VENUE
AND GENERAL INFORMATION
|
NOSE2012 will be held
at
NH Hotels
Foro Italico, 90133 Palermo, Italy
click to view the map
The NH Palermo has 226 spacious rooms and a congress center with 11 meeting
rooms, all equipped with natural light, located on the picturesque Gulf of the
city and enjoys breathtaking views across the sea. The hotel is close to the
historic district and the central train station. The hotel offers a large outdoor
swimming pool, parking which care only reserved for the hotels clients.
How to reach NH Hotels:
By car
From the motorway, follow the signs for "Porto", the hotel is situated
along the sea front about 1km from the port.
For navigator users: look for Via Foro Umberto I°
By train
The hotel is very close to the central station - about 900mt, 5 minutes by taxi
and 15 minutes by foot (along Via Lincoln).
From the airport
Take the underground until the central station and then catch a taxi; taking
a taxi directly from the airport to the hotel will take around 40 minutes.
Distance to the airport: 35.00km Distance to the train station: 1.00km Distance to the city center: 2.00km GPS coordinates Latitude:38.115304901923324 Longitude:13.374996185302734 |
How to
reach Palermo
By plane
Falcone
Borsellino Airport
Palermo Airport is about 35km for Palermo. For all the connections with
the airport please click
here
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Palermo is the regional capital of Sicily, which is the largest and most
heavily populated (about 5,000,000) island in the Mediterranean.
The area has been under numerous dominators over the centuries, including Roman,
Carthaginian, Byzantine, Greek, Arab, Norman, Swabian and Spanish masters. Due
to this past, to the cultural exchange that for millennia has taken place in
the area, the city is still an exotic mixtute of many cultures. Many of the
monuments still exist giving the city somewhat unique appearance.
The city of Palermo, including
the province of Palermo, has around 1,300,000 inhabitants and has about 200
Km of coastline. The old town of Palermo is one of the largest in Europe, full
of references to the past. Palermo reflects the diverse history of the region
in that the city contains many masterpieces from different periods, including
romanesque, gothic, renaissance and baroque architecture as well as examples
of modern art. The city also hosts it's rich vegetation of palm trees, prickly
pears, bananas, lemon trees and so on. The abundance of exotic species was also
noticed by the world-famous German writer Goethe who in April 1787 visited the
newly opened botanical gardens, describing them as "the most beautiful
place on earth".
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WHAT TO SEE |
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Teatro Massimo
It is one of the largest theatres in Europe (7730 mq), a neoclassical masterpiece
started by Giovanni Battista Basile in 1875 and completed by his son Ernesto
in 1897. Recently restored, it is now the lyrical temple of the city, staging
the opera and ballet official season.
Politeama Garibaldi
Standing in the main square of the city, which was and is one of the largest
and most beautiful in Italy, this Neoclassical theatre was built by Giuseppe
Almeyda between 1867 and 1874. Before the restoration of the more famous Massimo
Theatre, it was the most important theatre in the city. The entrance is framed
by a triumphal arch, surmounted by a bronze Apollos quadriga.
The theatre represents a development of the typical XIX century theatre architecture,
as it was destined to stage different kinds of shows and to allow the vision
of such show to all social classes.
Cappella
Palatina
Built in 1130, year of King Roger IIs crowning, inside the Norman Palace,
it is definitely one of the most famous sights in Palermo. Covered in dazzling
Byzantine mosaics (akin to those in the church of the Martorana and in the Monreale
Cathedral), it is a symbol of the political and cultural union operated by the
Normans.
Cattedrale
When walking in Corso Vittorio Emanuele (the Cassaro) towards the Norman Palace,
you will unexpectedly run into the Cathdral, with its spire towers, its double
lancet windows, its intertwined and pointed arches. Rising among the narrow
streets and the 3 or 4 storey buildings of the Cassaro, it is fantastically
majestic. Built in 1184, it still preserves its original structure in spite
of the changes brought along the centuries, the most relevant of which was the
addition of the aisles and of the baroque dome at the end of the XVIII century.
The Cathedral features some sculptures by Gagini, together with Henry VI, Frederick
II and Constance of Aragons tombs, but also some verses from the Koran
engraved on a column and the silver urn housing the remains of S. Rosalia, patroness
of Palermo.
Chiesa e Chiostro di S.Giovanni degli Eremiti
Built on the will of Roger II, the Norman king who considered art as a mean
to rule, between 1130 and 1148, the church is famous for the typical Arabian-Fatimite
red domes. Its round domes, representing the sky, placed upon quadrangular towers,
representing the Earth, make it one of the symbols of Palermo. The building
is surrounded by a garden, rich is exotic colours and smells such as the one
of jasmine, oranges and pomegranates; it also features a small cloister.
