6th International Conference on Vibration Measurements by Laser Techniques & Short Course Ancona, 21- 25 June 2004

TOURS
Three tours to places of interest in the Region are organised for accompanying persons on the Conference days.
A minimum of 10 participants for each of the follwoing tours is required  in order to proceed.
If the minimum number of participants is not reached, alternative tours to Ancona historic centre will be organised.
There is also a further tour, which is organised on Wednesday 23rd afternoon for Conference participants. Accompanying persons who wish to join in are highly welcome.

Accompanying persons willing to take part in the tours will be picked up in the morning together with the Conference participants (the pick-up timetables will be available at the hotels) and will be brought back to the hotels or to the Conference venue after the end of each tour.
 

All tours and social events can be booked by returning the relative registration form or by contacting the Conference Secretariat at: aivela@mm.univpm.it

In addition, guided tours for accompanying persons can be booked  and paid for directly at the Conference Desk at least one day in advance. The related costs are not included in the Conference and in the Course registration fees.

If you wish to participate, please book soon!

For any enquiry, please contact the A.I.VE.LA. Conference Secretariat.

TOUR 1

WHEN: 22nd June 2004
WHERE: Guided visit to Recanati, Count Giacomo Leopardi’s Museum and Tenor Beniamino Gigli’s house.
TIME: 9.45 am to 2.30 pm
COST:  Euro 33,00 (includes bus, entrance to Leopardi's house and entrance to Beniamino Gigli's house)
Meeting point at the Registration desk

RECANATI
Recanati immediately recalls the great romantic poet Giacomo Leopardi and the tenor Beniamino Gigli. Recanati was a very important town in the early Middle Ages and during the following years. It was founded in the 12th century in order to withstand the sieges of the inhabitants of Osimo. Federico II allowed the town to build a port (Porto Recanati). Later on Recanati became the site of battles between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. Having joined the Bishop's throne of this town to that of Loreto in 1592, the importance of the town rapidly decreased.
 

Count Giacomo Leopardi  Giacomo Leopardi was born into a noble Italian family on 2nd June 1798. He was educated privately with tutors and showed remarkable talent from an early age. By the age of sixteen he had mastered Greek and Latin, amongst other languages and had begun using this knowledge to translate many classical works. Leopardi also wrote his own original plays and poems. Leopardi used his early poems, such as “All' Italia” and “Sul Monumento di Dante”, to express his love for Italy and his desire for her to return to greatness. Sadly, during his early creative period, liberal writer Leopardi was struck down with cerebrospinal - a condition that afflicted him all his life. He also had problems with his sight and he eventually became blind in one eye. Therefore, because of these physical deformatives, he found it difficult to associate with women. His romantic frustrations are recalled in a number of his poems, including A Silvia (1828). Feeling imprisoned by his home time of Recanti, Leopardi went on to take up residence in a number of cities. In 1822 he moved to Rome, where he lived mosty among Germans and published his collection Cazoni in 1824. From 1825 he lived in Bologna and accepted an offer to edit Cicero's works. In 1830 he took up residence in Florence, later settling in Naples.

He died of edema on 14th June 1837. A friend of his later commented: "His whole life was not a career like that of most men; it was truly a precipitate course towards death." For, despite being remembered as a representative of romanticism, Leopardi's continual ill health and lack of self esteem meant that he was never actually intimate with a woman. In the end Leopardi saw suffering as the "essence and natural order of nature."
He wrote 'The Great Idylls': 'To Silvia', 'The Solitary Thrush' and 'Saturday in the Village' are some poems of this period. At the same time Leopardi was writing "Zibaldone", a vast notebook which recorded his thoughts and ideas on poetry, society, philological questions and psychological enquiries. This work extends over 4,500 pages and was published posthumously.

"Meanwhile the time of my youth flies,
More precious than fame and laurels,
Dearer than glorious daylight or breath itself"
--Remembrances

 His works have been, translated and admired by writers, scholars, and poets all over the world. One of his poems, 'The Infinite', has been translated into more than forty languages.
 
 

Tenor Beniamino Gigli Gigli began singing at the age of seven at Recanati Cathedral, where his father was sacristan. After lessons with Agnese Bonucci, he won a scholarship in Rome and studied with Cotogni and Rosati. He won an international competition at Parma in 1914, and later that year made a successful debut in La Gioconda at Rovigo. For the next few years he sang in Italy and Spain, climaxing his early career in the memorial performance of Mefistofele at La Scala in 1918. Gigli sang in South America in 1919-20, then made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the fall of 1920, again in Mefistofele. He continued as principal tenor at the Met until 1932, when he (along with several other Italians) left due to substantial pay cuts necessitated by the Depression. He then concentrated on his European career, performing in Italy  and, after the War, in England, where he remained popular until his retirement in 1956.

The Home Town is home to the Museum Gigli on the third floor next to other temporary exhibitions. It is a neo-classical project from a design by Pietro Collina and changed by the intervention of architect Gaetano Koch (1849-1910) that made it possible to make the main staircase of the Parlour and Aula Magna. It was completely restored on occasion of the first 100th anniversary for Leopardi, when the celebrations started in 1898 with the poet Giosuè Carducci.

