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Abstracts & posters
Excursion Programme
(All excursions will leave from the Palacio Municipal de Congressos)| REGISTERED ACCOMPANYING PERSONS TOUR | |
| (included in registration fee Acc. Persons) | |
| Monday, June 25, 2007 | 09.00 – 13.00 hours |
| PANORAMIC CITY TOUR OF MADRID AND REINA SOFIA MUSEUM (HD City tour) | |
| On this tour the object is to show you some of the varied
facets of Madrid by taking you on an extensive panoramic tour of this
rapidly expanding city whose population is now approx. 4 million, and
spreads over an area of 200 square miles. There are several different styles
of architecture to be seen in its buildings and monuments: Medieval,
Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-classic, Romantic and Modern, and different
socio-economic districts, such as the Madrid of the artists, the students,
the antiquarians, the wealthy and the gypsies. We will drive along famous
streets like the Gran Via and see beautiful plazas (squares) like Neptune
and Cibeles. We will see modern Madrid with its wide avenues like the Castellana, and parks and gardens like the Retiro. Included on our route are the "Monumental" bullring, Real Madrid Football Stadium. On the 10th September 1992, the Royal Highnesses King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Sofia inaugurated the Reina Sofia National Museum Art Centre with a permanent collection which came to substitute the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art. To date, the artistic ground exhibited there has been constantly growing. Perhaps it was the transferring of Picasso"s "Guernica" to the Reina Sofia for its permanent collection, which was the decisive milestone in its being now considered as one of the most important contemporary art museums in the world. Includes:
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| Tuesday, June 26 and Wednesday, June 27, 2007 | 09.00 – 13.00 hours |
| WALKING MADRID DE LOS AUSTRIAS AND PALACIO REAL | |
| Price : ¤ 38,30 per person (including VAT) The Austrian Quarters. From 1561 onwards nothing would be the same for on this date King Philip II ordered that the capital of the huge Hispanic Empire would be established in this Castilian town. We offer you the opportunity to discover the history of the old Madrid, on foot and accompanied by expert professional tour guides. This is the old part of the city constructed in the 16-17century. We start with a walk through the winding streets, stopping at the Plaza Mayor, built in the 17th Century by king Philip III and today's meeting place for artists. The atmosphere is often frantic due to the existing variety of Mesones (Tapas Bars). Our next stop will be La Plaza de la Villa. On this square, there are 3 important buildings: Torre de Lujanes, built in mudejar style, Casa de Cisneros in renaissance style and the Town Hall which we will visit. Afterwards we wander through these winding streets to end up at S. Andres church and the little chapel next to it, where the Patron of Madrid is buried. The Church of S. Francisco el Grande is also out-standing because of its architecture and because of the magnificent Goya paintings which are kept inside. The Royal Palace of Madrid is a towering structure with already 250 years of history and considered one of the best in Europe. This Royal Palace of the Borbons, today known as the Royal Palace or the Palacio de Oriente (Palace of Orient), although it is standing on the western part of Madrid, our capital city. The Royal Palace of Madrid is the official residence of His Majesty The King of Spain, who uses it only for official ceremonies, but does not reside there. The origins of the Palace go back to the 9th century, during which the Islamic Kingdom of Toledo built a defensive fort on the site, later used by the Kings of Castile. It was on this ancient fortress that the Old Alcazar was constructed in the 16th century. The Palacio has 870 windows, 240 balconies, 44 sets of stairs and 110 doors, it maintains its janitors pretty busy during the week. The building occupies a square area of 135,000 meters,(the same as the old Alcazar of the Hapsburgs) which in the Christmas of 1734 was destroyed by a fire. Four years later during the reign of Ferdinand VI, construction of the Royal Palace began following the plans drawn by Juan Bautista Sachetti with the collaboration of the collaboration of Ventura Rodriguez, Sabatini, and Father Scirmiento. But this time the only wood used was that of the doors. Not even the ceiling of the vaults is flammable! They did not wish to have anything that had to do with fire. Building work took from 1738 to 1755, and King Charles III took up residence in the Palace in 1764. Includes:
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| Tuesday, June 26 and Wednesday June 27, 2007 | 09.00 . 17.00 hours |
| TOLEDO (FD Tour) | |
| Price : ¤ 112,50 per person (including VAT) After breakfast, departure from Madrid by coach to Toledo. We will drive along the highway south of Madrid which takes us to the Imperial city of Toledo, a beautiful and perfectly preserved medi-eval city the whole town having been declared a national monument. It is superbly situated on a high hill and surrounded on three sides by the Tagus River. This ancient town remains much the same as it was centuries ago, with its narrow, winding streets, small squares of all periods, mainly 15th and early 16th centuries It has rightly been described as a "museum city". We will visit the Gothic Cathedral, the second largest in Spain, which houses many important works of art and an important collection of Greco's paintings. Our next stop, will be at Santo Tome Church, where the masterpiece of el Greco "The burial of the Count Orgaz" is to be seen. We will walk through the winding streets of the Jewish Quarters. We will have the opportunity to visit the Synagogue Santa Ma la Blanca, the oldest one in Europe. At the end of the visit, the coach will be waiting for the group at S. Martin Bridge, and a panoramic tour overlooking the city will take place. Includes:
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| Tuesday, June 26 and Wednesday, June 27, 2007 | 09.00 . 17.00 hours |
| SEGOVIA AND LA GRANJA PALACE (FD Tour) | |
| Price : ¤ 114,30 per person (including VAT) The splendid city of Segovia can be defined by two of its monuments: the Roman Aqueduct, still crossing the city after over a thousand years and the eleventh century fortress "The Alcazar". The Gothic Cathedral and Romanesque Churches are a further attraction. We will start at the Fortress "The Alcazar": the most dramatically placed of all Spanish royal fortress-palaces. Residence of the Christian Kings in Medieval times, it is shaped like a ship and inspired Walt Dysney's fairy castles. After, we walk to the Main Square, where we will find the entrance to the last Gothic Cathedral in Spain "The lady of the Spanish Cathedrals" because of its silhoutte. Then, we walk through the main shopping street, Calle Real, which breaches the old wall by the Casa de los Picos; picos are pyramidal points into which all the stones of the facade are shaped. We pass by several renaissance Palaces, and reach the famous Roman Aqueduct, the largest and most complete Roman building in Spain, built over 2.000 years ago. The structure is entirely of granite blocks without mortar or clamps. After lunch you will visit the Royal Palace of La Granja. La Granja Palace: Philip V found almost virgin ground for the implementation of his own ideas. The palace has been by the Frenchman Boutelou and made between 1.727 and 1.743. The hand of Philip's second wife, Isabel Farnesio is discernible, specially in the bronze fountains done by disciples of Rene Carlier, which have been judged superior to those of Versailles. Includes:
(For tickets and more information please come to the Social Programme Desk) |
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