Italy’s Religious Treasures Pilgrimage

Join Father Victor Yakubu of St. Mary’s church in Kingman on the 2025 Jubilee year of Hope. – Italy’s Religious Treasures Pilgrimage

October 18 – 27, 2025

Rome: Vatican City – San Giovanni Rotondo: San Pio

Cascia: Santa Rita di Cascia – Santa Maria degli Angeli

Assisi: San Francesco d’Assisi and Santa Chiara/Orvieto

(10days / 8 nights) $5,800 

1st day: Flight from Las Vegas to Rome international airport (or any major US city)

2nd day: Arrival to Rome

Welcome to Rome – one of the most charming and heritage rich cities of Italy. Upon arrival, you are met by your private driver, who takes you to the hotel for check in.

The rest of the day is for religious activities (mass).

 Dinner and overnight. 

3^rd day: The city of Rome – Archbasilica of St. John Lateran and Imperial Rome

After breakfast at the hotel today we set off on a guided tour of Rome.  You have a transfer to Celio Hill to visit the Archbasilica of the Lateran. It is the Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Pope, which hosts the Papal Cathedral, also called the Holy Seat. It is the first of the four papal basilicas and the oldest in the West.

The afternoon begins with the guided tour of “Imperial Rome”: you will see the Campidoglio; This square was designed by Michelangelo Buonarroti who drew it in detail, including the paving. The square also has a particular structure since Michelangelo built the palaces in order to create a perspective.  Continuing with the Fori Imperiali, which constitute a series of monumental squares built in the course of a century and a half (between 46 B.C. and 113 A.D.) in the heart of the city of Rome by the emperors. A guided tour of the imposing Flavian Amphitheatre, the Colosseum, capable of holding up to 50,000 spectators, the largest and most important amphitheater of the imperial era. It was used for gladiator shows and other public events (hunting shows, reenactments of famous battles, and dramas based on classical mythology). It clearly expresses the Roman architectural and constructive conceptions of the early Imperial age.

You will see the famous Trevi Fountain along with Piazza di Spagna, with the steps of Trinità dei Monti, one of the most famous squares of Rome.

Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.  Mass 

4th day : Puglia: San Giovanni Rotondo: San Pio

Breakfast at the hotel. Depart for Puglia. Arrival in San Giovanni Rotondo, check in at the hotel.

dinner and overnight. Mass

5^th day: Tour of San Giovanni Rotondo

Today enjoy a guided tour of San Giovanni Rotondo. The Old Church, with the tomb of Saint Pio, the cell, the crucifix of the stigmata, and his personal objects.  Visit the new Church dedicated to Saint Pio, work of the architect Renzo Piano with inside works by different artists including the crucifix by Arnaldo Pomodoro, the Porta Bronzea of Palladino, the Ambrone (pulpit) by Vangi and the largest mechanical organ. Outside the churches, the monumental Via Crucis by the sculptor Francesco Messina.

Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.  Mass

6th  day:  Travel to Assisi via Cascia and Roccaporena : Santa Rita di Cascia  

Breakfast at the hotel. Depart for Umbria “the green heart” of Italy. On the way we stop for a tour of Cascia, the Monastery, where important relics are kept: the solemn case where Saint Rita was laid at the moment of her death, her wedding band, the rosary crown, and her cell. The most famous relic is the body of the Saint, kept in a crystal urn located inside the Sanctuary. Continue to Roccaporena to visit the birth house of Santa Rita, the church of San Montano where she married Paolo di Ferdinando, and the marital house. Visit Lazzaretto, where the Saint worked for the suffering, the miracle garden, and the rock of Saint Rita. The rock with the imprints of her knees and elbows, and the Via Crucis. After the tour we continue to our destination – Assisi.

Arrival to Assisi. Upon arrival, you are transferred to the hotel for check-in. Dinner and overnight.  Mass

7^th day: Assisi -Assisi City tour Santa Maria degli Angeli

Breakfast at hotel. In the morning visit one of the greatest treasures of Italian art and sacredness: the Basilica of San Francesco di Assisi. The sanctuary is made up of two overlapping Basilicas, the lower one dated 1228-1230, the upper one completed in 1253 and a Crypt where the Saint’s remains are placed. On the walls of the central nave the Lower Basilica preserves some frescoes depicting stories from the life of Saint Francis and stories from the Passion of Christ. There are numerous chapels painted by the hand of famous painters such as Simone Martini, Dono Doni and Giotto. Halfway down the central aisle, we descend to the crypt where the remains of the Saint Francis of Assisi are kept in a stone sarcophagus. The upper Basilica has a simple “hut” façade, the upper part is decorated with a magnificent central rose window with the symbols of the Evangelists in relief. The internal architecture shows the typical characters of Italian Gothic. The upper basilica is used for liturgical functions of an official nature, as evidenced by the presence of the papal throne in the apse.

