Students attending the Boys' Junior Lyceum Ħamrun recently had the opportunity to go on a six-day educational and cultural tour of Italy.

Accompanied by three of their teachers, 25 students from Form 3 and Form 4 left Malta for Italy on February 23 to visit Rome, the Vatican, Assisi and Tivoli. This extra-curricular activity was planned to enhance the linguistic and artistic aptitudes of these students in relation to the subjects being taught at school.

During their stay in Rome, the students visited several basilicas and churches, including the Basilica of St Peter at the Vatican, the church of San Paolo Fuori Le Mura (St Paul's Outside the Walls), and the San Giovanni in Laterano and St Peter in Chains basilicas. They had a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI in Sala Nervi, were led to the roof of St Peter's to get a stunning view of Rome, and visited the Vatican museums.

They were also guided on a tour of Villa D'Este in Tivoli and round the Bio-Park in Villa Borghese. Important historical landmarks such as the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Sistine Chapel and the popular Trevi Fountain were also included in the students' itinerary.

The group then took an excursion to Assisi where they visited the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli (St Mary of the Angels), and the churches dedicated to St Damian and St Clare. At the latter stop, the group saw the crypt of St Clare. They also saw the tomb of St Francis in the Porziuncola chapel inside the Basilica of St Francis.

The rich cultural heritage of Rome is also manifest in its many works of art. Students had the opportunity to appreciate some of the major works by Michelangelo, Raffaello, Bernini, Leonardo and Caravaggio.

...Truly a Roman holiday to remember.