Social events and Companion programme
WELCOME PARTY: it will be held on Sunday Oct. 25 at the “Hotel San Marco”, conference site. All the registered participants to the Symposium are entitled to participate.
Accompanying persons and Exhibitors are invited to participate (free entrance).
SOCIAL TOUR: a tour tothe lovely town of “Soave”, on the hills surrounding Verona, is scheduled on Wednesday Oct. 28 (for details, see Excursions Section).
The cost is 35,00 euro per person and must be booked in advance in the Registration Form and pre-paid.
CONFERENCE DINNER: it will be held on Thursday Oct. 29 in the pleasant restaurant-winecellar “Ristorante Maffei” (www.ristorantemaffei.it), on the “Piazza delle Erbe”, in the historic city centre of Verona.
The dinner ticket for accompanying persons and exhibitors costs 65,00 euro.
The participation to the conference dinner must be indicated in the Registration Form. Please, report on the Registration form any dietary restrictions.
COMPANION PROGRAM: The companions’ programme includes some guided visits to interesting places in Verona and its surroundings:
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Monday, October 26, 2009 - Verona Walking Tour - (half-day; 28,00 euro per person; min: 8 pax)
Verona city with more than two millennia of history, is today the second city of Veneto for the liveliness and solidity of its economic activities and it’s a renowned tourist destination. Historical and cultural patrimony of UNESCO, has bewitched painters, poets, travellers and famous people of every age. The sweet bends of Adige river that crosses it and the hills that encircle it from the northern side of it defines the beauty and the landscape harmony. Favoured from its geographic positioning, it probably had already a retro-Etruscan nucleus, but the first certain news go back to IV century B.C. In the roman age it was a political and trade centre of great relevance, of which today we see its magnificent traces, from the Arena to the Roman Theatre, from the Gavi’s Arch to Porta Borsari, from the archaeological area of Porta dei Leoni to the one of the Scaliger’s excavation site. This area, situated in the city centre, two steps from Piazza Erbe, became during the Middle Ages centre of the political and administrative power and in it there are harmoniously fused the remains of different ages: from the roman remains to the great palaces of XVIII and XIX century, passing through the medieval architecture bloomed under the lordship of the Scaligeri and Renaissance one.
Note: Tour will be performed with a minimum of 8 participants and must be booked in advance in the Registration Form.
The fees are due at the Conference desk.
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009 - Tour: Valpolicella and its wine (half-day; 48,00 euro per person; min: 8 pax)
Travelling along the Valpolicella wine road with a local expert guide you'll quickly learn that this region has a lot more to offer than just its celebrated wine.
From the vineyard-carpeted valley slopes of spring, to the purple-tinged harvests of autumn, the regal grape makes a difficult journey, and endures a three-month long drying period, on its way from wine to wine. Indeed, the merits and value of this grape can best be appreciated with a visit to the Valpolicella, a 240-sq. kilometre area steeped in local traditions, where natural, historic, and artistic resources also play an important role in the economic strength of the region.
Before visiting one of select wineries and taste its delicious wines, you can reach “Pieve di San Giorgio”, an ancient and historic little town of 712 A.D. presumably built in a pre-existing heathen temple. In the little square there is the Church (1200 a.d) that is one of the most pure Romanesque style with three apses and a beautiful little cloisters.
Wine tasting in a typical winery will be also possible :
Tasting 2 typical wines and product (cheese, bread and salami)
Price per person: Euro 18,00
Tasting 4 typical wines and products (cheese, bread and salami) and taste of extra virgin olive oil.
Price per person: Euro 24,00
Note: Tour will be performed with a minimum of 8 participants and must be booked in advance in the Registration Form.
The fees are due at the Conference desk.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009 - Social Tour (for Delegates and Companions)
Soave "town and wine" Tour
(half-day; 35,00 euro per person; including the entrance fee to the Castle and a wine tasting)
25 km from Verona there is the medieval town of Soave, totally surrounded by walls which slope down from the castle, and it is surrounded by vine-yards which produce the famous Soave wines.
The area has been settled since the stone Ages, became a "pagus" in Roman times, and its historical centre was built by the Hohenstanfen family after the invasion of the Longobards in 568 A.D.
