QUO VADIS? - Discover Italy with ESN

Quo Vadis?

Discover Italy with ESN

ERASMUS ANNIVERSARY

Preface Seeking opportunities for personal and academic growth abroad, such as those offered by the Erasmus+ mobility, is a major challenge. In such a decision many factors play a role: personal ones, academic ones and those linked to professional prospectives.

In order to lead its fellow foreign student colleagues, ESN Italy collected in this guide all the useful informations and suggestions to make the best out of a growth experience in our country.

Italy is per se a very desirable destination: our academic enviroment offers the reality of absolute excellence, our art cities are the ideal place where to live and train. This guide is an agile, accesible and complete instrument that makes moving to our country even easier gathering all the existing opportunities.

Because of this, the National Erasmus+ Agency Indire is glad to assist once more ESN Italy, a reality that has always been involved in supporting international students who choose Italy as growth projext.

Flaminio Galli Direttore Generale Agenzia Nazionale Erasmus Plus - INDIRE

Ancona

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Usually, the origin of the city of Ancona starts with the greek foundation, but before being a city, in the same territory there existed a group of small villages: some archaeological findings certify the existence of three centers during the Bronze Age and one dating back to the Iron Age, the last one can be related to the “picena” civilization.

In 387 b. C the villages became the city of Ancona, the “piceno” center was peacefully absorbed in it and the town was a flourishing greek colony for two centuries.

Later it was first a partner and then a “municipium” of Rome, being an active harbor of connection between the capital and the East. It was particularly important during Emperor Traiano's rule.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the Gothic-Byzantine war, it became one the first five cities of the Byzantine Empire.

After 1000 a.C. the city lived its most flourishing historical period: as free municipality and as a maritime Republic. During its five centuries of independence it was different from the other maritime Republics for its behavior: it never started a war against other cities since it was satisfied of its connection with the sea and the East; on the other hand though, it had to defend itself often from enemy assaults, which it almost always managed to win, even if with great losses.

From its foundation, Ancona has always had an intensive connection with the sea, the navigation and the East; this link still characterizes the town nowadays.

In 1532 it became part of the Papal State, and it became a flourishing city during Clemente VII's papacy. After the French Revolution it became a Napoleonic Republic. It took part in the Italian “Risorgimento”, especially during the events of 1848-1849; in 1860, it entered in the Italian Reign and in the first period, it had an important military role.

It was characterized by its rebel spirit in the first years of 1900, for this reason it was the scene of some uprisings. Spread in the whole nation: “the red week” and “the revolt of Bersaglieri”.

ESN Ancona Contacts +39 328 09 11 099 www.esnancona.it ancona@esn.it esan.erasmusancona EsnAncona esnancona Via Marche 1A/b 60015 Falconara Marittima (AN)

THE CITY TODAY Ancona is an italian city with 100.261 inhabitants. It is the administrative center of the province of Ancona and of the Marche region.

It overlooks the Adriatic Sea and it has one of the biggest Italian harbors. It is a city of art, with an historical city center full of monuments and with a millennial history; it's one of the most important economic centers of the region and the biggest town in dimensions and population.

Facing the sea, the town is on a bent elbow-shaped promontory, which protects the largest natural harbor of the central part of the Adriatic Sea. The Greek people from Syracuse who founded the city in 387 b. C. noticed the shape of this promontory and, for this reason, named the new city Ἀ γκών, "ankòn", which means “elbow” in greek. The greek origin of Ancona is remembered in its epithet: “the Doric city”.

According to some statistical studies, its metropolitan area counts from 280.000 to 350.000 inhabitants.

An important event for the city, in the first postwar decades has been the establishment of the university, with the opening of the Economics faculty in 1959 as a branch of the Urbino University; among the founders there was also the famous economist from Ancona, Giorgio Fuà. During the years, the faculties of Engineering, Medicine, Agriculture and Science were added. In 2003 the University of Ancona changed its name to Polytechnic University of Marche. In 1967 Giorgio Fuà founded the Superior Institute of Economic Studies Adriano Olivetti (ISTAO) for the professional and advanced education in the economic management of the companies.

A reason of pride has been the visit in the city of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the II of the United Kingdom, on May 5th 1961.

Among the events of the last two decades of the XX century, we can find: • The establishment of the Regional Park of Conero, which protects both urban and natural areas; • The takeover of the “Lazzaretto Vanvitelliano” in 1997 by the municipality, which was later used as a cultural center and place for art exhibitions.

• The celebrations of the one thousand years of San Ciriaco’s Cathedral in 1999, with the second visit in the city of Pope John Paul the II. In 2001 the Park of Cardeto was inaugurated. It offers to the citizens the possibility to walk along the cliffs of the high coast, in 35 hectares of lush greenery and ancient historical ruins. The park represents the recapture of the eastern part of the city promontory by the citizens, it was militarized in 1860. On October 13th 2002, the Theatre of Muse has been reopened, it was closed after a bombing during the Second World War damaged its roof and the reopening of the theatre soon assumed the significance of the cultural rebirth of the city. In 2007 the central Corso Garibaldi has been closed off to traffic; so, a wide pedestrian area was created directly in the city center.

From September the 3rd to the 11th 2011, the 25th National Eucharistic Convention has taken place in Ancona, with the visit to the city by the Pope.

In 2013 Ancona has celebrated its 2400 years of existence since the Greek foundation.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT The history of the city public transport begins in 1881, when Ancona became the 7th city to have a tram network. After the Second World War, because of the damages due to bombings, the tram network was substituted by a trolleybus line which has reached its biggest development in 1962 (26 km) and still characterizes the city.

Now the public transport service for the urban area consists in the trolleybus and bus line managed by Conerobus.

H OW

TO

G ET H ERE

- by car From North you can reach the city through the “Strada Statale 16 Adriatica” or the exit Ancona Nord of the highway A14. Coming from the South, you can reach Ancona through the highway exit of Ancona Sud of the same highway.

Since a few years there has been a sort of bypass which crosses the city, from the Ancona Sud highway exit to the city centre, this street is called “bretella” (connector) or North-South Route.

- by train The central station is a transition point of the Adriatic railway which links the following cities: Milano-Bologna-Rimini-Ancona-Pescara-Foggia-Bari-Lecce. It is the terminal of the line Ancona-Foligno-Orte-Roma.

The city also has a secondary station of Ancona Marittima (with the ticket office situated in via Einaudi, inside the industrial zone of the harbor), which is mainly used by the commuters and from the stations of Varano, Ancona-Torrette, Ancona-Stadio and Palombina, intended for the regional passengers transport - by boat There are regular connections from the Ancona harbor to Croatia, Albania, Montenegro, Greece and Turkey.

- by plane The airport “Raffaello Sanzio”, situated in Falconara Marittima, has regular flight connections to Rome, Munich and other European cities.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ P OLITECNICA

DELLE

M ARCHE

The Polytechnic University of Marche is an Italian university established in 1969 with the name of “Free University of Ancona”. The main seat is Ancona, but during the years, some branches have been opened in other cities of the Marche region, such as in Ascoli Piceno, Fermo, Macerata, Pesaro and San Benedetto del Tronto.

The Doric university offers five faculties: Engineering, Economics, Agriculture, Medicine and Surgery, Science.

THE ESN SECTION In Ancona there is only one section named ESAN, which gathers the students of all the faculties of the city. It has been part of the ESN Italy network since July 2013, being the 50th italian section.

The association was born with the aim of supporting and welcoming the incoming and outgoing students. It was established by ex Erasmus students, which decided to keep the Erasmus spirit of international aggregation and to bring it in this city. After only one year of activity, there has been a big increase of the staff, and consequently of the reinforcement of the work made possible by the founders.

Each year it organizes Welcome Days in the several faculties, regular events such as the linguistic Tandem and the international dinner, every month they organize trips to discover the territory of the Marche region and of Italy and weekly events in the most popular places of the city.

TIPS - Caffè Borghetti

- The “moscioli” di Portonovo di Ancona

The Caffè Borghetti or Caffè sport Borghetti, is a coffee liqueur.

It is drunk both with and without ice; sometimes it is used in cocktails or in cakes such as Tiramisù. It has 25 grades of strength and it is sold in bottles of 100 cl, 70cl, 10 cl, 3 cl and in plastic cans of 3 cl to be drunk in the stadium during football matches.

It was invented by the great-grandfather of the actual owner of the Manfrini Bar in Torrette di Ancona and it was called Caffè Sport. The property of the recipe was never registered, so Ugo Borghetti, the owner of a bar in the locality of Borghetto near Ancona, because of the good taste of the drink, decided to copy it in honor of the launch of the railway line Pescara-Ancona and to begin a wider production. Also the bottle was designed by the inventor Borghetti. Today this liqueur is sold on an international scale.

The “moscioli” of Ancona are mussels which spontaneously breed on the rocks from pietralacroce till the Sassi Neri shore of Sirolo. They have an intense and strong taste and a harder compactness than the usual farm mussels.

- The San Ciriaco local fair During the first four days of May there is the most popular appointment of the city: the San Ciriaco local fair, the long week-end which links the celebration of May the 1st to the ones of Saint Ciriaco, the protector of Ancona.

There is a large participation of almost 500 exhibitioners, divided according to the commodities sectors. Between via Bianchi and via Rismondo, there are various stands with typical food and over thirty stands of street food. The gradual increase of the last years is due mainly to the appreciation shown by the operators and visitors.

- The stockfish “all'anconitana” - University parties The stockfish “all'anconitana” (in the Ancona way) is the gastronomic symbol of Ancona. It is so important that the city established an Academy of the stockfish “all'anconetana” to protect this tradition and for this reason, every year there is a challenge of skills which the several restaurants of the city take part to.

The history of the stockfish is closely tied to the boats that from Ancona went to the hanseatic cities and also to the Norwegian fjords. Since they didn’t want to make the trip back with an empty cargo, they imported a lot of stockfish, mainly from the norwegian Islands of Lofoten.

The quality used for this dish is the one named “ragno” (spider), which is considered as the best one.

This dish is characterized by a very long cooking time, by the presence of big potato pieces and by a lot of wine and olive oil. In the variation “all'imbriagona” (in the drunk way), there's a big quantity of wine. The sauce is also used as seasoning for pasta or polenta.

Every year are organized the following parties inside the Engineering University: - Halloween Party - Carnival Party - Montedago in Rock (In November) - Gulliver Rock (In June)

Bari

HISTORICAL SUMMARY Today, the origin of Bari are still quite obscure. According to the excavations in the area of San Pietro church, in the old town, its origins might date back to the Bronze age, with the Peucetian population.

During the Greek age, the city was given the name "Barion", but after going under the Roman rule - in the III Century b.C. as a municipium - it took on the name "Barium", and it was then when the city started a period of great development with the building of Via Traiana.

From the IV Century on, Bari becomes bishopric and after the fall of the Roman Empire the Lombards and the Byzantines competed for it (the current structure of the old town dates back to that period and has Corte del Catapano as its centre).

Successively, from 847 to 871 it fell into the hands of the Berbers, becoming even the seat of an emirate, until it got under the rule of the Lombard dukes of Benevento. In 875 it went back under the Byzantines and they made it the capital city of the Theme of Longobardia, which included Apulia and Calabria.

After six months of Saracen siege, it was set free by the Venetian fleet, and in 1002 it rose up against the fiscal government of the Byzantine catapan with the guidance of Melo di Bari, a noble, obtaining then its autonomy in 1018.

In 1068, Bari was the last Byzantine possession in Italy, and the Normans besieged and then conquered it in 1071.

In 1087, one of the most important events in the history of the city took place: on 9th of May, 62 sailors, beating to the punch the Venetians, brought to Bari the remains of San Nicola of Myra, who became the patron saint of the city.

Between the XII and the XIV Century, Bari was then one of the main ports from which the Crusades to the Holy Land arose.

In 1156 it was destroyed by Guglielmo il Malo, and bloomed once more during the Swabian period, around the castle built by Federico II on pre-existing Norman fortifications.

Contatti ESN BariESN Contacts Ancona www.esnbari.org bari@esn.it esnbari erasmusbari Via Carulli 5, 70100 Bari

A long period of decadence characterised the city under the domination of Aldoino Filangieri di Candida, and the Anjou, Aragon and Spanish domination, because of the oppressive policy of the governments. The only period of splendour was under the Sforza, thanks to the duchesses Isabella d'Aragona and Bona Sforza.

Bari was under the rule of Venetians too, and thanks to them its port was enlarged, experiencing a healthy period, also because of the trade of products in the inland, many of them demanded by foreign markets too.

During modern age, on 24th April 1813, Gioacchino Murat started the city's expansion outside the Medieval walls, building the "borgo nuovo" and the "borgo murattiano", characterised by the orthogonal layout of the streets. From that moment on, the population grew rapidly from 18,000 at the beginning of 1800 to 94,000 at the beginning of the XX Century: it became capital city of the province, and many buildings and public institutions opened there (i.e. Piccinni Theatre, the Chamber of Commerce, the Apulian aqueduct, Petruzzelli Theatre, the University), as well as Laterza publishing firm.

During the 20 years of Fascism the monumental promenade was built and the "Fiera del Levante" (Levante Fair) was inaugurated, making the city start to become "Bari porta d'oriente" (Bari entrance to the East), up until today when the EU has given it the role of "European gateway".

In the mid-XX Century the city expanded even more, reaching 400,000 inhabitants in the 70s and 80s.

The city, after becoming a metropolis, experienced the phenomena of commuting and counter urbanization, while the tertiary sector and the industrial area grew. Due to its location, there is a significant flow of immigrants coming to Bari; in 1991 the Vlora ship was docked and was carrying more than 20,000 Albanians.

Around 2000 the old town was restructured and a large infrastructure renewal was started, involving port, airport, "interport" and railway.

THE CITY TODAY In 2014 Bari becomes Metropolitan City. It covers an area of 3,825 square kilometres and includes 41 municipalities. Its population is more than a million inhabitants, while the original core of the City of Bari has nearly 400,000 inhabitants.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW T O G ET T HERE

Public transports within the city are managed

by AMTAB - Azienda Municipalizzata Trasporti Autofiloviari Baresi. Tickets are sold in tobacconists and newsagents. The price for a one-way ticket is â‚Ź 0,90.

- By Train n Bari there is a rail station, located in Piazza Moro, in the Murat neighbourhood. It was first a transit station, but as the years passed and the traffic increased, it acquired a forecourt giving access to 17 railway lines. With Trenitalia, you can reach Bari from the main Italian cities, with various connections a day and different fares.

For further information: www.amtab.com.

For further lia.com/

information,

http://www.trenita-

- By Plane The airport Bari-Palese or Karol Wojtyla is the main Apulian airport. It serves the province of Bari, Barletta-Andria-Trani, Matera and partially the provinces of Foggia, Taranto and Potenza. Every day there are flights to the main Italian airports and almost all the European capital cities.

For further information, http://www.aeroportidipuglia.it/

dered Europe's door to the Balkan Peninsula and the Middle East. It is a multipurpose landing place able to respond to all operating requirements.

The operating multifunctionality of the Port of Bari can count on equipped docks for handling all kinds of goods and an excellent network of connections with all means of transport.

For further information: http://www.aplevante.org/porti/porto-di-bari/pianta-del-porto

- By Boat Bari can be reached also by sea, thanks to the presence of the important port of Bari. Located in the south-east of Italy it is traditionally consi-

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITĂ€

DEGLI

S TUDI

DI

B ARI

The "Aldo Moro" university of Bari is a national university located in Bari, it's the university within Puglia region with the higher number of students and one of the bigger universities in Italy. The university has been founded in 1925 and its base is inside the historic building in Umberto I square, in the heart of the city centre. The university made up of more than 20 faculties. Biosciences, biotechnology and biopharmaceutical; Pharmacy, Philosophy, Literature, History and Social Sciences (FLESS), Physics; Law, IT, Inter-disciplinary of Medicine, Legal and Economic affairs of the Mediterranean: Society, Environment, Cultures. Languages, Art, Italian disciplines and Culture.

Maths, Veterinary medicine, Environmental Science and local (DISAAT), Biomedicine and Oncology "

P OLITECNICO

DI

B ARI

The Politecnico di Bari is a technological Italian public university which trains architects, engineers and industrial designers, granting academic qualifications of all levels of Italian higher education curricula. According to 2013 SIR World Report concerning the quality of scientific research, Politecnico di Bari appears to have an impact factor of 2.03, one of the highest of all Italian public universities, even compared to other polytechnic schools (Politecnico di Torino: 1.36, Politecnico di Milano: 1.42). Still according to this report, the Politecnico di Bari registers the highest "excellency rate" in Italy (measuring the percentage of works quoted in international bibliography): 22.61%, while Politecnico di Milano does 16.62% and Politecnico di Torino does 15.82%. Since 2012 the Politecnico di Bari has been composed of five departments: Civil, Environmental, Territory, Structural and Chemical Engineering Department (DICATECH); Electrical and Information Engineering Department (DEI); Mechanical, Mathematical Engineering and Management Department (DMMM); Civil Engineering and Architecture Sciences Department (DICAR); and Physics Department (DIF).

A CCADEMIA

DI BELLE ARTI DI

B ARI

The Accademia di belle arti (Academy of Fine Arts) of Bari comes under the AFAM sector (High Education on Arts and Music) and releases first level academic diplomas (corresponding to a

tion. The Academy's main offices are in the Apulian capital city. Here, bachelor's degree courses take place. In Mola di Bari instead, in the former Santa Chiara monastery, some laboratories are still active and master's degree specializing courses take place

C ONSERVATORIO N ICCOLÒ P ICCINNI

DI

B ARI

The Niccolò Piccinni Conservatory was founded by the violinist and music critic Giovanni Capaldi in 1925, with headquarters in Villa Bucciero, Bari, Italy. It was the fourteenth music school to arise in Italy. First created as a music-education high school ("Liceo Musicale"), in 1937 it was converted into a conservatory, and was named in honour of eighteenth-century Italian composer Niccolò Piccinni. Nino Rota became director in 1950.

L IBERA U NIVERSITÀ M EDITERRANEA

DI

B ARI - LUM J EAN M ONNET

The "Libera Università Mediterranea di Bari - LUM Jean Monnet" is a private university promoted by the Associazione per la Libera Università Mediterranea and by the "Caterina Degennaro" Foundation. Some services for the students are localised in the university campus, which is the housing estate of "Barialto" in Casamassima. There are the Law Faculty and the Economics Faculty, as well as postgraduate educational courses.

THE ESN SECTION The ESN Bari section was born as "Erasmus Bari" association, and then joined the ESN network in 2009. However, it has been active on the territory since 2000 already, and been growing day after day thanks to the international students going to Bari through the different mobility programmes.

ESN Bari section welcomes approximately 350 students every year.

One of the distinctive characteristics of this section is that it includes in its staff incoming foreign students. Some of them even become members of the Board, so that they can understand better the others' needs and find the most effective solutions.

ESN Bari is officially recognised by the University of Bari and the Politecnico of Bari, and works together with them and the other public institutions in order to constantly improve the welcome services of the city.

Among the most interesting initiatives undertaken by the Bari section members every year, we would like to highlight: the "Help Finding House" project, in which they help new students integrate since they get to the station or airport and find them accommodation; the #WelcomeWeekESNBari during which the association is introduced and organises different activities for the Erasmus students to get to know the city, such as the welcome dinner, the city tour and the Pub Crawl; the guidance activities on academic courses and the solution to bureaucratic problems; the linguistic AperiTandem, which between a drink and a game, allows informal learning of the most miscellaneous languages and the knowledge of cultures and people. Furthermore, every year ESN Bari organises many trips to the most beautiful cities and places in Puglia, many Social Erasmus events (such as "Free Hugs"), and takes part to ESN Italia's national events, such as ICE (Incontro Culturale Erasmus - Erasmus Cultural Meeting) and the Evento Nazionale. Since 2015 another project has been started: "Un Erasmus per amico" (an Erasmus as friend), an informal tutorship project in which the tutors of the new incoming students are the former outgoing students of the University of Bari and the Politecnico.

TIPS - Not to miss in the city The city of Bari, although it has the role of Capital city of the region and is growing in size and business, keeps its unique popular traditions alive - traditions that any visitor cannot miss!

- Typical food and drink Sushi?! No thanks On Bari seaside eating raw fish is a centuries-old tradition that symbolizes the belonging to Earth and Sea, and that is renewed every day at "CHIRINGUITO", the pier in front of the Teatro Margherita in Bari. Every morning the fishermen arrive there with fresh fish caught near the coast, they sell it, and it is often eaten right there!

- Special events in the city San Nicola's Day Every year Bari celebrates San Nicola's Day with a 3-day festival, from 7th to 9th of May. The city, invaded by pilgrims from all over the world, lights up, gets filled with stalls and celebrations begin, giving a great sense of excitement.

On the 7th of May the city turns back in time with a characteristic historical procession along the streets of old Bari; on the 8th San Nicola "arrives to the port" and every two years the "Frecce Tricolori" show is organised: literally "Tricolour Arrows" it is the aerobatic demonstration of the Italian Aeronautica Militare team.

Lastly, on the 9th the sky and the sea are coloured by a long fireworks show.

- What to see Just gotten off the train? Perfect, may the city tour begin!

Starting from the monumental fountain in Piazza Moro (exactly in front of the train station), which was unveiled in 1915 and completed the construction of the pugliese aqueduct, go towards via Sparano, the shopping street with high-level brands. Passing through Piazza Umberto I, you'll find the historical Palazzo Ateneo, where the University of Bari has its premises, and the historical Palazzo

Mincuzzi, an impressive Liberty-style commercial building. Then, heading to the sea, you'll be getting to Corso Cavour, and important street where you can find three of the main buildings, next to each other: the Palace of the Chamber of Commerce, founded in 1849 under the rule of Ferdinando II with the name of "Camera Consultiva di Commercio"; the Palace of the Bank of Italy, built in 1926, over a project by the engineer Accolti Gil, on an area of approximately 3000 square metres; the Petruzzelli Theatre, the main theatre in the metropolitan city, the fourth theatre in Italy in size and the largest private theatre in Europe, burnt down in 1991 and re-opened just in 2009. At the end of Corso Cavour, in front of Corso Vittorio Emanuele and the Margherita (theatre built between 1912 and 1914 in the hook of the old port on pillars based in the sea), there is the Medieval area of Bari, commonly known as "Old Bari".

After crossing Piazza Mercantile and Piazza Ferrarese, the two squares where the "movida" takes place, you will get to the Old Bari Walls.

Along the Walls, which terminate with Abbazia S. Scolastica with its Peucetian culture museum, you'll first pass by the Pillbox of S. Antonio Abate, put up for defensive purposes in the XIV century by the Prince of Taranto Giovanni Antonio Orsini Del Balzo, and then get to the S. Nicola Basilica (where the remains of the saint are kept) and to the heart of Old Bari. The tour ends at San Sabino Cathedral and at the "Castello Normanno Svevo Aragonese", an impressive fortress on the edges of the ancient village. This is just in front of Via delle Orecchiette, the place where every morning (Sunday included) women prepare hand-made orecchiette on the tables along the street and sell them to tourists and passers-by.

Benevento

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

A legend narrates that Benevento was founded by Diomedes landed in Italy after the destruction and fire of the city of Troy. Actually, according to the story, the city was founded by the Osci before the Samnites took the control. The word “malies” (or Malocis), probably an oscan or samnite word, could be at the origin of the first name of the city that was Maloenton, which was followed by the latin name of “Maleventum” or ”Maluentum”.

In 275 B.C. the Romans defeated Pyrrhus who arrived in Italy with an unknown animal for local people, the elephant.

During this period the name of the city changed again – from “Maleventum”, considered as bad luck, to “Beneventum”. In 571 the Longobardi founded the first duchy and the first duke to be named was Zotto, until 591. The last Longobardi duke was Arechis II, Desiderius son-in-law, until his death in 787. The Longobardi duchy lasted about 5 centuries and then the church sovereignty took the control of the city. Several conquest attempts were tried by Frederik II and Manfred of Sicily, who was murdered during the Battle of Benevento against Charles, the Count of Anjou.

The church sovereignty lost the control of the town during the war among the House of Anjou and the Crown of Aragon.

During the 17th century the city suffered from pestilences, famines and earthquakes that increased the poverty and only with the Pope supremacy Benevento rose again. In 1688 a devastating earthquake destroyed the city that was reconstructed thanks to an economic help from archbishop Orsini, later proclaimed Pope Benedict XIII. In 1860 Salvatore Rampini's troops conquered Benevento and it joined The Reign of Italy. During the Second World War the city was bombed by Allies: 2.000 people died and over half of the city was destroyed. Huge damages were caused by a flood in 1949. After that, Benevento never stop to grow up.

Contatti ESN Maleventum ESN Ancona Contacts +39 346 0191282 www.esnmaleventum.it benevento@esn.it erasmo.dabenevento EsnMaleventum Via G. De Nicastro, 13 82100, Benevento

THE CITY TODAY Benevento’s old city center is located on a hill between the rivers Calore and Sabato, that flow to west. It is crossed by a main street, composed by Corso Dante and Corso Garibaldi, which crosses several squares (Cardinal Pacca, Duomo, Orsini, Roma, Matteotti). Several small streets and alleys, which lead to many historical districts such as Trescene or Triggio, converge to the main street. Moreover, it still is possible to admire small parts of the old wall The Longobardi built as a defense for the city. At the highest point of the hill there is the Rocca dei Rettori Castle. Benevento has a significant amount of monuments mainly placed on Corso Garibaldi. Around the center there are few residential neighborhoods: Mellusi / Atlantici, Pacevecchia, Rione Ferrovia, Porta Rufina, Rione Libertà. The historical center is the area where usually students spend their evenings and night hours. Most of the places preferred by young people, indeed, are located in Piazza Vari and Piazza Piano di Corte. Most famous clubs, however, are located outside the city.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT The urban area of the city is not huge, so it is possible to visit it by walking but also by bus: the service is only available during the day and is perfectly connected to the central train station.

H OW

TO

G ET H ERE

- by train The train station is situated in Piazza Colonna.

Info desk is open from 07:00 to 21:00.

Tickets are available at the station and also in authorized travel agencies.

For more info: Ferrovie dello Stato – Trenitalia – Piazza Colonna – Benevento. +39 0824 892021 (www.trenitalia.it) ; Metrocampania Nordest – Via Munanzio Planco – Benevento. +39 0824 320711 / +39 0824 47135 (www.metrocampanianordest.it) - by plane The nearest airport is the one of Naples (Capodichino), 80 Km far from Benevento.

With bus number 3S it’s possible to go from the airport to Naples Central Station (Garibaldi square) in about 25 minutes. Naples is about 70 km far from Benevento and there are many trains and buses (EAVBUS) to reach it. Both bus and train need about one hour and half to reach the city.

Others airports are in: Bari (230 Km), Roma Ciampino (200 Km)and Roma Fiumicino (275 Km).

- by bus It is very easy to reach other cities by bus.

For Naples: EAVBUS (it connects Benevento to the Central Station and the airport of Naples Capodichino) (T +39 0824 320711/ +39 0824 47135); For Naples and Campobasso, contact: Autobus F.lli Cerella (T +39 0874 61171); For Avellino: A.IR (T +39 0825 204250); For Salerno: ETAC (T +39 0824 28321/+39 0824 47081); For Otranto-Rome line or Otranto-Florence-Pisa line (and vice versa, with a stop at Benevento ): Marozzi Autolinee (T +39 080 5790111/ +39 06 4742801).

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI

S TUDI

DEL

S ANNIO

There is just one public university in Benevento, the “Università di Sannio” (Unisannio), with four faculties of Law, Engineering, Economic and Business Sciences, Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences. The different departments have separate locations from each other but all of them are close to the city center and within easy walking distance. The University also has a language center (CLAUS) where Italian and foreign students can access and Italian language courses for foreign students of the university itself are organized every year. All the enrolled students have the opportunity to take advantage of a wi-fi network within the university premises. Moreover, all students have access to a university cafeteria, managed by ADISU, where they can have a complete lunch at the lowest price possible (between 3 and 5 euro). The canteen is located near the Faculty of Law, in via Calandra.

THE ESN SECTION E.S.N. Benevento was created in 2002, thanks to the initiative of a group of students returning from their Erasmus experiences. The name was changed to E.S.N. Maleventum in 2005, in order to underline the historical roots of the city. Thanks to their experiences, the members of the association started helping students, interested in having an Erasmus experience, giving them useful advices. At the same time they welcome and help incoming Erasmus students.

Before leaving their city, each student can contact ESN Maleventum to receive any information about studying at the University of Sannio and how to overcome bureaucratic difficulties.

Year by year, ESN Maleventum counts more members, and it reaches more than 200 new members per year.

ESN Maleventum is the only officially recognized section by The University of Sannio.

The ESN head office is situated into the Unisannio International Office.

It's also the only section that organizes in the territory activities and events for who has the ESN Card, foreigners students and not.

TIPS - The Legend of Witches According to a popular legend, Benevento is the privileged place of witches, which meet around a walnut tree near Sabato river during the night. This legend grew around the VII century, during Lombards' domination and the Romualdo's kingdom. The legend is connected to a rite that the Lombards practised near Sabato river: some screaming women jumped around a tree where some snakes hanged down. Usually, they realized a propitiatory rite in honor of God Wotan: some fighters ran on a horse around a sacred tree hitting a goat skin hanged down from it with the aim to obtain little pieces than later they used to eat. The catholics thought that these rites were linked to

witchcraft. Fighters and women were seen by the catholics like a witches' incarnation; the goat like Satan; their scream like orgiastic rites.

The witches, known as “janare” or “janua” that stands for “door” because of their ability to cross the doors, had been considered bearers of calamity, infertility and authors of horrendous malefic especially for the newborns. Malformations, rare illnesses and everything that couldn't be explain were automatically attributed to the witches. Around the XV century people strongly believed the legend and from there the so-called “witch hunt” started.

- Typical Food & Drink First courses are based on pasta (with lamb

sause or italian ragù) .Typical first courses all around the territory are: Lasagne, scarpariello, cicatelli, cavatelli with broccoli, fiavole and panzerotti di San Giuseppe. Are also typical mugniatiello, the Christmas thistle and the nougat. Among the typical drinks there is the Strega liquor, whose name is linked to the legend of the witches. Another very famous one is Nocino. The Benevento area Is also famous to be a wine producer region. A large amount of fine wines are produced every year: from the Falanghina or Aglianico to the ones from the area of Taburno.

- Special event One of the most awaited event is the “Città Spettacolo” which takes place at the beginning of September and it includes theaters, music, film, thematic meetings, exhibitions and conferences.

- Benevento longobarda Last year Benevento also saw the birth of the project Benevento Longobarda, a series of historical re-enactments focused on the figure of Arechis II, the last Duke and the first Prince of Benevento, which links the present of the city with the past history. The intention of the initiative is to rediscover and to improve the city thanks to the “living History” paths that allow participants to the event to experience the story in first-person going back to Benevento at the time of Longobardi, 1250 years ago. Several installations, furniture, entertainment and initiatives with the aim of open a space-time window for citizens and tourists, which are so projected to three typical days of the Middle Ages, surrounds the main event. The objective of the entire manifestation is to let people know and experience foods, instruments, uses, customs, traditions and cultural aspects of the city in the Lombard period.

- Vinalia (Guardia Sanframondi - BN) Twenty years ago, when Vinalia was born, the viticulturist of Guardia Sanframondi had a dream: to realise an event that could give rise to the principe vine variety, typical of the Sannio, Falanghina and Aglianico, but also to

create an inclusive environment, in order to receive the observations of other viticulturists, comments of enthusiasts, conferences, discoveries of researchers, artists’ grandeurs, sommeliers, housewives, musicians, and the general amazement of people.

In a word, they wanted to build a welcoming environment to fall in love with.

After hard work, struggles and perseverance, we’re now at the twentieth edition! That’s the story of how Vinalia was born, thanks to a group of dreamers that invested time and skills because they wanted to create something new. Hundreds volunteers worked and currently work with them, together with several sponsors and local institutions. “Gli amici di Vinalia”(Visalia’s friends) is a community that meets during the first days of August every year in Guardia Sanframondi, in the heart of the beautiful Sannio, which has over 11 thousands of hectares of vineyards and represents the pride of viticulture in the South of Italy.

