Grand Tour
Encyclopedia : G : GR : GRA : Grand Tour
- For other uses, see Grand Tour (disambiguation)}}}.
The Grand Tour was a European travel itinerary that reached its height in the 18th century, and was particularly popular amongst the British aristocracy. It served an educational purpose for wealthy university graduates, and its primary value lay in the exposure both to the cultured artifacts of antiquity and the Renaissance as well as to the aristocratic and fashionable society of the European Continent. Its length varied from several months to several years.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first recorded use of the term (and perhaps its introduction into the English language) was made by Richard Lassels in his book An Italian Voyage (1670).
The most common itinerary of the Grand Tour began in Dover, England, and involved a crossing of the English Channel to Calais in France. From there the tourist (usually accompanied by a tutor and a league of servants) acquired a coach and other travel and transportation necessities, such as a French-speaking guide, and set off for Paris. The Alps were then crossed, which included dismantling the carriage and luggage, and often the tourist was carried over the hard terrain by servants. Once reassembled, the carriage brought the tourist to the prime destinations of Florence, Venice, and Rome.
The appeal of Paris lay in the sophisticated language and manners of high French society, including courtly behavior and fashion. Ostensibly this served the purpose of preparing the young British nobleman for a leadership position at home, often government-related or diplomatic in nature. Italy was the location of vast amounts of artistic and architectural treasures. Invariably, tourists divided the majority of their time abroad in Italian cities. Most went no further south than Naples to visit the recent excavations of Pompeii, but some made excursions into Calabria and Sicily. Return journeys frequently included stops in Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, Amsterdam, and the German university towns.
During the 19th century, most educated young men of privilege took the Grand Tour. Later, it also became fashionable for young women. A trip to Italy with a spinster aunt as chaperon was part of the upper-class lady's education.
The success of Thomas Coryat's book Coryat's Crudities is often credited with starting the craze for the Grand Tour.
Some contemporary sociologists view the Grand Tour as the prototype for modern tourism.
See also
External links
- [The Grand Tour]
- [Grand Tour online at the Getty Museum]
- ["Grand Tour" an exhibition project of the Swedish artist Matts Leiderstam]
- [Voyagers and Voyeurs - Travellers in 19th century France, an anthology]
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