Pilgrimaging to Spain

Day 1: HOMETOWN – MADRID

We will arrive at Madrid Airport where we will meet our tour escort. Transfer by coach to our hotel in Madrid where we will register for 5 nights stay. We will have our dinner in our hotel. Overnight.

Day 2: MADRID

We will have our breakfast and after it we will start our panoramic tour of Madrid during which we will see La Gran Vía, the most known street full of shops and theatres which we could compare to Broadway, Plaza de Cibeles with a beautiful building of the former Main Post Office with a Demeter fountain in front of it. We will have our lunch in local restaurant. In the afternoon we will see the Royal Palace (the exterior visit) and Madrid Cathedral, which is known as Sanctuary of Our Lady of Almudena, the patroness of Madrid. According to legend, the statue representing Virgin Mary was brought to Madrid almost two thousand years ago by Caloserus who was one of the disciples of Saint James the Great. It is said the Image was carved by Nicodemus and painted by Saint Luke. The devotion to Our Lady of Almudena dates back to the 11th century. Tradition says that when the King Alfonso VI of Castile conquered Madrid in 1083 ordered the purification of the Church of Saint Mary that had been profaned by the Muslims. Since the statue had disappeared the King and the religious authorities decided to organise a procession. During it, at a certain moment a part of the city walls fell down and the statue of Our Lady, hidden for three hundred years, was found. On each side of the statue there were two candles, still lighting! And why do the Statue and the Cathedral are named Almudena? It is easy - this word means "market" or "granary" in Arabic and indeed that was the place next to which the statue had been hidden. We will celebrate Holy Mass in the Cathedral. Afterwards we walk down towards Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol. Time at leisure and after will return to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 3: MADRID – TOLEDO (56 miles) – MADRID (56 miles)

We will have breakfast in our hotel. Today, after the breakfast, we will depart to Toledo that lies 56 miles south from Madrid. Toledo is a former capital of the Spanish Empire. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986. Many famous people were born or lived in Toledo: Al Zarqali, Garcilaso de la Vega, King Alfonso X the Wise and El Greco. During our stay in Toledo we will visit the Gothic Cathedral of Santa Maria - the Primate Church in Spain - and we will celebrate our Holy Mass there. The Cathedral was built between 1226 -1493 and was modelled after the Bourges Cathedral though it also combines some elements of the Mudéjar style. We will have lunch in local restaurant. In the afternoon we will have the possibility to admire some El Greco paintings among which one of the most famous - "The Burial of the Count of Orgaz" that is exhibited in the Church of Santo Tomé. We will also have time to sit down for a cup of coffee or tea in the Zocodover Plaza, the most frequented Toledo square and we will visit the San Sebastian Church, Mosque of Cristo de la Luz and Synagogue of El Tránsito - dating from before the expulsion (1492) and still in good conditions - these temples are a perfect proof of the coexistence of three religions that lived in Spain. Return to Madrid. We will have dinner in our hotel in Madrid. Overnight.

Day 4: MADRID – AVILA (72 miles) – MADRID (72 miles)

Breakfast in our hotel. Today we will go by coach to Avila – a beautiful town famous for its complete Romanesque city walls and for a high number of churches especially in Romanesque and Gothic Style. It was populated in pre - Roman times by the Vettones who called the place: Obila that meant 'High Mountain', since the settlement was built at 1131 meters (3665 feet) above sea level. Avila was mentioned by Ptolemy as Abula. It was one of the first cities in the Peninsula to be Christianised. Saint Secundus arrived there in the 1 st AD, during the Apostolic Age - he had been ordained in Rome by Saints Peter and Paul and sent to evangelize Hispania as one of the group of the Seven Apostolic Men. Saint Secundus evangelized the town and became its first bishop. He was martyred and his body lies in Hermitage of San Secundo in Avila. Never less, the most known Saints related to Avila are Saint Teresa of Jesus and Saint John of the Cross. Saint Teresa who lived in 16th century was a Spanish mystic, Carmelite nun, theologian and writer of the Counter Reformation. Now she is Roman Catholic Saint since she was canonized forty years after her death (1582) by Pope Gregory XV and named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970. She is considered, along with Saint John of the Cross, a founder of the Discalced Carmelites. While in Avila we will visit the place where Saint Teresa was born. Her house was transformed in Church and we will have our Holy Mass there. After we will go to the Convent of the Incarnation (La Encarnación) placed just outside the medieval walls of Avila where Saint Teresa spent thirty years of her life. We will also enter the 12th century fortress - like Cathedral dedicated to Saint Salvador known as the first Gothic Style Cathedral in Spain. We will have our lunch in local restaurant. Late in the afternoon we will return to Madrid to have dinner in our hotel. Overnight.

Day 5: MADRID – GUADALUPE (151 miles) – MADRID (151 miles)

Breakfast in our hotel. Today we will leave Madrid going to Guadalupe where we will visit the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Shrine is located in the region of Extremadura, 151 miles away from Spanish Capital. Upon arrival we will have lunch in local restaurant and afterwards we will visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe that was the most important Marian Shrine in the medieval Kingdom of Castile. Tradition attributes the Statue to have been made by Saint Luke the Evangelist and it is said it was given by Pope Gregory I (5-6th century AD) to Saint Leander who was archbishop of Seville. When the city of Seville was conquered by the Muslims a group of priests managed to run away with the Statue and to burry it in the hills near the Guadalupe River. We know that at the beginning of the 14th century the Virgin Mary appeared to one shepherd telling him to ask the priests to dig in the very same place of the apparition. The Statue was found and a small chapel was built there. First pilgrims began to arrive in 1326 and fourteen years later King Alfonso XI did a lot to develop the Shrine since he considered that he had won over the Muslims in the Battle of Rio Salado thanks to the Virgin's intercession. We will celebrate Holy Mass in the Sanctuary and after it there will be time for private devotion. Later on we will take our coach to go back to Madrid for dinner which will be in our hotel. Overnight.

Day 6: MADRID – HOMETOWN

We will have breakfast in our hotel and after there will be time for leisure until the hour to leave the hotel in the direction of Madrid Airport to take our flight back home. End of our services.

SINGLE ROOM SUPPLEMENT IN 4 STAR HOTEL: 198 €

DISCOUNT THIRD PERSON IN THE ROOM: 15%

THE PRICE INCLUDES

5 nights in 4* hotel in Madrid.

5 breakfasts and 5 dinners in the hotel.

5 lunches in local restaurants.

Still water included during lunch and dinner.

Luxury coach throughout the trip.

Tour escort service throughout the trip.

Guided visits: 1 FD in Madrid, 1 FD in Toledo, 1 HD in Avila and 2 hours in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Travel Insurance.

Cancellation insurance.

THE PRICE DOESN´T INCLUDE

Flight ticket.

Extras such as telephone calls, tips, etc.

Everything that has not been mentioned in the programme or in the leaflet concerning the trip.

IMPORTANT: THIS PROGRAMME IS ONLY A SUGGESTION AND IT CAN BE TAILORED AND PERSONALISED ACCORDING TO GROUPS WISHES.