Bergamo

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Bergamo is a city divided in two parts: the old part of the town (CittĂ AltaUpper town), is where originally Bergamo born, and it is surrounded by 5 km of XVI Century Venetian walls; the modern part of the town is CittĂ Bassa, which is where the city has been developing in the modern period.

The first inhabitants were Celts, Goths, Romans and Longobards. In the city some survived parts from the medieval period can still be seen. In the 15th century, the Venetian conquered the city and thus started 4 centuries of dominance: the Venetian built the walls that surround the upper part of the city, in order to protect it from the several attacks from Milan; During this period, Bergamo started to develop a flourishing commerce and obtained more and more importance in the upper part of Italy.

In 1815, after Napoleon fallen, Bergamo was assigned to the Austrian Empire. Giuseppe Garibaldi freed it in 1859 during the Second Italian War of Independence, when Bergamo became part of the Kingdom of Italy. For its contribution to "Il Risorgimento", the city is also known as "CittĂ dei Mille" ("City of the Thousands").

During the 20th century Bergamo become one of Italy's most industrialized cities. It is also one of the few Italian cities that did not suffer major

THE CITY TODAY Today, Bergamo is both a city and a province of Lombardy, about 40 kilometers northeast far from Milan. It has 120.000 inhabitants and it became more and more important during the years: it hosts some national events and it is frequently visited by tourists, especially during spring.

Contatti ESN Bergamo ESN Ancona Contacts www.esnbergamo.it bergamo@esn.it esn.bergamo esnbergamo Via dei Caniana 2 - 24127 Bergamo

P UBIC T RANSPORT

H OW

The city center is quite small so it is possible to go around by walk or by bike. Bergamo has also a good bus service that covers all the city and the nearby valleys. City Bus Tickets: It is not possible to buy tickets on the buses! There are automatic machines situated in the train station, at some of the bus stops and close to the funicular. You can also buy them in some bars, in the news stand or at ATB offices. A city ticket costs 1,25€ and it is valid for 75 minutes while a carnet of 10 tickets costs 11€.

The website for the local bus is http://www.atb.bergamo.it/ENG/homepage.aspx Phone number local buses company ATB : 0039 035 23 60 26In the last years, a service of bike sharing has been introduced in the city: you just need to do a BiGi card at the ATB Office in Porta Nuova (20 euro for the whole year) and you can take every bike you want at one of the 19 city center bike stations; the first 45 minutes on the bike are for free. After 45 minutes, you pay depending on the amount of time you take the bike; when you finish, you can leave your bike at another bike station.

- by car Trough the A4 Milano-Venezia motorway (Bergamo exit).

TO

G ET H ERE

- by train From any city in Italy http://www.trenitalia.com/ - by plane Land at Orio al Serio International Airport from all over Europe.

Fly with low cost airlines as Ryanair and WizzAir, or with Alitalia, Lufthansa, AirDolomiti, MeridianaFly, etc. http://www.sacbo.it/Airpor/portalProcess.jsp To reach the city center you can take a Taxi (price around 15 euro) or take a local bus ATB Line 1C (yellow bus, right outside the airport, ticket price 2.10 euro) Bergamo - Orio al Serio Airport: 0039 035 32 63 23 Radio Taxi Bergamo (Taxi service) : 0039 035 45 19 090

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITY

OF

B ERGAMO

The University of Bergamo is a State University which counts about 16,000 students (undergraduates and graduates), and more than 300 PhD students. The number of students is increasing each year, with a 7% growth rate per year between 2001 and 2011. A staff of 656 members (331 professors & researchers, 95 assisting academic staff, 230 administrative and technical staff) provides a dynamic scientific and teaching environment opened to innovations. The 6 Departments and the Research centers of the University of Bergamo are strictly intertwined in the town life. They are grouped in three campuses located in three different areas: Campus of Economics and Law (via dei Caniana 2) in the City of Bergamo few meters far from the train station Campus of Humanities in the Mediaeval Upper town (depending on where the class is held) Campus of Engineering (viale Marconi 5) in Dalmine, the industrial outskirts of Bergamo inside the science park "Kilometro Rosso" International Office (Address) : via S. Bernardino 72/e 24127 – Bergamo Tel.: +39 035 2052830 / 831 / 832 / 833 Fax: +39 035 2052838 E-mail: relint@unibg.it Office hours: Tue 10.00-12.00 14.00-16.00 Thu 10-00-12.00 14.00-16.00 Italian for Foreigners: Every semester the University of Bergamo offers courses of Italian language and culture to Erasmus and Exchange students. The courses are planned with the premises of

the University of Bergamo, in the ancient Upper Town of Bergamo (Città alta), in the following periods: 1st semester: October to January / 2nd semester: February to May An intensive Italian Language Course for beginners is offered before each semester. Upon request and depending on the number of participants, the following courses will also be running in both semesters: a 3 ects credit course on Italian Business Language (two hours per week), specifically designed for post-intermediate Business Students, but open to all Exchange Students a 3 ects credit course on Writing Skills, specifically designed for post-intermediate and advanced students •a 3 ects credit course on Italian Culture, specifically designed for post-intermediate and advanced students.

INFO: C.I.S. Office - Centro di Italiano per Stranieri Università degli studi di Bergamo piazza Rosate 2 - 24129 Bergamo - Italia fax +39 035 2052771 e-mail: infocis@unibg.it, web: www.unibg.it/cis There is also the chance to do sport with the university. C.U.S. Bergamo organizes and advertises sporting activities and events for the University of Bergamo. Students can practice sports and exercise. Some excellent sports equipment is available for the use. C.U.S. is located in Dalmine (BG) in via Verdi 56 (Campus of Engineering) and easily reached from via dei Caniana and from the Upper Town of Bergamo.

Tel.: +39 035 2052328 / 035 372819; E-mail: cus@unibg.it

THE ESN SECTION Our office is located in the faculty of Economics and Law in the City of Bergamo(via dei Caniana 2) Check on Facebook for our opening hours!.

We organize trips to Milan, Rome, Venice and many others!

We always have special dinners at Giuliana’s restaurant (typical restaurant of Bergamo), Aperitivi, International Night and much more!

Just follow us on twitter, facebook or our website to be always update!

TIPS - Casoncelli The most typical dish is casoncelli alla bergamasca made with fresh pasta dough that envelopes a slightly sweet meat filling and are typically served with melted butter flavored with pancetta and sage leaves.

- Taleggio The most delicious local cheese is Taleggio, which takes its name from the valley where it is made.

- Polenta Another tipical dish is polenta, is cornmeal boiled into a porridge and eaten directly or baked, fried or grilled. It is usually combined with meat.

- Montains Montains and lakes are really close to Bergamo. Discover the neighbourhood of Bergamo because they will take your breath away. The Sentiero delle Orobie runs among strategically located and panoramic mountain refuges. This beautiful 84-kilometres mountain path crosses the entire length of the mountains from east to west at altitudes that vary from 1,500 to 2,200 meters.

- Lakes Many places where to ski are really near from our city and you can rent everything on place, for a perfect day on the snow. The two lakes Endine and Iseo will delight you, with their wonderful landscapes, especially in spring and summer.

Bologna

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

In the area of Bologna, which has been inhabited since the IX Century, the Etruscans built in 550 B.C. Felsina, the ancient name of the city.

After having been dominated by Gauls, the Romans found in 189 B.C. Bononia. Under the Romans Bologna was really florid, with 20 000 inhabitants, majestic buildings and a massive theatre. It maintained its prestige during the Imperial centuries but it declined when the Empire fell.

In the V century A.D. the city re-born until it acquared a new prosperity phase. In 1123 the city become a “Comune” and it was established the first University in Western World. For this reason it is called “Dotta” which means erudite. From this point onward Bologna grew increasingly becoming the fifth European city due to its population.

From 1337 the family who run Bologna were Pepoli and successively Bentivoglio until the beginning of the XVI century when the city became a Church’s property.

On June 19th 1796 Napoleon reached Bologna and declared that the Church government was over and it returned an autonomic city becoming the capital of the Cispadana Republic.

The city took part actively at the wars of the Risorgimento and in 1859 it turned to be part of the new Italian State and it was a significant hub for trade and travel.

During the Fascism several repressive acts have occurred and after the second World War there have been 43 bombardments.

The ‘70s were the years of terrorism and University strikes which culminate on August the second 1980 with the Bologna massacre, the worst attack ever carried out in Italy, which has taken place in the Central Station.

Contatti ESN Bologna ESN Ancona Contacts www.esnbologna.org bologna@esn.it

AssociazioneErasmusEsnBologna EsnBologna Via delle Belle Arti 50, 40126 Bologna

THE CITY TODAY The eye-bird’s view of Bologna shows an historical centre hexagonally shaped, enclosed by the boulevards which follow the ancient city walls, part of them still visible sporadically.

In the Northern part of Bologna there are grassy plains; on the other hand in the southern rise gently its hills from which the sunset offers a romantic view of the city.

The old town centre is one of the biggest and best preserved among the European Middle Ages ones; it is surrounded by massive doors, bridge houses and great towers.

The city counts about 350.000 inhabitants, almost one third are students. For this reason perhaps, Bologna is considered the Italian University city par excellence.

- Tourism Bologna “The erudite” , “The red one”, “The fat one” , “The Turrita”… just few nicknames to describe this fascinating city.

Bologna the Erudite for its ancient University, called “Alma Mater Studiorum”. Among the most beautiful university locations there are Political Science in Strada Maggiore and the gorgeous palace in Via Zamboni 33, which is now even the location of the Presidency of the University, as well as the office of the International Relations.

The Red one not only for its political past, the bulwark of the Italian left wind movement of the post-war period, but even for its colours: the walls, the medieval houses, the roofs that are seen from a height of 100 metres of the Asinelli tower.

The Fat one for its delicacies: lasagne, Tagliatelle with ragù (Bolognese sauce), tortellini, mortadella and crescentine are just some of the typical food that you can try in this Capital of taste.

It is called “Turrita” due to its over 100 towers, which in its famous past stand out against the sky.

Today, the survivors are just a couple of dozens: the Two Towers are the symbol of the city and one of them can be visited (every day from 9 to 6 pm) for 3 euro, 490 steps!

A first visit of Bologna will include Via Indipendenza, Piazza Maggiore and Saint Petronio Cathedral (it is the fifth largest Church in the world) the Palazzo Comunale (free entry; in the first floor there are temporary exhibitions, in the second one there is Sala Farnese with some frescos of the XVII Century, panelled ceiling and a panoramic view) Nettuno square with the fountain of the same name, Re Enzo Palace and of Podestà (it can visited only during special events).

In addition, it is possible to ring around the elegant Via D’Azeglio, coming back from Via dell’ Archigionnasio (don’t miss the Anatomy Theatre, an ancient medicine room of Archiginnasio Palace: free entry) and going deeply insiede the fragrances and colours of the fruits and vegetables banks of Pescherie Vecchie Street in the “Il Pavaglione” zone, to reach at the end Piazza Santo Stefano (an amzing complex of Seven Churches; free entry) and end up again at the feet of the Two Towers at the beginning of Via Zamboni, gate of the well-know academic area.

At dusk a walk in the Giardini Margherita or in one of the little hills just out the city will give a taste of the depth of the landscape of the emiliano-romagnole hills. The more typical walk is the Portico of San Luca (666 archways, 3km), but as much suggestive is the path between the slopes of Villa Ghigi or in Monte Donato where you can delight an inestimable view.

Other pearls are the Church and the Couortyard of San Domenico, the Oratory of Santa Cecilia, the Crypt of Santi Vitale and Agricola, the Grief of Niccolò Dell’ Arca where the underground canals emerge in some hidden place.

Bologna is a city that is charming, fascinating, enchanting… unforgettable.

- Typical kitchen and drinks If you ask someone from Bologna how his city is defined, he would say: Bologna the Educated (for university), Bologna the Red (for the colour of the walls and the political ideals) and Bologna the…

Fat, because of the good kitchen that is traditional of the city. In its activities, ESN Bologna will try to make you taste it, but the offer is really wide: here there are some suggestions on how to start to “gozzovigliare” from the start!

This town is famous for its starters of affettati (prosciutto, mortadella, salame, porchetta, coppa) and cheese.

The main courses are many. Some of the most famous and tasty: tortellini, in brood or alla panna; lasagne, white or green (with the mixture of spinach or nettle); tagliatelle al ragù and, for people who do not eat pig, or meat in general, tortelli with pumpkin or tortelli with ricotta.

Also the second courses, whose major part is of meal: grilled meat like sausages, chops or roast (such as lamb, veal, and of course, pork such as the Christmas knuckle and cotecchino).

You absolutely need to taste crescentine and piadine, that offer an alternative to the bread and you can fill them with salami or cheese.

By the way, the pride of the city and of the region is Parmigiano, that here will be called forma, a very prestigious cheese, to be eaten as a second course or to be added with some pasta.

Dulcis in fundo, the traditional desserts are rich of spices, almonds and honey. Pinza is very typical, a donut or pastry filled with jam and raisins. Soaked in wine, and another dessert not to be missed is the sweet rice cake of Bologna.

A good wine that can accompany your meal, might be Barbera and Lambrusco, and to end you might taste a typical liquor, with walnuts or zabaione.

In the section dedicated to where to go/what to do, you can find many tips on restaurants, or dining, even if the best way to know the local kitchen is… to be invited by a Bolognese, Here you will find some tips: www.ristoranti-bologna.info/cucina-bolognese.asp

P UBLIC T RANSPORT The whole City is efficiently connected thanks to the local transport system, that connect the City at urban, suburban and extra-urban level.

TPER S.p.A. is the public transports company that provides urban services in the cities of Bologna, Ferrara, Imola, Castel S. Pietro Terme and Porretta Terme; it provides also suburban and extra-urban services in Bologna's and Ferrara's areas. There are 45 urban routes, day and nighttime, 15 suburban and 11 extra-urban routes.

The frequency of each route is different; this is why it is suggested to be well informed about timetable if you are planning to exit from the city center; an extremely strong positive element is the timeliness of the service. Every ticket can be used 75 minutes from the validation, and it allow to use more urban busses – if necessary – at the

price of 1,30 Euro. There is also the 5 Euro daily ticket: whit this ticket it is possible to use an unlimited number of public transports for 24 hours.

You can also use the City Pass, a book of 10 urban tickets for 12 Euro. It i salso possible to buy a monthly or yearly ticket. The monthly ticket costs 27 Euro for students under 27 years old and 36 Euro for non students; it is transferable and non-personal (so it can be used from different people, but not at the same time). The annual one costs 220 Euro for students and 330 Euro for non-students. For suburban routes prices are different according to the final destination.

TPER provides to their customers a widespread net for ticket purchase (see at www.tper.it). The most interesting element is that almost every

H OW urban busses has self-service on-board ticket service. Another public transport is the suburban railway route, that covers the path Bologna-Vignola: this line connect the municipalities of Bologna, Casalecchio di Reno, Zola Pedrosa, Crespellano, Bazzano, Savignano sul Panaro and Vignola, in an integrated way with the on-tyres public transport service. In order to support the use of different nets, travel tickets are TPER’s one, and there is an agreement with Trenitalia about integrated tickets.

TO

G ET H ERE

- by train The Central Station of Bologna is one of the biggest italian hub for travel. It is a junction between the North and the South with more than 50 million of passengers every year and it is considered the most significant station of Italy. Bologna is easily reachable from all the main italian cities by trains of every typology both from the South and the North. From Turin, Milan, Venice, Bolzan, Trieste as far as the North is concerned; Florence, Rome, Naples, Ancona, Pescara from the Central Italy until Bari, Lecce, Reggio Calabria and Palermo for the South.

- by plane The airport Guglielmo Marconi in Bologna is the principal main port of Emilia Romagna and one of the intercontinental airports in Italy.

All the major European airlines have scheduled flights (Iberia, Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa, KLM, Ryanair, Vueling).

You can find all the airlines that operate in Bologna in the official site http://www.bologna.airport.it/.

- by bus Bologna is easily reachable also by bus. There are several companies that operate on a national level with East Europe (Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria). There are also some routes from some Spanish cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Saragoza), from France (Paris, Marseille, Nice, Digion), from Germany and Austria (for example, from Munich and Innsbruck).

On the site (www.autostazionebo.it) of the station of Bologna is possible to find all the useful information about the rutes.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI STUDI DI

B OLOGNA

The university of Bologna (www.unibo.it), whose ancient birth is confered to the year 1088, is known as the first University in the western world and as the first place where Law has been studied. Its history is interlaced with that one of great personalities who worked in sciences and literature fields and it is an inescapable benchmark in the european culutre’s overview. Since years Bologna’s university boast of over 100,000 students, a number that makes this athenaeum one of the most popular in Italy. It is divided in 11 schools, it offers 33 departments, 210 courses of different degrees. Every year the number of academic masters increases, presently they are 57.

In 1998 the University has also inaugurate its new branch in Buenos Aires. According to the National Committee recent report about the valutation of the Academic System, this university is the most internationalized between italians’ one. The foreign students regularly registered are more than 3,600, while these coming with exchange programs as Socrates, Erasmus, Overseas and so on, are over 1,500 per years. Bologna University’s students, local or not, who go abroad every years with exchange programs to internship or to write their thesis are more than 2,300.

Furtheremore this city host not only the University, but also the School of Fine Arts (www.accademiabelleartibologna.it) specialized in teaching artistic disciplines, and the Johns Hopking School of Advanced International Studies (www.jhubc.it) oriented to training experts in international relations field.

THE ESN SECTION Bologna “the erudite” and not only! As we said before, the city can be proud of the most ancient university in the world, but also of one of the “ancient” italian ESN sections: ESN Bologna has been one of the six founder sections of ESN Italia.

Since the time of homemade parties and events with just a small group of erasmus friends lots of steps has been done: nowdays ESN Bologna is one of the biggest sections in the whole Europe with around 1,200 members every year (80% erasmus and 20% italians people).

ESN is working at full speed! It has a six members management committee elected every year with whom are cooperating more than other 10 precious associates in several aereas to offer dozens of activities (usually for free or with derisory prices) to Erasmus students. From the “welcome days” to four-day trips, passing through cultural, institutionals, lingual and sports’ activities and night and day entertainment. ESN Bologna has been included in the register of Students Assiciations of Bologna Alma Mater Studiorum.

- Where to sleep Differently as you could imagine Bologna doesn’t offer lots of cheap accomodation’s solutions.

Here some suggestions, hoping they can be useful advices. Ostello della Gioventù San Sisto / Due Torri - www.ostellodibologna.com. Its prices are agreed upon ESN and it’s open the whole year and it has 75 beds, in which you can sleep with 15€ per head (breakfast included). Even if it’s not located in the inner city, it’s around 6 km in the nord-est side, you can easly reach the center with buses (n. 93, 21b, 301 the bus stop is far 150m from the hostel). Hotel Pedrini – www.hotelpedrini.it .

Housed in a restored antique monastery dating back to the sixteenth century, Hotel Pedrini is located along Strada Maggiore in Bologna, 1.2 km from Piazza Maggiore and near the University District. Every room offers a modern private bathroom and free Wi-Fi. Rooms at the Pedrini come with tiled or wooden floors, air conditioning and satellite TV. Guests can also enjoy a continental breakfast. The Hotel is located in the city center, close to a bus stop, providing direct connections to Bologna CentralRailway Station, 2 km away. The surrounding area is full of restaurants, bars and café.

- Where to eat As we said, Bologna is the cradle of good food and this passions in cooking reflects the friendly behavior of its people. Here a list of places where ESN suggests you to go and eat: Osteria dell’Orsa- Via Mentana, 1/F ( www.osteriadellorsa.com) In the academic center on its long wooden tables, proposes you traditional courese at low prices. We suggest you the “piatto dell’amicizia” (1/2 kg of pasta served in only one dish to share with you want) and the “crostone” (all types’ croutons for 4-6 people) Trattoria Chiaro di Luna- Via Belvedere 30/b. Small restaurant that offers you a selection of “primi” and “secondi” and good vine.

Cremeria Mascarella- Via Mascarella 30/b. One of the most ancient and renowed ice-creame parlor, at low prices and with the ESN card you can join typical products tasting and ice-cream preparation’s courses for free.

Ristorante Cucchiaio d’Ora- Via G. Petroni 4/6. In this restaurant you can eat italian food and more specifically Bologna’s traditional courses at very low price. It’s agreed upon ESN Bologna and during the years several dinners with unlimited vine and beer.

- Entertainment Bologna is not only the capital of delicious food, but it’s also known for its nightlife. In fact there are many bars, pubs, and discos in the inner center that light up students’ nights. In particular ESN suggest you: Bar Lime- Via Zamboni, 3. Tiny central local, near the Two Tower, specilized in american bar, with an international atmposphere. Special discounts with ESN card! for example during the happy hour you can have two cocktails for only 6€!

Kinki – Via Zamboni, 1. It’s the oldest disco in Bologna, very famous for its international Wednesday where with your ESN card you can enter for free untill 1 o’clock.

Lab 16 – Via Zamboni, 16. One of the most famous bar in the academic area. It offers aperitif and degree’s parties at very low prices. During the day is a bar, while at night it turns into a disco with a big dance hall underground. You will have discount with your ESN card.

- Activities Beer Contest: Erasmus is also a synonymous for amusement and this kind of spirit is typical of the traditional beer contest. It’s a competition between three teams (indifferently boys and girls) based on speed, there is a direct elimiation: the team that fishes his beer first is the winner! Round after round at the end Queens and Kings of the beer will be crown.

Eight-a-side football tournament: integration is the center of every erasmus experience and everybody knows how we can be in love with a football team. We propese you an 8 team tournament, each one composed by 8 people. You’ll choise the name and be ready for good competition. The player of the three winner teams will have a medal and lots of friends and good memories.

Special dinners: On special holidays (for example Easter and Christmas) ESN Bologna organizes tasty dinner to Erasmus guys based on deliciuos traditional food, lots of drinks and good company.

Pub Crawl: What’s the best way to become familiar with the Bologna’s best locals? ESN Bologna organizes twice in one year this kind of event well know in U.S.A. Starting with an aperitif, we’ll walk through the inner city stopping in several bars.

Themed events: ESN Bologna organizes, both in discos and in private locals, big themed parties!

Toga, college, mustache, flue, candy parties and so on. All this to make your night in Bologna very special!

Hatha yoga: in order to have a break from all the parties and trips, our section offers you once a week the possibility to attend to Hatha Yoga classes. Hatha derives from the ancient indian culture: through a vaste number of tecnics, body -mind &soul will communicate, the individual energy Jivatman and the universal energy Paramatman, will be united.

Cultural activities: during the whole year, Esn Bologna organizes visits to “Palazzo Pepoli”, the historic museum of the city, to “M.A.M.Bo” the Modern art museum, to the monumental cemetery called “La Certosa”, to the archeological excavations of “Sala Borsa”, to the Ducati museum and to the Ferrari& Maserati museum in Modena.

Tastings: during the year we also organized different tasting events to discover local products such as wines and beers.

Salsa: What about Caribbean dances to warm us up during the cold winter? Our section in collaboration with a professional dance school offers you Salsa corses and Caribbean bachada Bowling: during the year Esn Bologna organizes often bowling matches, originally it is an american game but it is very popular also in Europe and particularly among the erasmus in Bologna! To the first three classified and also to the last one a prize is given at the end of all the matches.

Photo challenge: Are you a prophessional photographer or do you simly like taking pictures? Esn Bologna organizes alternative Sundays proposing photo challenges. Erasmus students will try to take the most beautiful and original picture of our magnificent city!

Laser Combat Experience - www.xcalibur.it: this is dedicated to all the lovers of challenges and adrenalin: ESN Bologna gives the chance to share a marvellous experience in one of the few arenas in Italy. Divided in two teams made of 10 people, in more than 450 mq split in two floors, surrounded by music and haze you will fight to reach the higher score and win the game!

TIPS -Tour of Bologna

- Beach Trip

the first thing to do when you arrive here it’s doubtless to visit the city! The willing Esn Bologna members are also amateur guides which lead Erasmus students all around the city telling them the history of the most relevant monuments and also the story of some secrets of it.

just an hour far from Bologna, the Adriatic Coast offers severals occasions for entertainmen. Marina di Ravenna it’s the destination which Esn Bologna chooses to go to twice a year, on September and June. This city it’s popular because of its wonderful Happy Hour on the beach, a mixture of music, sand, sun set and a lot of people.

- Tortellini course - Tasting at Gelateria Mascarella Bologna is famous because of its University and the two towers, but it is also weel-known due to its cousine. This gastronomic culture is transmitted and preserved on the basis of an ancient ritual. It is a particular experience which the Erasmus have the chance to try thanks to Esn Bologna; there are several costless courses to learn how to make the pastry and cook tortellini. These classes are held by old ladies in a social society. .

- Chocolate oh the tower every year, during November is held the trade show of chocolate (fiera del cioccolato). Esn Bologna gives the Erasmus the possibility to visit the second highest tower of the city, Torre Prendiparte an ancient prison, in via Sant’Alò: it is a private building so it is very rare and unique to have the chance to enter it. On the top of it we set up a stand with tipical sweets and a cup of hot chocolate to be tasted from a breath taking view.

this activity is dedicated to all the greedy who visit Bologna! Come and discover all the secrets of the real italian ice cream with a fantastic taste!

Brescia

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Founded by Gallians in the III° century B.C., the city obtained roman citizenship under Caesar that made of "Brixia" the main center of roman expansion in French territory. From 4th century it was invaded by the Ostrogoths with Teodorico and then by Longobards that made Brixia their chief town.

After proclaiming itself free city in the 12th century, it was conquered from Milan's Visconti and then annexed to the Venetian Republic in 1428.

The territory passed under Austrian domination in 1797.

During Risorgimento, the whole city organized a rebellion against the Austrian domination, in the most famous Dieci Giornate (23rd March - 1st April 1849) in which it earned the title of "Italy's Lioness" (Leonessa d'Italia) given to the city by GiosuĂŠ Carducci.

It was finally annexed to the Italian Reign in 1860.

The last century sees Brescia as a main center of attention given the profound industrial and infrastructural evolution, as well as considering its importance during World War II given both its connections to Germany and the strong Partesan presence in the nearby mountains.

THE CITY TODAY Brescia today has around 200.000 inhabitants, the remaining of its history can be found on the top of Colle Cidneo, where the castle still rises. Downhill the historical city center hosts the Roman city, the medieval streets and the Renaissance squares.

Brescia is known to be an industrial city: in fact Brescia's suburbs include the third industrial area in Italy for its productivity. The main activities are metal working (machine tools, guns, cutlery), textiles, clothing and food industry.

However, the city discovered its cultural and touristic imprint lately, beco-

ESN Brescia Contacts www.esnbrescia.it brescia@esn.it erasmus.brescia esnbrescia esnbrescia Viale del Piave 221 25121 Brescia

ming important both in Italy and Europe thanks to its Museums, events and thanks to the rediscovery of its architecture and landscape beauties. An event that is most known around the world is Mille Miglia, the vintage car racing that starts and ends in Brescia every year in May. Before the start of the race, many vintage cars can be admired by just walking around the city center, as the racing atmosphere starts rising up amongst everybody. Another main events are the temporary show inside Museo di Santa Giulia and the cultural events at Teatro Grande.

- Cusine and typical drinks: By having wooded mountains and lakes with Mediterranean climate, Brescia gains a food variety that no one would imagine: meat and fish, butter and oil, white and red wines are an important part of this panorama. First of all we have to talk about meat, the main food here: spiedo first (1 meter-long skewers made with various type of meat in small pieces, often including small birds, cooked slowly on a wood fire with butter and spices) served with unmissable polenta and red wines such as Groppello, Cortefranca or Botticino. Often it is preceded by "dirty soup", a broth with chicken livers - very tasty in spite of the description. Even more, a good Brescia citizen can be recognized from the aperitif: he/she orders a pirlo (with Campari or Aperol, sparkling white wine and sparkling water or seltz), accompanied by local cold cuts (we advice the "salame di Montisola).

More classy is the choice of a sparkling Franciacorta (Franciacorta wines are the Italian answer to Champagne, and are appreciated and envied in the world). Next, typical first dishes are casoncelli and risotto (both meat and fish-based), but also trippa; seconds are manzo all'olio ("oiled beef"), grilled meats, snails, frogs or fish of the two lakes (aole, sardines, whitefish, filled eel). Polenta is a main dish when it is "concia" or "tiragna": it is served with cheese (preferrably bagoss) and small pieces of meat and/or bacon (a very strong dish!). The many kinds of cheeses come mainly from the valleys: grana, gorgonzola, quartirolo and provolone are added to valle camonica's "formagelle": goat fatulì, casolét from Adamello and most popular Bagoss. Desserts are simple, at times rusty cakes, others roasted or boiled chestnuts. Many times the dessert is made by cookies or small bites similar to sweet bread; having dialect-sound names such as chisòl or spongade, they are direct inheritance of farmer's festivities. After coffee is compulsory tasting grappa, typical produce coming from eras ago.

- Some courious details: Until 19th century, Brescia was considered the "Lombard Venice". It's city heart is crossed by two rivers (now underground) and by a series of channels that leaded white and black water. An infinite number of bridges marked the passageways between streets and roads.

Romans built pipes transporting water from the valley to the city, to host the baths and the high number of fountains the city still hosts (Brescia is second only to Rome in terms of number of fountains!). The cupola in Duomo Nuovo, finished in 1825, is the biggest after S. Pietro in Rome and Brunelleschi's in Florence. The city is commonly known as "Italy's Lioness", named so by Aleardo Aleardi (popular Resurgence poet) and then made famous by Giosué Carducci: “Lieta del fato Brescia raccolsemi, Brescia la forte, Brescia la ferrea, Brescia leonessa d'Italia beverata nel sangue nemico.”

Those words tell the tale of heroic actions happened during the "Dieci giornate", ten days in 1849 when the citizen, lead by Tito Speri, rebelled against austrian invaders conquering the city.

- Fun: As for the night life, young people of Brescia have many choices before taking the train either to Milan or Desenzano: the city center has many pubs and the “aperitivo” is the popular choice here:

every pub has its own buffet of hot and cold food served with Pirlo, the local drink you will come to know in the many nights spent here. Amongst historical pubs in Brescia, mostly know is surely Viselli in Via Tosio 25, known for its Champagnone, secret recipe that attracts young people from Brescia, mainly during the weekend, filling the nearby streets. Be careful: the proprietary closes when he wants to, so be sure to be there before 9.30PM! Piazza Arnaldo is the reign of Brescia's aperitif, with most popular Spazio Arnaldo and Granaio. Sports and luxury cars and beautiful women will parade under the square lights before driving to the many discos in the suburbs. Also for its aperitif, another known place is the Beach in Via Castellini 14. It's a restaurant, so you may taste fabulous dishes until very late. Not only city center: if the city center is interesting for the evening, with pubs in Via S. Faustino a little bit more "alternative" compared to those in Piazza Arnaldo, night continues outside the city heart. There are possibilities for every taste: La Bicicletta in Via Alberto mario, and Madera bar in Vicolo dell'arciprete for cocktails, Black Sheep in Via Tosio and Da Paola in Via Milano for beers, interesting wineries are Torre d'Ercole in via Cattaneo, the Globo in Via Tosio, the Mente Locale in Via Porta Pile.

- Special event in the city: Once again a lot of (unexpected, perhaps?) variety: 15th of February is the anniversary of Saints Faustino and Giovita, patrons of the city, in which occasion the entire city center is occupied by a giant street MARKET, street artists and cultural events. In May there is Mille Miglia, […]. Famous in the whole world, it hosts participants from everywhere. Of a completely different style is the Radio Onda d’Urto festival, held in august and hosting the alternative-underground music panorama with high level concerts. Meeting date at the end of the summer with the Art and Culture white night; and great music both in June, with the Piano festival dedicated to Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, and in September with “Le X Giornate”, concerts of young talents for 10 days full of music.

