Venue

 

SPEEDAM 2010 International Symposium will be held in Pisa (Italy), at the “Palazzo dei Congressi”. 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.