for IFRAA, ranging geographically from Japan to Poland.
_____________________________________________________________________________
WHAT'S INCLUDED
Registration, AIA learning units, accommodations October 11-18 at the Hotel Navona, continental breakfast, three dinners, transportation by both public transportation and private motorcoach in Rome, scheduled entrance fees, and leadership by Dr. Donald J. Bruggink.
HOTEL INFORMATION
The IFRAA/AIA committee requested a hotel in the center of ancient Rome, in an ancient building, at a modest cost. The two-star Hotel Navona fits that description. The building was built in 1470, and recent preservation rules have prevented the addition of a lift. The hotel is next to St. Ivo and within two blocks in either direction are the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona. Also available is the more elegant three star Albergo Santa Chiara (with a lift and breakfast buffet). It is located within two blocks of the Hotel Navona and a short block from the Pantheon on the Piazza di Minerva.
TOUR PROGRAM COSTS
With accommodations at the Hotel Navona (two stars)
$2,490 per person, double occupancy
$450 single room supplement (limited availability)
With accommodations at the Albergo Santa Chiara (three stars)
$2,915 per person, double occupancy
$325 single room supplement (limited availability)
AIRFARE
Air fare from Washington-Dulles to Rome and return, United Airlines, non-stop for next October is $1,105 when booked with registration for the conference or conference plus post conference tour. (Taxes and surcharges are, as usual, subject to change before ticket issuance.)
POST CONFERENCE TOUR
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17
An 8:00 a.m. departure for San Giovanni Rotondo and Renzo Piano’s mega pilgrimage church, San Pio da Pietrelcina (1994-2004). Those flying to the States on Saturday will return by train to Rome. Those fortunates traveling to Sicily will proceed by private deluxe motorcoach to Bari and the four-star Hotel Vittoria Parc. Included dinner and buffet breakfast.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18
This morning we will visit the trulli of Alberobello. These buildings, domed without mortar, are of construction similar to those of Mycenae (3,000 BC). After lunch, our deluxe motorcoach will take us by coastal road and autostrada to the four-star Vibo Valentia.
Included dinner and buffet breakfast.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19
The ferry will take us to Sicily and Cefalu with opportunity for prayer in the 12th-century Norman duomo built by Roger II. The magnificent mosaics are the most purely Byzantine works of art in Sicily. From Cefalu we proceed to Palermo, the most exciting city in Sicily, sited on the Conca d’Oro. Our hotel is the four-star San Paolo Palace (an appropriate hotel as this is the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of St. Paul). Included dinner and breakfast buffet.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20
A day to explore the delights of Palermo with its architecture influenced by the Byzantine, Arab, Norman, exhurberant Sicilian Baroque, and Art Nouveau. The dozen really important churches reflect all of the above (except Art Nouveau). Perhaps the Byzantine gem is the Capella Palatina with its dazzling mosaics. For those with a taste for the macabre, there are the catacombs with dessicated, costumed remains on view. Dinner, overnight accommodations, and breakfast at the four-star Hotel San Paolo Palace are included.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21
A short distance from Palerma is Monreal, built by Norman William II as a gift to God and
to counter the influence of Palermo’s archbishop. It is the artisitic high point of Norman Sicily. Its interior glitters with mosaics of Sicilian and Byzantine origin. The gold used in the church weighed over a ton. The mosaic cycle, complete in 1182, contains Old Testament scenes in the nave, the teachings of Christ in the aisles, choir and transept, the Gospels in the side aisles, and the Christus Pantocrator in the apse. After the overwhelming splendor of the interior, the quiet beauty of the cloister of the Benedictine monastery offers a welcome respite. After lunch we will make a short geographic journey, but a long chronological leap as we go to the 5th century BC Greek temple in Segesta. In a serence countryside setting, its beauty is perhaps the least compromised by modernity of any in Sicily. We return to Hotel San Paolo Palace for dinner and overnight.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22
After breakfast visit the Valley of the Temples, the ancient Akragus. Dating from the 5th century BC, nine of ten temples are still visible. the Temple of Concord is one of the most beautiful. The temple of the Olympian Zeus was to be one of the biggest Doric temples ever built. The city was completely destroyed by the Carthaginians in 406 BC. This evening we
will stay in the four-star San Michele in Caltanisetta. Dinner and breakfast included.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23
Our stop in Piazza Armerina brings us into the Roman world of the 3rd century AD. Here visit Villa Romano del Casale, noted for thousands of square feet of floor mosaics in public rooms, privates quarters, baths and courtyards, this magnificent country villa was begun by Maximanius Herculae, Diocletian’s co-emperor. The mosaics are the largest and best preserved from Roman antiquity. Later this afternoon, travel past Mount Etna to Taormina. After a time to visit this earliest and most beautiful of Sicilian resorts, we will have dinner in Taormina, and then drive to Messina where we will board the overnight ferry for Salerno.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24
Debarking at 8:00 a.m., we will proceed to Salerno where we will first visit Paolo Portoghesi’s Parrocchia S. Maria dei Barbuti, and then it’s on to Pompei, the city buried in the volcanic ash of Vesuvius. After our tour, we will drive the incredibly scenic road of the Amalfi Coast to the spectacular town of Ravello. Noted from Boccaccio’s Decameron to the jet set, on the Via San Siovanni del Toro one sees some of the most beautiful palaces of Ravello. Of special note is the beautiful Romanesque Church of Santa Maria a Gradillo, and the duomo (1086). Then it is a short drive to Amalfi, where we will stay at the four-star Grand Hotel Excelsior with its spectacular views. Dinner and breakfast included.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25
Via the Amalfi Coast we continue to Naples and a visit to the National Archaeological Museum, which includes Roman treasures from Herculaneum and Pompei—including its famous frescoes. Naples is famous for its presepios, so we will visit the street where many of the finest Christmas figures are made. Toward evening we will take the autostrade to the Holiday Inn Parco dei Medici, not far from Rome’s airport. Included is the farewell dinner.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26
After a good night’s sleep and an included buffet breakfast, we have an easy transfer to the Leonardo da Vinci Aeroporto (Fiumenchino) for our flight back to the States.
___________________________________________________________________________
POST CONFERENCE TOUR COST
$2,116 per person, double occupancy, land only
$300 single room supplement