- Tourism: The Forum square is the biggest of Roman age in Lombardy: along via Musei you can find the remainings of Capitolium, the nearby theater, the Forum itself and a little south, in Labus square, the remainings of the ancient Basilica that today are integrated in subsequent constructions.

At a very short distance, still in via Musei, you can find the San Salvatore and Santa Giulia complex: monastery of longobard origin built on the remaining of Roman villas – the Domus dell’Ortaglia, today visible – is one of the most important museums of Northern Italy. Along with villas, you can find a lot of Roman and Longobard findings, amongst them a Winged victory (“Vittoria Alata”) and the King Desiderio Cross, together with the Chorus of Nuns completely; plus the Santa Giulia museum hosts the Big Temporary exhibitions dedicated to painters such as Matisse or Van Gogh, Monet and the Impressionists, etc. Brescia still holds a lot of monuments in its city heart: in Paolo VI square you will find Broletto (1223-1298), the Rotonda or Duomo Vecchio (unique example of round church in Italy, of Roman age) and Duomo Nuovo (XVII-XIX centuries, one of the highest cupolas in Italy); and in Corso Garibaldi there is the Pallata tower. Interesting churches are Santa Maria in Solario (XII secolo), Santa Maria del Carmine e San Francesco (1254-1265). Some renaissance buildings are also present, such as the Loggia (now the City Hall, 1491-1574) and the Monte di Pietà palace (1484-1597), both in Loggia square; where you will also see a big venetian clock, above it the Macc de le Ure (“hour mads”) that make the big bell ring. Not far there is Piazza Vittoria, of fascist age (1932) where you will notice the big Piacentini tower. Small but important is the National Museum of Photography, in San Faustino – voices say it hosts the oldest photo camera in the world – in Sant’Agata way there’s Ken Damy photography and modern art space; and just outside the city, in Sant’Eufemia, the Mille Miglia Museum.

P UBLIC

T RANSPORT

Brescia has a bus service allowing you to get around the city, with 18 bus lines having radial paths from the city center. An underground metro line will soon be opened, and it will supply transportation for the main direction followed by citizens: north-south. Until then, bus is still the main transportation service in the city, but unfortunately it isn't offered by night (the last bus leaves terminal before midnight and the next one would be around 5AM), so below in this page you will find some alternatives available 24-7 ;). The firm that takes care of transportation around the city is Brescia Mobilità, on their website you will find (in Italian) information on changes of timetables, routes and other useful information.

For a map of public transportation in Brescia, www.bresciamobilita.it/2011/01/mappa-bre scia-mobilita/.

- Hinterland/Province Transportation: To reach Brescia's outskirts and connect to nearby cities, every transport service (SIA, SAIA, APAM, etc) are located in the bus station in Via Solferino 6, just around the corner from the train station and 5 minutes from the city center.

Please keep in mind that it makes sense to get to Brescia by bus only from the nearby provinces (Bergamo, Cremona, Mantova, Verona).

For more information, visit the website of each company: SIA www.sia-autoservizi.it SAIA www.saiatrasporti.it APAM www.apam.it From the bus station in Via Solferino you can also take the shuttle buses to Malpensa, Linate, Orio al Serio and Montichiari airports.

- Trains: Brescia is linked by train to a lot of italian touristic locations in a very short time: going east in just half an hour you can reach Lake Garda, and in an hour you will find yourself in Verona; about three hours will be enough to experience the colorful carnival in Venice, have a dive in the Adriatic sea or wander around lively Bologna. Going west will mean climb Bergamo main hill in about half an hour, or finding yourself in Milan just a little bit further; and in just around three hours there is Torino. Still close by and

going south, Florence and Rome are waiting for you!

T ARIFFS with Trenitalia and Trenord (the main transportes via train) are divided in 4 levels (cheapest to most expensive): regionale 2° classe (cheapest one, but trains stop at most of the towns along the way) regionale 1° classe (seats are more confortable than 2° classe, but trains still stop at most of the towns along the way - it's the same train only a different carriage) Eurostar/Intercity/Frecciabianca 2° classe (train makes only the main stops - e.g. from Brescia to Milan there are no stops) Eurostar/Intercity/Frecciabianca 1° classe(train makes only the main stops - you should have more services such as free newspaper/offered snack on board, but it's the most expensive).

You can check the up-to-date tariffs on Trenitalia's website: www.trenitalia.com - Car Sharing; In Brescia there is also a car sharing service, with dedicated parkings located all around the city (see map here) and tariffs aligned with those of service provided in other cities.

For more information, visit http://www.carsharingbrescia.it/ - Bicimia: Along with car sharing service, the city of Brescia also has a Bike sharing service, so you can just grab a bike in one of the stations around the city (there are 27 of them now, see map here) and leave them in another one, often skipping the traffic you would suffer by car or bus. Plus, Brescia's city heart is a ZTL (Zona a Traffico Limitato, a restricted traffic area), so only buses, pedestrians, taxis and bikes can access to certain areas (e.g. piazza loggia).

The city also has many good bike lanes (not as in Northern Europe, but one of the best extensions in Italy - see map here).

- On foot: Being a restricted traffic zone, the city center is very good to explore on foot, and many of Brescia's residents can be seen on a Saturday afternoon wandering around for shopping in the shopping streets of Corso Zanardelli and Corso Palestro.

Plus, by being on foot you would avoid parking problems and any needs of checking the buses timetables.

Another good point for walking is that the city diameter is less than 10 kms: you can easily go from the city hospital to crystal palace (one of the most famous buildings in Brescia's BUSINESS district - and where one of the city discos is located) just to spend some of your free time :).

- Taxi: Moving on a Taxi is quite expensive in Brescia, so it is better to share the cost with 2 or 3 friends that go in the same direction. If you need it, probably due to lack of buses at night, you should call Radio Taxi Brescia at 03035111.You find them at the train station and in Piazza Arnaldo and Piazza Vittoria; but also at the City Hospital.

UNIVERSITY You could be an Erasmus student in many universities in Bresica: U NIVERSITÀ DEGLI S TUDI DI B RESCIA (which has Economics, Law, Engineering and Medicine faculties) U NIVERSITÀ C ATTOLICA DEL S ACRO C UORE (with Maths, Physics, Languages, Psycology, Sociology and Literature) L IBERA A CCADEMIA DI B ELLE A RTI (LABA; with Photography, Design and Painting) A CCADEMIA S ANTA G IULIA (again on artistic fields) Università degli Studi, Cattolica and Santa Giulia are in the city center (aparts from Engineering and Medicine faculties, but they're not far away :D).

The Erasmus office for Università degli Studi di Brescia is - as it happens for the Economics faculty - in what anciently was a monastery (see picture on the right), so you can appreciate the roman building you find yourself in together with the university atmosphere.

Engineering and Medicine faculties are a bit further going north - near the city hospital -, but they can be reached easily from the city center with a 20 mins walk (or 12 by bus, but you can still go by bike and beat that time too :D). Plus side of this location is the nearby position of the newest CEDISU residences, the university cafeteria and the neighboring sports fields of CUS (Centro Universitario Sportivo - link), although in recent years some residences and services have been implemented in the city center as well (mostly in accordance with local companies such as bars and restaurants) The other university outside the city center is LABA, located near Urago Mella, but in this case too you can reach classes within 15-20 mins.

Born in 1983, the Università degli Studi di Brescia transformed from a little city reality with few hundreds of students into a reference point for the surrounding area. Today it hosts more than 15.000 students coming not only from Brescia's province, but also from Bergamo, Verona, Cremona and Mantova; a wide group of foreign students coming mostly from Albania, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia and Greece.

THE ESN SECTION Who are we? “Who is” ESN BRESCIA? We are mainly a group of friends – some of us know each other since years, others are “newbies” – who dedicate some of their free time (sometimes a bit more;-)) to organize ESN activities. We are almost all students, even if someone of us became older and is finally working while he tries to continue to help the old friends of ESN :-) Centre of our ASSOCIATION are the “Active Members”. They take care of several aspects of the ESN life, from the organization of the welcome parties to the cultural events, passing through conversation tandems exchanges, trips, parties, cine forums, immersions in the deep nature ;-) Most important we are all volunteers, that means that we are not paid from what we do..so why? well we love to stay with international and mixed-cultured people so to remember the old times when we were erasmus too (once erasmus, always erasmus). ESN Brescia was created on August 31st, 2009.

TIPS Brescia’s surrounding area counts many beautiful landscapes and historical spots, where you will find uncontaminated nature mixed with ancient culture and buildings.

-Lakes: Both lakes deserve a visit: Garda is the unmissable summer week-end for many citizens with possible getaways in Sirmione or a night at the discos around Desenzano, but also history and tradition with Vittoriale (where Cesare D’annunzio lived, now an important museum) and the colourful area around Limone sul Garda (as the name says, you will find many lemon trees here). The unmistakable panorama of the steep cliffs in the northern part of the lake really are worth the long journey.

Garda lake is also famour for having Gardaland nearby, a fun park where both children and adults can spend a good day on rollercoasters and such.As for Iseo lake, Montisola cannot be missed: it is the highest lake mountain in Europe and one of the highest in the world.

Historically a fishermen’s place, the island is still inhabited though nobody can drive cars on it due to the narrow streets (special buses and a special ambulance were built to enable faster travelling across the area.

Iseo lake is also famous for a constant wind, called Ora because of its precision: it starts blowing at 10AM and stops at 5.30PM, every day, always in the same direction (south to north). The wind also gives signals on the weather: whenever it changes direction you can be

sure rain is coming your way! In terms of landscape and panorama, if you haven’t had enough with Montisola, try Bergamo’s side of the lake, with the historical road: the best view will still be by boat, but experiencing the “orrido” (literally meaning “dreadful”, it’s a particular spot where mountains seem to have grown diagonally towards the lake, see image at the side).

-Valleys: Brescia is the widest province in Italy, and people have moved from the valleys towards the city since no one can remember. An exception is Valtrompia, the land of “tondino” (the name indicates the shape of an iron bar used in construction fields); where a florid industry of cutlery, taps and guns makes the little town of Lumezzane known around the world. A completely different story is the telltale of Valcamonica, a land full of ancient traditions and historic spots, starting with Unesco heritage site of Incisioni Rupestri (rock engravings) in Capo di Ponte. Many rocks got smoothed by the glacier era and prehistorical men cut the first signs of writing in those arranged sheets. Other signs of history can be found in Cividate Camuno (from the latin “civitas camunorum”), with roman remaining and a very wide museum.

Romans couldn’t conquer the site even after a long series of battles, so they gave it the “independent city” flagship. Renaissance is also present in local churches and buildings, as it happens with the Romanino church in Pisogne (fre-

scoed by Romanino himself). Eventually, tradition and culture reveals themselves in the summer streetMARKETS of “Mostra mercato dell’artigianato”, where antique crafts can be admired during white nights from Pisogne to Breno -Lowlands and Hills: Lowlands and hills around Brescia, hidden by fog especially during winter, unveil old churches, castles and magnificent villas near the fields. A special mention is deserved by Franciacorta, a little south from Iseo lake, where prestigious wines are produced, so good they represent the Italian competitor of Champagne.

-Extras: Thanks to ESN Brescia's collaboration, the city council has obtained funds to INVEST in services to students such as accommodation, transports etc.

We have asked and obtained FREE transportation service in the city area for all the Erasmus students who will ask for it. Come to see us at our office or on an event and ask for more information!!!

Most of ESN trips include transportation (e.g. bus to go to Snow Week or OKTOBERFEST), and when they don't we will tell you.

Anyway, meetings will mostly be at the train station or at the bus station (the ones near the

train station, which are for out-of-the-city getaways :D), and getting there will be at your own cost.

Cagliari

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

An ancient city with a long history, Cagliari (Casteddu, its Sardinian name, literally means castle) has seen the rule of several civilizations.

Karalis was established around the 8th/7th century BC, part of a string of Phoenician colonies in Sardinia. In the 5th century BC Carthage took control of Sardinia, and the island and Cagliari went under the Roman rule in 238 BC when the Romans defeated them. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire Cagliari fell into the hands of the Vandals and then, after being part of the Byzantine Empire, it became the capital of a gradually independent form of kingdom called Giudicato. During the 14th century the Crown of Aragon conquered Cagliari after a battle against the Pisans. When Sardinia was finally conquered by the Catalan-Aragonese army, the city became the administrative capital of the newborn Kingdom of Sardinia. In 1718, after a brief rule of the Austrian Habsburgs, Sardinia came under the House of Savoy. Starting in the 1870s, in the wake of the unification of Italy, the city experienced a century of rapid growth. During the Second World War Cagliari was heavily bombed by the Allies in February 1943. In order to escape from the danger of bombardments and harsdhips of war life, many people were evacuated from the city into the countryside villages. After the war, the population of Cagliari grew again rapidly and many apartment blocks and recreational areas were erected in new residential districts, often created with poor planning.

THE CITY TODAY The city of Cagliari is situated in the south of Sardinia and it is the capital of the island of Sardinia. It has nearly 150,000 inhabitants, while its metropolitan area has more than 480,000 inhabitants. The old town lies on top of a hill, with a view of the Gulf of Cagliari (also known as Angels Gulf). The main beach of Cagliari is the Poetto. It stretches for about 8 kilometres (5 mi), from Sella del Diavolo (the Devil's Saddle) up to the coastline of Quartu Sant'Elena. Cagliari has a Mediterranean climate with hot summers and very mild winters.

Contatti ESN Cagliari ESN Ancona Contacts www.esncagliari.org info@esncagliari.org esncagliarierasmus ESNCagliari esncagliari Via S. Giorgio 12 09124 - Cagliari

P UBLIC T RANSPORT Moving around in Cagliari is quite easy: the public transports network consists of the metro, local (CTM) and extra-urban buses (ARST). It's also possible to use cabs or rent a car in the city centre or at the airport.

H OW T O G ET H ERE Cagliari is connected to the most important european cities thanks to the Elmas - Mario Mameli international airport.

A shuttle bus connects the airport to Piazza Matteotti in the city center, situated between the port and the train station. Moreover, taxis and car rental services connect the airport to the city.

The port of Cagliari is situated in the centre of the city and faces directly onto the famous via Roma. It is connected to the mainland via daily ferry trips, and is also an important landing place to several ships cruising the Mediterranean.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI STUDI DI

C AGLIARI

Founded in 1606 as the Studium Generalis Kalaritanum, the University of Cagliari is based on the old Spanish universities of Salamanca, Valladolid and Lérida. The originally offered classes were Law, Latin, Greek and Hebrew Literature, the Liberal Arts, Medicine, Surgery, Philosophy and Science. However, during the 18th century Sardinia, under the rule of the House of Savoy government, significantly modified the university statute with the expansion of the science faculties and institutes. The new university building was designed by the Piedmontese engineer Saverio Belgrano di Farnolasco and it was completed at the end of the 18th century. Today it holds the Rectorate and the administrative offices. The 19th and 20th centuries saw a greater emphasis put on the research activities and the achievement of internationally acclaimed results. The University of Cagliari is a public university. It is one of the largest enterprises in the region of Sardinia due to its international policy and studies, and its numerous agreements with prestigious universities throughout Europe and the world. The studies offered consist in the following courses: Economics, Law and Political Sciences; Engineering and Architecture; Humanities; Medicine and Surgery; Pharmacy and Biology; Sciences. The University of Cagliari comprises of four main facilities; they are located both in the town centre and on the outskirts: 1- Cittadella di Monserrato is situated within 73 hectares and it is home to Medicine and Surgery, Physics, Biology and Natural Sciences, a number of departments and one of the city hospitals; 2- The area around Piazza D’armi plays host to the Engineering, Education Sciences and Humanities faculties; 3- Viale Sant’Ignazio comprises the Economics, Law and Political Sciences faculties; 4- The city centre is home to the Architecture faculty in Via Santa Croce, to Foreign Languages and Literature in Via San Giorgio and to Mathematics and Pharmacy in Via Ospedale.

There are excellent student facilities including halls of residence, canteens, libraries and sports facilities.

THE ESN SECTION ESN Cagliari was born during Benevento's national platform on 12/21/2008, from the already existing Cagliari Erasmus Association. Presently it counts more than 80 members. Twice a year we organize a RECRUITING DAY for those who want to join us.

Our main objective is to ensure that every student coming for an exchange program to Cagliari is

warmly welcomed, receive all the information they need and become immediately involved in the local student life. To achieve this goal, ESN Cagliari organizes several meetings, trips, parties, sports activities and cultural events open for all exchange students in Cagliari.

Pick up service and House search are some of the services we offer to all exchange students in our city. We also help them with all the procedures and documents they need to get to stay in our city (e.g. fiscal code, residence permit etc.).

TIPS - Orientation week akes place twice a year (end of September/end of February). Trips, cultural events, parties, sport activities, guided tours of the city, music, food and fun are waiting for you!

- Erasmus Discovering Sardinia it is a project funded by Regione Autonoma della Sardegna and it has been made to promote the Island among the Erasmus students. It allows for low cost trips to various locations around the island and lots of fun.

- Goal All Night ESN Cagliari organizes the most important football tournament for Erasmus and anyone who wants to have fun with people from all over Europe. The tournament usually begins at

around 18:00 and it continues throughout the night until midnight when the party begins. torneo inizia intorno alle ore 18.00 per continuare tutta la notte fino alla proclamazione della squadra vincitrice e a seguire barbeque e festa notturna.

- The Feast of St. Ephysius or Sant'Efis in Sardinian is the most important religious procession of Cagliari, taking place every year on May 1st . In this festival, thousands of people of folk groups from all over Sardinia wear their traditional costumes and parade through the city.

Camerino

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Camerino has a very long history. The town, founded by the Umbri Camerti people, probably derives its name from the old italic term Kamars, that means “rock” and figuratively “fortress”. We have few information, some of them very recently discovered, about the Roman town and the pre-Roman age building.

Contatti ESN Camerino ESN Ancona Contacts www.esncamerino.it camerino@esn.it esnaure.camerino EsnAureCamerino esncamerino

THE CITY TODAY Placed in a suggestive position between Chienti and Potenza Valleys, on a hill at 670 metres above sea level, in the middle of a highland closed on the south by Monti Sibillini and on the north by Monte San Vicino, Camerino is an unexpected art case with an historic centre that surprises also for its landscapes and natural beauties. Its surroundings are mainly characterized by a hilly landscape with towers and castles that offers a pleasant mix of cultivated fields, wooded glades and marvellous age-old oaks.

Via Pieragostini 18 62032 Camerino (MC)

P UBLIC T RANSPORT Internally, the city is served with urban links that allow you to easily reach all the different part of the city. Every student of University of Camerino can take urban buses for free.

WWW . CONTRAM . IT

H OW

TO

G ET H ERE

- by plane Closer airports are those in Ancona, Perugia, Rome and Pescara; all of them reached by many national and international flights.

- by train Internal line Rome-Ancona with stopover in

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI STUDI DI

Fabriano and following train for Castelraimondo-Camerino station.

Adriatic line Milano/Bologna/Venezia going south: with stopover in Ancona or in Civitanova Marche. From both of these stops you can take a bus to Camerino or a train to Castelraimondo-Camerino station.

- by bus From Rome: Contram Autolinee www.contram.it From Tuscany: Sena Autolinee http://www.sena.it From the south of Italy: Baltour Autolinee Marino Autolinee http://www.baltour.it - www.marinobus.it

C AMERINO

The University of Camerino (short Unicam) is an Italian public university, founded in 1336. The university is composed of 5 schools about didactics and research: ● Architecture and Design ● Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine ● Law ● Pharmaceutical Sciences and Health Products ● Sciences and Technologies The headquarters are based in Camerino but there are other locations in Matelica, Ascoli Piceno and San Benedetto del Tronto.

THE ESN SECTION Local section is ESN A.U.R.E. Camerino (Associazione Universitaria Ricreativa Erasmus), founded in 2004. The section, in its long history, was able to organize and host two National Platforms (2007 and 2012), a National Event (2006) and first edition of ESN Italia ONE (Olimpiadi Nazionali Erasmus) in 2014, together with ESN Macerasmus and ESN ESAN Ancona.

TIPS - Food and beverage you can’t leave Camerino without having tried the local fresh Pasta produced in the city, the famous Verdicchio wine of Matelica, the typical salami Ciauscolo or the Torrone (nougat) made

by Casa Francucci, claimed to be the world guinnes record with 713,13 meters of length.

Nearby, it’s also possible to discover Varnelli distillery, where some famous liquors are produced such as “Mistrà”, Caffè Moka, Mandarinetto, Amaro Sibilla and Amaro Tonico alle

Erbe.

- Maggio “Corsa alla Spada e Palio” and feast of the patron San Venanzio.

-Giugno Musicamdo Jazz Festival and International Award Massimo Urbani.

Catania

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Catania’s history starts since Prehistory, as demonstrated by many archaeological discoveries in the city, from the Neolithic to the Calcolithic period. The greek colony of Katane was founded by the greek chalcis from Naxos, between the 729 and the 728 B.C. The new inhabitants of the city, after the expulsion of the szèkely, elected Evarco, as the founder. At the beginning of the 5th c. B.C., the city was conquered by Hippokrates from Gela and in 476 B.C. Ierone, Syracus’e tyran, deported is population to Leontinoi and replaced them with 10.000 new inhabitants from Syracuse and Peloponnese, changing the name of the city in Aitna.

But in 461 B.C., after a revolution headed by Ducezio, Catania recovered its previous name and the previous inhabitants.

In 263 a.C., at the beginning of the First Punic War, Catania was conquered by the Romans, under the command of the consul Massimo Valerio Messalia and its name became Catina. Augustus established a colony throughout his empire. The city was involved in the building, in the monumental development of many public structures, such as the thermal baths and the amphitheatre, and also in the construction of rich residential buildings.

Christianity spread rapidly; among its martyrs, during Diocleziano’s persecutions, Sant’Agata, Catania’s patron saint, and Sant’Euplio stand out.

Since the end of the Western Roman Empire the city was controlled by many people which has contributed to the creation of the huge cultural baggage that Catania and Sicily own today.

After the Barbaric Invasion the city was controlled by Byzantines, Arabians, Normans and Swabian. During the domination of the latter people led by Frederick II, the Ursino Castle was built.

After there were the Anjou banished with the rebellions known as Vespri Siciliani, and the Aragonese.

The city preserved the medieval style until the XVII century. Catania is know for its historical earthquakes, having been destroyed by several events, for different volcanic eruptions from the neighbouring mount etna, the most violent of which was in 1669, and for catastrophic earthquakes

Contatti ESN Catania ESN Ancona Contacts www.esncatania.it catania@esn.it esn.catania esn_catania Via del Pino 24 95019 Zafferana Etnea

in 1693 which razed all vestiges of medieval and renaissance age.

Many architects of the baroque era have worked in the reconstruction of the city of Catania, as Vaccari and Stefano Ittar. Today the baroque of Catania is part of the UNESCO, within the city we can admire the amazing churches, palaces and monuments. It was later ruced by the Bourbons to which citizens rebelled in 1837 and 1848 and became part of kingdom of Italy in 1861.

THE CITY TODAY There are many places that a tourist can visit: Palazzo Biscari , one of the most beautiful Baroque buildings in Catania, erected after the earthquake in 1693 on the remains of the 16th century city walls; Teatro Massimo Bellini, an Opera House dedicated to the famous Catania’s composer Vincenzo Bellini; the Roman Amphitheatre, second only to that of Coliseum in Rome; Castello Ursino, built from 1239 to 1250 as one of the Royal Castles of Emperor Frederick II King of Sicily; Via Crociferi, triumph of 18th century Baroque; House-Museum of Giovanni Verga, one of the greatest Sicilian writers, who lived and wrote here for many years.

Catania is a city that never sleeps! Infact, Catania is famous for its legendary nightlife and not just in Sicily. This city offers many places to have a goodtime. The most popular meeting places are the area of Piazza Duomo, Piazza Università and near the Teatro Bellini. Between the airy Baroque squares, picturesque streets and courtyards, there are many pubs and clubs always crowded and pleasant. In Summer they turn into famous "Caffè Concerto", extending their activities in the City's open spaces and offering live music and multimedia events.

“Piazza Bellini” or “Piazza Teatro Massimo”, where the theater Massimo Bellini is situated, and the small alleys nearby are the right places to have a funny night in Catania. There are many night clubs and bars, crowded with the young people of Catania. During warm seasons, the bars have tables out along the street where you can sit and watch people walking and drinking.

Beside Piazza Duomo, you can go to Piazza Currò, finding yourself to visit a 20 meters underground cave in lava, with wet feet by the cool clear waters of a mountain stream that brings to mind both the washerwoman who came here to wash the clothes and the ancient Roman nobleman who took the water from here for the spa.

Upstairs, the atmosphere is dynamic and extraordinarily colorful. You can meet guys from all over the world who speak, play and dress differently from each other, but all united by the sun and the sea of Sicily.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW

Autobus A.M.T. - Local bus lines in Catania and from/to airport. http://www.amt.ct.it/home.php

- by train: Central station - Piazza Giovanni XXIII. www.trenitalia.it

A.S.T. - www.aziendasicilianatrasporti.it daily links with all major Sicilian cities.

Subway: Catania Metro Taxi: http://www.radiotaxicatania.org/ Radiotaxi: +39 095 330966

TO

G ET H ERE

- by ferryboat: Catania - Naples / TTT Lines.

Marittme station – Via Dusmet. www.tttlines.it - by plane: International Airport "Vincenzo Bellini" Fontanarossa www.aeroporto.catania.it - by bus: SAIS www.saistrasporti.it www.saisautolinee.it

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI STUDI DI

C ATANIA

The University of Catania was founded in 1434 and is the oldest university in Sicily and it’s one of the major Italian universities by number of subscribers. approximately 70,000 students who settle in Catania for the period of undergraduate study coming from all parts of the Sicily.

Particular interest is aroused by the Faculty of Humanities as it is located within a former Benedictine Monastery dating back to 1558.

The University of Catania is organized into 22 departments and the headquarter is in Piazza Università 2.

THE ESN SECTION ESN Catania ASE, Associazione Studenti Erasmus Catania, has been created in first semester of 2009 and officially accepted in the National network on the 3° National Platform of the year in july 2009. Since the year 2008/09 the activity with Erasmus started, as well the collaboration with ESN Italy, in December 2009, the section was candidate for organizing the Italian National Event (Evento Nazionale) and received the trust of the entire national network for 3 years in a row, EN 2010, 2011, 2012. In September 2013 ESN Catania organized the Cultural Medley, an ESN International annual cultural event in which an ESN section presents itself to the ESN world through many cultural activities; in October was named as Section In The Spotlight. In May 2014 ESN Catania will organize the fourth National Event of his history.

ASE Catania has been the first in Italy, even before the birth of the Social Erasmus project, to organize the Erasmus blood donation day and it take part in a non-competitive yearly marathon charity named “Corri Catania” experienced enthusiastically by Erasmus students.Esn Catania organizes weekly entertaining activities for Erasmus students, like Language Tandem games, Cineforum, Theme Parties. Moreover, for some years it has set up a program called “Esn into the wild”, with the aim of discovering the Sicilian naturalistic heritage. In 2016 it started a live radio program in collaboration with the University of Catania’s official Radio, in which the Erasmus students who participate can talk about their experience and share it with local students.

TIPS - A typical dish: Granita.

The perfect summer refreshment, Granita, it’s a semi frozen creamy dessert made of sugar, water and various flavoring ingredients as chocolate, almond, pistachio, strawberry, lemon juice, coffee. Granita, in combination with a yeast pastry called brioche, is a common breakfast not only in summer time.

- A special event: The festival of Sant‘Agata The festival of Sant’Agata is the most important religious festival of Catania and the third one in the world after Holy Week of Siviglia and Corpus Domini of Guzco in Perù for the amount of people that usually come here between 3 and 5 February.

- A breathtaking landscape: Mount Etna is an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina and Catania. It is the tallest active volcano on the European continent, currently 3,329 m high. In June 2013, it was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

- The Fish Market or “ A Piscaria” is located between Piazza Pardo and Piazza di Benedetto, it’s amazing place with its wonderful show of colours, smells and sounds. It is a typical Mediterranean market where you can found various type of fish, meat, cheese, fruit, vegetables, spices and many other foodstuffs.

The Fish Market is a worth to visit, even when you’re "just looking".

- For an endless Summer In Catania there are many different beaches, as lavic beach of San Giovanni li Cuti, or the sandy one of the Playa, and the rocky beach of Ognina. You can sunbathe and immerse yourself in the beautiful sea of the city during a long period of the year, usually from April to October.

Catanzaro

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Catanzaro is known as “the town between two seas”, as it is located on the narrowest strip of land in Italy, where only 30 km separate the Ionio sea from the Tirreno sea. It is therefore easy to see, from the northern part of the town and when the sky is particularly clear, both seas as well as the Eolie Islands. It is also called “the town of the three hills”, which appear on the civic coat of arms and are: San Trifone hill (today called San Rocco), Vescovato hill (today Duomo Square) and Castle hill (today called San Giovanni).

It is not sure where the name of the town comes from. The local tradition says it might come from two founders named Cataro and Zaro, but the mixture of languages and dialects does not allow us to know the real story.

Furthermore, in some historical documents, we first find the Byzantine name, (10th Century) “Catafioron” (meaning “on the flowery”) and later on the Latin one “Catacium”.

Traditions therefore take us back to two different theories: the first one says that two Greek soldiers, Cataro and Zaro, gave the name to the town; while the second one says it comes from the place of foundation.

In fact, the ancient name of the stream was probably “Zaro”, and thus Catanzaro could mean “beyond (from the Greek word katà) the Zaro”, indicating the settlement of the local population beyond the Zaro stream.

In ancient times Catanzaro was also known as “the town of the three V”, because of three characteristics: • V for Vitaliano, name of the patron saint.

• V for “vento” (wind), because of the winds blowing from the Ionio sea and the Sila mountains, making it a very windy town.

• V for “velluto” (velvet), as Catanzaro has always been an important silk centre since the Byzantine times.

The town was a real fortress against the Saracen invasions, thanks to the three hills and the two valleys being a perfect guarantee for safe-

ESN Catanzaro Contacts www.esncatanzaro.com catanzaro@esn.it esan.erasmusancona ESNCatanzaro esncatanzaro Università Magna Graecia di Catanzaro c/o Consulta Degli Studenti Viale Europa 88100 Catanzaro

ness. Nevertheless, Calabria was then invaded by the Normans. Catanzaro was occupied and, under the rule of “Roberto il Guiscardo”, it was held in fee.

In this period there was also a great number of arts and crafts, especially silk production and commerce. The silk trade extended through the other regions of Italy, in Europe and even in the Middle East.

Charles V granted the town the highest honour of the imperial eagle coat of arms with the motto "sanguinis effusione" reported today on the banner of the city together with the three hills, thus reminding the brave undertaking of the Catanzaresi who heroically defended the city from the French siege. The Aragonese period was marked by a decline of the town due to both the plague and the consequences of the earthquake (1638). During the Napoleonic period instead, the city experienced the war and the French occupation. The innovative spirit brought by the French Revolution and Joachim Murat helped Catanzaro grow; it was in fact already home of universities and libertarian and democratic instances.

In 1971 it became the administrative capital of the region, thus formalizing a historical prerogative of the town since, from its foundation to the present day, it has always had the role of capital of the Calabrian peninsula.

THE CITY TODAY The town is gradually getting used to receiving the tourists who want to alternate beach relax at the resorts along the nearby coast and a walk in the pleasant old town. Catanzaro is a city that you do not expect, that knows how to reveal hidden beauties to those wishing to discover them: churches, palaces, museums and lots of green areas. A good mixture for a destination which is worth spending a day.

H OW

TO

G ET H ERE

- by train The main station of the town is located in the Marinaro district (Catanzaro Lido station).

Recently a new station has been opened in the Germaneto district, near the “Magna Graecia” University of Catanzaro, and the station of Lamezia Terme is less than 30 km away.

sible via the E 90 that goes through the old Marinaro district, whereas from the Tyrrhenian coast it is accessible via the “A3” motorway which at the junction of Catanzaro leads to the SS.280 (called “of the Two Seas"). SS.280 reaches the heart of the town centre thanks to the junction with “de Filippis” street.

