Social Programme for participants and accompanying persons

Monday 1 September
7,30PM Welcome Cocktail at Grand Hotel Tenuta Lupo
9,00PM Show at the Archaeological Park in Paestum

Wednesday 3 September
8,00PM Pizza Dinner in the old village of Agropoli
10,00PM Show at the Medioeval Castle

Thursday 4 September
9,00AM For all those who wish to visit some places of the region, a transfer service to the
            Archaeological Park in Paestum, the Touristic Port of Salerno (ferryboat to Amalfi and
            Positano), the Archeological Excavations in Pompei, will be available if booked in advance
            at the Organizing Secretariat
3,00PM Return to the Hotel
8,30PM Dinner with typical products from Campania Region at an old baronial farm

Friday 5 September
8,30PM Gala Dinner at Savoy Beach Hotel

Social Programme for accompanying persons
Different Tours and Excursions will be organized for accompanying persons. Paestum is near interesting and famous places such as Amalfi, Capri, Positano, Pompei, Ravello and other less well-known places but with an extraordinary charme such as Agropoli, Padula, Pertosa and Vietri sul Mare. It is also possible to reach easily Naples before or after the Symposium.

Monday 1 September                                                                                         Paestum
9,00AM departure from Ariston Hotel
9,15AM visit to the Archaeological Park
11,30AM visit to an Organic Farm to see the manifacturing of mozzarella
12,30PM tasting of dairy products
1,30PM visit to the Museo della Civiltà Contadina
3,00PM visit to the National Archaeological Museum
5,00PM return to the Hotel

Tuesday 2 September                                                                                            Capri
7,00AM departure from Ariston Hotel
8,10AM departure from Salerno
9,30AM arrival in Capri and visit to the Blue Grotto
12,30PM visit to the island
4,30PM departure to Salerno
6,10PM arrival in Salerno and return to the Hotel

Wednesday 3 September                                                                                    Pompei
9,00AM departure from Ariston Hotel
10,40AM arrival in Pompei and visit to the Excavations
3,00PM return to the Hotel

Thursday 4 September                                                                Amalfi and Ravello
9,00AM departure from Ariston Hotel
10,00AM arrival in Salerno and departure to Amalfi
10,45AM arrival in Amalfi and visit to the Cathedral, to the Cloister and to the Paper Museum
2,00PM departure to Ravello and visit to Villa Cimbrone and Villa Rufolo
5,00PM return to the Hotel

Friday 5 September                                                     Salerno and Vietri sul Mare
9,00AM departure from Ariston Hotel
10,30AM arrival in Salerno and visit to the Cathedral
11,30AM shopping in the Storical Centre
1,00PM visit to Museum Ceramics in Vietri sul Mare
2,00PM visit to handicraft workshops

Agropoli

Agropoli, touristic and commercial centre, the most important one in Cilento area is placed on a lovely geographical position, in province of Salerno. The handicraft workshops where the wrought iron is worked with consummate skill are numerous. The production of dried figs and dried figs covered with chocolate is very well known; this is an old tradition either in Agropoli and in Cilento area. Figs, a delicious product of this land, are used and perfected through the time making an original ("DOC") product, they are in fact very much appreciated and exported in the world. Agropoli’s most impressive attraction, is the ancient village, this is the upper part of Agropoli: "Acropolis" whose name comes from the Greek Language "High City"; it was built during the Bizantine period (probably in the 5th century After Christ to stop the Longobard advance.

Amalfi

Capri

Capri lies six km out to sea, an elongated rocky protuberance 7 Km long and 3 km across. Apart from Villa Jovis, in Capri you could visit the restored monastery of Certosa, or the Gardens of Augusto, for their view. In Anacapri there is the Villa San Michele, once home to the Swedish writer Axel Munthe, built around the remains of a Roman villa. The world-famous island, was the residence of Emperor Augustus and, afterwards, of his successor Tiberius. The imperial apartments of Villa Jovis (Jupiter’s Villa) have a loggia overlooking the sea with a beautiful panorama of the whole island. From the Augustus Garden there is a fabulous view of the Faraglioni, the famous rocks of Capri. From Monte Solaro, reached by chairlift overlooking charming terraces and gardens, there is a spectacular panorama of the island and the Bay of Naples. The Blue Grotto can easily be reached by boat from Capri’s harbour.

Padula

The Certosa of Padula is one of the most important monuments of Southern Italy. It was founded in 1300 and is the result of huge works of several generations. It includes splendid cloisters, some in baroque style, and the famous spiral staircase leading to the library.

