b'ANCIENT SICILY THE GOLD OF THRACE HERE IS THE KEY TO EVERYTHING Scan hereAND ROME Scan here for the fullfor the full itinerary itinerary916 October 2025 Historical Background THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL BULGARIA8 days Sicilians call their island the House of the Sun. Throughout history its Expert Historian: climate and fertile agriculture, combined with its strategic location, have1523 August 2025 Historical Backgrounddrawn every major power in the Mediterranean to the island. The Greeks Dr Harry Sidebottom began their colonisation in the 8th Century BC. The wealthy and cultured9 days The Ancient Greeks referred to everywhere north of Thessaly as Thrace, Activity Level: 2 cities they founded fought endlessly against each other, and against theExpert Historian: an area that they recognised as being inhabited by skilled horsemen and Carthaginians who had settled in the west. The Romans arrived in the 3rdDr Miglena Stamberova craftsmen in precious metals and thus worthy of serious trade. Being a Century BC, having vanquished the Carthaginians in the Punic Wars andtribal people, it was inevitable that Thracian culture, and the country itself, Nowhere is the classical past more aliveSicily became the first overseas province of the Roman Empire. In the 2ndActivity Level: 2 would be absorbed by the economic prosperity and territorial ambitions than on the beautiful island of Sicily. ThisCentury BC, the use of slave labour on great landed estates led to twoof their southern neighbours. Early Thracian architecture was heavily wide-ranging archaeological tour will takerevolts, each as cataclysmic as the more famous uprising of Spartacus.influenced by the Greeks, followed by the martial expansion of the Roman us through a millennium of history from theThe riches of the island were a temptation to its Roman governors: Cicero,Bulgaria is, in archaeological terms, one ofand Byzantine Empires as they utilised the region as a buffer against the early Greek colony of Naxos (734 BC) to thein his Verrine Orations, castigates the corruption and crimes of the mostthe richest countries in Europe possessingnomadic threat from north of the Danube. By early medieval times, the late Roman villa of Piazza Armerina (c.ADnotorious. Under the rule of the emperors, Sicily settled down to becomea wealth of sites with not just regional butBulgars had engineered a period of independence but, yet again, their 320), with its world-famous mosaics. On theone of the wealthiest and most peaceful provinces of the Roman empire.also international importance, the findssouthern neighbours, this time in the form of the Ottomans, conquered the way we will explore the Valley of the TemplesEvery step of the history of the island has left evocative archaeology for usfrom which have had made a dramaticarea and it struggled under Turkish rule until the late 19th century. For the at Agrigento, the archaeological park andto explore. impact on our understanding of pre-historic,next hundred years turbulence ensued: independence, monarchy, major museum at Syracuse and the theatre atclassical, and medieval history. We will seeregional and world wars, republicanism and communism. It wasnt until Taormina, with its breath-taking views ofthe world-famous Chalcolithic gold, the1991 that democracy was established, and the country became open to Mount Etna. earliest gold finds in the world, predating thewestern influence.development of Babylonia and Egypt, explore As Plato said, Sicilians build things like theyan 8000-year-old Neolithic settlement, will live forever and eat like they will dieenter royal and aristocratic Thracian tombs, tomorrow which means that much of ourview Roman walls, theatres and bathhouses tour requires a certain agility as we explorecasually exposed amidst modern towns extensive remains often on our feet for a fewand cities. We will walk past Roman town hours at a time and an appetite to do justicefortifications and visit a legionary fortress to the local cuisine. But there will be plenty ofand late Roman town, stand amidst working time for recuperation as we listen to a seriesarchaeologists and become privy to the of in-situ talks which put each site in to itslatest finds and interpretations. We will historical context. be able to admire the art and treasures of working monasteries stunningly situated atop green mountains, walk ancient and medieval cobblestone streets, traverseDay 1 Outward Journey: fly London to Sofia or make your own arrangements to the verdant breathtaking Balkan Mountainsjoin the tour at the hotel. Drive to Plovdiv (four nights). (D)and visit the restored museum villagesDay 2 Plovdiv: explore Roman Trimontium, agora and municipal buildings, and battlefields which commemoratetheatre, circus, city walls. (B,D)the modern Bulgarian struggle forDay 3 Valley of the Thracians and Hisarya: Kazanluk tumuli, Hisayra, walk the independence. ancient walls, Roman baths. (B,L,D)Day 4 Neolithic and Roman: Karanovo settlement mound, Kabile archaeological Day 1 Fly London to Palermo or make your own arrangements to join the tour excavations, Stara Zagoravisit forum, sculptures, Roman baths, house at the hotel. Drive to Marsala and check-in to our hotel for three nights. (D) with mosaics. (B,L,D)Day 2 Full day at Selinus (Selinunte). (B,D) Day 5 Bulgarian history: drive over Shipka Pass, visit Russian monument Day 3 Segesta, Erice (Eryx), Marsalaincl. Baglio Anselmi Archaeological commemorating wars against Turks, Etar, Arbanassi (frescos), timber Museum. (B,D) buildings and church. Veliko Tarnovo (two nights). (B,L,D)Day 4 Full day in Agrigento. Hotel in Agrigento1 night. (B,D) Day 6 . Nicopolis ad Istrum and Novae: Roman Nicopolis - paved streets, Day 5 Piazza Armerina (Villa Romana del Casale). Continue to Syracuse. inscriptions, monumental masonry and buildings, visit Nicopolis Hotel in Syracuse2 nights. (B,D) archaeological site, Novaevisit Roman hospital, principia, basilica, Day 6 . Ortigia island, Syracuse incl. Paolo Orsi Archaeological Museum and inscriptions. (B,L,D)Neapolis Archaeological Park (incl. catacombs of Latomia del Day 7 Sofia: drive to Sofia. Ruins of Roman Serdica, St Georges Rotunda, church ESSENTIALS Paradiso and Orecchio di Dionisios. (B) ESSENTIALS of St Sophia and National Archaeological Museum. (two nights). (B,D)4-star hotels, meals as indicated,Day 7 Naxos, Taormina incl. Teatro Antico, Roman Odeon and Naumachia 4-5-star hotels, meals as indicated,Day 8 . Boyana and Rila: Boyana church frescoes, National History Museumdrinks with dinner, all entrance fees,di Taormina. Hotel in Taormina1 night. (B,D) drinks with dinner, all entrance fees,(in communist leaders palace), drive to Rila monastery. (B,L,D)tour manager and expert historianDay 8 . Drive from Taormina to Catania Airport for our return flight to London tour manager and expert historianDay 9 . A late morning check-out from our hotel: return flights from Sofia to throughout, all internal travel, or perhaps extend your stay in Sicily. (B) throughout, all internal travel, London or perhaps extend your stay in Bulgaria. (B)optional travel from UK. optional travel from UK.8 www.theculturalexperience.com I info@theculturalexperience.com I UK0345 475 1815 I USA(toll-free) 877 209 5620 www.theculturalexperience.com I info@theculturalexperience.com I UK0345 475 1815 I USA(toll-free) 877 209 5620 9'