- by plane The S. Eufemia Lamezia Terme International Airport is the main airport of Calabria, located less than 30 km away from the city centre. The other airport serving the city, especially during summertime, is Sant'Anna di Capo Rizzuto, located 48 km away.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT

- by bus Catanzaro is easy to reach from both north and south. From the “Adriatica” highway it is acces-

The city centre is not very large, it is therefore possible to walk around. Alternatively you can use the “AMC” bus line which connects the centre with the north and south areas of the town.

The funicular instead connects the upper part of the city with the area facing the Ionio Sea.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ M AGNA G RAECIA

DI

C ATANZARO

The "Salvatore Venuta" Campus of the “Magna Graecia” University of Catanzaro is located on the outskirts of Catanzaro, a few kilometers away from the town centre, in the Germaneto district, an area of over 170 hectares, in the valley of the Corace river. Here it is possible to fulfill the current needs of the research and the right to education, as there are the best opportunities for studying, designing and experimenting thanks to functional structures available for the academic community, teachers and students.

The Germaneto headquarters have been active since 2004 and are still being completed in order to meet all the needs of an University Campus: spaces to provide services for students, sports facilities and student houses.

The university consists of the following departments: • Department of Pharmacy • Department of Law • Department of Medicine and Surgery.

THE ESN SECTION ESN Catanzaro was founded in 2008, when the first Erasmus students reached the University of Catanzaro, by the enthusiasm of the 5 founding members led by Vitaliano Parrella Catalano. This small but very determined group decided to form a local section to ensure foreign students a happy and cheerful stay. Today ESN Catanzaro has 15 active members, and many other volunteers who are now following the path leading them to become active members, play a role in the board, and dive into the wonderful world of Europe's largest Network.

TIPS ─ The dishes on the traditional menu are a triumph of taste and Mediterranean cuisine.

However, the most famous dish in Catanzaro is the morzello, called “u morzeddhu” in the local dialect, a meat soup made of veal offal, chili pepper, aromatic herbs and red wine, to be enjoyed along with “pitta”, typical homemade circular-shaped bread. It is an old poor recipe which derived from the need to eat offal and is considered today the symbol dish of the province of Catanzaro. ─ The most important and characteristic festival in town is “la Notte Piccante” (the spicy night), organized every year in September through the streets of the old town, which is transformed into a large container of entertainment, music and culture. ─ Despite being a small city, Catanzaro has different cultural attractions, such as the

“Museo delle Arti di Catanzaro (MARCA)” (Arts Museum). It was opened in 2008 and inside there are art works going from ancient to contemporary art. This characteristic also emerges from the great number of collections displayed, many of which belonging to the Catanzaro province and going from the end of the 19th Century to the post-war period, until the beginning of the 20th Century and contemporary art. ─ Catanzaro is also characterised by its 610.000 square metres of green areas. Therefore, the visit of the city must end with a walk through the “Parco della Biodiversità mediterranea” (Mediterranean Biodiversity Park). It was once known as the “Agricultural Science Park”, since the Agricultural College, located inside the park, takes care of the typical Mediterranean fauna and flora.

Chieti-Pescara

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

The city of Pescara was officially founded in 1926 by the union of Castellammare Adriatico , on the left bank of the Pescara river and the ancient Piscaria. The origins of the city are ancient and not well known but are certainly related to the strategic position that characterized the development of its economic and social life (a communication route between the ancient Rome and the Adriatic area), that can be traced in different historical periods: - In Roman times: the emperor Tiberius built a monumental bridge and modernized the important port for the economic and military purposes.

- The Longobard period: there’s the legend of the bishop Cetteo , the current patron of the city, accused by the Longobards of being an accomplice of the Greek Christians, he was executed by being thrown off a bridge with a stone tied around his neck.

- 1095: Piscaria was full of monuments and churches, including the churches of San Salvatore, Santi Legunziano and Domiziano, San Tommaso Apostolo, San Nicola and Santa Gerusalemme, whose bases have recently been brought to light in front of the current Cathedral of San Cetteo.

- 1814: Pescara was one of the protagonists cities of the uprisings revolutions of Carbonari against Gioacchino Murat, King of Naples. It is stated that it was in Pescara that Murat signed in 1815, the first constitution of the Italian Risorgimento.

- The Industrial Revolution: there's the order for the unification of Piscaria and Castellammare. The engagement of Gabriele D'Annunzio was crucial because he wrote , on 16th May 1924, a letter to Mussolini asking the fusion of the two cities and the elevation of the city as county town.

- On August 31st and September 20th 1943, in a full swing of World War II, Pescara was heavy bombed by the Allied forces that have caused the deaths of at least 3,000 people. The whole part of the north city was razed to the ground. Pescara suffered the destruction of port facilities, buildings, roads, bridges and public offices by the retreated German army. For these reasons, on February 8th 2001, the President of the Italian Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, gave to the city a gold medal for

Contatti ESN Chieti-Pescara ESN Ancona Contatcs www.esnchietipescara.eu

chieti_pescara@esn.it esnase.pescara Viale Pindaro 42 65127 Pescara

civil merit.

After the war, Pescara had considerable development in recent years, tried to change the urban layout of the city, restoring the use of areas such as the Caserma Cocco, now used as a public park, and buildings, proposing many projects and realizing the “Ponte del Mare”, trying to make a nice change on the view of the city and the quality of life.

The city is known for being the birthplace of well-known personalities such as the decadent writer Gabriele D'Annunzio, the protagonist of the most prestigious salons and political life of that time; Ennio Flaiano, playwright, screenwriter and critic; Basilio Cascella, painter.

THE CITY TODAY Pescara is, with about 117.00 residents, the most populated city within Abruzzo. Pescara, with Chieti, is the home town of Gabriele d’Annunzio University. The city has also an important International airport, called Aeroporto Internazionale d’Abruzzo and one of the most important and major Marina of the Adriatic Sea, the “Porto di Pescara”.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW

To reach Pescara from the airport: take the bus line 8 (from 8:00 to 18:00) or bus line 38 (from 06:00 to 8:00 and from 18:00 to 23:00), and get off the bus at Piazza della Repubblica. It is also possible to take a taxi.

To get to the University from the city center, or from Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, take the bus line 2 directed to Francavilla, or line 3 directed to Via Falcone and Borsellino (Tribunale/Courthouse), and get off at Viale Marconi (next to the big Eni gas station).

If you need to go to the hospital, take the bus line 5 (it leaves from the bus terminal, in front of the train station), and get off at Ospedale Civile.

You can reach malls as well. For Centro Commerciale D’Abruzzo, take the line 8 bus at Corso Vittorio Emanuele II or Piazza Duca D’Aosta. For the ‘Megalò’ mall, take the bus directed to Chieti Scalo at the bus stop next to the Teatro Michetti and get off at the train station of Chieti Scalo. You will find a free shuttle bus which will bring you to the mall.

Inside the mall you will find a multiplex cinema.

For detailed informations about routes and time schedules please visit the Gtm website. (www.gtmpescara.it)

- by bus It is possible to reach the most important Italian cities by bus. The main routes are: Pescara - Naples - Salerno; Pescara - Rome; Pescara - Florence, Pescara - Bologna.

For detailed informations about routes and time schedules please visit the websites of Arpa (www.arpaonline.it), Baltour (www.baltour.it) e Gruppo La Panoramica (www.gruppolapanoramica.it)

TO

G ET H ERE

- by plane Aeroporto Internazionale d’Abruzzo, located in Pescara, is linked to many national and international destinations. It is possible to reach Milan with Alitalia flights to Milano Linate Airport, or with Ryanair flights to Bergamo - Orio al Serio Airport.

It is also possible to reach other destinations: Barcelona Girona, Bruxelles Charleroi, Frankfurt Hahn, London Stansted, Paris Beauvais and Dusseldorf Weeze.

For detailed informations about routes and time schedules please visit the website of Aeroporto Internazionale d'Abruzzo (www.abruzzoairport.com) and Ryanair website (www.ryanair.com).

- by train Pescara is linked to the main Adriatic cities, the Capital and Milan. Pescara is a passage zone by trains from and to Lecce, Bari, Ancona, Bologna, Venice, Turin and Rome. The regional railway network also allows easy access to all the locations in Abruzzo.

For detailed informations about routes and time schedules please visit the Trenitalia website (www.trenitalia.it)

UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF CHIETI-PESCARA

The University of Chieti-Pescara takes its name from Gabriele D’Annunzio from Pescara, a famous writer, poet, aviator, soldier and war hero, politician and also journalist, he was a symbol and the most important exponent of the italian age of the Decandence together with the poet Pascoli.

Gabriele d’Annunzio was named the ‘Vate’ that means “the prophet”, on one hand he was a big interpreter of the longest poetical Italian tradition, on the other hand he had an important influence as politician on his period and on the events of his own life.

CAMPUS

The campus has two main locations: one is in Chieti and it is organized in the typical Anglo-Saxon style, the other one is located in the city of Pescara, this structure presents a really different style than the one in Chieti.

The newest structures situated in the campus of Chieti are located next to the civil hospital and host all the scientific studies faculties: Medicine and Surgery, Dentistry, Farmacy, Psicology and all the postgraduate schools like the SEBI, Ce.S.I. (the centre of the aging sciences) and the I.T.A.B (Institute of the new biomedical Technologies). Going down from the ‘scientific hill’ there are some faculties like Liberal-arts, Social Sciences, Learning Science (belongs to ‘Philosophy department’), Maths and Natural Sciences (belong to ‘Geology Department’) and the Library “Ettore Paratore”. Not far from the main campus in Chieti there is the CIAPI, the structure which hosts the faculties of Physiotherapy and Sports Science.

The main offices of the Dean and some others like the URI (International Relations Office) are located in front of these faculties.

In the nearest of these offices there is the administrative office and the student information point and in front of it there is the students canteen of the campus of Chieti.

The campus of Chieti can be reached by bus of the company Arpa which leaves from the main station of Pescara, or by the urban bus of Chieti (n°1).

The faculties in Pescara are all located in a singural structure, where we can find: Foreign Languages, Architecture and Economics. There's just one exception, 200 mt far from this main building there is a smaller one which host the faculty of Management Studies.

In the campus of Pescara we can also find the Administrative office of each faculty of this building, the student information point, the library and our ASE room (Erasmus Student Association), except the students canteen, that is located 1300 meters from the main building.

For every kind of information about University “G. d'Annunzio” please visit the official website www.unich.it

THE ESN SECTION ESN ASE Chieti - Pescara was born in December 2010, and after just one year joins officially ESN Italy. Burst into the "movida" of Pescara for the growing number of its participants and the originality of the events where the Erasmus spirit, with its cheerfulness and joviality , allows the students to get closer to this world that many still don't know or simply not enhanced. Our main purpose is to give support to foreign students with all the issues that they have to cope with in an environment completely new for them. For this reason ESN is willing to offer them several services in order to make their stay as enjoyable as possible: Orientation program, Tutoring, Italian Language Courses, many discounts, Organization of excursions and events.

The keypoint above all the activities is the “WELCOME WEEK”, one week dedicated entirely to “welcome” the Erasmus incoming students, helping them in their first activities and administrative issues. The project is carried out so that they are introduced to Pescara university world starting with a visit to the Campus and a city tour. With the help of the “Welcome” the students receive help regarding their stay: pick-up service for the first arrive in Pescara, accommodation research, tutoring service, help with the “Learning Agreement” and plan of studies.

Every year the association tries to organize courses of Italian language reserved to incoming students together with the University language Center located inside the Faculty of Foreign languages in Pescara.We aim to offer the students an elementary/basic knowledge of the Italian language.

The strong point of the association that meets great approval is the organization of events and excursions. The activities carried out during the year are several and greatly appreciated such as the theme party, cultural and playful events, excursions inside and outside the region.

Beyond the main events organized by ESN Italy, another relevant gathering moment is the “Abruzzo Trip” which allows them to get in touch with the stunning landscape of this region and Naples Tour when they can experience the hospitality of this unique town of this brand new environment.

The “SocialErasmus” gives the foreign students the opportunity to get in touch with the local community offering their services as volunteers to the local community.

Beyond the projects at national level, the association puts its effort in other projects as ‘Operation kilo’ organized to collect food for the local Charity organization and above all the ‘Raccolta tappi’ (stopper picking up) in collaboration with ESN Murcia. It aims to recycle plastic stoppers in order to receive in change wheel chairs for disabled people or strollers for children.

TIPS - ”Ponte del Mare” and the promenade The beach in Pescara is extended from north to south, The sea front has a beautiful bike path and no one can escape from the charm of a walk along the beach at any time of year. In the pleasant summer evenings the beach resorts turn into lounge bars and nightclubs on the sea.

The sea front promenade north and south are connected by the beautiful “Ponte del Mare” also equipped with bike path. Under the bridge there is a cape on the left with the typical constructions from Abruzzo called Trabucchi.

These are wooden habitable structures, built on stilt-houses in a modernized version, that were originally used for fishing.

housed in the building that was owned by the family D'Annunzio since '800 in Corso Gabriele Manthoné 116 and became national monument in 1927. D'Annunzio was always united to his city, and the city wanted to remember the great poet with the construction of this museum, consisting in photos, explanatory panels, memories, objects and the most spectacular feats of the poet. Some works of the painter Francesco Paolo Michetti and other local artists illustrate the places narrated by the artist. The rooms of the house have been rebuilt with antique furniture and wall decorations of particular artistic value and introduced by quotations from the poet's works.

- Cascella’s ship The fountain "La Nave" is a sculptural work by the artist Pietro Cascella and is the main monument of the city: donated by the Municipality of Pescara and collocated on the sea front of the city. The fountain consists of a rectangular tank made of Carrara marble, containing a stylized ship that refers to the galley, an old rowing boat. The fountain is a meeting point during summertime for its central position in the city.

- Pineta dannunziana Located near the south sea front just after the marina, the Pinewood takes its name from the ancient D'Avalos family who owned the Marquisate of Pescara. Today the park (about 35 acres) has become "Nature Reserve". The reserve offers a breathtaking forest just a few steps from the sea, where there is a small lake that helps the ecosystem of the park. Inside the park there are also historical buildings that are worth visiting such as the former factory of Aurum, a horseshoe-shaped structure designed in 1939 by architect Giovanni Michelucci and some beautiful villas in the Art Nouveau style.

Also in the park there is an auditorium and the beautiful open-air theatre “G. D'Annunzio”.

- Pescara vecchia Corso Manthoné is the heart of Pescara vecchia (the old part of Pescara) and the home of the famous poet D'Annunzio and the famous writer Ennio Flaiano. The area is the center of Pescara's nightlife (along the sea front) and the center of cultural aggregation. The streets of the old Pescara are a succession of restaurants, lounge bars, wine bars and pubs offering a wide range of services, from aperitif in the late afternoon, to a dinner with local products until the first light of dawn with lots of good music.

- Museums In Via delle Caserme, in the heart of Pescara vecchia, you can visit the Museum of “Genti d'Abruzzo”. Built on the remained premises of the sixteenth-century fortress of Pescara, the museum contains artifacts - ranging from prehistoric times to the Industrial Revolution - that testify the tools, the habits and the way of life of the peoples of the various towns of Abruzzo.

The Museum “Casa Natale di Gabriele D'Annunzio”(Birthplace of Gabriele D'Annunzio) is

In 2012 he was made a commercial video that through the pictures show the beauty of the Abruzzo region that hosts Pescara. You can view it at the following link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TdLhWHLnE8 showing the quoted Ponte del Mare and the wonderful trabucco of timeless charm.

Cosenza

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

The origins of the city of Cosenza date from the fourth century B.C., when the whole area of the Valle of Crati was considered strategic for the Bruzi, the people which inhabited the region at the time and built their capital here giving it the name of Cosentia. The city was under the rule of the Lombards from the 8th to the 9th Century. It was later conquered by the Normans and Ruggiero il Guiscardo enlarged and fortified the castle which had which had been taken first from the Byzantines and then the Saracens . Federico II di Svevia loved the city and amplified the castle that still dominates the town. Over the centuries various rulers came and went, and the city gave birth to great men like Thomas Campanella. In 1820 Cosenza was the first city to fly the Italian flag. It was home to numerous riots and acts of violence, such as the shooting of the Bandiera Brothers in the Valley of Rovito. In 1848 Cosenza declared forfeited the Bourbons and proclaimed a provisional government. In August of 1860 the city enthusiastically welcomed Giuseppe Garibaldi and many followed him in his battles.

Contatti ESN Cosenza ESN Ancona Contacts www.esncosenza.org cosenza@esn.it EsnCosenzaOfficialPage ESN_Cosenza Centro Studi Internaz.

Omega – c/o Università della Calabria 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS) Italy

THE CITY TODAY P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW

Local public transport in the area of Cosenza is ensured by buses of the Consorzio Autolinee.

- by plane The international airport of Lamezia Terme is 70 km from the city, of which 60 km highway.

TO

G ET H ERE

- by train From Cosenza Station you can reach the city center by taxi (tel. 0984 35345 - the ride takes about 10 minutes) and with the following urban buses: 15 - 16 - 17 - 27.

- by car Motorway A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria, Cosenza exit. Follow the signs to the city center.

THE UNIVERSITY The UniCal has the first and largest university campus in Italy. The campus stretches across an area of 200 hectares in the hills of Arcavacata , in the municipality of Rende. The project belonged to the University of Cosenza Gregotti , one of the major Italian architectural projects of the twentieth century. The university complex is shaped like a long 2km "bridge" which then becomes the backbone of a system of buildings and pathways that integrate seamlessly with the landscape and connect all the complex university networks. The long bridge, called Pietro Bucci, which consists of reinforced concrete structures, includes a vehicle track and a pedestrian walkway. The buildings of the University departments are high cubic structures and are tied to the horizontal structure of the jetty changing in height depending on changes in the surface of the rolling hills of Arcavacata: the result is a complex of cubic buildings.

THE ESN SECTION The Study Center OMEGA - ESN Cosenza is a cultural student association that aims to welcome and integrate the exchange students (Erasmus or also students on exchange with other programs) with the local community. OMEGA - ESN Cosenza also organizes a series of guided tours and collaborates with the International Relations Office in order to give the necessary support to foreign students living in Cosenza.

The activities provided by the Research Center Omega are divided into the following categories: ACTIVITIES FOR INCOMING STUDENTS: • Pick up service.

• Information on public transportation timetables, routes to follow to reach the University of Calabria from Lamezia Terme Airport or from any railway stations; • Accommodation logistics of both the university campus and external structures; • Mentoring activities;

• Erasmus info point at the Centro Studi OMEGA; • Supporting and assist in the integration of the student within the University • Support and logistical assistance •Internet Service; ACTIVITIES FOR OUTGOING STUDENTS: • Support and training aids; • Management of the archive; • Email service; LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES : • Organization of several evenings at various clubs and pubs in Rende and Cosenza; • Visit to the main cultural venues of Calabria; • Cineforum

TIPS - The Rendano Theater The theater was designed by the architect Zumpano and was inaugurated on the 20th November 1909 with the performance of Giuseppe Verdi. The exterior facade of the Theatre traces the architectural theme of the classical period of the revision, a typical eclecticism which manifested itself in Cosenza in the architecture from 1904 to 1934. The room has a horseshoe shape with three tiers of boxes and a gallery and has 800 seats.

- Potatoes Mpacchiuse The potatoes mpacchiuse are a typical dish of Cosenza, prepared with potatoes that are cooked in a little oil, so the patatoes do not fry.

This type of preparation prevents the potato slices from sticking together, hence the name mpacchiuse which means sticky. They are usually used as a side dish.

- Fair of St. Joseph In March, for about ten days, some city streets near the historic center welcome the Feast of Saint Joseph. The establishment of the Fair has its roots in 1234, a period of Swabian domination, the tradition began with Frederick II, the emperor who loved the city.

- Feast of Invasions The Feast of Invasions is an alternation of arts, music, and shows that follows the theme of Mediterranean cultures that meet and mingle. It is a project that can be summed up in the slogan Young and the Mediterranean.

- Wine Festival D.O.C Every year in the month of October in the village of Donnici there is a DOC wine festival that goes on for three days, with concerts by emerging bands, jugglers of prestige and various food stands.

Ferrara

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Also called the City of the "Este", or the "Estense Town”, Ferrara owes much of its history to this noble family who held the lead for almost three hundred years and turned the city to be one of the most important of that era.

The origins of Ferrara dating back to the seventh century as a small town built around the Basilica di San Giorgio, the Cathedral.

Around 1200, the heart of the city life moves in the current center, where they built the Cathedral of Ferrara and the Town Hall.

Until 1300, the city is crossed by numerous conflicts between factions, followed with the affirmation of the power of the Este, helped with the approval of the Popes.

The heyday of the city takes place right under the power of this family, around which gather some of the greatest talents of the time, by Leon Battista Alberti, Piero della Francesca, from CosmèTurà to Biagio Rossetti, who donated to the city many of the works and monuments that still exist, like Palazzo dei Diamanti, the Estense Castle, the Palazzo Ducale and Piazza Ariostea.

Towards the end of 1500 the city back in the hands of the Papal States, yielding therefore its role of political, economic and cultural center in Rome, capital of the Papal States.

In 1859 it became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia and immediately after the Kingdom of Italy, to the present day.

THE CITY TODAY Ferrara is an Italian municipality of about 131,000 inhabitants.

The city is located to the south of the Po, the longest river in Italy, and also to the south of the region of Veneto.

To the north are the towns of Padua, Venice and Verona, to the west, Modena and Reggio Emilia, while to the south is the city of Bologna, capi-

Contatti ESN Ferrara ESN Contacts Ancona www.esnferrara.org ferrara@esn.it esn.ferrara ESNFerrara Vicolo della Pace 13 Copparo 44034 Ferrara IT

tal of the region Emilia Romagna. To the east, however, the Adriatic Sea. Clearly, the spoken language is Italian, but for the curious you can ask to find out the Ferrarese dialect, spoken only in the city and its province. During the year some theater companies present their performances in dialect (see http://digilander.iol.it/Straferrara/). The Municipality (see http://www.comune.fe.it/) is the political and administrative center and the place where you can find many of the administrative offices of the city, such as the Registry.

On the website of the City you can also keep updated about many of the events in the city.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW

To get around the city usually people, from the youngest to the oldest, use the bicycle, main and characteristic symbol of the city. In the winter season, or summer, with rain or fog, there are always a lot of people moving by bike all across the city.

The city of Ferrara is located in the North-East of Italy, specifically in the region of Emilia-Romagna and is reached from the highway A13 (Bologna-Padova) with two outputs Ferrara Nord and Ferrara Sud.

For bus transportation, Ferrara has served by AMI (Agenzia Mobilità Impianti). The ticket to move with the urban buses inside the city costs 1.20€ (bought to some shop), otherwise 1.50€ bought on the bus.

Ferrara is connected to the province and to the other cities in Emilia Romagna both with regional and national lines.

TO

G ET H ERE

In the city there is also a railway station served

by Trenitalia, the Italian railway company. The closest big railway junction is the central station of Bologna, easily reached by regional trains.

Other hub to reach other regions of the North-East is the central station of Padua.

The nearest airports to the city are the "Guglielmo Marconi" of Bologna (45 km far), the "Marco Polo" of Venice (110 km far), the “Canova” of Treviso (116 km far) and the "Valerio Catullo" of Verona (100 km far).

In all these airports there are taxi and shuttle bus that will take you to the nearest train station, only Bologna Airport is connected directly to the city of Ferrara with an airport shuttle, Bus & Fly.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DI

F ERRARA (U NI FE)

Exactly as all the European universities, Unife offers the opportunity to introduce themselves directly online, simply visiting his website: http://www.unife.it/.

If you prefer go there, you will find all the information you need in the main office, located in Via Savonarola 9; especially here you can find the secretariats of the different departments and offices, including the one of the international relations. Like many universities in Italy and in

Europe, the University of Ferrara has a different set of disciplinary routes, some of them among the best in the whole Italy, known as the Faculty of Architecture. To get a better idea of how many and what are the departments UNIFE check out here: http://www.unife.it/dipartimenti. The departments are scattered around the city, all located in the most beautiful buildings in Ferrara. The scientific faculties are all settled at the Mammuth, a big building where you can attend classes, find different libraries throughout the gardens, where you can take a break with a good company, while studying for your exams. Each department has a precise address, where you will be able to attend classes and meet with professors in their offices during office hours. All the necessary information can be retrieved in the online portals of each department.

THE ESN SECTION The section of ESN Ferrara was officially founded in 2012, after a trial period began before the second half of 2011.

ESN Ferrara is an association of volunteer students who dedicate their free time to help and integrate incoming Erasmus students to the reality of the city, just like any other ESN sections in the network. The projects on which the local section of Ferrara focuses the most are those about the Erasmus in Schools and the Language CafĂŠ, both meetings organized by the members of the association at the Carducci High School of Ferrara.

The first project is an opportunity for the high school italian students to learn about the European realities of the countries of the Erasmus students coming to the city, asked from ESN to introduce themselves and to get known with the young Italian students, in order to exchange experiences, culture and knowledge; instead the second project focuses specifically on languages, where high school students and Erasmus students have the chance to spend two hours a week to speak in their own languages, play, laugh and get to know in order to help each other to improve the use of foreign languages. ESN Ferrara is also involved in several projects from the network of ESN Italy, such as Social Erasmus, putting into action the volunteers in projects of social matter, or others such the ICE event, which sees all sections gathered in Rome for a cultural weekend and entertainment. Also obviously you can not miss the meetings and local events such as the traditional drink at the Tsunami, the local bar/pub agreed upon with ESN Ferrara, or the organization of special events such as traditional cooking of the food in Ferrara or the elegant Festival Gala.

TIPS - Culinary Delights The cuisine of Ferrara, like many other cities in Emilia Romagna, boasts numerous dishes, unique in the region.

A typical product of this city is definitely “la Coppia“, the famous twisted bread born in 1536. Other famous names of local dishes are certainly the Salama da Sugo, a pork sausage made with wine spices and garlic, or Cappellacci, tortelli stuffed with pumpkin, dating back to

1500. As sweet delicious there is the Pampepato, a chocolate cake filled with almonds and oranges invented by nuns in 1600, and the Tenerina, a sweet chocolate cake, soft and easily recognizable because it is very low.

- Festival Despite the medium size, Ferrara is a highly dynamic centre thanks to the large sample of events that annually promotes.

A first event of international importance is certainly the Buskers Festival. In the last week of August, when it’s ready to say goodbye to the summer, a lot of buskers reach Ferrara from Italy or from all over the world and fill the streets with color and fun thanks to their performances. The city center is filled with citizens and many curious tourists watching the performances for the whole duration of the festival.

Another important event is the Festival of the Internazionale (known weekly news magazine), that drag into the city many journalists, politicians, economists, professors, writers, musicians and artists, raising the curiosity of the always active citizenship and allowing tourists to attend conferences and shows.

In September instead takes place one of the most important events of aerostatic flight, the Balloon Festival. Housed in the city's largest park, the Parco Urbano or Parco Bassani, where an area is created specifically for the hot air balloon ride! It is not difficult to walk to Ferrara in those days and see in the sky all the balloons of all colors and all shapes.

- Palio of Ferrara In many cities there is an Italian tradition: the Palio, an equestrian competitions among the different districts of the city.

The Palio of Ferrara, as well as being the oldest in the world (in fact the first dates back to 1259), stands out for its variety of costumes, for the authenticity of the times, when the city seems to return to the glories of the Renaissance, with the flags competition, the marches and the representation that each district (called “Contrada� in this case) prepares and provides to the Este court getting ready for the races, on the last weekend of May. For the occasion, Piazza Ariostea awakens and fills out with many colors and flags of the districts.

- Palazzo dei Diamanti The urban planning of the city of Ferrara in the late fifteenth century got a significant change thanks to the architect Biagio Rossetti, according to the principles of the Italian Renaissance.

In this period the famous Palazzo dei Diamanti was built, so called due to the presence of more than 8500 marble blocks that constitute the exterior facades. The building is at the center of

the "Herculean Addition", planning work commissioned by Ercole I d'Este and also designed

by Rossetti, which led to a significant expansion of the urban citizens between 1492 and 1510.

In 1832 the building was purchased by the City Council. Today, it hosts some of the most important museums in Ferrara, as the Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art of Ferrara, with some temporary exhibitions, and the National Art Gallery of Ferrara, which houses a collection of great historical and artistic value.

- Fun and Celebrations Ferrara has the ability to offer a range of many kind of entertainments.

A pizza with friends is certainly the easiest hypothesis: between different pizzerias in town, we recommend Alice and the Cappellaio Matto, affiliated with ESN, in which besides the pizza is often possible to enjoy a typical "chaser".

Another particular pizzeria is definitely the Sebastian, pizzeria inside a boat, moored in Darsena, the river of Ferrara. In addition to being the particular and suggestive location, you can choose from many types of pizza, which has an oval shape and it is really huge.

The challenge is always to be able to finish it all.

For those who love the atmosphere of the pub, the city offers several examples, from Shannon (Irish Pub) to Rhein & Meuse, or the Wilson and the Clandestino with even board games.

A meeting point for Erasmus students and local students is certainly the Tsunami, the bar/pub agreed upon with ESN Ferrara, where you can have access to special discounts with the ESN card and mainly participate in the events that are held several times a month, to enable students around the world to meet and make new friends.

For those who love dancing, in the city you can have the Renfe, the Arci Bolognesi or the College, that are the most popular clubs here in the city.

With the summer season, the meeting point turns to be the Duomo, where people meet for a chat and a drink, particularly on wednesday night, the typical night for university students.

Firenze

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Founded by the Romans who gave to it the ancient name of Florentia, The city of Florence born on the 59 B.C. The intersection between famous streets “Cardo Maximus” and “Decumanus” is still visible through a column in Piazza della Repubblica where the Foro Romano is located.

During the imperial period, the city got an higher status of prosperity and became a very important commercial center where the artisans, who gave to Florence notoriety all over the world, used to work and show their creations to the public. When the Barbarians arrived to Florence, the city was invaded and conquered by different populations. The consequence of this situation for local people was to seek refuge to the city bishops and suddenly the city’s monasteries became the new cultural and working places to live. On the 16th Century the Longobardi took the control of the city and only when they were defeated by the Frankish, Florence became an independent city state. The duke was replaced by the count and, later, the marquises succeeded to him. Between the 10th and the 15th Century, thanks to the “signorie” (Medieval governing authority), a social and economic huge growth took place and Florence reached the top of prosperity becoming one of the most powerful Italian cities with the blessing of both the imperial and the church authorities. At the end of the 13th century, the political and religious center of the city was defined with the building of Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral and Palazzo Vecchio. The Triumph of the city was the means used by the population to bring into the limelight “il volgare” that was establishing more and more as written and oral language as the most harmonious dialect of the region. During the 15th century all the region of Tuscany was dominated by the “Signoria dei Medici”, a very rich and powerful family of bankers which kept the power for three centuries. This period is recognized as the best one for Florence in terms of power, arts, culture, policy and economy. The city growth tremendously: painters, sculptors and architects enriched churches and buildings with the best renaissance treasures. The movement was strictly linked to the new high bourgeoisie which became the first promoter of the new culture and architectural style born in Florence,

Contatti ESN Florentia ESN Ancona Contacts www.esnflorentia.it firenze@esn.it esn.florentia EsnFlorentia Java Center Via Pietrapiana angolo Via Fiesolana (zona Santa Croce) Firenze

thanks to the very famous families names which composed that class: Pitti, Rucellai, Medici, Strozzi.The “famiglia dei Medici” can be considered the best one for this “mission”: firstly they chose to work with Cosimo il Vecchio and, later, with Lorenzo il Magnifico and others artists and philosophers to build a new figure of a man which embraced the philosophy of the new Signoria. After the “famiglia dei Medici” period, the control of the city was taken by the “famiglia dei Lorena” until 1860, when Florence entered to the “Reign of Italy” as capital from 1865 to 1871.

