5D/4N - 2020 Sanctuaries

Day 01 Palermo

Arrive at Palermo airport. Meet your English speaking driver and transfer to the hotel Palazzo Sitano in Palermo. Dinner and accommodation at hotel.

Day 02 Palermo – Monreale – Montepellegrino - Palermo

Enjoy a full buffet breakfast at your hotel. Depart to Monreale and visit the Cathedral as well as the Benedictine cloister. We will then continue to Palermo and have a panoramic tour of the city. Lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon depart to Montepellegrino to visit the Santa Rosalia Sanctuary. Santa Rosalia, Hermitess, greatly venerated at Palermo and in the whole of Sicily of which she in patroness. Her feast is celebrated on 4 September. A special feast of the translation of her relics is kept in Sicily 15 June. Back to Palermo for dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Day 03 Palermo – Tindari – Taormina

Today, depart through the Northern Coast to Tindari, the most important Sanctuary in the area: Santuario della Madonna Nera di Tindari. Local legend tells that the lagoon was created after a pilgrim who came to see the Madonna refused to pray to the Madonna because she was black. The woman accidentally dropped her baby into the ocean and the Madonna made the land rise to save the baby. The sands of Marinello have taken shape of the profile of the Madonna. Lunch en route and continue to Taormina to visit the Sanctuary of Madonna della Rocca. It was built in 1640 by exploiting the limestone rock that acts as a cover to the interior. Our Lady of the Rock is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Taormina for the panorama from the pretty terrace before the church. Dinner and overnight at hotel.

Day 04 Taormina - Syracuse

In the morning, depart to Syracuse. We will first have a visit to the archaeological area and then on to Ortigia, the historical center. Lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon, visit the Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime. From 29 August to 1 September 1953, a plaster plaque of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, placed over the headboard of the bed of a young couple, Angelo Iannuso and Antonina Giusto, at 11 Via degli Orti St., shed human tears. The phenomenon took place at more or less long intervals inside and outside of the home. Many saw, touched, gathered and tasted the salt of the tears. On Sunday, 30 August an amateur film maker of Syracuse, Nicola Guarino, was able to capture the event on film, making this one of the very few miraculous happenings with such documentation. On 1 September, at 11:00 a.m., a Commission of doctors and analysts went to the Iannuso home sent by the Chancery of the Archdiocese of Syracuse. They withdrew a sample of the liquid that flowed from the eyes. The microscopic analysis verified: “They are human tears.” After the scientific analysis, on the fourth day of the

lachrymation, the weeping ceased. Dinner and overnight at hotel.

Day 05 Syracuse - Catania

Enjoy a full buffet breakfast at your hotel and depart to Catania airport. End of our services.

Inclusions: twin share in a 3 star or 4 star accommodation, breakfast daily, 3 lunches, 4 dinners, entrance fees, car or minivan transportation with English speaking driver, return transfers from/to Catania airport, taxes.

Exclusions: beverages, tour escort and city taxes.