Continue to the Piazza del Comune (the center of Assisi), where all the most important palaces overlook the city, including the Temple of Minerva, temple of Roman origin, which preserves perfectly after more than 2000 years, the six Corinthian columns and the whole façade.  Visit the Basilica of St. Clare, which houses, inside, the relics of the homonymous saint and the crucifix that spoke to St. Francis.

We Continue to Santa Maria degli Angeli for the visit to the imposing Basilica. At the wish of Pope St. Pius V (1566-1572), in order to keep the chapels of the Porziuncola, of the Transit and the Roseto and other places, made sacred by the memory of St. Francis, and to welcome the many pilgrims who come to visit them. The great Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli was built between 1569 and 1679. At the end of the visit, return to the hotel for dinner and overnight. Mass

8^th day: Orvieto – Rome

Breakfast at hotel. Today we depart for Orvieto, one of the oldest cities in Italy. It owes its origins to the Etruscan civilization: the first settlements date back to the IX century BC. and is located within the tuffaceous caves carved into the massif where the Umbrian town currently stands.

Upon arrival at Orvieto, you are taken to your hotel.

Our tour will begin with a guided tour of the splendid Cathedral of Orvieto, a colorful example of Romanesque-Gothic architecture, rich in works of art, which are preserved inside. The Reliquiario del Corporale, a famous masterpiece of jewelry made in 1337-1338 by the Sienese Ugolino di Vieri, who guards the Sacred Corporal which in 1263 was stained with blood when a Bohemian priest, celebrating Mass without faith, broke the consecrated host, from which the blood spilled out. Continue with the visit of the Underground City of Orvieto, which was entirely derived from the cavities dug by the inhabitants over the centuries, rich in wells and caves. The most famous is the Well of San Patrizio, next to the municipal gardens that are located within the Fortezza dell’Albornoz. The well, an extraordinary work of civil engineering of the sixteenth century, was excavated at the wish of Clement VII, who took refuge in Orvieto during the sack of Rome in 1527, for survival reasons in case of a siege or natural calamity. Its dimensions are impressive: 62 meters deep, has a diameter of 13.5 meters. Two spiraling spiral staircases that never meet wind up around it; the two staircases, composed of 248 steps each, receive light from 72 windows creating a surreal atmosphere. Dinner and overnight. Mass

9^th day: Departure to Rome

After breakfast at the hotel, we continue to Rome.

Welcome back to Rome. Upon arrival together with your private guide and driver you proceed to a walled enclave and the world’s smallest independent state – Vatican. Piazza San Pietro is one of the most famous squares in the world and is located in front of the Basilica of St. Peter, all surrounded with the memory of the first pope, the Apostle and martyr Peter. The patriarchal Basilica of St. Peter is the major papal basilica of Rome, often described as the largest church in the world and the pulsating center of Catholicism.

Visit inside the Basilica where you can appreciate several masterpieces of inestimable historical and artistic value including: The Pietà of Michelangelo, the canopy of G.L. Bernini, the Dome of Michelangelo, the Holy Door, etc. Visit the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums.

Return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.

10^th day: Return flight to the USA

Breakfast at the hotel. Load baggage in the coach and transfer to the airport for your return flight to the USA. 

What’s included

• international round-trip flights from Las Vegas or any other major US airport
• Accommodation at remarkable 4-star hotels.
• Breakfasts at the hotels, lunch or dinner.
• Airport transfers and all transportation according to the itinerary.
• Breathtaking sightseeing tours according to the itinerary with professional English-speaking guides.
• Daily Mass
• Support line during the trip.

Not included

Multiple arrival/departure transfers, other meals not mentioned in the program, optional tours and services, optional travel insurance, gratuities for guides and drivers, fees for special seat assignments/upgrades, and all personal expenses. City taxes. This is a small tax (1-5 EUR per person per night) collected by many cities. You will need to pay it at the hotel on checkout.