Gay History Italy Tour 2018

Gay History Italy Tour: from Caesar to Michelangelo and beyond Next Tour: October 5-14, 2018 Take $100 off for early booking. The splendor of ancient Rome…the glory of the Renaissance…the magnificence of the Baroque—Italy is the artistic treasure house of Western civilization. But there is a side to Italy’s story that most people aren’t aware of: gay Italy. From the Caesars to Michelangelo to Visconti and Pasolini, Italy is a storehouse of gay history—and many of its artistic treasures celebrate same-sex love. Join us as we reveal the gay side of this amazing country. Our tour begins in Florence, fountainhead of the Renaissance—and, as we learn, a fascinating window into the gay past. We revel in the city’s endless artistic treasures, while focusing on the Renaissance’s flourishing culture of same-sex love and the artworks its inspired—in particular, Donatello and Michelangelo’s two famous Davids, so very different from each other, yet both so intentionally homoerotic. From Florence, we head to Naples, to visit the Archaeology Museum and its notorious Gabinetto Segreto—and to eat a pizza Margherita in the city that invented it. We make Naples our base for visiting the ruins of nearby Pompeii; Paestum, with its beautifully preserved Greek temples and homoerotic wall-paintings; and finally Capri, pearl of the Mediterranean, where we explore its 2,000 year record of same-sex love, from the palace where Emperor Tiberius held his orgies, to the early 20th century, when the island was a European Provincetown. Our final stop is Rome—capital city of emperors, popes and artistic geniuses. We learn about the history of same-sex love as far back as the Etruscans, and discover the secret lives of the emperors—from Caesar and Nero to Hadrian and his lover Antinous, worshipped as a god after his suicide. We follow in the footsteps of Caravaggio—rebel against artistic and sexual convention—and visit the settings of Tosca and other operas. And of course no visit to Rome would be complete without enjoying its culinary pleasures, including a sampling of Italy’s very best gelati… As always with Oscar Wilde Tours, the Gay Italy tour takes you to places that regular tours do not visit—from the underground ruins of a Roman Senator’s palace to the villas of Capri’s early 20th century gayocracy. We learn about Italy’s gay side with Professor Lear and local guides who specialize in gay culture. And we relax in a series of exquisite hotels, while feasting on the cuisines and wines of three of Italy’s great culinary regions. To learn more, contact us at info@oscarwildetours.com or (646)560-3205.