The Thousand Years

Three ways to join

The two segments meet in Genoa. The Land Tour’s last morning, Saturday October 16, is the Voyage’s embarkation day; Full Journey travelers simply carry on from the farewell lunch to the ship. Voyage travelers arrive in Genoa on Friday October 15 — that night is part of the Voyage, not an option — and join the group for the evening session and dinner.

Day by day

1. MondayOctober 11

   Depart U.S. gateways

   • Overnight transatlantic to Milan Malpensa.

2. TuesdayOctober 12

   Arrive Milan

   • Group arrivalsTwo group pickups meet the recommended morning and early-afternoon arrivals at Malpensa and travel by coach to the hotel in the historic center. Travelers on other flights are met at the hotel; the Malpensa Express runs every fifteen minutes and takes under an hour.
   • AfternoonAt leisure optionalAn optional walk with your hosts to Piazza del Duomo at golden hour.
   • 6:30 PMSessionBound for a Thousand Years
   • 8:00 PMWelcome dinner

3. WednesdayOctober 13

   The Deposit: Ambrose's Milan

   • 9:00 AMMeet your guide at the hotelA licensed English-speaking local guide leads the morning.
   • 9:30 AMMilan Cathedral, begun 1386The interior and stained glass. The rooftop terraces are open by elevator for those who want them.
   • 11:00 AMThe archaeological area beneath the DuomoThe fourth-century Baptistery of San Giovanni alle Fonti, where Ambrose baptized Augustine at Easter 387, and the remains of the first cathedral of Santa Tecla.
   • 12:30 PMFree time for lunch
   • 2:00 PMBasilica of Sant'AmbrogioThe church of Ambrose, bishop of Milan, and the golden mosaics of the Chapel of San Vittore.
   • 3:45 PMBasilica of San Lorenzo MaggioreFourth century, with the Chapel of Sant'Aquilino.
   • 5:00 PMEnd of the guided day
   • 6:30 PMSessionThe Deposit and the Opening
   • EveningDinner at leisure

4. ThursdayOctober 14

   The Scriptorium · Milan → Genoa

   • Check outLuggage is held safely at the hotel until the afternoon departure.
   • 8:00 AMMorning worship
   • 9:00 AMBiblioteca AmbrosianaThe manuscript rooms of a library founded in 1609 on a collection of nearly forty thousand manuscripts in Greek, Latin, Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic and Gothic — a thousand years of copying that kept the Word whole until a press could print it.
   • 10:45 AMPinacoteca AmbrosianaLeonardo, Raphael, Caravaggio and Titian, on the same ticket.
   • 12:00 PMCrypt of San SepolcroA short walk from the Ambrosiana.
   • 12:30 PMLunch at leisure
   • 2:30 PMDepart Milan for GenoaCollect luggage and board the coach. Approximately two hours.
   • 4:30 PMArrive GenoaCheck in at the NH Collection Genova Marina, overlooking the Old Port.
   • EveningAt leisure

   Small-group special-collections viewing at the Ambrosiana is available as a limited add-on. Separate timed slots, capped enrollment.

5. FridayOctober 15

   Genoa: The Reign in an Ordinary City

   • 8:30 AMMorning worship
   • 9:30 AMA walk through the old town with your hostsThe caruggi, the covered lanes of the medieval quarter.
   • 10:00 AMCathedral of San LorenzoFounded 1098, consecrated 1118, façade completed 1312. The interior and the cathedral treasury.
   • 11:00 AMPalazzo DucaleThe former seat of the Doges of Genoa.
   • 12:00 PMVia Garibaldi and the Palazzi dei RolliThe sixteenth-century palaces of Genoa's banking families.
   • 12:30 PMLunch and free time
   • AfternoonAt leisure optionalPalazzo Reale.
   • 6:30 PMSessionThe Rule and the ScriptoriumVoyage travelers arriving today join here.
   • 8:00 PMGroup dinner

6. SaturdayOctober 16

   Genoa — Land Tour concludes

   • Check outLuggage is held at reception so the morning stays unencumbered.
   • 8:30 AMMorning worship
   • MorningAt leisureThe Old Port and the waterfront are at the hotel's door.
   • 12:00 PMFarewell lunchFull Journey and Voyage travelers carry straight on to the ship from here.
   • 1:30 PMTransfer to the airportLand Tour travelers collect luggage and board the coach for Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport, approximately fifteen minutes from the city center.