Pertosa

Already referred to by Seneca, the caves branch out like tentacles forming many "arms" wich according to recent studies date back to over 35 million year ago. They are natural cavities formed by Karst phenomena which were inhabited by man in the Stone Age; in later history first the Greeks and then the Romans used them for cult gatherings. Because of the presence of an underground river, a raft is used to allow visitors to see the explored part that measures 2560 metres.

Pompei

Pompei was probably founded by the Oscans around 800 B.C. and was influenced by Greek (600 B.C.) and Etruscan (525 - 474 B.C.) culture, until it was occupied by the Samnites around 400 B.C. It became a famous tourist resort for rich Roman citizens who imported their way of living, organization and architectural systems to the town. It was commercially a very busy town with about 25.000 inhabitants. In 62 A.D. a big earthquake had already caused a lot of destruction in the town and on August 24, 79 A.D. the terrible eruption of Vesuvius covered the town in 2 days with a layer of mud about 6 - 7 m deep. The population died on its way to salvation or at home due to suffocation. The excavations started in the eighteenth century on the orders of the King of Napoli but didn't become systematic until 1860. The discovery of Pompei had such enormous resonance in Europe that a Pompeiian fashion was developed. Up to the present day more or less 60% of the antique town has been excavated.

Positano

This town on the Amalfi Coast made of small white houses with gardens, which for lack of space seem stacked one on top of the other, climbs in an incredibly steep pyramid up the mountainside, resembling an immense reef. If it were not for the many stairways that flow through it like turgid veins, it could easily be taken for a huge sea sculpted Faraglione. Only one small street leads to the vicinity of the beach. Everything else is stairways, some of them rather arduous. Positano is unique in the world. After visiting it for the first time John Steinbeck wrote: "When you happen to discover a place like Positano, don’t tell anyone. Otherwise it will fill with tourists, and you can say goodbye to your wonderful discovery!"

 

Ravello

In history, Ravello mirrors Amalfi, as its economic power and influence peaked at about the same time, the Rufolo family being the driving force. The town is now quite different from Amalfi in that it is much smaller, being little more than a village, and is spread out over its hilltop setting with a multitude of gardens and floral walkways.The major sights are: the villas Rufolo (13thcentury) and Cimbrone (19th century, in Moorish style) – both have enchanting gardens, laid out in the late 19th century by a Scotsman and an Englishman, respectively. The Villa Cimbrone is a "must" because of its large and now rather unkempt gardens, resplendent with statues in a spectacular setting. A plaque let into a wall records Greta Garbo' s stay, when she was rescued by Leopold Stokowski from the clamour of Hollywood to spend times of "joyful secrecy" at Cimbrone.

Salerno

Salerno, is a wonderful town situated in the middle of two enchanting coasts, the Amalfi Coast and Cilento Coast. In 194 B.C. it became a Roman colony and was given the name of Salernum. It progressed, enriching its culture and tradition also during the Goth, Byzantine, Longobard and Norman occupations. With Arechi II, Longobard prince, Salerno reached its great splendour becoming the study centre of the famous Medical School. The Longobard prince ordered the fortification of the town, which already had a castle. On the 13th December 1706 the Norman leader of a troop of mercenaries named Roberto il Guiscardo conquered Salerno, putting an end to the centuries-old Longobard rule. From 1081 the majestic Cathedral houses the sacred relics of the apostle Matthew patron of the town of Salerno and a great boost was also given to science, raising the Schola Salernitana, considered the most ancient medical institution of the western Europe, to its greatest splendour.

 

Vietri sul Mare

The towns of the Coast and their inhabitants have never had strong relations with the interior of Campania. The harsh orography of the environmental almost without means of communication, as discouraged in land expantion but at sometime, stimulated a substantial increase in relations with over sease population. The Medieval was a decisive period in the cultural development of the these people. They were able to rely on huge merchant fleets and successfully developed a network of commercial relations with the Orient which contributed to the widening of knowledge in the maritime, judicial and artisanal fields. Today, centuries later, this area boasts flourishing artisanal traditions, which at the dawn of the third millennium, along with a well-established and ancient tourism, makeup the basis of the local economy.

Don’t miss the opportunity!
Enjoy Naples

Many hotels are situated in the heart of the Parthenopean capital and within a few steps from the famous Plebiscito Square, Chiaia Street, The Royal Palace and Castelnuovo, 100 metres from Naples Harbour (for trips to Capri, Ischia, Procida and Sorrento), 10 minutes from the railway station in Garibaldi Square, 15 minutes from the International Capodichino Airport and just 10 minutes from the access to the principal motorway system.
These hotels are within a few steps from the fashionable and thriving life of the city centre ideal for those guests who desire to discover Naples.