Venetian architect and historian Francesco da Mosto sets out from Venice to cross the Mediterranean sea - following in the wake of his ancestor, the explorer Alvise da Mosto - to discover the cities and islands where Western civilization was born. Sailing in a late nineteenth-century schooner, he starts his journey in Venice and finishes in Istanbul. Along the way he takes in spectacular ruins like the Acropolis in Athens and the Roman city of Ephesus in Turkey; sacred sites like the monasteries of Mount Athos and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul; and beautiful Dubrovnik (destroyed and rebuilt in the last decade). Ancient history and bygone legends intertwine as Francesco visits these wonderful ancient sites, bringing the past vividly to life, and taking viewers on a thrilling cultural odyssey.