   Land Tour travelers should book flights from Genoa no earlier than 3:30 PM. Travelers preferring an additional night may extend in Genoa or transfer to Milan.

1. FridayOctober 15

   Arrive Genoa

   • Arrivals into Genoa Cristoforo Colombo AirportMet and transferred to the NH Collection Genova Marina, overlooking the Old Port. Travelers arriving via Milan Malpensa are met there and travel by coach, approximately two hours.
   • AfternoonAt leisure
   • 6:30 PMSessionThe Rule and the ScriptoriumThe Land Tour's last evening session; Voyage travelers join the group here.
   • 8:00 PMGroup dinner

2. SaturdayOctober 16

   Genoa — Embarkation

   Sail 5:00 PM

   • 8:30 AMMorning worship
   • MorningAt leisure on the Old Port
   • 12:00 PMLunch with the Land Tour group
   • 1:30 PMTransfer to the cruise terminalTen minutes from the hotel. Embarkation and cabins.
   • 4:15 PMSessionThe Frame: 530 to 1530Sailaway session on deck.
   • 5:00 PMSail
   • 8:00 PMGroup dinner aboard

3. SundayOctober 17

   Civitavecchia · Rome

   Docked 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM

   • 8:30 AMDepart for Rome by coachApproximately ninety minutes, with a licensed Rome guide.
   • 10:15 AMBasilica of San ClementeDescending through the twelfth-century basilica and its mosaic of the Triumph of the Cross, the fourth-century church beneath it, and the first-century Roman buildings and Mithraeum below that. The whole millennium in three floors.
   • 12:15 PMSanta Maria MaggioreFifth-century mosaics.
   • 1:00 PMLunch
   • 2:30 PMSanta PrassedeNinth-century Byzantine mosaics and the Chapel of Saint Zeno — Christ enthroned with the saints, in gold.
   • 3:45 PMFree time near the basilica
   • 4:15 PMCoaches depart Rome
   • 6:00 PMArrive Civitavecchia

   All aboard 6:30 PM. This departure time is firm.

4. MondayOctober 18

   Palermo · Monreale

   Docked 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM

   • 8:30 AMMorning worship, at sea
   • 11:30 AMDepart for Monreale by coachApproximately thirty minutes, with a licensed guide.
   • 12:15 PMMonreale Cathedral, 1174The Christ Pantocrator of the apse and the six thousand square meters of mosaic beneath it; the cloister of the Benedictine abbey.
   • 1:00 PMSessionThe King in GoldSession on site.
   • 1:30 PMLunch in Monreale
   • 3:00 PMCappella Palatina, PalermoThe royal chapel of the Norman kings, 1132–1143.
   • 4:15 PMPalermo Cathedral, 1185 optionalThe tombs of the Norman kings and of the Emperor Frederick II.
   • 5:30 PMReturn to the ship
   • EveningDinner aboard

   All aboard 7:30 PM.

5. TuesdayOctober 19

   At Sea

   • 8:30 AMMorning worship
   • 10:00 AMSessionHow the Nations Were UndeceivedPatrick, Columba, Boniface, Cyril and Methodius, Anskar; the bishops of Ibiza and Valencia; the Rule as the vehicle.
   • 12:00 PMLunch
   • AfternoonAt leisure
   • 5:00 PMSessionThe Loosing: Florence, 1486Ficino, the Hermetic revival, and Pico's Oration.
   • 7:30 PMGroup dinner

6. WednesdayOctober 20

   Ibiza

   Docked 12:30 PM – 11:00 PM

   • 8:30 AMMorning worship, at sea
   • 10:00 AMSessionThe Counter-Move: The Press and the WordGutenberg, Erasmus's Greek New Testament of 1516, and the Word in the vernacular.
   • 12:30 PMArrive IbizaLunch aboard or ashore.
   • 2:00 PMDalt Vila with your hostsA walk up through the walled town: the Punic necropolis of Puig des Molins below, the Cathedral of Santa Maria — Catalan Gothic, begun after the island's conquest in 1235, on the site of the mosque — and the Renaissance ramparts of 1554–1585 above. On the walls, a short talk: Bishop Opilio at Carthage in 484, Justinian's fleet in 534, and the letter from heaven that Bishop Vincent of Ibiza was told to stop reading.
   • 4:30 PMAt leisureThe old harbor, the beaches, or the ship.
   • EveningDinner ashore or aboard, at leisure

   All aboard 10:30 PM.