THE CITY TODAY Florence (Fiorenza, in medieval Italian) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area.

The city has a very important university center and It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance and, due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, museums and several monuments, it has been ranked as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT The city Centre of Florence is really concentrated and it can easily visited by walking, without using the public transportation.

- By walk Considering the dimensions and the restricted traffic area all around the city Centre, it is highly recommendable to do not use a private car to visit the city.

- By bicycle The bicycle is one of the best way to move along the city Centre.

- By bus or tram Public transport service is provided by ATAF and LI-NEA companies. Tickets are available at bars, tobacco shops, kiosks and at the ATAF desk inside Santa Maria Novella train station. The standard ticket costs 1,20€ and expires in 90 minutes starting from the moment it has been used for the first time. If bought in the bus, the cost is 2,00€. Small electric buses service covers the city centre as well with three different lines: C1, C2 and D. C1 line is the one which stops in front of the most important museums.

- By train The local train transportation service is integrated to the bus one; it is possible to use the same ATAF ticket both for city trains and buses.

With the local train from Santa Maria Novella it is

possible to reach: - Firenze Campo Di Marte - Firenze Rifredi - Le Piagge - Firenze Statuto - Castello - Firenze Rovezzano - Le Cure - Firenze S. Marco Vecchio - Porta al Prato

H OW

TO

G ET H ERE

Florence is well connected to the rest of Italy and Europe through several motorways and provincial roads. Thanks to its central position is easily accessible with car, train or airplane. Local administration has created a webpage dedicated to the different ways to move inside the territory.

The name of the portal is: Infomobilità.

- by plane Amerigo Vespucci Airport is located in the Nord-west area of the city, 4 kilometers far from the city Centre. It can be easily reached with a 20-25 minutes shuttle trip called Vola in bus with a cost of 5,00 € (one way). Shuttle departures are planned every 30 minutes. The airport is connected with some of the most important cities in Europe: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva,

London LGW and LCY, Luxemburg, Madrid, Munich, Paris CDG, Stuttgart, Timisoara, Tirana, Wien. Italian cities connected to Florence are: Cagliari, Catania, Olbia, Roma Fiumicino. Flight assistance call center is open from 06:00 to 23:59 (tel. +39055/3061700), and the tourism information desk inside the airport is open from 08:30 to 20:30 (tel. +39055/315874). Luggage desk is open from 08.00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 23:00 (tel. +39055/3061602).

Galileo Galilei Airport in Pisa is 80 kilometers far from Florence. It’s connected with several airports in Italy and Europena and it can be possible to reach Florence both with trains from/to Santa Maria Novella Station and with TerraVision private bus service (70 minutes trip).

Heidelberg, Lloret de Mar, London, Madrid, Marrakech, Montpellier, Nice, Paris, Perpignan, Prague, Rotterdam, Zaragoza, Sofia, Stuttgart, Strasburg, Toulouse, Valencia, Warsaw.

- by car Very centred in the territory of Tuscany, Florence is connected to the rest of the region through 2 motorways: A11 and A1 and others main roads such as the Florence-Pisa-Livorno or the Florence-Siena.

For who comes from Milan the A1 is the right choice (Firenze Nord Exit); For the ones which come from Genoa or from France the best way to reach Florence is through the A12 until Viareggio and then the A11 (Firenze Nord Exit). The best option for who comes from Rome is the A1 Rome-Milan (Firenze Sud Exit).

- by bus The main bus company which travels from/to Florence is Eurolines Italia. It’s the cheapest way to reach: Agadir, Aix-en-Provence, Alicante, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Barcelona, Belgrade, Brno, Brussels, Budapest, Casablanca, Colonia, Cracow, Dortmund, Dover, Dusseldorf, Essen,

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI

S TUDI

DI

F IRENZE

The “Università degli studi di Firenze” is one of the most important Italian universities. It counts 47.865 italian and foreign students (2012-2013 academic year data) and it is composed by different sections located in many parts of all the territory of Tuscany: Pistoia, Empoli, Prato, Sesto Fiorentino, San Casciano in Val di Pesa, Vinci, Calenzano, Figline Valdarno, San Giovanni Valdarno, Borgo San Lorenzo and Lagonegro(just for the nursing professional university career). The university officially born and had been identified as “Studium Generale” in 1321, thanks to a deliberation made by the Republic of Florence. Just Civil Law, Medicine and Italian Literature careers could be chosen by the students until 1349, when Pope Clement VI recognized a certain prestige to the Studium Generale giving to it the possibility to guarantee regular diplomas, called “Privilegio Massimo”. At the same time, he decided the Università degli studi di Firenze had to become the first theological Italian university.

In 1369, during the empire of Carl IV, the university became “Imperial” and, after a little interruption of the activity, in 1387 new statutes were introduced: The first Greek Course in Europe was defined and a better development of the medicine one was guaranteed through a new deliberation made by the government. In 1473, when Lorenzo il Magnifico took the control of the city, The Studium Generale was moved to Pisa; only the theological course was left in Florence. Thanks to Carl VIII everything was moved back to Florence between 1497 and 1515 but again,with the Signoria dei Medici, it was transferred to Pisa.

Unlike what it may be thought, the high quality of the university didn’t suffer all those changes: the number of the courses growth and the literature and scientific research fields were tremendously developing. During 1860 the University was officially recognized by the Italian State Government

but it was possible to use the name Università degli studi di Firenze only in 1923.

Today the structure of the university is composed by four different fields: science and technology, biology and medicine, social science and the general one. A prestigious Natural Science Museum is propriety of the university which received in 2001 the recognition as “Excellent center for the media communication and integration”. The university’s publishing house is Firenze University Press.

THE ESN SECTION The “Associazione Studenti Internazionali Florentia”, later renamed ESN Florentia, is a 3 years old no-profit association created by students of the Università degli Studi di Firenze. Its mission is to welcome international students from the beginning of their study period in Florence in order to give them the opportunity to know the city in the easiest way possible. During the first year of activity, ESN Florentia has been involved in the “Youth on the Move” event organized by the European Parliament together with the LLP National Agency. The aim of the event was to let the italian students know about the several possibilities for studying abroad. During the years, the ESN section gained more and more visibility useful for the creation of a relationship with Cristina Giachi, council member for education and youth policies. This relation made it possible, last year, to get the Municipality of Florence support during the organization and development of the Council of National Delegates (CND), the event dedicated to the ESN International National Representatives (NRs).

ESN Florentia members commitment is very high even for others social activities such as blood donations or the partecipation to the Malibù company’s project “Responsible party”: a campain to spread the awareness of responsible drinking with 800 participants. Every year ESN Florentia, together with Europe Direct, organizes two Welcome Days and, in 2013, the ESN section received an official invitation to take part to the welcome process the Università degli Studi di Firenze and the Accademia delle Belle Arti reserve to new erasmus people. To make much more enjoyable the time international students spend in Florence, ESN Florentia organises cultural events, trips all around Italy, Cineforum, aperitivos, themed parties and disco nights. Thanks to this, Erasmus people know and appreciate faster the life in Florence and are much more involved in meeting each other. Moreover the associaton welcomes international students from others italian cities that decide to visit Florence just for few days and may need some advices or information about what to do or where to go.

The most important goal for ESN Florentia is the creation of a friendly and multicultural scenario to make the italian experience more exiting for international students and, at the same time, to help local students to stay in touch with the international life.

TIPS - If you love calm and quiet places, you have to visit the “giardino di Boboli”.

- If you are very religious person try to avoid to have a talk with a local inhabitant: blasphemy is a common way to say.

- If you want to seduce a beautiful girl you need just two things: an unforgettable twilight and

“Piazzale Michelangelo”.

- If you’re starving after a crazy night out, go to the Mc Donald in front of Santa Maria Novella Station square.

- If you want to have botellon with Erasmus in Florence just go to Piazza Santa Croce

Foggia

Contatti ESN-ASE Foggia www.esnfoggia.it

SINTESI STORICA

foggia@esn.it

Foggia è la città principale di una pianura chiamata “Tavoliere”, noto anche come il “granaio d’Italia”.

ESNFOGGIA

Il nome Foggia deriva dal latino “forea”, che significa “fossa”, riferendosi alle fosse dove veniva conservato il grano. Anche se la zona è stata abitata fin dal Neolitico, il primo documento che attesta l’esistenza della moderna città risale all’anno 1000: secondo la leggenda i primi coloni avevano trovato un quadro raffigurante la Madonna con tre fiamme brucianti. Nel XII secolo Guglielmo II di Sicilia vi eresse una cattedrale e in seguito ampliò l’insediamento. Nel 1447 il re Alfonso V d’Aragona fece costruire una dogana per tassare gli allevatori locali di pecore, ma ciò causò un declino dell’economia locale e la progressiva rovina del territorio perché paludoso.

Nel 1456 un terremoto colpì Foggia, seguito da altri che hanno distrutto un terzo della città. Il Casato dei Borboni, tuttavia, promosse una rilevante crescita economica, aumentando l’agricoltura cerealicola della Capitanata e ricostruendo gran parte dell’insediamento. Nel XIX secolo Foggia ricevette anche una stazione ferroviaria e importanti monumenti pubblici.

La storica mancanza di risorse idriche è stata risolta con la costruzione dell’Acquedotto Pugliese nel 1924,quando Foggia era già un punto centrale tra nord e sud Italia.

Questo punto strategico spinse gli Alleati a bombardare Foggia durante la Seconda Guerra mondiale, in particolare il 22 luglio e il 19 agosto del 1943,uccidendo più di 20.000 civili e riducendo gran parte della città in macerie. Il 1 ottobre 1943 l’ottava Armata Britannica liberò Foggia, rendendola una roccaforte. Nel 1956 e nel 2006 Foggia ha ricevuto, rispettivamente, la medaglia d’oro al valore civile e militare per il suo ruolo nella Seconda Guerra Mondiale.

ESNFoggia esnfoggia Via Antonio Gramsci 89/91 71121 Foggia (FG) 71121

LA CITTÀ OGGI Le principali attrazioni che si possono ammirare sono: -

Cattedrale di Santa Maria de Fovea La Madonna dei Sette Veli Chiesa delle croci I tre archi L’Arco di Federico II Parco archeologico del Passo di Corvo Palazzo Dogana

T RASPORTI I NTERNI I trasporti nella città Foggia sono garantiti dall'ATAF S.p.A. (Azienda Trasporti Automobilistici Foggia), la quale serve oltre la città, le frazioni e le borgate vicine alla città, appartenenti anche al territorio di altri comuni della provincia, come Borgo Mezzanone (frazione di Manfredonia), ma anche Borgo Incoronata, Segezia, Duanera la Rocca, Cervaro, Arpinova, Tavernola, Eridania/Rignano Scalo, San Nicola d'Arpi e Villanova (frazione di Rignano Garganico). Tutti gli altri collegamenti (con i comuni della provincia, regionali, interregionali e internazionali) sono gestiti da tre imprese di trasporto (SITA, Ferrovie del Gargano e ACAPT).

C OME A RRIVARE La città di Foggia si trova al centro di un vero e proprio nodo stradale, di notevole importanza per il collegamento del sud-est dell'Italia con il resto della penisola, risultando così essere ottimamente collegata in tutte le direzioni.

- In auto Negli ultimi tempi è stata posta la questione della possibile apertura di un secondo casello in corrispondenza della zona industriale "Incoronata", circa 10 km più a sud dell'attuale casello, in modo da agevolare il traffico, prevalentemente pesante, diretto in quella zona.

- In treno Da sempre la stazione di Foggia è considerata un importantissimo nodo di comunicazione

fondamentale nel Sud Italia. Ricostruita dopo la sua distruzione ad opera delle forze alleate dopo la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, è tuttora un perno fondamentale dei trasporti ferroviari italiani. Ubicata sulla linea statale Ancona-Lecce, da questa si dipartono diverse linee come la ferrovia per Napoli e la ferrovia per Manfredonia .

Le varie ramificazioni della ferrovia nei dintorni della stazione permettono il collegamento della stessa con tutte le principali direzioni. In particolare, le tratte ferroviarie collegano la stazione di Foggia alle seguenti città: Bologna, Milano, Torino, Trieste, Bolzano e Venezia, via San Severo, Termoli, Pescara, Ancona e Rimini; Bari, Taranto, Brindisi e Lecce, via Cerignola e Barletta; Roma e Napoli, via Benevento, Caserta e Frosinone; Potenza, via Melfi; Manfredonia; Lucera.

A Foggia è presente una delle dieci Officine Grandi Riparazioni (OGR) di Trenitalia presenti nel territorio nazionale, risultando così essere fondamentale anche per la riparazione e la rigenerazione delle locomotive o delle carrozze danneggiate.

L’ UNIVERSITÀ L’Università di Foggia è stata fondata con decreto del Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca il 5 agosto 1999. Dalla sua nascita, l’Università ha presentato una proposta dinamica e formativa a livello di formazione e ricerca. Questo modello è caratterizzato da un insegnamento che è vigile alle esigenze locali, i progetti di ricerca sono applicati a livello locale, orientamento, eventi culturali e promozione di eventi universitari. I corsi accademici offerti sono: -Facoltà di Agraria; -Facoltà di Economia; -Facoltà di Giurisprudenza; -Facoltà degli Studi Umanistici; -Facoltà di medicina e chirurgia; -Facoltà di Scienze dell’Educazione.

Tali dipartimenti, con i loro corsi di laurea di tre anni, corsi di laurea specialistica, numerosi master, dottorati di ricerca e scuole di specializzazione hanno contribuito a rendere l'Università un centro culturale che permette ai giovani di acquisire la formazione professionale necessaria per la società e il mondo del lavoro. La comunità scientifica dell'Università degli Studi di Foggia è attualmente composta da: 191 ricercatori, 96 professori associati e 84 professori ordinari.

Il personale amministratore ammonta a 346, mentre ci sono attualmente più di 11000 studenti dell'Università.

A guidare la comunità accademica è il Rettore, Prof. Maurizio Ricci.

LA SEZIONE Erasmus Student Network (ESN) è un'organizzazione studentesca internazionale no-profit.

La nostra mission è quella di promuovere la mobilità studentesca sotto il motto "Students Helping Students".

ESN-ASE Foggia è nata nell'Ottobre del 2009 e si occupa degli studenti stranieri che trascorrono un periodo di studio presso l'Università di Foggia e permette agli studenti italiani che vogliono arricchire il loro bagaglio culturale di vivere a contatto con gli Erasmus e di confrontarsi costantemente con loro.

L'associazione è costituita da volontari, ex-studenti Erasmus e non, ed è il punto di riferimento per gli studenti stranieri che studiano nella nostra Università.

Questi studenti sono affiancati per risolvere i primi problemi di questa nuova realtà, assistiti nei rapporti con l'università, incoraggiando un costante scambio socio-culturale con gli studenti italiani, favorendo il loro inserimento in modo che vivano al massimo la loro esperienza. Aiutiamo gli studenti stranieri ad integrarsi nella nostra città, organizzando gite, visite alla scoperta del territorio, tour culturali, feste.

ESN-ASE Foggia fa parte di due organizzazioni no-profit: ESN (Erasmus Student Network) Italia e ESN International; questo le permette di coordinare le sue attività con quelle di altre associazioni universitarie in Italia e all'estero.

"ESN Italia" riunisce le associazioni studenti scambi internazionali di oltre 50 Università italiane.

Cinque meeting annuali e frequenti contatti via e-mail permettono ad ESN-ASE Foggia di essere sempre aggiornata, di pianificare iniziative su scala nazionale e di organizzare eventi aperti a tutti gli studenti Erasmus che si trovano in Italia.

TIPS - Orecchiette con cime di rapa Cime di rapa, o rapini, è un verde amaro che entra in stagione in autunno. Si tratta di un membro della famiglia rapa e lo si troverà presso fruttivendoli selezionati, in fasci di foglie di grandi dimensioni con broccoli come capolini che si aprono in piccoli fiori gialli.

- La Madonna dei Sette Veli La Madonna dei Sette Veli è uno dei titoli con cui viene venerata Maria, ricordando un’apparizione avvenuta a Foggia nel 1731 a Sant’Alfonso Maria de’ Liguori. Alcuni contadini, che conducevano i buoi all’ abbeverata, videro tre fiammelle posate sulle acque. Incuriositi e timorosi, si avvicinarono a quella strana apparizione. Rinvennero, così, sepolta nella melma, una grande tavola avvolta in teli. Dopo averla ripulita scoprirono che era un'icona che né l'acqua, né le traversie del tempo erano riuscite a distruggere del tutto.

Nonostante fosse degradata, si distingueva bene l'immagine della Vergine Madre di Dio nell'atto di offrire all'adorazione il suo Figlio Gesù. Questa festività è ancora celebrata a Foggia il 22 marzo, il Giovedì Santo, con una processione religiosa in onore della Madonna dei Sette Veli.

- Falò dell’Immacolata Il giorno dell'Immacolata Concezione, l'8 dicembre, si usa da anni raccoglier legna per formare grandi cataste che poi, bruciando, danno luogo a grandi falò, detti appunto “fanòje”. Di solito si usa aspettare, prima di iniziare a dare fuoco, che arrivino i fedeli in uscita dalla chiesa per l'ultima messa vespertina; costoro si avvicinano al falò in processione con il parroco avanti che benedice il fuoco. A volte questa processione prevede anche la presenza della statua della madonna e l'occasione è propizia per alzare al cielo canti e preghiere in suo onore. Il significato dei falò è riconducibile alla futura maternità della Madonna la quale, dopo aver lavato i panni per il nascituro, li avvicina al fuoco per asciugarli. La festa per le fanòje è più per i ragazzi e i bambini che da giorni vanno in giro per il quartiere a raccogliere legna che accantonano nel luogo individuato per la sistemazione del falò.

- Learn Eatalian La maggior parte degli stranieri in Italia pensano che la cucina italiana sia fatta solo di pizza e pasta e quando sono in giro per l'Italia pensano di trovare spaghetti con polpette di carne ovunque, qualcosa che noi italiani abbiamo visto solo nei film americani. I nostri erasmus sono più fortunati. Quest'anno hanno la possibilità di scoprire che ogni singola città ha il suo paesaggio, il suo dialetto e soprattutto i suoi piatti tipici. Ogni settimana si potranno spostare in un luogo diverso e avranno la possibilità di assaggiare ogni volta un menù speciale fatto apposta per loro. Ogni settimana gusteranno qualcosa di nuovo, qualcosa di tipico, qualcosa di cui probabilmente non hanno mai sentito parlare prima e soprattutto noi faremo gustare loro qualcosa in pieno stile italiano.

- Viaggio sul Gargano!

Il primo viaggio che ESN Foggia organizza per i suoi erasmus è il viaggio sul Gargano. Questo viaggio è di solito organizzato verso la fine di settembre, così che i nostri erasmus possono visitare due tra i luoghi più belli d'Italia, Vieste e Peschici, e possono godere di un ottimo clima e magari fare un bagno e trascorrere una meravigliosa giornata sulle nostre splendide spiagge.

Genvoa

Contatti ESN GEG-ESN Genova Ancona Contacts www.esngenova.it genova@esn.it

The origins of Genoa are ancient and obscure still to this day, one thing is for sure though: it was founded by Ligurians, the people who lived in small family-based tribes that collaborated only in order to defend themselves from enemies attack. Its name comes from the ancient celtic word “genua” – adytum, entrance, as it is a door to the Mediterranean Sea and it is a way to the North of Italy and Europe. The history of the city begins in 205 b.C., the year in which the Carthaginian Magone, Hannibal’s brother, invaded Genoa coming from the sea, sacking and destroying the city because of its alliance with Rome.

Two years later the Romans, led by praetor Spurio Lucrezio, sent 8000 workers in order to rebuild the city, enlarge its harbour and to provide it with walls for protection.

The municipality of Genoa was formed after the year 1000, as the union of the different associations who were collaborating together at the time in the military and trade fields which were called “Compagne”.

At the beginning of the XI century Pisa and Genoa began the fight against the Saracens.

These first struggles mark the decision of these two maritime powers to participate to the Crusades.

During the first Crusade the Genoeses shone for having sent a lot of ships, having generously funded the quest and for its epic victories.

With each new conquest, Genoa enlarged its power all over Liguria, Sardinia and Corsica and in the XIV Century it reached its peak, dominating from the Mediterranean to the Black sea and having control on the principal maritime traffic flows.

Naturally these expansions caused serious harm to the other maritime cities: being the cause of the tremendous wars between Genoa and Pisa, which ended with the Genoese’s victory and the war against Venice, where among the others, Marco Polo was caught and kept for four years in a ligurian prison. Here he dictated to a fellow prisoner, Rustichello da Pisa, his travel memories, entitled later as “The Million”.

The XV century was for Genoa a century of savagery, murders and mas-

esngenova geg_esngenova Piazza Emanuele Brignole 2, piano terra c/o Facoltà di Scienze Politiche 16125 Genova

sacres. Hunger and plague recurred and led the region to waste. In this century the foreign dominations began because there was no internal agreement in the city. Genoa was subsequently dominated by: Charles VI, king of French (1396); Marquis of Monferrato (1409); Filippo Maria Visconti; Charles VII of France (1458); Francesco Sforza duke of Milan (1466): Ludovico il Moro (1468) and in the end by Luigi XII of France (1499).

While Genoa was suffering from its inner struggle, one of its brighter sons, Cristoforo Colombo, in 1492 discovered America, funded and protected by the Spanish monarchy, after being rejected from his own fellow citizens.

At the beginning of 1500 for the first time there was a popular uprising that led to the nomination of a popular Doge, who was Paolo da Novi: a man of character, who fought against Luigi XII and for that same reason was executed.

During this turbulent time, Andrea Doria makes his appearance, maybe the man most controversial man in Genoan history. In 1528 Andrea Doria, called “the prince”, got tired of serving France, who had the power on the city; with the help of Charles V he created a fleet made of 12 galleys and conquered his own city. From that moment on it was a great time of splendour for Genoa, renamed “The Superb”.

But at the beginning of 1600 Genoa was decaying, both for the Turks that conquered its East territories and for the discovery of America that had redirected the European flows of trade.

The last Republic’s illusion was in the French Revolution. Hoping for independence, Genoa allied with Napoleon; that choice unfortunately brought a lot of damage to the republic because it had to survive to the Austrian-British embargo that caused a severe famine that lasted from 10th February till the 4th of June 1800. With Napoleon’s proclamation as king of Italy (26th June 1805), Liguria became a French district.

On the 30th of June 1805 Napoleon entered Genoa to receive homage from his new subjects in Ambrogio Doria’s palace, now renamed De Ferrari palace located in the homonymous square.

All the Genoese’s expectations of freedom crumbled with the fall of Napoleon; as the region was annexed to Piedmont with the Treaty of Wien of 1814.

On the night of the 5th of May 1860 Garibaldi led the “Mille” shipping from Quarto, beginning the venture which eventually led to the unification of Italy.

The recent history of the city is tightly related to the one of Italy: the outbreak of World War I, the rise of fascism, the creation of the “Great Genoa” and World War II, of which there still are permanent scars.

THE CITY TODAY T RANSPORTS

IN

G ENOA

- By bus

on the website www.genovacarsharing.it.

- By subway

Where to park? Don’t worry if you arrive by car!

In Genoa it is possible to drive and park also in the city center, except the limited traffic zone (ZTL). Pay attention to road signs! Payment is required for most of the parking areas. See www.genovaparcheggi.it for further information.

- By cableway - Lift The public transport network is provided by AMT, Genoa’s public transport company. Timetables are available on the website www.amt.genova.it.

- Car sharing service (city car rental) available

H OW

TO GET HERE

- By train The main railway stations in the city are Genova Piazza Principe and Genova Brignole.

It is connected to the most important Italian and European cities by regional trains, Intercity and Eurostar trains. For more information about train timetables and prices it is possible to visit the Trenitalia website: www.trenitalia.it.

- By car Genoa can be reached by four different highways from all over Italy: A12 Genoa – Rosignano, exit at Genoa Nervi or Genoa East; A26 Voltri – Gravellona connected to the A10 highway at Voltri; A10 “dei Fiori” Genoa – Ventimiglia, exit at Genoa Voltri, Genoa Pegli, Genoa Airport and Genoa West; Serravalle A7 Genoa – Milan, exit at Genoa Bolzaneto or Genoa West.

To check prices and routes, it is possible to visit the website www.autostrade.it.

- By plane Genoa is connected to the most important international airports thanks to the Cristoforo Colombo Airport. The airport is situated in Sestri Ponente, 6 km from the center of Genoa.

From the Airport it is possible to reach the center by the Volabus shuttle bus (n°100) provided by AMT, Genoa’s public transport company, and it runs every half hour.

For more information, visit the website Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport: www.airport.genova.it.

- By boat Genoa can also be reached by the following shipping companies: Tirrenia - Direct lines to Sardinia, Moby Lines - Lines to Bastia in Corsica, Tris - Lines to Corsica and Sardinia, Grimaldi - Lines to Sicily, Sardinia and Spain, Cotunav Tirrenia - Lines to Tunis.

UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI

S TUDI

DI

G ENOVA

The University of Studies of Genoa, commonly called “University of Genoa”, was founded in 1481; its head office is situated in the city center and it has other branches in various Ligurian cities where the university managed over the years to keep its regional monopoly.

Like most European universities of ancient tradition, the origins of the University of Genoa are to be found in the associations of teachers and students.

In 2007 the University of Genoa achieved the 1st place among the Italian public universities for the number of foreign students, 4.21% of non-Italian students studying in public Italian universities, are students of the University of Genoa. In July 2009, the University of Genoa has been declared as the 5th best Italian university among the 65 public universities considered by the Italian Ministry of Education.

Today the University of Genoa, with its branches in Genoa, Imperia, Savona and La Spezia, has 5 schools: 125 first level courses, more than 90 second level courses, and more than 40,000 students.The University of Genoa is currently made up of of 5 schools: The School of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences, made up of the departments of: - Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, - Physics and Mathematics, - Earth, Environment and Life sciences, - Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering.

The School of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences consists of: - Medicine and General Surgery and - Pharmacy (Pharmacy, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Experimental Medicine, Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology and Genetic Sciences and Maternal-child Health, Integrated Diagnostic and Surgical Sciences, Health Sciences).

The School of Social Sciences consists of the departments of: - Economics - Law, Education Science, Political Science-.

The School of Humanities consists of the departments of: - Letters and Philosophy, Foreign Languages and Literatures-(Antiquity, Philosophy and History, Italian studies, Romance studies , Antiquity, Arts and Performance studies, Modern Languages and Cultures).

The Polytechnic School formed by the departments of: - Architecture - Engineering (Computer Science, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering, Civil Engineering, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Mechanics, Energetics studies, Management and Transportation Engineering, Naval Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications, Architectural sciences).

THE ESN SECTION ESN Italy is the Italian network of the academic associations belonging to ESN International.

It was officially founded on the 22th of September 1994, by initiative of the members from the oldest sections ( Siena, Parma, Genoa, Pavia, Milan, Trento and Bologna) that aimed of create a national board, in order to coordinate the Italian activities, following the organization of the International network.

GEG, Gruppo Erasmus Genova (Erasmus Group of Genoa), being one of the founders of ESN Italy, belongs to the ESN Network (Erasmus Student Network) since the Board Meeting that took place in Helsinki in March 1994.

Since then, we've been working with University of Genoa in order to guarantee the best service possible to the foreign student living here as an Erasmus.

Our office is run by guys who know the Erasmus life very well since they lived this experience themselves or they are interested into programs of cultural exchange.

It is very easy to sign up, you just have to go in the ESN office and make the ESN Card.

It costs 10 euros and is valid one year from the day of issue. It is also valid all over the world so you can also use it in other cities of Europe which have an ESN section.

With your ESN Card, you can enjoy lots of discounts (ask for the list in the office) and participate in all of our activities (mind to check the mailbox or our Facebook account).

Goals: Helping students who are taking part to european exchange programs.

Helping students who are learning our language and are integrating into our society Helping students who have to solve problems concerning the university and studying.

Facilitating linguistic and cultural exchange both for italian and foreign students.

Organization Our association is made up of volunteer students and is run by a "directive" board, which is made up of a President, a Vice President, a Local Representative, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and other members as well.

Services: Pick-up It’s a welcome service offered by GEG along with International Mobility Office. The targets are Erasmus students arriving in Genoa who have to reach the youth hostel or their new accommodation.

Tandem It’s a project where two people of different mother tongues exchange their mutual knowledge via meetings and e-mails, it creates the perfect environment for linguistic and intercultural exchange.

Tandem goes together with the Tandem-Night, which gives the opportunity to students from all over

Europe to meet each other and chat monthly.

Sport GEG’s volunteers also organise sport activities such as football, volleyball and basketball. In winter there’s also the possibility to go ice-skating at the Old Harbor.

Theatre GEG in collaboration with TKC Teatro della Gioventù, offers some shows at a really cheap price for ESN members who have asked for the free theatre card in our office.

Trips GEG organizes trips for the Erasmus student in some of the most famous Italian cities such as Firenze, Roma (November), Verona - Padova and Venezia (for the Carnival, in February), Bologna and Ravenna or Siena.

GEG offers also: one-day-trip in beautiful places like “Cinque Terre”, a weekend in a ski area in winter and the National Meeting in Southern Italy in spring.

TIPS - Genoa’s food Food is one of the most famous features of Genoa. The city’s gastronomic symbol is pesto, a green sauce used as a condiment for different types of pasta such as trofie, dumplings and trenette. It is traditionally homemade in a marble bowl and a wooden pestle, called mortaio, and its ingredients are basil, garlic, pine nuts, Pecorino cheese and extra virgin olive oil.

Another ligurian speciality is also the focaccia which can be simply oil-based or with Stracchino cheese (focaccia di Recco) or with different condiments and the farinata, a lentil flour-based focaccia. As a seaside town, Genoa offers a lot of fish dishes such as Genoese stockfish and Baccalà (dried or salted codfish), anchovies and a fish cold salad called cappon magro.

- Tourist attractions Genoa is a special city because of its old town, the biggest in Europe by the sea. The narrow alleyways of the historical center called “vicoli” in Italian and “caruggi” in Genoese dialect are full of history, they hide marvelous Renaissance palaces, unexpected small squares, little handicraft, local or ethnic products shops and they are the meeting place for the nightlife as well. The most famous Genoese attraction is certainly the Aquarium, the biggest in Italy and the second in Europe after the Spanish one in Valencia. Inside you can find many varieties of fish, reptiles and mammals in pools which recreate in a realistic way their natural habitats.

- Events During the year a lot of national and international events take place. People from all over the world who love boats and yachts come every year in October for the International Boat Show in the Area Fiere. Every four years the so called Euroflora takes place, an event which invites tourists and local citizens to admire beautiful floral compositions. In autumn the Science Festival promotes and values the scientific and technological culture with workshops, conferences and special events. During the month of June in the old port is held the Festival of cultures of the Mediterranean (SUQ) where it is possible to taste food and see shows of different cultures.

- Cultursl offers The city offers different cultural events such as theater performances at the Teatro Stabile of Genoa, music at the Teatro Carlo Felice and art museums at the Ducal Palace.

- Festivities The biggest religious event of the year is the celebration of the saint patron of Genoa: San Giovanni Battista (Saint John the Baptist). The night between the 23rd and the 24th of June the city comes alive with street games and bonfire.

L’Aquila

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

A charming legend - not so far from reality - says that the inhabitants of 99 castles perched in the mountains of the area came together to lay the foundations of a city with 99 districts each with different names, each with its own church , plaza and fountain . The story , no less evocative of the legend, says that the city was instead built by Emperor Frederick II of Swabia around 1230 with one of the most ambitious projects of the Middle Ages : Aquila degli Abruzzi was born according to a precise pattern that sees the main buildings placed to represent the design of the constellation Scorpius , whose symbol is the face of an eagle. In the middle of the thirteenth century, the city was already completed and had its own statute , but it is with Charles I of Anjou that the city becomes prestigious and prominent. In the last decades of the thirteenth century , L'Aquila attends the coronation of Pope Celestine V, previously known as the hermit Pietro da Morrone, in the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio and the establishment of a Jubilee ( August 29, 1274 ) celebrated even today, after 715 years , with the transition in the Holy Door outside Rome .

