Venue
SPEEDAM
2010 International Symposium will be held in Pisa (Italy), at the
“Palazzo dei Congressi” (http://www.palazzodeicongressi.pisa.it).
PISA PALAZZO dei
CONGRESSI
Via Matteotti, 1 - 56124 Pisa
tel. +39 050 598212 – fax +39 050 598019
Pisa is a city on the Arno River, about 100
km far from Florence and about 10 km from the coast. It is in
Tuscany, a region of central Italy rich in history and in artistic
and cultural heritage. Pisa is mainly famous for its Leaning Tower
(the bell tower of the city's cathedral), a freakish building which
serves around the world as a shorthand image for Italy. More than 20
historic churches, several palaces, and various bridges across the
Arno River can be found in this beautiful city, together with other
architectural and artistic marvels. Pisa would not be Pisa without
the University. A special atmosphere arises in the city which is
animated by a large number of students at evening and night. Pisa
was founded by Etruscans on IX-VIII century BC. During Roman age
Pisa was an important port and served as a base for naval
expeditions against Gauls and Carthaginians. The golden age of Pisa
was from the 11th to the 13th century, when the city was one of the
maritime powers of the Mediterranean sea. Several times Pisans
defeated Saracens; they imported from Arabs advanced ideas in the
fields of sciences, philosophy and architecture. Pisa is the city
where Galileo Galilei was born in 1564 and started his studies. It
is also the birthplace of A. Pacinotti, the inventor of the first
feasible DC-electric generator on 1860. It was a favourite city of
Lord Byron, the famous English poet and leading figure in
Romanticism period. In downtown there is an academic élite learning
institution, the “Scuola Normale”, where many poets and scientists
studied (like the mathematician Fibonacci and the Nobel prize
winners in physics E. Fermi and C. Rubbia). Pisa boasts several
museums. Among them the “Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti per il
Calcolo” exhibits a collection of instruments used in science,
between whose a pneumatic machine of Van Musschenbroek and a compass
probably belonged to Galilei. On June 16th Pisa holds the Luminara
festival, held for the patron saint's day (San Ranieri). At sunset,
all the lights along the Arno are dimmed and more than 10.000
candles are lit, which makes for some spectacular sights from the
Ponte di Mezzo. Various activities are organized in the streets and
the night ends with a big fireworks. Pisa experiences a
Mediterranean climate, characteristic of central and southern Italy.
Average temperature in June:14 °C ÷ 26 °C. From Pisa it is easy to
get the gentle hills of Garfagnana, very renowned sea-side resorts
as Cinque Terre in Liguria and Viareggio on Versilia coast, the spa
establishments of Montecatini, the picturesque cities of Lucca and
Siena, the town of white marble (Carrara), the town of Vinci with
the museum of Leonardo, the Etruscan city of Volterra, the area of
Chianti (one of the most famous Italian wines), and many other
landscape beauties. In one hour you can get the city of Florence,
the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and a cultural, artistic
and architectural gem. Together with many monuments and worldwide
artistic masterpieces, here you can find the “Uffizi” and the “Pitti
Palace” that are two of the most famous paintings and sculpture
galleries in the world. Florence is also the capital of “made in
Italy” leather and fashion products.