The Museum dedicated to the tenor Beniamino Gigli (1890-1957) was opened in 1961 when the heirs donated the Commune curios, memories, clothes, stage objects, decorations, degrees, photos and portraits of the famous tenor from Recanati. In the rooms it is also possible to see articles and reviews of newspapers from all over the world documenting the great success of the singer. In the last room the dressing room of the artist. Moreover, the museum is provided with the personal discotheque of the tenor and holds 120 records.
 

TOUR 2
WHEN: 23rd June 2004
WHERE: Guided visit to  Ancona historic centre together with the Conference participants
TIME: 5.00 pm - 8.00 pm
COST:  Euro 10,00 (includes bus and entrance tickets)
Meeting point at the Hotels (the pick-up time table will be available at the Hotels)

There is no limit number for participants for this tour.

TOUR 3
 

WHEN: 24th June 2004 WHERE: Guided visit to  the Frasassi caves,  Mini-tour sanctuary Madonna of Frasassi – Tempietto del Valadier TIME: 9.15 am to 14.30 pm COST:  Euro 33,00 (includes bus, entrance to the cave) Meeting point at the Registration desk THE FRASASSI CAVES The Frasassi caves are some of the most spectacular caves you are ever likely to visit. So far, some 13 km of limestone caverns have been explored and it is reckoned that they may run for up to 35 km. Only one and a half km of this crystalline wonderland is open to the general public, but it is still worth the trip. Equipped with walkways and theatrical lighting, the caves include the awesome Grotta Grande del Vento, Europe's largest single cavern. It is so vast that Milan Cathedral would comfortably fit inside and hosts some of the most extravagantly fanciful stalagmites and stalactites you are ever likely to see. The tour of the Cave is made in groups and takes 70 minutes. Every group is  accompanied by professional guides supplied by the Organisation. The track is 1.500 metres long and is completely cemented and covered with a mantle which avoids slipping. The inside temperature is 14°C and it's necessary then to wear a pullover at least.

 
 

SANCTUARY MADONNA DI FRASASSI The Sanctuary is sited in the wide mouth of a natural tunnel, the main branch of which is 410 metres long. That is the famous Cave of Frasassi, which presents itself as a volcanic crater that exploding broke the mountain in two parts. In the wide mouth there are two churches: the Benedictine Monastery’s, or “carcer” of Saint mary “Boccasaxorum”, which historian Bradimarte affirms it was founded in Pian del Carmine; and the oratory of Saint Mary “Infrasaxa”, belonging to the same nuns, inside the homonym cave”. In 1828, under pope Leone XII, the French architect Valadier built a bigger octagonal church with a dome made of plumb. The new temple was made of white travertine blocks extracted from a stone quarry above the cave.  On the altar there is a venerated statue of the Virgin with the Infant Jesus, a copy of the original by Antonio Canova's school

 

TOUR 4

WHEN: 25th June 2004
WHERE: "2 sorelle" beach - weather permitting
TIME: 9.15  am to 13.30 pm
COST:  Euro 35,00 (includes bus, cruise along the Riviera del Conero)
Meeting point at the Registration desk
 

Numana, from a humble fishermen village, has become a modern vacation centre, preserving a good balance with the historical site. Numana is also one of the most equipped ports for sailing and boating. The “DUE SORELLE" BEACH is the most singular, attractive and secluded stretch of unique coast: a white pebble beach with two spectacular rocks in front of it. The steep cliffs, the caves, the white rocks covered by pinewood overlooking a deep and transparent seawater make this beach, which can be reached only by boat, the ideal place to discover a still uncontaminated nature.

If we do not reach the minimum number of participants or if the weather is not good, alternative tours to Ancona historic centre will be organised.
 

SOCIAL EVENTS

GALA DINNER– 22nd June 2004
 

The Gala Dinner will be held on 21st of June at  Grand Hotel Passetto a first-class hotel hosted in  a modern and elegant building ideally located for both business and pleasure, very close to the historical part of Ancona, in a quiet residential area, overlooking the Adriatico Sea. Hotel Passetto offers a high degree of comfort and service, with all the kindness and the efficiency of 40 years of precious experience. Food has a definite local flavour being mainly composed of old traditional recipes. The events are free to the full registration fee participants. For accompanying persons, the contribution requested for the gala dinner is 50,00 euro per person.

 

GALA DINNER– 23rd June 2004
 

The Gala Dinner will be held on  23rd of June at the the Fortino Napoleonico in Portonovo. The Napoleonic Fort was built around 1810 and became part of a land and sea system of fortifications for the control of the Adriatic and the Mediterranean. The reasons why Portonovo was chosen are twofold: the first, to defend Ancona from the south, the second to prevent British vessels sailing in the Adriatic from coming to Portonovo to get their supply of water from the spring situated no more that 200 meters from the Fort. In 1960 the Fort underwent major restoration which has been carried out fully respecting the original structures. A private bus service will be provided. Food specialties   include fish and vegetables dishes, home-made pasta and authentic local delicacies. The events are free to the full registration fee participants. For accompanying persons, the contribution requested for the gala dinner is 50,00 euro per person.

 

CONFERENCE HOMEPAGE