for an itinerary please contact
vmmilenski at Yahoo dot com
|
|
Palladian Villas, June 2008
Festival Tours offers an eight day tour, a comprehensive examination of the extant buildings of one of history's most brilliant architects, Palladio, in celebration of the 500th anniversary of his birth.
Born in 1508 as Andrea di Pietro della Gondola, this phenomenally influential architect died in 1580 as Palladio with a legacy of forty country villas as well as major palaces and churches in Vicenza and Venice. Palladio, more than any other architect of his time, exemplifies the lofty ideals of the Italian Renaissance -- ideals combined with ingenious architectural solutions.
The Palladian villas, large and small, are at once complex and simple, a delight for the eye, a challenge for the mind, a glimpse into the past and an inspiration for the future. One critic adopts a true Renaissance tone by pronouncing the Palladian villa as "the perfect home."
The tour begins in Venice, la Serenissima, taking in Palladio's churches and monasteries, then travels to an historic hill town in the Veneto, tour headquarters for the next five days. Each day we visit Palladio's villas, large and small, luxurious and simple, restored and in ruins, meanwhile wandering through the Veneto, the vast surrounding farmlands that were then and are now the wealth of Venice.
One special day we visit Palladio's Vicenza, to take in the famed Palazzo della Ragione, the Teatro Olimpico and the emblematic Villa Rotonda.
And finally we are two nights in Mantua, where the Palladio experience can be understood in its Renaissance perspective by examining buildings created by two great architects who provided the architectural foundation from which Palladio grew, plus a theater inspired by Palladian ideals, then another that specifically departs from those ideals.
Our final night we attend an opera TBA at Verona's famed Roman Arena. From Mantua you will make convenient rail transfers to the airports of Milan or Venice.
All visits are commented, and each day of the tour features cocktail hour talks by tour co-hosts Lucia Bogatay and Tom Wickens, as well as by Michael Milenski.
Tour cost : approximately $3500 per person, $300 single supplement
Lucia Bogatay is an architect based in San Francisco recognized for her redesigns of historic buildings for contemporary use. She has served on the San Francisco Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board, the board of the Fort Point and Presidio Historical Association and she is a member of Foundation for Preservation of San Francisco's Architectural Heritage and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Lucia received her Master of Architecture degree from Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Tom Wickens is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focus in perception, memory and statistics has generated five books, and as well has offered him a unique perspective for lecturing on opera and architecture. During a thirty-five year tenure at UCLA Tom received both departmental and campus wide awards for excellence in teaching. Academic pedigree is Harvard and Stanford.
Michael Milenski is the general director emeritus of Long Beach (California) Opera, and was Professor of Opera at California State University, Long Beach. Michael pursued Italian Renaissance studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the University of Florence, his doctoral dissertation on the Italian pastoral and proto opera.
|