It became a free municipality at the beginning of 1300, the city became famous for its trade in wool and saffron . The University was founded in the fifteenth century, when the city passed to the Crown of Aragon and in 1482 one of Gutemberg’s students implanted in L'Aquila, one of the first printers . After two centuries of Spanish rule (whose most evident testimony is the Fort) , in modern centuries the city is actively involved in the unification of Italy hosting Mazzini himself in November 1860. From the same year, L'Aquila is the capital of the region. Earthquakes have characterized the history of the city , from the Middle Ages to the most violent of 1703 , ending with the one of April 2009, but each time the city has been able to regain its former glory and once again become more and more beautiful than before , as it surely will be this time too .

Contatti ESN Aquilasmus ESN Ancona Contacts www.esnlaquila.it laquila@esn.it aquilasmus.esn.laquila AquilasmusEsn aquilasmus_esnaq Via dei Sali, 23 67100 L'Aquila (AQ)

THE CITY TODAY The town’s structure at present is considerably different from that of previous years, and now it tends to wind mainly around what once was its core , that is, the historical center : roughly , the area on both sides of the Corso and in its vicinity, for the most part still closed off to this day, even if it is a constantly changing landscape . The western part of L’Aquila has now become the shopping area and major services are located near the hospital and scientific faculties , with their natural satellites such as coffee shops, bookstores and copy shops , numerous in the area. Not far away , proceeding eastward , we meet the mall L’Aquilone, where can find most of the shops, as well as in the neighboring Globe and Brico -Centre, and in the area of Amiternum .

Even around the Movieplex cinema complex , not far from the highway exit along the A24 L'Aquila Ovest , there are bars , copy shops , hairdressers, pharmacies. In front, there is the headquarters of the Academy of Fine Arts. In the eastern part of the city the focal point is the Fontana Luminosa from which you enter in the historic center of the city. Via Strinella , where we can find the Police , the Fire Department and the university bookstore .

At the opposite end of this road , there is the Terminal for city buses AMA and suburban buses.

From here you can also take public transportation to Bazzano, to the industrial area where the State Archives and the Provincial Library are located.

The structure of the city is constantly changing , students tend to congregate in the vicinity of the respective faculties, or in the streets of the historic center which are still accessible, mainly in the Piazza Regina Margherita , where the majority of venues are located , first of all Ju Boss, a historic bar in via Castello, in the vicinity of the Spanish Fort.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT The terminal point for all urban public bus services is Terminal Collemaggio . More information on this subject can be found on the site of the AMA : www.ama.laquila.it

H OW

TO

G ET H ERE

-The city is easily accessible from Pescara or Rome , where you will find the largest airports in the center of Italy.

From Rome - Fiumicino and Rome – Ciampino: you can get the bus GASPARIBUS at a cost of € 16. The trip takes an hour and 40 minutes and the bus arrival will be " L'Aquila - Amiternum " For more information on the Gasparibus transportation lines: http://www.gasparionline.it/ From the Pescara airport: you can take a public bus line that runs every 10 minutes to "Piazza della Repubblica". Once in " Piazza della Repubblica " you can buy tickets for the ARPA bus line to get to L'Aquila. The trip takes an hour and 50 minutes and the bus arrival will be

" L'Aquila - Terminal Collemaggio ."

For more information on ARPA transportation lines (the regional public bus line) : www.arpaonline.en In L'Aquila there is an efficient active line of public transportation which can easily move from your residence until the university.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI STUDI DELL ’A QUILA

In 2012, the University of L'Aquila has reorganized its research and teaching facilities . They created seven departments that promote, coordinate and organize the activities of scientific research, educational activities and training: Department of Civil Engineering , construction - architecture, environmental Engineering, Department of Engineering and Information Sciences and Mathematics , Department of Industrial Engineering and informatics and economics , Department of clinical Medicine , public Health , life Science and environment , Department of clinical Sciences and applied biotechnology , Department of physical and Chemical Sciences , Department of human Sciences.

THE ESN SECTION The section was created in 2007 by a group of guys who decided to devote their free time to volunteering and foreign students in L'Aquila. The section is officially part of ESN Italy since December 2007, and since then it has been known by the name of Aquilasmus - ESN L'Aquila. Its main objective is to provide help and support to all international students of the University, the Academy of Fine Arts and the Conservatory "A. Casella ", working in close collaboration with the Office for International Relations and with all the universities in general. Aquilasmus - ESN L'Aquila has now been able to establish a good relationship with the University of L'Aquila, which immediately recognized our work and the importance of our presence in the territory. Every year Aquilasmus - ESN L'Aquila can count of hundreds of foreign students and many Italian students from all faculties that take part in our projects and are interested in our activities: the section has always sought to give great importance to the social and cultural activities , such as trips throughout Italy, Welcome days to facilitate socialization, and since 2013, with the project " Abruzzo in Love" , the Association has set itself the objective to get to know the area, the culture and traditions of the province of L'Aquila. It was precisely the undeniable versatility and the ability to attract every type of student that got ESN L'Aquila major awards from the University of L'Aquila and by the students in the city, and it is certainly the line that the association willl continue to pursue in the coming years . With all this being said… we’re waiting for you in L’Aquila!

TIPS - Food and Drink A good typical lunch in general, begins with mouth-watering platters of mixed eppetizers, with local meats and cheeses : flask of local spirits, Campotosto mortadella and pecorino of Castel del Monte , the wine as to be the most famous one in the region: the Montepulciano d ' Abruzzo. The main dish is always pasta, especially with egg dough, strictly homemade and in different forms: dry or in soup , like the volarelle with lentils of Santo Stefano, the only ones that do not need soaking before cooking.

Among the main courses the tastier ones are

polenta eaten on the traditional " baking board " of wood, and the spelt soup.

But the most typical dish is maccheroni alla chitarra , so called by the steel strings of the tool used to cut this kind of dough , to be accompanied with mutton sauce or pork .

Truffle and saffron are among the most popular local products , so much that they appear in the menu of every good restaurant in the area and to be exported abroad.

Equally known and appreciated are the sheep arrosticini, eaten in large quantities during outdoor barbecues. Finally, the bread of L'A

quila: white, black (for the presence of whole wheat flour ) or yellow (maize), is able to satisfy all palates and is great for bruschetta .

The almond is the main ingredient in confectionery products ranging from Aveja biscuits, especially the macaroons , the confetti of Sulmona ; also worth trying are the traditional ferratelle and carnival Frappe, but the real specialty of L'Aquila remains the sweets nougat: the only soft nougat chocolate of Italy , whose recipe ( a particular combination of honey, sugar and chocolate) is passed down from generation to generation within the Nurzia family. It is impossible to finish lunch without a good glass of local bitter, a specialty where the city fears no rivalry: Gentian and Ratafia are just two of the many bitter herbal recipes that have never been fully revealed.

- Where to eat L'Aquila is a city full of good places to eat, but some stand out on all... even in this time of great change that the city isgoing through, trying to regain its balance.

The Obelix For example , in Via Angelo Pellegrino , where you can taste one of the best pizzas in the city.

Or you can always go to taste the best ice cream in the city, as well as the most internationally awarded at the Grand Cafe in Viale Corrado IV. Don’t miss the nougat at the Bar Nurzia near Piazza Duomo.

If you want to remain in the old town you can always choose to enjoy a more refined cuisine with modern combinations in "Percorsi di Gusto " in Via Leosini 7, or you can opt for a pizza and a great selection of beers from "Oro Rosso" near the Fontana Luminosa.

But you absolutely cannot miss a good arrosticino.. you will never find them other regions, and there is no better place in the “L' Unico Posto” in Viale della Croce Rossa.

- Fun IThe first spot to start from is the most important historical: “Ju Boss”, the oldest winery in the city that features a huge selection of wines accompanied by excellent buns with the suggestive backdrop of Piazza Regina Margherita.

Another viable alternative is the Sybarità in Via Navelli , which offers a wide selection of spani-

sh drinks and food.

If we go to Viale della Croce Rossa, “ALL BEERS” can offer the widest selection of beers from all over the city .

If you prefer a different environment, in Piazza Regina Margherita , La Cafeteria and Heineken bar are the most popular among young people.

- Tourism Those who decide to visit L'Aquila do not know you've seen the beauty of our territory in numerous films and commercials . Filmmakers from around the world have often chosen the rural district of L'Aquila as an ideal set, as it offers unique architectural and historical scenarios with enchanting medieval villages, including Santo Stefano di Sassanio , St. Benedetto in Perillis or Capestrano , characterized by the presence of magnificent castles, without forgetting the beauty of the hills and picturesque mountains. L’Aquila has always been a tourist town, thanks to its privileged position at the heart of our nation, the vicinity to the capital and to the countless works of art and architecture in it. A famous example is the Spanish Fort , built from 1534 by initiative of the Viceroy of Naples, Don Pedro of Toledo.

The Cathedral Square , the historic center of the city, is the point of reference for all students and tourists, but it’s also very rich in history: it’s adorned with statues of fascist art and it overlooks some of the most important buildings of the city, such as the church of the Holy Souls. And then the Basilica of Collemaggio, a Romanesque building whose beauty and importance are further enriched by the presence of the famous Holy Door, a unique piece for its peculiarities and history, andplaying a central role in the tradition of the famous Celestine Pardon. L'Aquila is a city rich in history , art and culture, a heritage to be preserved, and no doubt a tourist

Lecce

HISTORICAL SUMMARY ecce is one of the cities of Salento richest in history and culture. The city rises on an ancient Messapian settlement, according to the recent findings of tombs and small parts of city walls. This small Messapian settlement was allegedly a little village built nearby the ancient Rudiae, homeland of Quintus Ennius. During the II century B.C. the city of Lecce was called Lupiae. At that time Lecce emerged on the other towns of the area and became a municipality first, and then colony. During the domination of Adrian’s empire, the big Amphitheatre and the Theatre were built, as well as a road linking Lecce to Adrian’s port, known today as Marina di San Cataldo. Thanks to the emperor Marcus Aurelius, Lecce gained economic welfare and had a strong building expansion. Apart from a short period under the Greek domination, Lecce has been under the Romans’ rule for about five centuries. The county of Lecce was founded by Robert Guiscard, who turned it into a point of reference for the chivalresque culture. Tancredi, earl of Lecce and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, was responsible for the construction of the Church of S.S. Niccolò e Cataldo, which has become today one of the most important Medieval monuments in Southern Italy. After the rule of the Normans, there was the domination of the Suebi, and after the Suebi the one of the Anjou, the Brienne and the Del Balzo Orsini. During the XV century, Lecce became an important trading centre and it shortly became the main cultural wealth centre in Salento. Thanks to Charles V, Salento got to the period of Renaissance and the Castle, the city walls, a triumphal arch and the Holy Spirit Church were built. The arch was built to remember Charles V (this monument is today called Porta Napoli). During the Spanish period, Lecce was considered as an important artistic and cultural centre, right after Naples. In this period Lecce got filled up with wonderful Baroque buildings and monuments; the city had changed its core, it had become an artistic point of reference in the National scenery. This period also saw the construction of the churches of S. Teresa, S. Chiara, S. Angelo, the “Celestini” Palace and the beautiful “Duomo” square, place in which many monuments are grouped, bound by a single style, the Baroque. In Duomo

Contatti ESN Salento ESN Contacts Ancona www.erasmuslecce.it lecce@esn.it erasmus.lecce

c/o Palazzo Codacci Pisanelli-Aula A8 Piazza Arco di Trionfo, 1 73100 Lecce (LE)

square it is possible to admire the Cathedral, the wonderful bell-tower, the Seminary and the Episcopal Palace. In 1592, in St. Oronzo Square, the Sedile Palace was built, also known as Seggio, and around 1660 the column of St. Oronzo was brought there. In 1821 Lecce sent an army to put up resistance to the Austrians during the Carbonari movements. After unification, Lecce, between 1895 and 1915 saw further development, starting a series of projects aimed at the realization of many public works, outside the city walls too. In 1927 the province of Lecce was separated from those of Taranto and Brindisi, and from then on, the city of Lecce and Salento began a significant independent path of cultural and economic growth. Thanks to this historical path, Lecce gained an artistic importance and beauty which is comparable to the most important Italian cities.

THE CITY TODAY P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW T O G ET H ERE

SGM: it is the company managing transports within Lecce and the “Marine” (http://www.sgmlecce.it/).

- By Bus many companies reach Lecce from Rome, Milan and Bologna. (http://www.marinobus.it/, http://www.marozzivt.it/).

The most important stretches are: Lecce – Ecotekne: bus number 27 , 27 express and 27 esatta; Lecce – Ipercoop: bus number 35; Circular : bus number 30 and 31; COTRAP: manages the stretch Lecce–Mesagne (“cittadella della Ricerca”). http://www.cotrap.it/ Taxi: we will recommend a taxi cooperative which offers you a DISCOUNT in the price, just for Erasmus students (upon reservation): LECCE - BRINDISI airport: €50, 4 people.

LECCE -BRINDISI airport: €65, minibus 5-8 people.

LECCE - BARI airport: €150, 4 people.

LECCE - BARI airport: €200, minibus for 5-8 people.

LECCE TRAIN STATION/LECCE CITY CENTRE: €10, 4 people

-by Train here are daily trains from Rome, Milan and Turin (http://www.trenitalia.com/).

- By Plane.

Brindisi’s airport is the closest one, being just 40 km away from Lecce. You can get to Lecce with a shuttle worth 6 € only.

Info on timetable and prices: http://pugliairbus.aeroportidipuglia.it/.

Bari’s airport instead is about 170 km away from Lecce. From the airport you need to take bus number 16 to the central station (ticket price 0,80 €). Trains to Lecce run every hour.

Info on timetables: Aeroporti di Puglia http://www.aeroportidipuglia.it/.

There is also a shuttle linking Bari Airport and Brindisi Airport, both ways.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI STUDI DEL

S ALENTO

The University of Salento offers various services to Erasmus students: International Office (Ufficio Mobilità Internazionale) As soon as you get to Lecce, you’ll need to go to the International Office to notify your arrival and deal with paperwork. The office gives you information and ensures assistance to both local students and students on mobility. The office is located 200 metres away from the station.

Viale Gallipoli 49, “Principe Umberto” building, Lecce http://unisalento.llpmanager.it/studenti/ Opening times are: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 11.00 A.M. to 1.00 P.M. Monday and Thursday from 4.00 P.M. to 5.30 P.M. Please find below all the departments (“facoltà”) with the relative buildings and addresses where to get more information about your exams: BENI CULTURALI (Cultural Goods): “Codacci Pisanelli” building, Piazza Arco di Trionfo, Lecce www.beniculturali.unisalento.it ECONOMIA (Business): Extra-urban Campus, “Ecotekne” building www.economia.unisalento.it GIURISPRUDENZA (Law): Extra-urban Campus, Via per Monteroni www.giurisprudenza.unisalento.it INGEGNERIA (Engineering): Extra-urban Campus, "Stecca" building www.ingegneria.unisalento.it INGEGNERIA INDUSTRIALE (Industrial Engineering): Cittadella della Ricerca, Building n. 14, Brindisi www.ingegneriaindustriale.unisalento.it LETTERE E FILOSOFIA (Literature and Philosophy): “Codacci Pisanelli” building, Piazza Arco di Trionfo. Lecce www.lettere.unisalento.it LINGUE E LETTERATURE STRANIERE (Modern Languages): Ex "Sperimentale Tabacchi", via F. Calasso, 3/A, Lecce www.lingue.unisalento.it SCIENZE DELLA FORMAZIONE (Educational Sciences): “Codacci Pisanelli” building, Piazza Arco di Trionfo, Lecce www.scienzedellaformazione.unisalento.it SCIENZE MATEMATICHE, FISICHE E NATURALI (Maths, Physics and Natural Sciences): Extra-urban Campus, Centro Congressi www.scienzemfn.unisalento.it SCIENZE SOCIALI, POLITICHE E DEL TERRITORIO (Social, Political and Territory Sciences): Cittadella della Ricerca, Mesagne (BR) www.scienzesociali.unisalento.it SCIENZE DELLA FORMAZIONE: Palazzo Codacci Pisanelli, Piazza Arco di Trionfo, Lecce www.scienzedellaformazione.unisalento.it

SCIENZE MATEMATICHE, FISICHE E NATURALI: Campus extraurbano, Centro Congressi www.scienzemfn.unisalento.it SCIENZE SOCIALI, POLITICHE E DEL TERRITORIO: Cittadella della Ricerca, Mesagne (BR) www.scienzesociali.unisalento.it

THE ESN SECTION ESN Salento L.i.s.a. is one of the youngest sections in the Italian network as it was officially nominated in July 2012, but it has quickly demonstrated to be very active and has organized, in July 2013 already, one of the Italian National Platforms. It is an association composed by Italian students helping Erasmus students at the University of Salento. We have many students coming from the European Union, especially from Spain, Germany, France and Poland, but also from other countries outside the EU. Our aim is to let foreign students feel at home thanks to our activities. We organize meetings every first Friday of the month, during which we discuss students’ problems, plan activities, excursions, and events. We talk and then put the proposals to the vote.

Our activities are aimed at giving a warm welcome to the students and help them find a house according to their needs. We are always available for facing any difficulty the students may encounter.

TIPS - Pasticciotto Is a cake typical from the Salento area in Apulia, made of short pastry filled with custard cream and baked in the oven. It was born in 1745 in Galatina.

It has to be tasted hot in order to appreciate the smell of the cream and the consistency of the pastry just taken out of the oven. It is 269 old and the city of Lecce recognized it as the typical Lecce dessert, it is on the national list of the traditional food products. Try it for breakfast!

- Rustico Is part of Salentinian gastronomic tradition and it is possible to find in any bakery, bar or grill.

It is produced using two discs of rolled pastry, filled with mozzarella, béchamel sauce, tomato and sometimes pepper; then brushed with egg and baked in the oven.

- Pizzi Are another typical product from Lecce. They are obtained by adding to the bread dough some tomato, onion, black olives and oil; they don’t have a well defined shape as the Griko name “scèblasti”, meaning “shapeless”, suggests.

- Beachs In Salento you can find some of the most beautiful beaches in Italy, since you can choose between the Ionio Sea and the Adriatic Sea: from the wonderful beaches of Porto Cesareo and Torre dell’Orso to more hidden spots like Porto Selvaggio or the Alimini lakes.

-Notte della Taranta Finally, you don’t have to forget the “Taranta Night” (Notte della Taranta). The “Notte della Taranta” is a Salentinian popular music festival, taking place in various municipalities of the districts of Lecce and “Grecia Salentina”, especially in Melpignano and having its best moments during August. The fifteen concerts, taking place in as many squares of Salento, plus the big ending concert in Melpignano have a total of about 300 thousand viewers.

Every edition of the big ending concert – in 2013 it was its sixteenth – is assigned to a "concert master" having the precise task of arranging Salentinian traditional music mixing its rhythms with those of other musical traditions.

Macerata

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

The history of Macerata starts during the Roman Empire, when in III-II a.D. was built the first town Helvia Recina (nowadays Villapotenza). After the barbarian invasions of the Goths in V-VI p.D., the inhabitants moved from the plain to the hills, creating the Medieval town centre of Macerata.

The first living part of the town was the Podium Sancti Juliani (nowadays near the cathedral) e then the Castrum Maceratae (the real city centre).

The 29 of August 1138 the two boroughs, not anymore under the authority of the Bishop of Fermo, became one single town. During the 12th century the town grew bigger thanks to the annexation of many castles (San Pellegrino, Casale, Noncastro, Lornano, Morico, Montanello, Corneto e Lotenere). It grew so much that in 1320 the Pope Giovanni XXII decided to named a bishop for Macerata and it became a city.

During the 16th and 17th centuries the city grew powerful and rich, and you can still see it in the different old buildings like the Loggia dei Mercanti, Palazzo del Governo and the Sferisterio, the best example of art and architecture maceratensis.

After the 1st and the 2nd World War, Macerata, like the rest of the country, had a strong and fast grown from 1950 to 1980, and the suburbs became bigger. The last architectural work, the gallery Due Fonti, has been built in 2006.

Contatti ESN Macerasmus ESN Ancona Contacts www.esnmacerata.it macerata@esn.it; esn.macerasmus EsnMacerata esn_macerasmus via della Pescheria Vecchia, 62100, Macerata (MC), Italy

THE CITY TODAY Today the city counts 42000 inhabitants and an area of 92kmq.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT Urban bus: www.apmgroup.it Taxi: Piazza XXV Aprile tel. 0733.240353

H OW

TO

G ET H ERE

- by plane Airport of Falconara Marittima (AN) “Raffaello Sanzio” www.ancona-airport.com. Close airports are Bologna, Pescara or Rome.

-by train from north and south: reach the station of Civitanova Marche – Montegranaro and from there take the line Civitanova Marche – Fabriano and get off at the station of Macerata.

Coming from west: reach the station of Fabriano. Take the line Fabriano - Civitanova Marche and get off at Macerata. Info: www.trenitalia.it

- by bus Arrivals and departures from the station in Piazza Pizzarello in Macerata.

Pullman from/to: - Rome and Naples: bus Roma-Marche: www.romamarchelinee.it - Florence, Siena, Perugia: bus ATA - Freccia dell'Appennino: www.busweb.it - Regional bus company: www.contram.it, www.steat.it

- by boat Ancona

- by car -Adriatic side: Motorway A14, exit Macerata-Civitanova Marche; take Luigi Einaudi street, pass the signal Civitanova Marche sud/Strada Statale Adriatica (SS16): interchange Civitanova Marche Ovest and follow the signal Macerata/Tolentino/Foligno to the freeway SS77. Drive 18 km and exit to Macerata Sud/Corridonia.

-Tirrenic side: Motorway A1; from Florence: interchange Val di Chiana, direction Perugia, Foligno, Colfiorito; from Rome: exit to Orte, direction Terni, Foligno, Colfiorito. Take the freeway SS77 to Tolentino/Civitanova Marche: exit to Macerata Ovest/Sforzacosta. Keep following the signals Macerata and then Macerata Centre. www.autostrade.it

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITĂ€

DEGLI STUDI DI

M ACERATA

Found in 1290, the University of Macerata in one of the oldest in Europe. The activity of the university is focused on Human Sciences and Socials.

In the University of Macerata, you can attend undergraduate courses and postgraduate (master, school of specialization, doctorate), summer schools in cultural heritage, economy, philosophy, law, literature, foreign languages, interpreting and translating in foreign languages, communication, education science, political science, tourism.

For young talents, the School of Higher Studies Giacomo Leopardi offers educational, multi-disciplinary and high quality courses. Thanks to Confucius Institute, the University of Macerata is a reference point for the promotion of Chinese language and culture.

- Departments: the 5 departments in which the courses of UNIMC are divided are: - Department of Law and Economics - Department of Jurisprudence - Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism - Department of Political Science, Communication and International Relations - Department of Human Studies - Languages, Interpreting and translation in foreign languages, History, Literature and Philosophy For more info on degree programs http://www.unimc.it/it/didattica/corsi-di-laurea

THE ESN SECTION Macerasmus - ESN Macerata Macerasmus was founded in 2007 by two former Erasmus students, who wanted to create in Macerata a section of ESN Italy, a network of voluntary, non-partisan and non-religious university associations, with the aim of promoving the university students mobility in Europe, and in a short time has become almost a point of reference for all international students who stay here in Macerata. Our Association, in collaboration with the International Relationship Office (where we have our office) is now able to offer a range of services and activities such as: -pick-ups -housing - a help desk service for information and direct contact with Erasmus.

ESN Macerata is one the of 480 local sections of an international network IEESN(Erasmus Student Network International) in 37 countries across Europe. There are more than 34,000 volunteers in ESN who provide services to more 190,000 students on the move. ESN Italy, in which Macerata is a part of, collaborates with organizations and institutions such as LLP, the European Commission, European Parliament Youth in Action, EURES, MIUR, Youth Forum etc. . In addition, ESN Italy is a sending body, accredited for SVE (European Voluntary Service) program, Youth In Action.

TIPS - Typical dish Macerata main dish is Vincisgrassi, .

- Typical drink tipic liquor is Varnelli (if you are in a bar of Macerata, you have to try a “cazolà”, a cocktail with Varnelli and Borghetti!)

- Patronal festival 31th august (San Giuliano)

-L’Università degli studi di Macerata founded in 1290, is the 3rd oldest university in Italy ‐Sferisterio The Sferisterio Arena, which is the 2nd biggest Arena in Italy.

Messina

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Messina was founded by the Greeks in the year 730 BC and they gave to the city the name of Zankle, which means “sigh”, because of the shape of its natural harbour. The city was then conquered by the Romans in the year 246 B.C. and it was then, after the fall of the Roman Empire, ruled by the Byzantines and the Arabs. In the year 1060 the city was conquered by the Normans. In the following centuries, under the rule of the Swabians, the Anjou and the Aragons, the city reached great prosperity and became the second capital of the Realm of Sicily, together with Palermo, in the year 1129. In the same period the Royal Mint was established in the city. In the year 1197 the port of Messina was proclaimed porto franco (free port) by Henry the sixth. This gave a great contribution to the commercial freedom and prosperity of the city. Messina was then for many centuries the richest sicilian city and the second richest city of Southern Italy after Neaples. In the fifteenth century the name of Messina became famous due to the great messinian artist Antonello, which is considered to be a forerunner of the Renaissance. In 1674 the city rebelled against the Spanish and underwent a terrible repression, which destroyed many of its privileges. In the year 1783 the city was devasted by a big earthquake. Messina became a part of the Italian Realm in the year 1860. The city was then devastated by a second earthquake, which took place in the year 1908, and incurred further damage from the massive Allied air bombardments of the Second World War.

THE CITY TODAY Messina lies at the feet of the chain of the Monti Peloritani, between the blue of the sky and the see, the famous Straight of Messina, and it’s therefore called “Door of Sicily”.

The city presents a modern and comfortable architecture, with large and straight streets built according to earthquake standards.

The coast, with its several beaches, is long about 58km, from the nor-

ESN Messina Contacts +39 090 713696 www.esn-messina.it messina@esn.it EsnMessina esn_messina c/o Centro Servizi Sociali dell'E.r.s.u. di Messina (Casa dello Studente) Via Ghibellina, II piano 98100 Messina (ME)

thern to the southern periphery: this makes Messina one of the longest cities of Italy. Messina is moreover the only Italian city surrounded by two sees: the Tyrrhenian and the Ionian See. Messina underwent several artistical and monumental losses due the many catastrophes occurred through the centuries. The beauty of the city lies now mainly in the Straight, that is visible from almost every part of the city.

The economics is based mainly on agriculture, on the production of grapes, olives, nuts and most of all citrus fruits. Fishing is another important activity of the city: a specialty of the city is the sword fish, that the Messinians fish in the Straight on a special boat called “feluca”. Further local specialties are the bluefish, the garfish and the sardines. Mussels are fished in the lakes of Ganzirri.

The industrial sector consists of shipyards, engineering plants, flour mills, chemical plants, food and wine industries.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT The ATM (Agency of Transport in Messina) takes care of public transport through a service of busses and trams. About 50 bus lines connect each and every district of the town. A very important role is played by tram line 28, 8 km long, which connects southern and northern parts of Messina since 2003. For who has just arrived in town by bus or train the closest stop is “Repubblica”, which is also the name of the square, next to historical Harbour. Goin south you will cross “Viale San Martino”, the heart of the town (where you can do the shopping), located between “Piazza Cairoli” and “Villa Dante”, and then on as far as “Zir” (last stop), which is close to the main hospital, “Policlinico G.Martino”. From “Cairoli” stop you can easily get to “Piazza Pugliatti”, where you can find the Rectorate and the Central University, which includes the ex-faculties of Economics and Law. “Zir” connects the centre to “Tremestieri”, a developing residencial and commercial district. Goin north the main stops are: “Municipio” (in front of “palazzo Zanca”, the town hall), Boccetta (important for who studies in the ex-faculty of “Scienze della Formazione”), “Alighieri” (close to the Fountain of Neptune and the “Fiera”), “Brasile” (useful for who gets in town through “Caronte and Tourist”) and “Museo” (last stop; from there you can get the University’s busses to reach the university poles of “Annunziata” – which includes the ex-faculties of Literature, Pharmacy and Veterinary – and “Papardo” – which includes the ex-faculties of Engeneering, Mathematics, Phisics and Natural Sciences).

If you are willing to use public means of transport you must buy a ticket (which works for

both busses and trams) in any news stand or tobacco shop. The basic fee is 1,20 euros, but if you are planning to sightseeing we advice you to take the daily ticket, which costs 2,70 euros.

Tram service is free once you get a specific card with picture for students of “Università di Messina” and erasmus students in the town (thanks to an annual agreement) which works on the weekdays.

H OW

TO

G ET H ERE

Our Harbour connects the whole Sicily with the rest of Italy. During the day plenty of hydrofoils and ferries carry pedestrians and each and every mean of transport (motorcycles, cars, campers, tirs, trains, etc) from Messina to Villa San Giovanni and the way back. If you arrive in Villa San Giovanni by car you can embark through “Ferrovie dello Stato” or the private company “Caronte and Tourist”. The embarks are separated and you can buy the ticket on the way. The duration is around 30 minutes. Pedestrians only can also reach Messina through “bluferries”(daily routes). The Harbour of Villa San Giovanni is next to the train station and the place of arrival in Messina “Porto Storico”is very close the the centre and to the train station and you can take busses, trams or cabs. The schedule for the hydrofoils is available on the site trasportisullostretto.it.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITĂ€

DEGLI STUDI DI MESSINA

The local Studiorum Universitas Messanae is formally established by Pope Paul III in November 1548. The smooth functioning of the University, however, is paralyzed and hampered the early years due to disputes with the Jesuits, who claimed control of education, and Because of disputes with neighboring Catania, which claimed a monopoly on university studies of the island. Despite great difficulties, the University of Messina until the early '900 touched levels very prestigious thanks to its illustrious masters, first of all, Giovanni Pascoli.

The earthquake of 1908, precipitated the situation. Under the rubble are as many as 14 of the 49 professors, while libraries and scientific equipment were largely destroyed. This was an opportunity that some seemed appropriate to suppress the University peloritana deemed unnecessary and uneconomical.

Under the influence of the Rector Giovanni Maria Rizzo, however, the recovery of the city came quickly already in the academic year 1911-12. In 1922 the Rector Rizzo touched the task of averting the suggested merger of the University of Messina and Catania, proposed by the fascist regime, when it appeared the University facilities and established the institution was set to play a certain role in the events cultural the country, and managed to successfully overcome, with the academies of Gaetano Martino and Salvatore Pugliatti, the difficult post-war reconstruction.

The University of Messina has over 50,000 members, distributed among 11 faculties, which are activated in about 160 different degree programs.

The former faculty (now departments) are: Economics, Pharmacy, Law, Engineering, Humanities, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Education Sciences, Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences, Political Science, Statistical Science. The University of Messina has a university campus in one of the towns with the largest university sports and vanguard of Italy that includes baseball field with natural grass; three multipurpose gyms; fields of football, rugby and hockey artificial turf; both indoor and outdoor; three indoor tennis courts in synthetic; two multipurpose fields from tennis-synthetic soccer; amphitheater with about a thousand places; guest quarters with 133 residences for athletes.

THE ESN SECTION ESN Messina was born in 2004 thanks to a group of students who chose to live a borderless seizing the opportunities offered by the Erasmus program. ESN Messina is duly accredited and registered with the Register of student associations and cooperatives in accordance with the "Regulations of cultural, sporting and recreational self-managed by the students" of the University of Messina.

Every year receives about one hundred students Erasmus belonging to all the faculties of the University of Messina.

Since its founding to the present section has increased the number of its members, which currently has nearly 50 members. ESN Messina offers services that are: Incoming, Accommodation, Pick-up, Tutor, Tandem, Tandem Group. ESN Messina also offers social and recreational activities, such as: trips throughout the national territory; Pizzadinner, an event during which Esners teach to make pizza; Eurodinner, dinner in which each participant brings a dish of their country.