7. ThursdayOctober 21

   Valencia

   Docked 7:00 AM – 4:00 PM

   • 7:30 AMMorning worship
   • 8:30 AMPort shuttle to the old town
   • 9:30 AML'AlmoinaBeneath the cathedral square: the Roman forum, the sixth-century Visigothic cathedral and baptistery, the Islamic city, and the Christian city on top — Valencia's own four floors.
   • 10:45 AMValencia Cathedral, begun 1262Built on the mosque; the Chapel of the Holy Chalice.
   • 12:00 PMLa Lonja de la Seda, 1482–1533The silk exchange, raised in the last fifty years of the millennium.
   • 12:45 PMLunch in the old town
   • 2:15 PMReturn to the ship

   All aboard 3:30 PM.

8. FridayOctober 22

   Marseille

   Docked 1:00 PM – 7:00 PM

   • 8:30 AMMorning worship, at sea
   • MorningAt leisure
   • 1:30 PMCoach to the Abbaye Saint-VictorFounded c. 415 by John Cassian, whose Institutes shaped the Rule that ordered the millennium. The abbey church and the crypt.
   • 3:15 PMSessionGrace, 529 and 1530Closing worship, at the abbey. Orange, 529 — Augsburg, 1530: grace defined at the front door of the thousand years, and reclaimed at the back.
   • 4:30 PMThe Vieux-PortFree time.
   • 6:00 PMReturn to the ship
   • 8:00 PMFarewell dinner aboard

   All aboard 6:30 PM.

9. SaturdayOctober 23

   Genoa — Debarkation

   • 9:00 AMShip arrives Genoa
   • 9:30 AMGroup debarkation
   • 10:15 AMGroup transfer to Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport
   • 10:45 AMArrive airportJourney concludes.

   Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport is approximately six kilometers from the cruise terminal. Travelers should book flights departing Genoa no earlier than 12:30 PM, connecting to the United States through a European hub. Flight guidance is provided at booking.

Program notes

Flight windows

Arrival — Land Tour and Full Journey

Milan Malpensa, October 12, by 2:00 PM

Arrival — The Voyage

Genoa, October 15, by 4:00 PM (Milan Malpensa by 1:00 PM if connecting by coach)

Departure — Land Tour

Genoa, October 16, no earlier than 3:30 PM

Departure — Voyage and Full Journey

Genoa, October 23, no earlier than 12:30 PM

Pace

Cathedral floors, cobblestones, and stairs daily. The Milan roof terraces and the walk up through Ibiza’s Dalt Vila involve climbs; a seated alternative is offered on every walking segment. Rome and Monreale are long days by coach with firm return times.

Being aboard on time

Reaching the ship at Genoa, and returning to it in every port, is the traveler’s own responsibility. All-aboard times are set by the cruise line and not by us: the ship sails without anyone who is not on it, and the cost of rejoining it at a later port falls to the traveler. The all-aboard time is printed on every port day, and the Civitavecchia departure at 6:30 PM on October 17 is firm.

Be clear-eyed about the flights. Transatlantic routings are the most fragile part of this journey: delays, missed connections and outright cancellations are common, and they can run to a full day or more. That is why the Voyage begins with a night in Genoa on October 15 rather than a same-day embarkation: a late flight costs you an evening, not the ship. Travel insurance is required for this reason above all others, and yours should cover trip delay, missed connection and missed departure.

The itinerary may change

What you have read here is confirmed as of today, and it may still change. Port schedules and berthing times move. Ships alter their calls for weather and sea conditions. Churches, libraries and museums close for feast days, restorations, funerals and civic events, sometimes at little notice. Ground arrangements are occasionally reworked by the operator. When any of that happens we will tell you as soon as we know, and we will protect the substance of the teaching and the sites wherever it is in our power to do so.

We also hold this plan loosely on purpose. If God makes plain that some part of this journey should go otherwise, we intend to follow that, and we will tell you why as openly as we would tell you about a closed cathedral or a re-timed sailing.

Your host

The Thousand Years is hosted and operated by Covenant Retreats, the travel company behind Saints Camp. Booking, payment, documentation and every arrangement on the ground are handled by Covenant Retreats — reach them at covenantretreats.com.