Art and Architecture of Spain’s Golden Age
This over-50s historical and art tour is based in Madrid and explores the ‘Golden Age’ of Spain, including El Escorial and the paintings of El Greco and Velasquez. Spain was all powerful in the period that came to be known as the ‘Golden Age’. Columbus’s 15th-century voyages to the New World brought riches that made it the wealthiest nation in Europe, and this prosperity led to generous patronage of the arts. Some of Spain’s finest works of art and literature were produced in this period, and many of its greatest creators including Veláquez and Cervantes lived or worked in Madrid.
With in-depth lectures, guided gallery tours and intimate visits to the homes of celebrated painters and playwrights, this tour shines a light on this truly golden era by exploring the real lives and greatest work of its most celebrated artists and those they subsequently inspired.
Your Tour Includes
TRAVEL
Return flights and transfers
Included travel insurance
VIP door-to-door travel service
ACCOMMODATION
Local guides
Specialist lecturer
Porterage at your hotel
EXPERIENCES
Tour Manager
Flamenco show
Operetta performance
FOOD & DRINK
14 meals: 7 breakfasts, 3 lunches at local restaurants, 1 dinner at your hotel and 3 dinners in local restaurants
Day 1 UK to Madrid
On arrival in Madrid you will be met and taken to the 4-star Hotel H10 Puerto de Alcala, your base for the tour. There will be a welcome drink and dinner this evening.
Meals Included: Dinner
Day 2 Convent-Palace of Las Descalzas Reales
The next day sets the scene for your tour with a morning lecture and visit to the Convent-Palace of Las Descalzas Reales. Here the interplay between power, piety and politics in Spain’s Golden Age can be vividly seen. Discover key patrons and artists from the period and learn how they won influence and admiration through sponsorship of the arts.
Free time for lunch offers an opportunity to explore Madrid’s famous food market, Mercado de San Miguel, or one of the abundant surrounding tapas bars.
Afterwards, head to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts whose collection includes works by key artists from the Golden Age including the Greek painter, known simply to the Spanish as, El Greco.
End the day with an included dinner and a flamenco show at a local restaurant.
Meals Included: Breakfast | Dinner
Day 3 Church of Santo Tome and El Greco Museum
El Greco’s story demonstrates Spain’s cultural ambition at this time. Born in Crete, he was summoned by royal patrons who wanted their palaces and cathedrals adorned with art equal to that found in Renaissance Italy. Having worked under Titian in Venice and studied the work of Michelangelo and Raphael in Rome, El Greco did not disappoint. In fact, he is now regarded as the architect of the Spanish Renaissance period.
Your study of El Greco continues on the third day of your tour, with a full day excursion to Toledo. El Greco lived in Toledo from 1577 until his death in 1614, and he produced many famous works here including the Burial of the Count of Orgaz, his greatest masterpiece. Included visits to the Church of Santo Tome, the Cathedral and the El Greco Museum reveal this and other works by celebrated 17th-century Spanish painters.
Meals Included: Breakfast | Lunch
Day 4 Museo del Prado and Casa Museo Lope de Vega
The following day begins with a lecture on Velázquez, a leading artist in the Spanish Royal Court and one of the greatest of all Spanish painters. Afterwards enjoy a guided tour of the Museo del Prado, home to the world’s finest collection of Spanish art and a new suite of galleries dedicated to Velázquez.
Enlightenment of a different kind awaits in the afternoon as you visit the Casa Museo Lope de Vega. This beautiful house was once the home of Spain’s 16th-century poet and playwright, Lope de Vega. The house still contains his original furniture, art, books and even kitchenware, and is now a national monument and museum.
Meals Included: Breakfast | Dinner
Day 5 Aranjuez Palace and Gardens
The next day you visit Aranjuez Palace and Gardens, which King Felip II commissioned at the height of the Golden Age. His vision transformed what was once a hunting lodge into one of four seasonal residences for the 16th-century Spanish monarchy. Later, Charles V would endeavour to create a ‘Spanish Versailles’, adding opulent monuments and Italianate gardens.
In the evening there will be a cultural operetta performed in Madrid’s 160-year-old Teatro de la Zarzuela.
Meals Included: Breakfast | Lunch
Day 6 Museo Lazaro Galdiano and Museo Sorolla
Your tour continues the following day with a lecture on the story and star attractions of the famous Museo Lazaro Galdiano. This vast collection spans the Golden Age and beyond, with seminal works by Velázquez, El Greco and Leonardo da Vinci, as well as English artists including Turner and Reynolds.
Later, you spend time in the home, gardens and studio of artist Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida. Exploring his lifetime collection of art, ceramics, jewellery, letters and photographs provides an intimate glimpse of his private life and work.
Meals Included: Breakfast | Lunch
Day 7 Monastery of El Escorial
On the final full day of your tour, you journey into the foothills of the Sierra de Guadarrama to the UNESCO-listed Monastery of El Escorial, the largest Renaissance building in the world, and another residence of the Kings of Spain when they reigned as a global ‘Superpower’. No other building expresses the ideological and cultural aspirations of the Spanish Golden Age so well.
This evening you will have a memorable farewell meal at a restaurant in Madrid.
Meals Included: Breakfast | Dinner
Day 8 Madrid to UK
The next morning you will be taken to Madrid airport for your return flight to the UK.
Meals Included: Breakfast
