Mediterranean Music Festival: A Voyage from Venice to Athens with Classical Music Performances at Historic Sites

Fly from the U.S. to Venice, Italy.

In the morning explore the Basilica of St. Mark, ornamented with mosaics, antique bronzes and ancient icons, and the Doge’s Palace, whose pink and white Gothic facade overlooks the Basin of St. Mark. Alternatively, you may explore some of the city’s less-known gems, such as the Marcian Library. Our opening concert this afternoon will take place in one of Venice’s historic buildings.

Following a morning at sea, arrive in Split, an ancient city centered around the formidable Palace of Diocletian, built in A.D. 295. An extensive structure, much of which is well preserved, the palace contains within its walls Split’s medieval town, making it the only palace that has been continuously inhabited since Roman times. Enjoy an evening concert in the splendid setting of Diocletian’s Palace.

Explore Dubrovnik, one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval cities and a splendid repository of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture. Visit the Rector’s Palace, the Franciscan Monastery and its garden, the Dominican monastery and other buildings. The afternoon is at leisure, followed by a concert at the Sponza Palace. Built in 1516 using a combination of Renaissance and Gothic styles, the Palace is ornamented with graceful arcades and intricate tracery—an idyllic setting for the evening’s performance.

Through towering mountains, Corinthian II navigates the fjord-like Bay of Kotor. One of the most stunning towns along the Dalmatian coast, Kotor is a designated UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. The town’s fortifications and most of its monuments, which we will visit on a walking tour, date from the time of Venetian rule. Tonight’s recital will take place in the Romanesque church of St. Tryphon.

From the Albanian port of Saranda, drive to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Butrint. Inhabited since prehistoric times, the city was founded by the Trojans, or so claimed the poet Virgil. A gem of an archaeological site, its ruins span 2,500 years, and include, among other structures, the remains of a Greek acropolis, a Roman theater, a 6th-century Byzantine baptistery and a fortress erected by the warlord Ali Pasha Tepelena in the 19th century. Exploration of the site’s Greek and Roman remains will culminate in a recital at the 3rd-century B.C. theater.

Arrive in Kefalonia, one of the beautiful islands in Greece’s Ionian group. From the port of Sami, take an excursion to Fiskardo, the picturesque village that hugs the island’s main bay. Then attend a recital at the Dhrogarati Cave, whose central chamber has extraordinary acoustics and has seen performances by Maria Callas, among other distinguished musicians.

Call at Rethymnon, where ancient minarets, Venetian and Turkish houses, and a medieval fortress intermingle to compose one of Crete’s most delightful towns. Crete nurtured Europe’s first civilization: the Minoan. Take an excursion to Knossos, whose palace reveals the brilliance and refinement of the Minoans, its maze of corridors, stairways and chambers are decorated with frescoes illustrating life as it was 4,000 years ago. Also, visit the Heraklion Museum, and then drive to the Agreco farm for lunch of Cretan delicacies. Spend the afternoon at leisure in quaint Rethymnon.

Corinthian II cruises into the flooded volcanic crater that forms the great circular bay of Santorini, the island both destroyed and preserved by volcanic eruptions in the second millennium B.C., when it was home to a sophisticated Bronze Age society.  From the sea, enjoy a beautiful view of Phira, a village atop a 1,000-foot-high palisade. Visit the Prehistoric History Museum of Thera and take a drive to the unspoiled town of Oia. Later, the Nomikos Foundation, home to excellent reproductions of the frescoes at Akrotiri, will host us for a private recital.

Transfer to the airport for return flights to the U.S.