The headquarters of ESN Messina is located in via Consulate of the Sea, 41 at the Palace, where he still is the seat of the secretariat of the students of the University of Messina.

TIPS - Cusine The cuisine of Messina is one of the most famous in Mediterranean. It’s characterized by a great variety of dishes, simple and elaborate too. It follow the influence of various populations who have succeeded over the centuries in our territory .

One of the principal starters is the “Caponata”, served cold and made with fried eggplant, tomatoes, celery, capers and olives; then the “Parmigiana” that is another dish of fried eggplant cut into thin slices and arranged in multiple layers with addition of tomato sauce, mozzarella, bread crumbs and ham or mortadella.

For the first course we have the typical “Pasta ca muddhica e ancioi”, spaghetti with a preparation of oil, chopped garlic, chopped anchovies, olives and chilli, all sprinkled with breadcrumbs and chopped parsley; Then “U maccu”, a dish made of dried beans shelled, cooked with thinly sliced vegetables (celery, onion, tomato) and served along with some toasted bread; “A pasta 'ncaciata”, penne shaped pasta baked with a sauce of minced meat, fried eggplant, provolone and Parmesan.

The main courses of meat are: “le braciole”, very thin slices of beef rolled in with a mixture of bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt and diced provolone; “Falso-magro al ragù”, beef stuffed with ground beef, eggs, cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, all wrapped and tied as to form a big salami and cooked in the oven with the addition of tomato sauce.

Fish are instead: “piscispada a ghiotta”, swordfish baked with sliced potatoes and a sauce typically prepared with tomatoes, olives and capers; “Piscistoccu a ghiotta”, stockfish cooked in a casserole with potatoes cut into pieces, olives, blanched celery, onions and chili, all flavored with white wine and capers; “Calamari ripieni” (or chini) – which are squids bowed, squid stuffed with a preparation of fried and chopped tentacles, breadcrumbs, eggs, grated cheese and capers.

Another typical for Messina is “Focaccia” but also the “Arancini” fried rice balls stuffed with meat sauce, mozzarella and peas; “I Pitoni” made with anchovies, tomato, smoked cheese

and vegetables, handmade in various takeaways city. The bar is definitely recommended the Sicilian granita, or the “menza cu panna” granita with cream, both with the brioche, iced coffee with plenty of cream to be enjoyed along with a warm brioche, pastries and “Cannoli siciliani” with ricotta or “Pignolata”, chunks of fried dough placed on a tray and covered with a glaze chocolate or white icing flavored with lemon; the “Motticeddi”, cakes of almond paste shaped seasonal fruit; the ”Spinci di risu”, sweet rolls made of rice dough fried and covered with plenty of sugar, “Il bianco e nero”, similar to the more famous Profiterol, stuffed with cream and covered with cream and chocolate shavings.

- Fun In Messina the main points of interest are the promenade, near the International Fair, and Piazza Cairoli which begins also one of the main streets of the city, the Viale San Martino, the most popular with shoppers.

In the period from October to May, the nightlife is concentrated near Piazza Duomo, where there are lovely rooms, many of them from the student attended. The most noteworthy are: Galleria Vittorio Emanuele III in Piazza Antonello, is the urban living room of Messina, and after the restauration has returned to new life and often hosts social events ;.

Worthy of mention are the Rombo, Local very cool near the Student House; Amarcord, disco a bit' out of the center but from enviable.

During the period of stay of Erasmus students in Messina some Esners deal to conclude, from week to week, the agreements with the above mentioned premises in order to allow a free entry or facilitated to Erasmus.

In the summer time, or between end of May and September, nightlife Messina also moves on the seafront between the stream of Annunziata and Capo Peloro, where successive numerous beaches and night are transformed into open-air discos organizing various parties and evenings .

- Special Events

city streets.

Economic significance for the city is the annual appointment with the International Trade Fair, a source of great attraction for Italian and foreign operators. The fair takes place in the first two weeks of August, and visitors can search in the news stand in the commercial, industrial, tourism and service sectors but mainly (www.fieramessina.it ).

On August 15 of every year is celebrated Our Lady of the Assumption, through a ceremony that crosses one of the main streets of the city, through the Vara: a complex apparatus developed pyramid. Originally equipped with wheels after 1565 these were replaced in wooden slides to allow dragging on the pavement and using two long ropes, the people of Messina drag this majestic structure from Piazza Castronovo in Piazza Duomo. Currently the Vara is 15 meters high, weighs 8 tons and rests on a circular rotating base that slides on steel slides www.varamessina.it .

Among the ancient religious traditions, even today, many feel, Messina also recalls the procession of “Barette� you won’t make every year on Holy Friday. The origins of the procession date back to the fifteenth century, the period of Spanish rule in Messina. Since its first appearance is considered the most important event of the Easter period. The term "Barette" finds reference in the origins of the religious procession, as they were carried on the shoulders and an image of Our a mock coffin with the dead Christ, followed by other small coffins. The procession, one of the most solemn moments of the Catholic liturgy in Messina, is made up of artistic compositions in wood, or mixed wood, papier mache and plaster depicting the Stations of the Cross in the tradition of the Christian Catholic Church.

Mata and Grifone, the two giants considered by popular tradition the progenitors of Messina, are represented by two colossal equestrian statues in cards that are greater than 8 meters high. The current location on horseback, dating back to 1723 although it is only since the middle of last century that the legs have been completed and the two giants loaded on carts with wheels to be driven more easily. In the first week of August, a festive procession in costume accompanies the "walk of the giants" for the

- Tourism A wonderful panorama is from the ferry to the tourist who comes to visit. Messina offers a comfortable thanks to accommodations and enjoyable especially for the possibility of many great tourist excursions.

North of the city lakes Ganzirri are the setting for a series of activities whose specialty dining and cooking seafood. Along the coast and up to Capo Peloro, north of the city, in addition to the many beaches there are the services offered by the private beach to sea lovers.

Hiking in the hills Peloritani guided tours offer visitors, in addition to relaxing in the service areas, the superb view of the panorama of the Strait.

From Messina you can reach the Aeolian Islands: the archipelago consists of the islands of Alicudi, Filicudi, Lipari, Panarea, Salina, Stromboli and Vulcano. The Aeolian Islands are a popular tourist destination much to be defined "the seven pearls of the Mediterranean" because of the enormous fascination that develop in their visitors.

Other goals are worthy to be mentioned are: The Alcantara Gorges, a natural monument in basalt rock that came to life by the eruption of the volcano Monte Moio, high up to 25 meters and in the narrowest width 2 meters; the enchanting Taormina, one of the most important international tourist centers of Sicily for its scenery, the beautiful sea and its historical monuments, first of all the greek amphitheater; the beautiful headlands of Milazzo and Capo d'Orlando, two towns very popular in summer. www.esn-messina.it is the official website of ESN Messina and here you will find more information on programs and activities. www.unime.it is the portal of the University of Messina: Students from there is the connection with the websites of all the faculties of the university. Toll \ {tel 800230842} www.unime.llpmanager.it/studenti is the site of the International Relations of the University of Messina in charge of the Erasmus-LLP.

www.comune.messina.it is the portal of the local citizens who require special information or tips while within its territory, including through the toll-free tel. 800,701,363. www.provincia.messina.it is a window on events and initiatives taking place in the territory of the Province of Messina.

- Curiosity Colapesce Nicola, son of a fisherman was called in sicilian dialect “Colapesce� for his ability to be a good swimmer. When King Frederick II learned of this young man, he wanted to test him. At first, he threw a cup of gold in the water, and Colapesce recovered it, then the King threw his crown, in a deeper place, and Colapesce brought it back to him, the third time Federico II threw in the high seas a ring, but time passed over and over and Colapesce saw that Sicily was supported by three columns at the three summits; among these, the column under Messina was very eroded, so he decided to stay to support her under water to prevent the island from sinking, and the legend tells that he is still over there to support the island.

Scylla and Charybdis The legend of Scylla and Charybdis is evidenced since the days of Homer and Virgil, indeed they both tell about the two mythological monsters that inhabited the two shores lapped by the Strait of Messina. Scilla, with twelve feet and six heads, occupied the shores of Calabria, Charybdis occupied the sicilian one and , hidden under a fig tree, swallowed the waters of the Strait three times a day. The two creatures made the passage of ships dangerous, creating huge vortices, which swallowed all the boats that were on that strip of sea.

Interesting facts : Dina and Clarenza Dina and Clarenza are two female characters linked to the historic siege of Charles I of Anjou

to Messina, during the Sicilian Vespers. It was the night of 8 August 1282 when the Anjou tried to take the city. On the walls were guarding the women, in order to enable men, tired from the recent battles, to rest. Dina and Clarenza, keepers on the hill of Caperrina (today Montalto), noticing French soldiers, moved to repel the attack: Dina began to throw stones to the enemy soldiers and Clarenza played the bells of the cathedral, so it woke up the whole city and allowed the citizens of Messina to defense and repel the attack. From that moment the two heroines represent the courage and the local patriotism of Messina. Today they are represented in the bell tower of the Cathedral and Palazzo Zanca.

Milano

HISTORICAL SUMMARY The city of Milan is situated in the North of Italy, between Po river and the Alps, and it is the regional capital of Lombardia. With more than 1,3 Millions inhabitants, Milan is the second most populated city of Italy and the one with the widest metropolitan area.

Milan is business, fashion, music, history, art, design: the city hosts a wide range of fairs and exhibitions, it’s famous for its cultural beauties, for amusement and nightlife. Milan is both a modern and a traditional city, which makes it unique.

Around 300 B.C. Romans conquered a small Gallic city and they named it “Mediolanum” (place in the middle), which later became the capital of the Western Roman Empire; when the Empire collapsed, in 476 a.C., the whole region fall into barbarians hands. Only after a suffered period during the Middle Age, Milan prospers again, governed by the powerful families of Visconti and Sforza, and becomes one of the capitals of the Renaissance, thanks to the masterpieces and monuments produced in the city: the construction of Duomo was started in 1386 by the Visconti family, while the Sforza family commissioned the castle.

Thanks to the Visconti and Sforza families Milan became one of the capital of the renaissance, for its beautiful masterpieces and monuments produced in the city.

The city center is characterized for its magnificent gothic cathedral, finished in 1810. The rounded arches, pointed spires, its 2000 and more statues, the stained glass windows, the magnificent white marbles, the Madonnina golden statue overlook the Duomo square, which is the geographical and historical center of Milan. The existing square is the results of series of changes and expansions over the centuries: it used to be very small, surrounded by medieval houses and palaces; the cathedral must have been a very impressive sight as one emerged from a narrow alleyway, but between 1865 and 1873 a large churchyard was created.

The Duomo cathedral, symbol of Milan, is a marble mass of exceptional size, one of Europe’s biggest gothic cathedrals: measuring 158 m long, 93 m wide and 108,5 m high at its highest spire, where rises the statue of

Contatti ESN Milano-Bicocca ESN Acona Contacts www.esnbicocca.it milano_bicocca@esn.it

Contatti ESN MilanoESN StataleAncona Contacts www.esnmilanostatale.it milano_statale@esn.it

Contatti ESN Politecnico ESNMilano Ancona Contacts www.polimi.it milano_politecnico@esn.it

Contatti ESN UnicattESN MilanoAncona Contacts www.esnunicattolica.it milano_unicatt@esn.it

Contatti ESN IULM Milano ESN ContactsAn www.esniulm.it

milano_iulm@esn.it

Contatti ESN BocconiESN Milano Ancona Contacts www.esnbocconi.it milano_bocconi@esn.it

Vergine Maria. La Madonnina is the icon of Milano, together with the “biscione”, a dragon with the shape of a snake consuming a young man, heraldic charge of the Visconti family. Another important symbolic monument faces Piazza Duomo, a big covered passageway in a latin cross shape, featuring mosaics, a wrought iron and glass roof and beautiful buildings inside, hosting luxurious cafés, restaurants and boutiques: it’s the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. It was built around 1870, during the period of the unification of Italy, it was the first building in the city with electrical system to light the inside passageway. This monument celebrate the independence of Italy, as a united nation, and the prosperity of the Milan, as the beautiful buildings, elegant cafés, restaurants and boutiques can still demonstrate. On the other side of the Galleria there is the “Alla Scala Theater”, one of the most prestigious international opera theater; Inaugurated in 1778, the theater hosts the most famous opera compositions and ballet, for example Giuseppe Verdi’s compositions. Milan was dominated by Spain, Austria and France, before the unification of Italy in 1861, when the city became business capital of the country. By the end of the century the political climate was incandescent and the tension led to a repression of a popular uprising by the army. Again after the World War I, Milan was characterized by social tensions and economic hardship and it was here that Mussolini founded the fascist party in 1919: the regime left a great mark on the city, changing its face forever, with the covering over of the canals and the construction of a number of public works.

During the World War II, Milan was heavily bombarded by the Allies and the city was in the front lines of the fight against fascism, becoming the seat of the Partisans’ Northern Italian Command, earning the city a Gold Medal for the Resistence. After the conflict, Milan became the engine driving reconstruction of the country and the leader of the economic boom, whose symbols are the Velasca Tower, the Pirellone skyscraper and the underground.Still today Milan is at the centre of an irreversible process of urban development resulting from almost total deindustrialization: large-scale projects are the look of the city and the land with a new skyline.

THE CITY TODAY Milano was founded by the roman and built with the shape and the structures of the roman cities of the empire. Nowadays there is no more the squared shape of the cardus and decumanus roads, but the ring shape wanted by the spanish some centuries later.

The city center is of course the district developed around the Duomo Cathedral, with the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Teatro La Scala, Palazzo Reale and many other buildings and monuments.

Around the center we could recognise some interesting and important areas of the city such as: - Montenapoleone district: taking the name of the famous street of the fashion, full of boutiques and stores - Brera district: the arts district with the art academy and the art gallery, surrounded by high class astmosphere - Moscova district: one of the richest and trendy areas, with lounge bar and discos of upper level (Corso Como) - Porta Venezia district: one of the old gates of the city and now shopping area along C.so Buenos Aires - Sempione district: quiet residential area, full of lounge bars just aside the park In the south side we find: - Colonne di San Lorenzo: archeological site and spot for meeting at night for young people, exspecially during the warm seasons - Navigli area: the most famous area , with hundreds of places along the channels, also a spot for seeing the old Milano.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT Milan is served by a very good public transportation managed by ATM. Have a look on ATM web site to find buses and trams timetables, or to find the right path to reach a destination and dowload the official app on your smartphone to be always updated web site: http://www.atm-mi.it - Bus and Tram In Milano there's a wide web of lines of trams and buses providinga good coverage of all the city areas. Bus 90/91, following the route of the external ring runs 24/24h Suburban trains - “Linee S” There's also a suburban railway line that cross the city and connects some stations to the outskirts and other importants cities in the north like Saronno,Varese, Como, Novara, etc. The service is granted from Trenord and Trenitalia and it's composed of 9 suburban lines and the “Passante Ferroviario” (railway bypass/junction) The price for one ticket in the city area is 1.5€ and it is valid for only one trip in the undergroung or 90 min's on buses and trams. There are also a “daily ticket“(4.50 €) and a "carnet"(13.80 €)which is ten tickets for a lower price.

If you have to live in Milano for more time, maybe you should be interested in a monthly or even yearly card. They are pretty cheap for students.

The monthly ticket costs 22€ every month, plus 10€ the first time for the card and a picture (fototessera). The cost of a yearly card is about 200€ and it is valid 12 months (offer valid only if you are student or under 26 years of age).

To get your ATM card, you have to go to one of the ATM Offices inside the underground: Duomo (MM1 and MM3) - Loreto (MM1 and MM2) - Cadorna (MM1 and MM2) - Centrale (MM2 and MM3) - Garibaldi (MM2).

Subway There are four underground lines connecting the main places of the city Red Line/MilanoMetro1 – starting from north in the terminus station Sesto F.S., it goes through the city center and at Pagano station splits in two branches, one for Rho Fiera, the new fair, the other one to Bisceglie.

Green Line/MM2 – starts from south in Abbiategrasso and reach the north-west sector splitting in Cascina Gobba in two branches, one for Cologno Nord, the other one to Gessate.

Yellow Line/MM3 – it connects the northern-east terminus in Comasina to the the southern-west terminus S.Donato.

Lilac Line/MM5 – from the stop of Zara to the northern stop of Bignami, still under costruction it have a different timetable due to the works on the line (06.00 to 22.00) The first run of the day is at 6.00 and the last starts from the respective terminus at 00.30 (in the weekends at 1.30) after this hours there's a service of substistutional buses providing the same route until the nextday opening.

H OW

TO

G ET H ERE

- by plane From the Bergamo airport (Aeroporto di Bergamo Orio al Serio – IATA: BGY) Placed around 45km north-east of Milan near the city of Bergamo. (Ryanair refers to this as Milan Bergamo Airport).

Some budget airlines fly on Orio al Serio Airport. Bus services heading to Milano, departs just outside the arrivals section of the airport, each 30 minutes (there are different bus companies) and you will reach Stazione Centrale train station (Stazione Centrale – M3 Metro yellow line e M2 Metro green line). The transfer takes about 40-60 minutes. The adult one-way fare costs € 5.00. Tickets are sold in Orio Al Serio Airport in Bergamo and at the Stazione Centrale in Milano. Trains to Milano leave from Bergamo train station, reachable by shuttle bus or taxi, but quite far from the airport. Trains from Bergamo to Milano run every 30-60 minutes and take around 1 hour. The adult one-way fare is approximatly of € 4.00. Taxis will set you back maybe € 120 from Orio to Milan, you will

reach the city centre in 1 hour.

Check here: www.orioshuttle.com

For more infos www.atm-mi.it

From the Malpensa airport (Aeroporto di Milano Malpensa – IATA: MXP) Malpensa it's the main international airport. The airport has two terminals, with the Terminal 1 being the largest one (for international and intercontinental flights). Terminal 2 is used by many of low cost airlines. The two terminals are connected by a free shuttle bus service (running approximately every 20 minutes). To reach the city centre: you can get the Malpensa Express Trains service, is the only frequent railway link between Malpensa and the city of Milano. The Malpensa Express from Malpensa, Terminal 1 to Milano Cadorna (Cadorna – M1 Metro red line or M2 Metro green line), or Milano Centrale (Stazione Centrale – M3 Metro yellow line e M2 Metro green line), is recommended as the easiest and fastest way to reach the city. Trains leave every 30 minutes from Terminal 1, reaching the destination after 40 minutes. The last train departs at 00:36 am.

Fare: one-way € 11.00, round trip in a single day € 15.00. Or you can get the bus service from the Terminal 1 or 2 to reach Stazione Centrale (Stazione Centrale – M3 Metro yellow line e M2 Metro green line). There are different bus transfer. The busses likns Malpensa to Milan approximately every 20 minuts. Travel can take from 40 minutes to 1 hour or more, but buses are the best solution if you land at Terminal 2.

The price: € 10,00 each trip or € 15,00 for a return ticket. For more infos check this website: www.malpensashuttle.it. Using a taxi to get from Malpensa to the city center is strongly not suggested being really expensive (€ 85)

- by bus It's possible to reach the city also by bus. The largest number of the connections are provided

by Eurolines company for/to France, Germany, Spain, Netherland and Belgium with daily departures from the Lampugnano Terminal (at MM1 Lampugnano, red line) For more infos check this website: www.eurolines.it

From Linate airport (Aeroporto di MilanoLinate – IATA: LIN) Some European or national flights land at Linate Airport. This small but rather efficient one-runway airport is very close to the city centre (7 km). Buses 73 and 73X, leaving just from the square in front of the termin terminal will bring you to the hearth of the city, in San Babila Square (San Babila - MM1 Metro red line). The buses run every 10 minutes and cost 5 €. Taxis from Linate to the city centre cost around € 20 depending on traffic conditions.

check

this

website:

- by train Milano is the largest railway hub of the all Italy.

It's well connected with all Europe and presents many railwaystation. The main one is Milano Centrale (MM2/MM3 Centrale), place in Piazza Duca d'Aosta, but there are also: Milano Porta Garibaldi (MM2 Garibaldi), the second one for importance, ruled by RFI, with a huge terminal for suburban trains Milano Cadorna (MM1/MM2 Cadorna), connecting Milano with the north-west of the Lombardia and managed by Trenord Milano Lambrate (MM2 Lambrate), Milano Rogoredo (MM3 Rogoredo) Several companies provide routes from and to the most important cities in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and France.

Take a look to these webistes for more informations (www.trenitalia.com / www.ffs.ch / www.bahn.com / www.obb-italia.com) For national travels you can rely on Trenitalia (www.trenitalia.com) providing Regional, Intercity, Eurocity and high speed trains (Le Frecce), or ItaloTreno, a private company which their high speed trains connect all the Italy with Milano.

THE UNIVERSITY The Milanese university system consists of 10 universities, which boasts one of the richest and most qualified educational offers in Italy: in fact more than 151,000 students every year choose Milan as a destination for their education. Milan is not an "historic" university city, the first one that was founded was the Politecnico University, in 1863. The Milanese universities (public and private one) offer the opportunity to enroll in 22 different faculties: no other university system in Italy presents such a wide range of training courses.

Here the descriptions of the 6 main Universities in Milan: 1) Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca 2) Università degli Studi di Milano 3) Politecnico di Milano 4) Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano 5) Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione IULM 6) Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi

U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI

S TUDI

DI

M ILANO -B ICOCCA

Milano-Bicocca is the latest university founded among the public universities of Milan. It is located in the northern part of the city. The campus was established in a district, which gives its name to the University: the Bicocca district. The University occupies the space where once there were factories of Pirelli; today remains only the headquarters of the Company, right next to the Rector of the University. Looking at the university buildings still stand on the characteristics of its industrial past, in fact in many cases they wanted to maintain the structure of the original buildings, which have simply been restructured to be adapted to the new use. In the eighties, there were many spaces in Milan to be converted and in the meanwhile there was the need to find a new area to expand the "Mega- University of Milan" (The State University of Milan), which was in serious difficulties in managing the large number of students enrolled. Therefore, they chose the abandoned neighborhood of Bicocca. In 1998, "The Second University of Milan" was founded, which will then be called with the current name "University of Milano - Bicocca". Many of the courses that were already in the State University were transferred to Bicocca University. In the academic year 1998-1999 they started with the first courses in the new university. The Faculties currently active are: Economics, Sociology, Medicine and Surgery (headquartered in Monza), Psychology, Education, Law, Statistics, Mathematics, Physics and Natural Sciences. The University activities are held in various buildings identified by the letter "U" and a sequential number. Most of the buildings are located in Milan and mainly in the Bicocca district, (these buildings are connected by a free shuttle service namely "EcoBus Bicocca", a bus with reduced environmental impact with hybrid power: electric and diesel). In a second time the University has expanded again, with other buildings that are located at Monza for the Faculty of Organization and Medicine Sciences and Surgery (leaning to San Gerardo Hospital in Monza). In addition, the Bicocca is proud of having a building on one of the Maldives islands for research and development. Today the University of Milano-Bicocca is one of the top Italian universities for the high quality standards that ensures and is placed as 23rd in the world ranking for universities less than 50 years old made by Times Higher Education. Bicocca is a young, dynamic, and willing to make a contribution to the cultural, socio-economic and technological community. The University Bicocca today focuses on training, gathering in a large campus teaching facilities, research and many other services for students; on internationalization, increasing every year the opportunities of going on exchange and the number of international projects; and finally it pays much attention to the production world too locally as well as internationally. The University is organized as a campus, where students can find all facilities needed: training areas, recreational areas, residences, shops, bars, restaurants, and more.

For more information: www.unimib.it

U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI

S TUDI

DI

M ILANO

Università degli Studi di Milano was founded in the 1923. The university is pretty young among the others on the italian scenery due to the fact that the city of Milano has always referred on the Università di Pavia. At first Unimi included only the Literature & Philosopy Faculty (the Ancient literature and scientific Academy) and the Institutes for clinical practice founded by Luigi Mangiagalli in the 1906. After the Second World War the University was moved into the old building of the Ospedale Maggiore (Central Hospital), damaged by the bombings. After being restaured in the 1958 became the headquarter hosting the Rettorato, the administrative offices, the Literature & Philosophy Faculty and the Laws Faculty. In the sixties the UniMi went trough a great growth beginning a process of enlargement and in the years 1988 – 1989 there were even 22 courses and around 75.000 students enrolled. In the middle of the eighties, at the same time of the needs by the municipality to convert some former industrial areas of Milano, begun to rise the opportunity to find out new areas where to build and open a new universitarian sector, in order to relieve the pressure of the UniMi, that was not capable to host the growing numbers of its students. In 1993, with the approval of the Regione Lombardia, was individuated and selected the Bicocca area to be the place for settling a new sector of the Unimi.

For more information: www.unimi.it

P OLITECNICO

DI

M ILANO

The Politecnico di Milano (Polytechnic University of Milan) is the largest technical university in Italy, with about 37,600 students. It offers undergraduate, graduate and higher education courses in Engineering, Architecture and Design. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest university in Milan. The Politecnico has two main campuses in Milan city, where the majority of the research and teaching activity are located, and other satellite campuses in five other cities across Lombardy and Emilia Romagna. The central offices and headquarters are located in the historical campus of Città Studi in Milan, which is also the largest, active since 1927. The university was ranked the best for Engineering and among the top big universities in Italy in the CENSIS-Repubblica Italian University rankings for 2011-2012 and is ranked as the 28th best technical university in the world according to the QS World University Rankings. Politecnico maintains several relations with foreign universities and offers a wide range of international projects for student exchange, The university encourages the enrolment of foreign students by providing several courses in English, German and Spanish. It participates in the ENTREE network for student exchange among Electrical Engineering colleges in Europe and it is a member of Top Industrial Managers for Europe (TIME) network. Politecnico di Milano is part of several international student exchange networks: Athens, Erasmus, Erasmus Mundus, MEDes, Pegasus and Unitech, with agreements with about 400 foreign universities.

For more information: www.polimi.it

U NIVERSITÀ C ATTOLICA

DEL

S ACRO C UORE

DI

M ILANO

The Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC) is an Italian private research university founded in 1921. The UCSC is the largest private university in Europe and the largest Catholic University in the world. Its main campus is located in Milan, Italy with satellite campuses in Brescia, Piacenza, Cremona, Rome, and Campobasso. The University is organized into 12 faculties and 7 postgraduate schools. Cattolica provides undergraduate courses (Bachelor's degree, which corresponds to Italian Laurea Triennale), graduate courses (Master's degree, which corresponds to Laurea Magistrale, and specializing master) and PhD programs (Dottorati di ricerca). In addition to these, the University runs several double degree programs with other institutions throughout the world.

Degrees are offered both in Italian and in English. The UCSC has been granted five stars by QS

Stars, a global university rating system, in the following fields: employability, teaching, facilities and engagement. Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic serves as the teaching hospital for the medical school of the UniversitĂ Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and owes its name to the university founder, the Franciscan friar, physician and psychologist Agostino Gemelli.

The UCSC offers a wide range of degrees in 12 schools (faculties): - School of Agriculture, Piacenza-Cremona (founded 1951) - School of Arts and Philosophy (1923) - School of Banking, Finance and Insurance Sciences (1990) - School of Economics (1947) - School of Economics and Law, Piacenza-Cremona (1990) - School of Education (1936) - School of Law (1923) - School of Mathematics, Physics and Natural Sciences, Brescia (1968) - School of Medicine, Rome (1958) - School of Language Sciences and Foreign Literature (1968) - School of Political and Social Sciences (1926) - School of Psychology (1999) Postgraduate Schools (Alte Scuole) are centers of excellence in research and teaching: - Postgraduate School of Media Communications and Performing Arts (established 2002) - Postgraduate School Business & Society (2005) - Postgraduate School of Environmental Studies (2008) - Postgraduate School of Psychology Agostino Gemelli (2000) - Postgraduate School of Economics and International Relations (1995) - Postgraduate School of Agricultural and Food Economics (1984) - Postgraduate School of Health Economics and Management (2008).

Milan Campus: Cattolica is characterized by a campus extending to six Italian cities, with its seat is in the historic Cistercian monastery situated near the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in the heart of Milan.

Originally a monastery built by Benedictine monks in the 8th century, the UCSC Milan campus has expanded under the care of Cistercian friars in the 15th century and military and social developments both during the Napoleonic era and World War II. The restructuring of the Benedictine monastery by Giovanni Muzio in collaboration with the engineer Pier Fausto Barelli began in 1929 and finished twenty years later. The campus is characterized by the Facade entrance to the main campus constructed by famed Italian architect Giovanni Muzio, the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, the atrium of the zodiac, as well as the Great Hall (Aula Magna). The campus is nestled within the original city walls of Milan. The main section of largo Gemelli consists of the following buildings: Monumental building (cloister by Bramante), office building, Gregorianum building, Antonianum building, Via Lanzone 18 building, Ambrosianum building, Franciscanum building and Domenicanum building. Most of the buildings, colleges and campus facilities is located in St. Ambrose district, within the city centre of Milan. The seat in Via Necchi 5/9 was the historic seat of the Augustinianum College, are located in the building, in addition to classrooms and offices, the economic institutes, departments of economics and the department of linguistics, library science economic, mathematical, statistical, catering services for staff and students, and, finally, the Domus our restaurant. The seat in Via Carducci 28/30 is located in the Palazzo Gonzaga, built by Arpesani in a Lombard style incorporating some reasons for the existing cloister of St. Jerome. Here is the master office and the office of international relations. The historical site of St. Agnese Catholic is to route 2, consisting of the Palazzo del Canonica. In this building there is ALMED. For more information: www.unicattolica.it

L IBERA U NIVERSITÀ

DI

L INGUE

E

C OMUNICAZIONE IULM

“In educational processes the important thing is to know, to know how to be, and how and what to do” This is the essence of the educational mission outlined by UNESCO. At IULM, University of Languages and Communication, knowing and knowing how are the tools, while the real goal is to educate men and women to know themselves and their own worth. The real and the ideal goal is to know how to be. The University Institute for Modern Languages (IULM) was founded by Professor Carlo Bo Senior Professor Silvio Baridon in 1968. The inspiring idea of the project has been to meet the labour market’s future needs by analysing the present and studying on going trends.

Initially, this meant focusing on the study of languages – the sine qua non for becoming a part of an increasing European framework. Things have changed over the years and it has become crucial to learn how to use specific communication tools. To meet this need the university’s training opportunities and its facilities have been renewed and upgraded. It was a courageous development in line with the principles that led IULM to change its identity and update all its syllabuses, closing the course that had made the institute history, introducing new syllabuses and modifying the university’s charter and name. Introduced in 1998, the domination IULM University of Languages and Communication hears out the institutions two fold vocation of teaching languages as well as communication. This is the core principle of the institute’s range of training opportunities. The faculties are: Faculty of interpreting, translation, linguistic and cultural studies; Faculty of communication, public relations and advertising; Faculty of Arts, Tourism and Markets.

For more information: www.iulm.it

U NIVERSITÀ C OMMERCIALE L UIGI B OCCONI Bocconi University was established in Milan in 1902, with a generous endowment from Ferdinando Bocconi, a wealthy merchant. Named for his lost son, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi thus became the first Italian institution of higher education to grant a degree in economics. Since its inception, Bocconi has stood for liberalism, pluralism, and social and economic progress. Today, Bocconi is a research university of international standing in business, economics, and law. National and supranational institutions fund its research projects. By virtue of being a major node in the European and global network of business and economics universities, Bocconi exchanges faculty and cooperates on large projects with like-minded European and American universities and business schools. Bocconi has close relations with major corporations and international agencies, as well as their managers and officials, and constantly interacts with the business and economic environment to assess new issues, implement new techniques, and start new research endeavors.

