Click here to return to Newsletter contents.
From March 22 to April 4, 2001, the Kelsey Museum and the Museum of Art and Archaeology of the University of Missouri, Columbia, will jointly sponsor a tour of the ancient treasures of Sicily and Campania. These two regions of Italy have been home to a succession of great cultures over the last three millennia: Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Normans all adopted the areas as their homes, creating beautiful capitals of culture. Led by University of Missouri Professor of Art History and Archaeology William R. Biers, the tour will visit both world-famous archaeological sites, such as Pompeii and Agrigento, and tiny, "secret" ruins like Segesta and Eraclea Minoa. Extensive archaeological and museum visits will be complemented by luxurious stays in the lush resorts of Taormina and the island of Capri.
The tour begins in Palermo, the bustling capital of Sicily, for an introduction to Sicilian life and a chance to admire the Norman-Arabic wonders of Monreale and the Palatine Chapel. Continuing along Sicily's western and southern coasts, the itinerary leads to Agrigento, famed for its collection of Greek temples, the best preserved in the Greek world. After entering the remote heartland of Sicily for a visit to the mosaics at Casale, the tour heads to the island's eastern shore for stays in Syracuse (which in its Golden Age surpassed Athens in glory) and the beautiful resort of Taormina. Crossing the straits of Messina, travelers will then view the famous Riace Bronzes in Reggio Calabria before arriving in Campania, where the great sites of Pompeii and the temples of Paestum await. The tour finishes with two nights on the island of Capri and a tour of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
Dr. Biers has excavated in Turkey, Israel, and Portual and is the author of The Archaeology of Greece. His lectures and insights will be supplemented by the contributions of local guides at many sites. An Italian-speaking tour manager will help make the trip as comfortable and care-free as possible. Hotels will all be first-class establishments, and many delicious Mediterranean meals are included.
For further information contact International Seminar Design, Inc., 4115 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Suite 101, Washington, DC 20016 (phone: 202-244-1448; fax: 202-244-1808; e-mail: ISDITravel@aol.com.
Click here to return to Newsletter contents.
Copyright © 2000 The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan. All rights reserved.