THE APOSTLE PAUL IN MALTA AND ITALY

Upon arrival at the airport, your guide and driver will wait for you to take you to your centrally located hotel. After you settle in, you will have free time to explore on your own. For evening, we will enjoy a welcome supper together nearby as we go over the program´s amazing highlights.

Overnight in Valletta 

We will head to St. Paul Bay, the location of the shipwreck along the route taken by Paul, where he preached, where he baptized the first Christians in Malta, to the place where he rested. Paul stayed for several months in the town of Rabat, here we will visit the Apostle Paul's Grotto, the actual location where he is known to have stayed.

Overnight in Valletta

After breakfast and a short flight, we head to Syracuse, the famous town that Paul visited. At some point around the year 59, he visited Syracuse, where he preached in the place where the paleo-Christian Church of Saint John was built. Whatever was said was expressed in Greek, the vernacular of Roman Sicily (where Latin was a second language). It is possible that some Jews came to hear Paul talk, as there was a Jewish community at Syracuse. There was no subsequent "Letter of Paul to the Syracusans." However, there is no doubt that it was Paul who brought Christianity to Sicily, even though his stay in Syracuse lasted only three days before he departed for Reggio Calabria, Pozzuoli (near Naples) and then Rome. We will next continue to Reggio Calabria to see the places Paul visited. Reggio Calabria was an important city in Greco-Roman Italy and Paul was culturally right at home here. Dinner at a local traditional restaurant and overnight in Reggio Calabria.

Overnight in Reggio Calabria

After breakfast we head North to the Naples area, first visiting Pompeii to understand the pagan world that the Apostle Paul visited. We will see the ruins of a well-preserved Roman city including new sections that have only opened to the public recently. Highlights include visiting homes, taverns, gyms, and theaters of Pompeii as well as viewing the "petrified" bodies of those who met an early fate in A.D.79 when Mount Vesuvius erupted. Later in the afternoon we will continue to the Santa Lucia neighborhood of Naples to check into our hotel. The Santa Lucia area is famous for its songs and having access to the city and castle districts. It is amazing! Supper on our own but suggestions will be given.  

Overnight in Naples

After a delicious breakfast we head over to nearby Pozzuoli (biblical Puteoli) where the Apostle Paul arrived and docked on the pier. Here we will discover how he preached to the brothers of his faith for 7 days and nights. Next, we will visit the Flavian Amphitheater. Here some Christians were martyred by emperors who were against the faith. Afterwards, we go to Cumae, the oldest Greek colony in Western Europe where we will visit the acropolis where a pagan temple would be turned into a Christian Basilica. The locals have a strong tradition that Paul visited here as it was a very powerful city in the Greco-Roman era.

Later we return to Naples and our hotel on the scenic Bay of Naples.

Today after breakfast we head North hugging the scenic coast until arriving in Gaeta, one of the most beautiful seaside villages in Italy and found just outside the Via Appia which was the road travelled by Paul, and any other Roman, to Rome itself. Gaeta in fact is often voted as one of the top seaside villages in Italy!

Upon arrival in Gaeta we will start our discoveries at the sandy beaches of Serapo. From here we will go to the top of Monte Orlando which not only has great views of the nearby beaches, and mountains extending nearly to Naples, it also has one of the best-preserved Roman monuments known as the Mausoleum of the senator and general Plancus. Plancus was best known for being one of Julius Caesar's lieutenants in the Gallic wars and you will be impressed with the massive monument he left behind.

After some free time for lunch, we take a leisurely walk-in medieval Gaeta that during the medieval ages was part of the Byzantine Empire, an independent Duchy, and then part of the Kingdom of Sicily. Its buildings show influences from both the western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean. Another great highlight we will visit is Split Mountain. This amazing fissure on the side of a mountain has caves where the sea enters and pounds against the rocks hundreds of feet below that is somehow energizing and calming at the same time. It is said to have split at the time of Christ's death, you will find it amazing!

The evening is at your leisure. You will be given some suggestions of where to eat as Gaeta is influenced by both Rome and Naples, so it has the best of both culinary traditions.

Overnight in amazing Gaeta

Well off the beath path, Gaeta is often said to be one of the best kept secrets of Italy. You will see why!

After another great breakfast we will head North for a visit of nearby Sperlonga. This medieval town offer amazing panoramic views over a tower that was meant to repel Saracen invaders, as well the calming Mediterranean Sea and the villa of the emperor Tiberius. Tiberius was the Emperor of Rome at the time of Christ's death and Paul would have passed this extravagant villa on his journey to Rome. Here we will have a local cultural expert guide us around this amazing jewel as we look over one of Italy's most beautiful landscapes.

Continuing North again, we venture into an amazing region of myth as the topography is lined with tall mountains, valleys, Roman temples, medieval towns, vineyards, and turquoise seas that create one of Italy's most alluring and enigmatic landscapes. Many visitors of Southern Italy head straight to Naples and back to Rome along the autostrada missing the best part of the trip, its monumental and historical coastline.

After taking in the scenery our next stop will be at the temple of Jupiter Anxur in Terracina. This was the symbol and the glory of eternal Rome, and we get to the heart of the legend of Rome as a "divine" city that was favored by the Gods and thus became the most powerful city in the known world for a thousand years. Paul would have understood his difficult task in Rome as he passed this huge monument that had stood near Rome for centuries even in Paul's time.

Next, we will have free-time for lunch in a local village before continuing to Rome itself.

The rest of the late afternoon and evening in Rome are at your leisure.

Overnight in Rome 

After breakfast we begin a fabulous day by visiting the Legendary Colosseum, famous as the place of spectacle and death. You will also see the Roman Forum from above, which was a place where Romans would meet to discuss politics and religion as well as to shop. Circus Maximus also shows the glory of Imperial Rome, being a chariot racing stadium that could accommodate 150,000 spectators! Afterwards, we visit the Mamertine prison where Paul was in chains together with Peter. Later we will walk leisurely over to see the famous Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps before ending our excursion. Dinner in a traditional Roman restaurant and overnight.

Overnight in Rome

Rome, despite its imperial glory, is also a significant religious city for Christianity. Today you will be visiting the Vatican Museums, home to many historical and artistic masterpieces. We will also visit the Sistine Chapel and admire Michelangelo's Frescoes wrapping around the walls. We conclude our program with a visit of St. Peters Basilica where you will find the "Pieta," the only work of Michelangelo that he signed. After some free time for lunch, we leave the center of Rome to travel outside the old imperial walls for a memorable visit of the Catacombs. The catacombs are the first "home" of the earliest Christians. We will end our day passing by the inspiring location of the "Tre Fontane", where Paul was beheaded; Dinner on own and overnight

Overnight in Rome

After breakfast we depart Rome from Rome´s Leonardo da Vinci International Airport