Museo delle
Marionette "A. Pasqualino"
Set in 1975 by the Association for the preservation of folk traditions, the
Antonio Pasqualino International puppet museum has constantly taken its inspiration
from modern museology and theatre activities, becoming one of the best examples
of museography research on theatre. The museum hosts 3500 items from all around
the world.
Il Capo
Situated in the present day Palazzo Reale-Monte di Pietà neighbourhood,
it presents the typical Arabian market plan and stretches all the way to the
square bearing its same name, among via Beati Paoli, via Porta Carini, via S.Agostino,
via Cappuccinelle and discesa dellEternità. Rising in the upper
part of the ancient Hârat-as-Saqâlibah, the Slavonians neighbourhood,
named Seralcadio in the Norman period, its name (Il Capo, the top) stems from
the fact that the district where it was created occupied the upper part of the
neighbourhood. This market surely has Arabian origins; it is named platea publica
Seralcadi in some end of the XIII century documents and later, in another document,
platea magna. It is proven that it was a grascia (food) and fish market, and
today it is still renowned for the very good quality of the fish.
It was correctly stated that the Capo market resisted to all attempts to modify
it, from the building of a bigger market nearby in 1874 to the urban rearrangement
of the Concezione neighbourhood in 1935, and finally the 1943 bombings and the
depopulation of the central neighbourhoods of the city. Together with Ballarò,
this market will help you imagining how life was in Saracen Palermo, with the
most typical Palermitan smells, tastes, colours and voices. Visiting this market
will get you in touch with the people who live among old merchants and new traders,
both experiencing the problems of a modern city and living with and giving new
life to their most sincere traditions.
Galleria
Regionale Siciliana
The Sicilian Regional Gallery is housed by Palazzo Abatellis, built in 1495
by Matteo Carneliveri, in the gothic-Catalan style, but also presenting some
Renaissance features. On the ground floor sculpture from the XII to the XVI
century is displayed. Major ancient works of art feature the wooden architectural
elements with geometric patterns carved on, dating back to the XII century.
Among the XV century works of art, there is the famous marble bust of Eleonora
of Aragon, by Francesco Laurana. The first floor features the picture gallery,
housing works of art from the XII to the XVI century, showing the evolution
of Sicilian painting schools. The museum also houses Our Lady of the Annunciation
by Antonello da Messina.
Palazzo Reale o dei Normanni
Built in the IX century on Punic and Roman remains, it has always been the see
of Sicilian and Palermitan governors: emirs, kings and viceroys lived in this
building, which today houses the Sicilian Regional Parliament. The Palace features
the dazzling Palatine Chapel and many outstanding rooms, such as king Rogers
room, the Pompeian room, the Room of the Duke of Montalto and the room of Hercules.
Palazzo
Abatellis
Palazzo Abatellis was built in 1495 by Matteo Carneliveri, in the gothic-Catalan
style, but it also present some Renaissance features. On the ground floor sculpture
from the XII to the XVI century is displayed. Major ancient works of art feature
the wooden architectural elements with geometric patterns carved, dating back
to the XII century. Among the XV century works of art, there is the famous marble
bust of Eleonora of Aragon, by Francesco Laurana. The first floor features the
picture gallery, housing works of art from the XII to the XVI century, showing
the evolution of Sicilian painting schools. The museum also houses Our Lady
of the Annunciation by Antonello da Messina.
Museo Archeologico Regionale Salinas
The Palermo Archaeological Museum is based in the XVIII century Convent of the
Oratorians, annexed to the church of S. Ignazio allOlivella. It features
several collections, which only partially manage to give a global and coherent
vision of Western Sicily ancient history, but which document all the main steps
of archaeological research on the island. Such research was promoted in he XIX
and XX century by important representatives of Sicilian culture such as Michele
Amari, Antonio Salinas and Ettore Gabrici. Two large statues representing Zeus
and dating back to II century B.C. are worth seeing, together with Selinuntes
metops, representing Demetra an Persephone, Apllos quadriga, Perseus killng
the Gorgons, Hercules and the Cercopians, etc.
Roman-hellenistic statues coming from the Tindari and Solunto sites are displayed
n the main cloister.
Castello
della Zisa - Museo d'Arte Islamica
Several significant Islamic artefacts, coming from the Mediterranean basin,
are displayed in this museum. These feature the elegant masrabiyya , wooden
grated screens, composed of hundreds of reels forming refined and light ornamental
designs and motifs, together with common tools or some furnishings (candlesticks,
bowls, basins, mortars), mainly made in copper and engraved, often enriched
with gold and silver thin layers and threads.
Orto Botanico di Palermo
Set up in 1875 on a design by architects Leon Du Fourny and Venanzio Marvuglia,
it is one of the most significant botanical gardens in Europe for the richness
and abundance of vegetable specimen coming from all over the world.
Useful links
http://www.comune.palermo.it/
http://www.amat.pa.it/
http://www.trenitalia.com/