The town on account of its strategic position became the victim of much civil strifes, and it is for this reason that it now boasts battlemented walls with twenty-four towers and a splendid castle standing guard over the surrounding hills and plains.
You will visit the historical centre, the medieval Castle and in a typical winery you can taste the delicious Soave wine.
Note: Tour will be performed with a minimum of 8 participants and must be booked in advance in the Registration Form and pre-paid.
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Thursday, October 29, 2009 - Garda Lake Tour - (half-day; 53,00 euro per person)
Garda Lake is the Italian largest lake, situated at the foot of Alps, in a beautiful area, at only 30 km from Verona offers to the visitor a wonderful nature scenery, full of colours, surrounded by the Dolomites of Brenta in the north and the gentle slopes of the hills in the south.
A rich vegetation flourishes thanks to the Mediterranean climate: lemon trees, oleanders, magnolias and bouganville. The cultivation of vineyards and olive groves, produces delicious wines and olive oil. Walking leisurely around the small village centres, exploring the surroundings in a wide choice of itineraries are the best ways of enjoying the lively atmosphere of the lake and the beauty of the landscape. Time to visit the beautiful small villages of Lazise, Bardolino and Garda.
Note: Tour will be performed with a minimum of 8 participants and must be booked in advance in the Registration Form.
The fees are due at the Conference desk.
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Friday, October 30, 2009 - Palladian Villas - (half-day; 65,00 euro per person; entrance fee included)
Visit two of the most important villas of Italian Renaissance architect AndreaPalladio (1508-1580): Villa “La Rotonda” and Villa Pisani-Ferri in Vicenza suburban area.
Villa Almerico-Capra: named “La Rotonda”, built in the 1570c. for the prelate Paolo Almerico, once referendario apostolico of the Popes Pio IV and Pio V, is the more famous Villa of Palladio. La Rotonda differentiates in the scenery of the venetian villas of the latter half of the XVI century: it's a suburban mansion, refined meeting point for the aristocrats of Vicenza, place of amusement and "literary idleness." In the villa designed for the prelate, Palladio introduces, formal elements assigned to suggest a significance of sacredness. Palladio probably was inspired by the magnificent “Pantheon” in Rome, resuming the classical theme of the "sacred space" coming from the interplay of the different formal models of the circle and of the quadrate, of the cube and of the sphere. Palladio opts for the central plan, crowns the building with the cupola, repeats four times the classical pronao and realize a "villa-tempio" to celebrates the prestige of the prelate Almerico and his important offices beside Popes. Also the subsequent sixteenth century frescoes of the villa, by Alessandro and Giambattista Maganza and by Anselmo Canera, will follow such a prestige celebrating plan. The Villa interiors present many Allegories connected to the Virtues of the religious life. In the Cupola, are represented, near the Celebrity, the Religion, the Benignity, the Moderation and the Chastity. The west Room is named "Room of the Religion" just for the subject of the ceiling frescoes, while in the east Room there is the apologetically Allegory of Paolo Almerico, crowned by the Celebrity and surrounded by the Fidelity, by the Affability, by the Persuasion and by Europe (symbol of the reason oriented toward the divine).
Villa Pisani Ferri: The villa (owned by Bonetti family) was commissioned by the Vettore and Marco and Daniele Pisani brothers, one of the most important noble Venetian families. The feud of Bagnolo had been bought by their father Giovanni in 1523 from the State of Venice, which had previously belonged to the Nogarola family from Verona but had been confiscated due to the imperialist attitude of the family during the Cambrai war.
Andrea Palladio was the architect and he published the plans and elevation of the villa in his “Four Books on Architecture”. Building progressed quickly between 1542 and 1545 and then continued in the following decades.
The villa plans have a large central T-shaped hall, which still conserves the grotesquery frescoes in the cross vault ceilings and other scenes taken from the “Metamorphosis” by Ovidio in the barrel vault ceiling. To the sides of the hall there are series of three varying-sized rooms, with wooden beams in the ceiling and Venetian grit flooring. The original fireplaces have been conserved. The corner southeast room conserves the tempera decoration by an unknown artist, with scenes from “Decameron” in the top register of the walls and the pavilion ceiling.
Note: Tour will be performed with a minimum of 8 participants and must be booked in advance in the Registration Form.
The fees are due at the Conference desk.
