As part of the social program (costs included in the registration fees) :

September,03, 2008
Guided Tour of Bologna for participants and accompanying persons
11.30 a.m. from the Conference Site, via Belmeloro, N. 14

Walking along via Zamboni, one of the most important streets of the city center, we will see Bologna’s Opera theatre, opened in 1763; we will visit Santa Cecilia's Oratory with a series of important Renaissance frescoes; in piazza Rossini we will talk about the Music Conservatory of Bologna, where young Gioachino Rossini studied. Passing through the beautiful piazza Santo Stefano, we reach the Archiginnasio Palace, Renaissance seat of Bologna's University, and home to the wonderful, baroque Anatomical Theater, where doctors would lecture students of medicine in the XVI and XVII centuries. Inside the building we will also see the Stabat Mater Hall, great meeting hall for the Law students, with magnificent baroque coats of arms and decorations.

Around 1-1:30 cocktail at Zanarini's, Bologna's most elegant cafe' and bar.

Afternoon: visit of the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte, located inside Palazzo Comunale: these important painting's collections are on display in a series of richly decorated Baroque rooms, which formed in the past centuries the Cardinal's Apartment, where the Governors of Bologna use to live. The Bolognese School of painting including Carracci, Creti, Crespi, is well represented in the Collezioni.

For Accompanying Persons
September 02, 2008 Guided Tour
9.00 meeting at the Conference site, via Belmeloro, N. 14

A pleasant walking tour to enjoy the authentic atmosphere of Bologna, home to the oldest University of Europe, and of one of the best preserved medieval centers of Italy, with its 30 miles of old porticoes and many medieval towers.

Piazza Maggiore (The main square) and Piazza Nettuno: Palazzo Comunale (the City Hall, built from the Medieval to the Baroque age) and  other important civic buildings such as Palazzo Re Enzo, Palazzo del Podesta', Palazzo dei Banchi, Palazzo dei Notai; Basilica di San Petronio, (a late gothic masterpiece designed by the architect Antonio di Vincenzo); Fontana del Nettuno (The Neptune Fountain, a wonderful late Renaissance fountain with sculptures by Giambologna). The old market quarters, with the best food stores and the delightful Bolognese food specialties.
Then on to the Piazza and the religious complex of Santo Stefano (medieval group of seven churches, also called the "New Jerusalem" of Bologna), to reach Piazza della Mercanzia (with the beautiful gothic Merchant's Guild Palace) and the famous medieval Garisenda and Asinelli towers, symbols of the city. (The itinerary may be completed in 2.5 to 3 hours)