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Route of Catholic Martyrs in the United Kingdom

DAY 1 MADRID – LONDON – STRATFORD – LIVERPOOL Meeting in Madrid-Barajas Airport at the designated time to leave on the early flight to London. Arrival in London around approximately 11:00 A.M., pick up at the Airport and departure for Stratford-upon-Avon. Lunch in a local restaurant and later, tour of the birthplace of Shakespeare. Continuation to Leicester to visit the Priory of the Holy Cross, dedicated to the memory of The English Martyrs in Leicester. Having finished the visit, transfer to Liverpool, check-in at the hotel, dinner and lodging.

DAY 2 LIVERPOOL – YORK Breakfast. Departure to take a panoramic tour of the city de Liverpool, including the Catholic Cathedral, Speke Hall (Tudor House in Liverpool with a Victorian interior) where mass was celebrated in secret when it later became property of the Catholic family Norris. Lunch in a local restaurant and Afternoon departure to visit the ruins of the Abbey of Rievaulx, a Cistercian Abbey demolished during the Reformation. The Abbey was dissolved in 1538 by order of Henry VIII. Transfer to the hotel in York, Dinner and lodging.

DAY 3 YORK Breakfast. We will take a tour a the city of York, beginning with the Cathedral of York, the second largest Gothic Cathedral in the North of Europe, after the one in Cologne. It is the Seat of the diocese of York and its archbishopric. We will continue the visit to the Shrine of Saint Margaret Clitheroe, put to death in York in 1586 for having given refuge to Catholic priests. Lunch, and in the afternoon we will continue with the panoramic tour of the city, including a stop in the Bar Convent, the Oldst functioning convent in all of England. Having finished the visit, Transfer to the hotel, dinner and lodging.

DAY 4 YORK – CAMBRIDGE – LONDON Breakfast. Departure for Cambridge, and on arrival, lunch in a local restaurant. In the afternoon, we will be able to visit a typical British college, Seat of the faculties of the university. We will also visit the Victorian Church of Our Lady & the English Martyrs, consecrated to the Forty Martyres of England and Wales. Continuation to London. Transfer to the hotel, dinner and lodging.

DAY 5 LONDON Breakfast. Departure to take a panoramic tour of London, where we will be able to enjoy the most emblematic monuments of the city, like Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, etc. We will stop in a typical London pub to enjoy a pint. Lunch in a local restaurant and afternoon tour of Westminster Cathedral, the Catholic Cathedral of London, where there is a Chapel dedicated to Saint George and The English Martyrs. John Southworth, martyr put to death in Tyburn in 1654, is buried here. We will continue with the tour of the Tower of London, officially the Royal Palace and Fortress of her Magesty. It is an historic castle situated on the North Bank of the Thames River, and from approximately the year 1100, the castle was used as a prison, although although this was not the primary purpose. In the tower they executed some Catholic martyrs like Saint Thomas More or Margaret Pole. We will also be able to admire the London Tower Bridge, the drawbridge situated over the Thames River and that takes its name from the its closeness to the Tower of London. Return to the hotel, Dinner and lodging.

DAY 6 LONDON Breakfast. Departure to take a tour of the Martyr’s Shrine of Tyburn, founded by the Benedictine nuns in 1901 and situated in the actual Marble Arch. In the Martyr’s Shrine, homage is paid to more than 350 Catholic martyrs who were witnesses to their faith by dying for it during the Reformation, among them the Jesuit Campion or Margaret Ward, put to death for helptinga priest to escape from prison. After finishing the visit, we will go to Buckingham Palace, official residence of the Royal British Family, and attend the famous Changing of the Guard. We will continue by visiting Temple Church, a Church from the ends of the 12th century situated between Fleet Street and the Thames River, constructed by The Knights Templars as its Seat in London. In the modern era, two Inns of Court or Lawyer associations(The Inner Temple and the Middle Temple), used the church. It is famous for its tombs with efigies that represent the Knights Templars buried in the temple. Lunch in a local restaurant. In the afternoon we will be able to enjoy a boatride on the Thames River. Rest of the day free to enjoy the city, make purchases in commercial centers, or visit the numerous museums of London, like the British Museum, one of the most important in Europe and que it houses almost 7 million unique pieces covering various fields, pointing out principally the Greek and Egyptian collections . At the designated time, return to the hotel, dinner and lodging.

DAY 7 LONDON – (Exc. STONOR PARK and WINDSOR) Breakfast. Departure to visit Stonor Park, residence of the Stonor Family for 800 years, where two Jesuit priests, martyrs of the Reformation, lived and worked in 1581: Edmund Campion and Robert Parsons. In fact, the book Diciem Rationes by Campion was printed here on a secret press. On the 4th of August in 1581 the press was discovered. Campion and Parsons had fled some days earlier, but the inhabitants of the house were detained. Despite the trials and the fines, Stonors remained Catholic throughout the 17th and 18th centuries and allowed many local people to belong to the Catholic Church and attend a mass in his Private chapel. After finishing the visit, lunch in a local restaurant, and in the afternoon, continuation to Windsor Castle. It is along with Buckingham Palace in London and Holyrood Palacein Edinburgh, one of the principal Official Residences of the British monarchy. In the Chapel of Saint George, is found the tomb of Henry VIII, author of the rupture with the Catholic Church and chief exponent of the Anglican Church. After finishing the visit, return to London, dinner and lodging.

DAY 8 LONDON – (Exc. CANTERBURY and DOVER) Breakfast. Departure to visit the Cathedral of Canterbury, one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England, actual Seat of the Anglican Church. A dark chapter in the history of the Cathedral was the decapitation of Thomas Becket on the 29 of December of 1170 for defending The rights of the Church against King Henry II, who wanted to exercise absolute sovereignty. The Crown Tower was built at the east end to hold the relic of the head of Saint Thomas, which was severed at his killing. After finishing the visit, lunch in a local restaurant and later continuation to Dover, the largest English port on the English Channel. The town is famous for its white cliffs, made of chalk. The Britishs gave the nickname of Albion to these cliffs. After finishing the visit, return to London, dinner and lodging.

DAY 9 LONDON – MADRID Breakfast. We will dedicate the morning to strolling through the typical London markets and neighborhoods, where we will be able to see Camden Lock Market, Petticoat Lane or Portobello. We will stroll through the typical neighborhoods of Notting Hill or Soho. Lunch in a local restaurant and free time until the designated time to transfer to the airport to leave on the flight at 5:30 P.M. for Madrid-Barajas. Arrival and END OF TRIP