Bocconi University has an Undergraduate School, a Graduate School, a School of Law and a PhD School. SDA Bocconi School of Management, founded in 1971, takes care of the post-experience management education. Bocconi grants Bachelor, Master of Science, and PhD degrees in Management, Economics, Law and other disciplines. It also offers a number of post-experience programs, and administers hundreds of advanced courses to managers and professionals in all realms of private and public management. In keeping with the ideals of its founders, Bocconi seeks to address the research and education needs of the European and global economy, by favoring cultural progress, international exchange, and economic integration. Bocconi conceives higher education as a continuous process that spans the entire professional life of an individual. The University promotes both economic advancement and civic values, by instilling in Bocconians solid analytical skills and a strong emphasis on ethics, so that they can contribute to the innovation and development of European business and society. Bocconi University is included in several rankings, mainly those that focus on the areas of economics and management, and social sciences in general.

For further information, please visit the university website: http://www.unibocconi.eu

THE ESN SECTION The city of Milan welcomes every year more than 3000 Erasmus-Exchange students, who have at their disposal 6 ESN sections, which are present at the various universities in Milan. There is therefore no single section 'ESN MILAN' but 6 sections that constantly collaborate with each other and are called 'ESN in Milan United'.

The 6 ESN sections collaborate during the whole year, to organize different activities, like social moments, cultural events, also trips to discover Italy and its beauties and parties. Thanks to the Milano Municipality and the different universities, they host the international students coming to Milan along the year.

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

ESN ESN ESN ESN ESN ESN

Milano-Bicocca Milano Statale Milano Politecnico UniCatt IULM Milano Bocconi Milano

ESN M ILANO -B ICOCCA The ESN Milano-Bicocca Association is the third ESN section born in Milan. Established in 2004, but only at the end of January 2012 it began working with the ESN coordination of Milan. Since September 2012, a group of new active members, fresh of their Erasmus experience, decided to renew the association. Therefore, from 2012 onwards ESN Milano-Biccoca strongly collaborates with the University for realizing various projects and organizing socio-cultural activities, partly financed by the University (such as visits to monuments and museums); and also with the Municipality of Milan, thanks to which we can provide support to incoming students in finding accommodation. The Association keeps growing over time and with the very close group of active members and the cooperation with the other ESN sections in Milan organizes many activities including: - Cultural activities: to discover Milan and Italy; - Social activities: - International Dinner and Tandem Nights evenings during which we organize language exchanges, - Sports activities - Trips to discover our beautiful Country - Parties to create opportunities for international students and not to meet each other and interact among them Other activities such as "Social Erasmus" and "Erasmus in School" are organized in order to involve international students in a cultural exchange with the local reality in which they find themselves.

In addition to these activities, together with the other sections of ESN Bicocca in Milan, organized the most important event for the international network ESN: the Annual General Meeting, 2014, an event destined to remain in the history of the association and of our university.

For more information: www.esnmilanobicocca.it

ESN M ILANO S TATALE ESN Milano Statale operates in UniversitĂ degli Studi di Milano. Founded far back in the 1994, it has been one of the co-founder sections of ESN Italia and owns proudly in its circle several important people that covered in the years many important and relevant charges both in ESN Italia both in ESN International. In September 2008 the section cared about the organization and the setting of a relevant event such as SWEP (South-Western European Platform) followed by hosting in December 2010 the CND (Council of National Delegates), one of the most important and fundamental events at the Network level. With the other sections of Milano, after winning the polls in the AGM Maribor 2013, ESN Milano Statale is organising the 25th edition of the AGM, AGM Milano

2014. The section has an average number of erasmus of around 500 per year.

For more information: www.esnmilanostatale.it

ESN P OLITECNICO M ILANO ESN Politecnico Milano is the oldest ESN section in the city and among the first ones to be created in Italy. It was estabilished on February 1992 and, along with six other sections, it has created the ESN Italia Network in 1994. Mainly focused on the promotion of the Erasmus programme in its early years, the section has managed to increase and diversify the activities and services offered. Apart from successful trips which are organised every year, it is important to mention the Tandem project and the housing service: a time-consuming activity to help exchange students to find an accomodation in Milan. More than a thousand exchange students per year join the activities organised by the section and they can count on two ESN offices: one in Campus Leonardo and one in Campus Bovisa. That’s where most of the activities are organised by the volunteers, through specific working groups. There are working groups that have been existing for several years, such as the cultural activities working group which organises successful city tours, and others which are created when needed for a specific activity or project. Since 2008, the passion of section’s and Board members, along with a long lasting activity of some of those, led to a period of continuity that has produced the creation of tools aimed to better manage the section’s activities. In 2012 a new Statute was adopted and Internal Regulations were introduced to facilitate the practical management of the section’s activities of the increasingly complex Association. In the last few years the section has been able to organize activities for the network itself: a National Platform on December 2011 and the National Event on May 2013 (together with ESN Milano Statale). But that’s not it! Along wth all the other ESN sections of Milan, it is organising the most important event of the international network: the Annual General Meeting 2014, an event which is going to be a milestone in the section’s history.

For more information: www.esnpolimi.it

ESN U NICATT M ILANO ESN UNICATT MILANO is the local section of Milan, connected with the Cattolica University, which follows the aims of ESN in the city of Milan and particularly for young people in Milan, working with the sections of ESN Statale, ESN Politecnico, ESN Bocconi, ESN IULM and ESN Milano Bicocca.

Our association is formed by volunteer students, most of all former Erasmus, and students of Cattolica University interested in LLP activities and programs. ESN Unicatt Milano was founded in 2012 by five students, Eugenia, Marzia, RIccardo, Danila e Antonio, who had just came back from their Erasmus period in Spain, decided to start a new adventure funding the ESN association in their University. Their aim was to contribute to this network after the positive experience they had had abroad, being in contact with foreign students and organizing for them activities and services which could make the Erasmus experience in Milan a unique and unforgettable experience. In July 2012, during the National Platform in Vieste, ESN Unicatt Milano officially became part of the ESN Italy Network and the 6th section of Milan. Using the qualities and the good will of local students, ESN Unicatt Milano helps and supports foreign and Italian students, integrating them in the institutional reality and in the urban juvenile life. In particular, ESN Unicatt Milano gives them all the information useful for improving as much as possible their stay. The section organizes periodical cultural and entertaining activities, and trips to places of interest in Italy, inserting foreign and Italian students in a well consolidated group.

For whom are we here?

- Homecoming students: Italian students, who are coming back from their mobility period, are supported in the process of reintegration, keeping themselves in contact with a multicultural environment.

- Exchange students: Despite that, in main, the European Student Networks’ aims are directed at the current exchange students, who often find that they have to address problems on their own and

can feel abandoned in a foreign country. Because of this, ESN offers help at an academic, social and integration level. All this means activities, at a local level, that include social and cultural events such as trips in different places of the host country, film viewings, tutoring programs and linguistic exchanges, international dinners and, obviously parties.

For more information: www.esnunicattolica.it

ESN IULM M ILANO ESN IULM MILANO is the local section of Milan, connected with the IULM University, which follows the aims of ESN in the city of Milan and particularly for young people in Milan, working and cooperating with the sections of ESN Milano Statale, ESN Politecnico, ESN Bocconi, ESN Milano-Bicocca and ESN Unicatt. The association is formed by volunteer students of IULM University, most of all former Erasmus students, interested in LLP activities and programs. ESN IULM Milano was founded in 2001, but after a short period of activity, it was liquidated because of the lack of new members interested in continuing its mission. In 2006, three IULM students, who just came back from their Erasmus period in Utrecht, decided to start a new adventure refunding the ESN association in their University. Their aim was to contribute to the network after the positive experience they had abroad, being in contact with foreign students and organizing for them activities and services which could make their Erasmus experience in Milan unique and unforgettable. In May 2006, during the National Platform in Camerino, ESN IULM Milano officially became part of the ESN Italy Network. Using the qualities and the good will of local students, ESN IULM helps and support foreign and Italian students integrating them in the institutional reality and in the urban juvenile life. In particular, ESN IULM gives them all the useful information for improving as much as possible their stay. The section organizes periodical cultural and entertaining activities, such as sport tournaments, city tours or Tandem nights, and organizes many trips to places of interest in Italy. Since 2010 ESN IULM organizes in June the Erasmus Prom, the ball to conclude the academic year with the election of Miss and Mr Erasmus at Milano United.

For more information: www.esniulm.it

ESN B OCCONI M ILANO ESN Bocconi was founded by a group of 4 students and entered ESN Italy in October 2009, during the NP in Rome; at the same time, it started cooperating with the other sections of Milano Unita.

Today, it counts over 30 active members and welcomes every year more than 800 international students from all over the world. ESN Bocconi activities are organized during two semesters, starting with Welcome Days in the first weeks of September and February. The main trips lead students to discover the most important cities in the north and the center of Italy: daily visits to Como, Turin, Pavia, weekend in Genoa and Cinque Terre, in the main cities of Tuscany, Romagna and Veneto.

ESN also organizes a trip to Oktoberfest, snow weekends, city tours in Milan and cultural visits to some of the principal museums, historical locations and monuments (Da Vinci’s “Last Supper”, “Alla Scala” Theater,..) Most of the activities are social oriented, the goal is helping foreign students to get to know and live the city of Milan: dinners, themed parties, nights out, sport tournaments, games; the International Dinner organized with the other sections of Milan is very significant, since students cook and share traditional dishes from their countries.

For more information: www.esnbocconi.it

TIPS Milan is a city in constant transformation.

Though of ancient origin, is a metropolis extraordinarily young and looking to the future. New and modern neighborhoods are in addition to those already present, constantly changing the face of the city. Arise as new university centers and residential neighborhoods. Some ancient tenements were "recovered" becoming business centers or even "trendy". The past joins the present, creating a new identity for the city.

There are also many areas that animate the nightlife of Milan. As the Navigli area, Brera, Corso Como, Porta Garibaldi and the Isola neighborhood. Finally, we must not forget that many infrastructure projects planned for the EXPO 2015 are reshaping the face of the Milan area.

- Madonnina The famous Madonnina di Milano is a statue created by Giuseppe Perego in gilded copper , which depicts the Madonna Assunta. It is located on the main spire of the cathedral of Milan and since 1774, the date of her pose and quickly became the symbol of the city. The tradition says that no building in Milan can be taller than the Madonnina and in the 30s was made an official law that prevented the Branca Tower of Gio Ponti and the Torre Velasca to overcome the fateful 108.5 meters. When it was built the Pirelli Tower, the former headquarters of the Lombardy region and 127 meters high, was higher than the Madonnina. To respect the tradition, a copy of the statue was made and placed on the top of the skyscraper. In 2010, after the construction of Palazzo Lombardia, the copy was moved to the top at 161 meters of height.

- Galleria Vittorio Emanuele The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele is a covered walkway that connects the two main squares in Milan: Piazza Duomo and Piazza della Scala.

Inside the gallery you will find several mosaics, one of which depicts a bull , the symbol of the city of Turin. The tradition says that rotate on themselves standing with the heel of your right foot on the genitals of the bull will brings you luck. According to the legend, however, the ritual only works at midnight of the December 31th.Another Milanese tradition says that all

shops in the gallery should strictly have the insignia of the windows with gold lettering on a black background.

- Teatro la Scala Unlike all the other theaters , the season of the Teatro La Scala opens on December 7, the day of St. Ambrose , the patron saint of the city, with a concert that is both cultural event, institutional and mundane with the participation of all the highest officers of the city. Besides the beginning of the season at La Scala on December 7, also begins the show Oh bej! Oh bej! a typical Christmas market in Milan. The origins of the Christmas market dating back to 1288 , when it was held in Piazza dei Mercanti. In 1886 the event was moved to the area around the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, where it remained until 2006 , when it was moved to the area of the Castello Sforzesco (Foro Bonaparte), where he still is organized . Its name comes from the exclamations of joy from the children when they received the gifts brought by the Milanese envoy of Pope Pius IV, Giannetto Castiglioni.

- Ambrosian Carnival Unlike the carnival in the rest of Italy, the city of Milan follows the Ambrosian rite according to which , Lent begins on the Sunday after Ash Wednesday. For this reason, the day in which we celebrate the carnival is the Saturday. This happens because, in the Ambrosian Rite, is different ways to count the dates of start and end of the Lent. The reason for this difference lies in the legend which tells that St. Ambrose, engaged in a pilgrimage, asked the people to wait for his return to begin the Lenten liturgies, even postponing the end of Carnival.

- Traditions at University A typical tradition fo the students in Milan is a rite of good wishes for the future professional career.

On the day of the graduation, at the end of the ceremony at Cattolica and Statale Universities is typical making the jump of the fence in the courtyard of the university's historic center and go around the cloister, running.

Modena

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Modena and Reggio Emilia are similar in many aspects of their historical evolution thanks to their geographical proximity. Both cities were founded between the Second and Third Centuries BC by the Celts and later, as part of the Roman Empire, they became agricultural centers on the Via Emilia.

After the barbaric invasions of the fifth and sixth centuries AD, the city resumed trade and business. Around the year 1000 AD the two cities were under the dominion of Canossa. In 1336 Modena came under the power of the dynasty of the dukes of Este that will govern until 1796.

The city of Reggio Emilia instead, was contended by various rulers, including the dukes of Modena. The years of the Este control defined a period of splendor in which the urban core of Modena was enlarged and traced the streets of the historic center as the "checkerboard model " of the city of Ferrara nearby. In 1598 Modena became the capital of the Duchy of Este and it was enlarged with many religious and civic buildings which gave the city a majestic and solemn look.

Towards the end of the Eighteenth Century, the city saw the passage of the Napoleonic troops and the subsequent creation of the Cisalpine Republic when the city of Reggio Emilia became remembered as the City of the "Tricolore" (a flag with three colours), because in January 1797 it became the flag of Cisalpine Republic, which later became the Italian flag. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, the Duchy of Habsburg-Este was restored between the two cities, which ruled until 1859. Only a popular uprising granted the territories of the Duchy of Modena to become part of the Kingdom of Italy. After entering in the Kingdom of Italy and passing through the two World Wars, in which the two cities were heavily involved, Modena and Reggio Emilia moved towards democracy and an intense period of reconstruction, where all citizens had the opportunity to realize its full potential.

Contatti ESN Modena ESN Contacts Ancona www.esnmodena.it modena@esn.it esnmodena esnmodena Via Ganaceto, 44 41121 Modena ITALY

THE CITY TODAY Today Modena and Reggio are small cities, they have respectively 180 000 and 160 000 inhabitants with an average of 800 inhabitants/km2, but with a strong industrial characterization developed especially in the Car industry (Ferrari, Maserati and Pagani are all brands that still have both their headquarters and production facilities in the territory of Modena), biomedical products, textile and ceramics and between the two cities there is the largest ceramic production center of Italy.

This wealth was achieved by a balanced development of the main productive sectors led Modena and Reggio Emilia at the top of the charts for national standards of living but it also raises the need for new efforts in the future to maintain and ensure the levels of excellence achieved.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT Urban transportations of the city are managed by the Società Emiliana Trasporti Autofiloviari SETA, a ticket for urban transportation costs 1.20 €. However, being a small town and situated in the Po Valley, the territory allows very easy movement in the city center on foot or by bicycle. esnmodena

H OW

TO GET TO THE CITIES

esnmodena

destinations. They are located on Highway Mlilan-Naples A1 (E35/E45) and near the beginning of the Modena-Brenner A22 (E45).

Each of the two cities has a railway station with stops on local area (San Polo d'Enza, Reggio Emilia, Rubiera, Modena and Castelfranco Emilia), and in 2013 there was also the inauguration of the High Speed railway station MedioPadana, easily accessible from other local stations. Modena and Reggio can also be reached by plane from all over Europe, due to the geographical proximity of the international airport "Guglielmo Marconi" in Bologna which is easily connected to the cities by bus and train.

Modena and Reggio Emillia are easily accessible from all over Italy, but also from foreign

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI

S TUDI

DI

M ODENA

E

R EGGIO E MILIA

Modena hosts the University of Modena, founded in 1175, which is the second oldest athenaeum in Italy and one of the oldest in the world.

The history of the University is related to that one of the town, a center of great culture and art.

During the centuries the University was enriched by important courses and prestigious names.

It offered several disciplines including law, philosophy, medicine and surgery, pharmacy, and mathematical, physical and natural sciences.

Among its most famous students we find Carlo Goldoni, one of the greatest playwrights and father of the Italian comedy, Ludovico Antonio Muratori, a renowned Italian historian and scholar, and Sandro Pertini, who became President of the Italian Republic.

The social and economic value of the athenaeum increased with the birth of the Policlinico Universitario (the University General Hospital) of Modena.

The athenaeum of Reggio Emilia dates back to 1619. In 1772 the academic activities were interrupted and only in 1998 they were resumed after the establishment of the athenaeum with a network of different seats, named as University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

The creation of this network not only combined the ancient traditions of the two most important Emilian cities into one institution, but also gave a new and powerful boost to the development of the University, resulting in a growth of the scientific and academic activities.

The two different seats of the university assemble more than 20.000 students and include 15 departments (former faculties).

The University hosts also several museums and cultural and scientific institutes, like the Laboratory of Mathematical Machines, the Anatomical Museums, the Astronomic and Geophysical Museum, the Paleontology Museum and the Museum of Zoology.

THE ESN SECTION In the city of Modena, you can count on the association ESN ENEA Modena, a part of the network of ESN Italy and ESN International. The section supports projects of international student mobility by helping the incoming students with housing, information on courses and exams to be taken, organization of cultural activities, trips and moments of aggregation. In addition, it provides support to outgoing students by giving them information and contacts, if possible, according to locations of their choice for the student exchange projects. The office is currently in Via Ganaceto 44, in the city center of Modena not far from the Faculty of Economics and Literature. You can get in touch with them via e-mail (modena@esn.it), via facebook (every year is an open group with the name "ESN Erasmus Modena" and then the academic year). Updated news on the activities of ESN ENEA Modena are available on their website, www.esnmodena.it.

Every year the number of members who join the association is around 100 to 150 units, depending on the number of Erasmus and international students who choose Modena and Reggio Emilia as a destination. The board and active members are constantly renewing themselves, so as to involve students in the midst of their university experience.

TIPS - Food and Typical Products Salami and Parmesan cheese are the distinctive ingredients of the great cuisine of Emilia, in particular the pig’s trotter of Modena and “ciccioli”, knuckle pieces of Reggio Emilia. Many traditional snacks and appetizers turn around these products. “Tigelle” (similar to bread), “Gnocco Fritto” (fried dumpling), “Crescentine” and “Borlenghi” (crepes with fat and cheese), tantalizing variations of bread dough: fried or cooked on stone, were created to match with excellent cold cuts and the king of cheeses, Parmesan. They are small pleasures often combined with local wine, such as Lambrusco or Pignoletto.

The first courses of the Emilia Romagna represent the true heart of the food of Modena and Reggio Emilia. Certainly in the first row there are filled pastas: such as the legendary Tortellini of Modena. And, among the fresh pastas, “Tagliatelle al Ragù” (noodles with meat sauce), “lasagna” and “Garganelli” are a must.

Although the cuisine of the region is mainly

devoted to pasta dishes, we also offer great satisfaction with a few second courses as the Parmesan roast and all boiled meats, especially beef and pork.

Among the desserts, we recommend the Barozzi cake of Modena and Amaretti Emiliani.

- A trip in Motor Valley The entrepreneurial attitude, the passion for mechanics and the myth of speed are the ingredients of the motor vocation that assigned to Modena the status of world capital of car racing.

The city is located in the so-called “MotorValley” which includes the area where the passion for engines was born and grew.

The industrial and cultural motor heritage of the territory counts several car manufacturers like Ferrari, Maserati, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Pagani, De Tomaso and several motorcycle makers like Morini, Malaguti, Ducati and the auto racing circuits of Imola and Misano.

The route to discover the car world comprises a

tour of galleries, museums and precious private collections of the most beautiful cars and motorcycles ever made.

Some of the most interesting places to visit are: Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari – Modena A building complex that encompasses the native house of the famous motor racing driver and entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari and a new ultramodern external structure in yellow aluminum shaped like a bonnet of a car. The museum’s exhibitions include multimedia installations and thematic displays.

Ferrari Museum – Maranello Located near the Ferrari plant, the museum traces the history of the firm and the success of its cars, its business, and of the Ferrari image around the world.

The Umberto Panini Collection – Cittanova The Panini Collection displays a variety of vintage cars and motorcycles, including a glamorous group of Maseratis.

Stanguellini Museum of Historic Cars – Modena Born in 1996, the collection includes more than thirty race cars and sports coupes.

Righini Private Collection – Panzano di Castelfranco Emilia The Panzano castle houses both magnificent vintage cars and examples of prestigious models from the modern era.

In Modena the world revolves around engines: it is characterized by an advanced research, by a leading production of cars and motorcycles, both the sports and the racing ones, and by a lively educational activity at professional and academic level.

The events organized to attract motor lovers are several. The most important are: “Modena terra di motori”: a show of cutting edge and vintage cars in the squares and in the streets of Modena’s historical centre.

Millemiglia: the famous vintage car race passing through Modena on its way to Brescia, the traditional end point.

Modena “100 Hour” Classic: international speed race for historic cars which starts and ends in Modena.

- Historical Monuments Reggio Emilia: One of the things that is immediately evident walking downtown is the Via Emilia, the main street built during the Roman

Period. In the center we can find the oldest buildings, dating back to the Medieval Period. One of the most spectacular churches is San Prospero (997) in the square with the same name.

It was founded to preserve the relics of the patron saint of the city. Next to it we can see the Bell Tower. In the nearby Piazza Prampolini (also known as Piazza del Duomo) we can find the Romanesque Cathedral, the Baptistery and the Palazzo del Monte, the Fountain dedicated to Crostolo River and also the City Hall. Inside the Town Hall there is the Museum of the Tricolore, whichevery tourist must visit the first time in town. Five minutes from Piazza Prampolini there is the Municipal Theatre "Romolo Valli " (1857) with his neoclassical style , columns, statues and renaissance atmosphere.

The oldest theater is the Ariosto Theater (1878) which was born from the ashes of a previous theater destroyed by fire. Not far away there is the Civic Museums that contains a large natural history collection, as well as collections of art and archeology and the Galleria Parmeggiani, rich with private collection of Flemish, French and Spanish paintings.

From here we come to the most fascinating church of Reggio: the rich and the Baroque Basilica della Ghiara and then the Ducal Palace, headquarters of the province and of the prefecture. Modena: Also this city is crossed by the important Via Emilia, the main street on which it’s set all the city center.

In Piazza Grande there is the Cathedral of Modena (1099) devoted to the city's patron saint , San Geminianus, next to the church is the Museum of the Cathedral and the tower Campanara, the Ghirlandina, symbol of the city.

All these monuments has been declared UNESCO heritage in 1997.

In the same square you can find the City Hall, Roman excavations and “Preda Ringadora”, Roman marble stone which was used in the middle ages as a stage for speakers.

Linked to the history of the city are also the Civic Museums and the Galleria Estense, where there is the collection of paintings and statues of the Dukes of Este.

Thanks to the work of the Dukes there are still today the Ducal Palace, now the headquarters of the Military Academy, and the adjacent Ducal

Garden with the University Botanical Garden.

Near the Municipal Library, which also hosts the Museum of Trading Cards created by Publisher Panini, there is the Municipal Theatre dedicated to Luciano Pavarotti.

- Fairs and Festivals of Modena and Reggio Emilia During the year, the provinces of Modena and Reggio Emilia come alive with a series of festivals and fairs that celebrate the area and local products.

Among the most famous there is the"Festival of Lambrusco" in the third week of September, during which you can enjoy various types of Lambrusco wine in Castelvetro and in the Modena city center.

Throughout the month of November there are various "Chestnut Festivals". Have you ever tried chestnuts? You can taste the autumn while choosing between various dates and places, such as Montecreto, Zocca , Montese , Serramazzoni among others.

And do not forget the "Festival of the Pig’s Trotter " in the month of December, where you can admire the greatest trotter of the world!

The most popular exhibition in Modena is the Ski Pass Fair (late October - early November).

It is the largest Italian exhibition on the world of winter sports. The Fair has welcomed more than 100 000 visitors last year at the trade fair center of Modena.

Another event that attracts visitors from all over is the “Festival of European Photography" that during the month of May floods the center of Reggio Emilia with numerous contemporary photographic exhibitions .

And finally the StuzzicaGente, one of the main festivals dedicated to food in Modena, it is hosted twice a year in the city center of Modena, where you can taste the typical products of Emilia.

- Entertainment Even if it’s not a big city, both Modena and Reggio Emilia have something to offer for those who want to enjoy the nightlife.

Everything starts, as the Italian tradition wants, with a good happy-hour (often combined with countless tastings!): from Piazza Pomposa to Via del Taglio, to Piazza Grande (where there’s

the Caffè Concerto, one of Modena’s most chic bars), to Via dei Gallucci (where you can find the bar/restaurant “I Picari”, which provides one of the best buffets of the city), Modena is full of places where you can start the night, even wandering from one to another. Similarly, in the city center of Reggio Emilia, the nightlife is concentrated on Via Emilia, in Piazza Prampolini and Piazza San Prospero.

Napoli

HISTORICAL SUMMARY Naples is one of the western most ancient cities, and, as such, very few information about the history of its birth are available. As all the ancient cities that claim legends and mythological traditions about their own origin, also the birth of Naples is hidden under suggestive veils of myths and legends.

The first colonization of Naples's Gulf is dated back to almost 3000 years ago, when merchants and voyagers coming from Greece and Anatolia, attracted by the mining treasures of the high Tirrenian Sea, founded the first colony of Pithecusa (currently known as the island of Ischia). Later they gradually moved to the phlegraean coast, which stands right in front of Ischia's coast, where Cuma was raised up.

Afterward, a group of colonists from Cuma moved to the area between the little island of Megaride( where today stands the famous Castel dell'Ovo ) and Mount Echia (nowadays known as Pizzofalcone's hill), raising up the new colony of Partenope. And thus was of the history of Naples begun.

As the commercial outpost of the powerful Cuma, Naples was involved in the war between Etruscans and Cumaneans. These last ones decided to found an true city, choosing a more inboard and defensed area, the one where nowadays the historic center of Naples is located.

The new city,which was just a couple of kilometers far-off the old one, was called Neapolis (as “New City” in Ancient Greek), in order to be diffe-

THE CITY TODAY Naples is located in an almost central area on the homonymous gulf, between the Vesuvius and the volcanic area of the Phlegraean Fields, in a scenario that is considered as one of the “most celebrated and charming of the whole world”. Its immense artistic and architectural heritage enabled its historic center to join the list of UNESCO's Human Heritage sites. The metropolitan area of Naples is one of the most populated of the

Contatti ESN Napoli ESNContacts Ancona www.esnnapoli.it napoli@esn.it ESN-Napoli-Erasmus-Napoli ESNNapoli

European Union, with around 3 millions citizens.

Nowadays the city, with its enviable very central geographic position compared to all the Italian peninsula, is easily reachable by any side of the world.

Naples is even a city of sea, lights and at the same time a city of dark and hidden traces. It's a city with a remarkable cultural and artistic identity, embed in the creases of its many museums, castles, churches, squares, alleys and archaeological remains. A city where indeed culture, arts and “lights” are mixed up with the “dark” enigmas of a buried, hidden, underground world.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW T O G ET H ERE

consortium Unico Campania, which covers not only the whole urban area but also a big part of the metropolitan area. The system is composed by two underground lines (line 1 and 6) and on four funiculars, integrated with commuter railways (Circumvesuviana, Circumflegrea and Cumana).

The metro stations have become famous during last years for hosting about 200 artworks from more than 100 prestigious contemporary artists, which makes them one of the most interesting example of museum spread over the city, a sort of gallery which was not only a simply collection of artworks in a closed space, but an open exhibition itinerary across the city.

Besides railways, there are also three public elevators (in Chiaia, Sanità, Acton), a tramway network (which connects port, central station and eastern suburbs) and a wide bus system, which counts more than 1.000 vehicles and about 130 lines, for a total of more than 500.000 rides per day.

Thanks to its strategic position, Naples is easily reachable via air, sea and land.

- By boat Naples' s port is quite huge and efficient with its docking, not just for the ferry-boats and hydrofoils that come from the near islands of the Tirrenian Sea, but even for ships of huge sizes.

“Beverello” and “Calata Porta di Massa” docks are not the only ones which host the ships; Mergellina and Pozzuoli smaller ports are few kilometres far.

Porto di Napoli http://www.porto.napoli.it/ - By train With about 137 thousands daily client and 50 million visitors every year, the railway station “Napoli Centrale” is a very important crossroad of interchange for the whole Italian railway system. The station is also considered as an important intersection for the inland transportation throughout the city, it is indeed well connected with the most important bus lines and with all the subways.

Napoli Centrale Railway Station http://www.napolicentrale.it/ - By plane Capodichino airport is the only one of the city, but it's very efficient in terms of services and of the variety of flights that it offers. From here, it is possible to reach several destinations, even intercontinental ones.

International Airport of Capodichino. Phone Number 848 888 777 Reservation 081 789 62 59 Alibus Capodichino-Centro di Napoli www.gesac.it

For more informations: http://www.unicocampania.it/

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DI

N APOLI F EDERICO II

The University of Naples Federico II was founded in 1224 by the Holy Roman Empire emperor Frederick II and it’s the world’s oldest state university. Since its birth the courses included besides law, liberal arts and medicine. In the years across the 19th and 20th century the prestige of the university grew exponentially in scientific field. With higher education becoming more and more accessible to the mass, in the second half of the 20th century the University of Naples was considered the second biggest Italian university, behind the University of Rome. Nowadays the University of Naples has approximately 100.000 students and offers 114 degree programmes, and it’s one the biggest university in Italy. On the official website (http://www.unina.it/ateneo/organigramma/sedi/index.jsp) you’ll find the complete list and the exact location of every campus and academic structure of the university. There are also three museums that are part of the University: the Museum of Natural Science and Physics (“Centro Museale delle Scienze Naturali e Fisiche”) in Via Mezzocannone, the Veterinary Anatomy Museum and the Agricultural Science Museum.

Contacts: Central address: Corso Umberto I, 40 - 80138 Naples Website: www.unina.it International relations office: Office manager: Dott.ssa Fernanda Nicotera Opening hours: Monday-Wednesday-Friday from 09.00 am to 12.00 am.

Tuesday, Thursday from 09.00 am to 12.00 am and from 14.30 to 16.30.

Address: Central address - Corso Umberto I, 40 - 80138 - Naples Website: http://www.international.unina.it/

S ECONDA U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI STUDI DI

N APOLI , SUN

The Second University of Naples was born on the 25th of March 1991. The activities started on the 1st November 1992, with almost 19.000 students and 8 departments. Nowadays both numbers increased, as the departments are now 10 and the University counts more than 30.000 students.

Contacts: Caserta Address: Viale Beneduce, 10 81100 - Caserta Tel: 0823.274901 Fax: 0823.327589 e-mail: rettoratoce@unina2.it Naples Address: Via S. M. di Costantinopoli, 104 80138 - Naples Tel: 081.5666960 Fax: 081.296764 e-mail: segreteria.rettorato@unina2.it Website: https://orientamento.unina2.it/orient/homes

U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI STUDI DI

N APOLI "L'O RIENTALE "

The University of Naples “L'Orientale” (UNIOR), known as Istituto Universitario Orientale (IUO) until 2002, is the oldest school of Sinology and Oriental Studies in Europe and the main university in Italy specialized in the study and academic research of non-European languages and cultures.

The University offers indeed a wide choice of educational paths, providing the opportunity to study cultures and languages from all over the world: from the Mediterranean area to Eastern Europe, Slavic countries, Asia, Africa and Americas. L’Orientale represents a high quality institution for the studies and education about cultures and languages, with a propensity especially towards the comparison of Eastern and Western culture.

Contacts: Office manager: Dott.ssa Bonis Valeria Address:Via Nuova Marina 59 Palazzo del Mediterraneo 80134 - Naples Tel: 081-6909312 / 314Fax: 081-6909315 Email: vdebonis@unior.it, mlepore@iuo.it Website: http://www.unior.it/index.php

U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI

S TUDI

DI

N APOLI P ARTHENOPE

A dynamic environment, characterized by a considerable growth trend, which merges innovation with traditions and the historical legacy of the Royal Naval Technical Institute, from which the University had its origins in 1919: this is what students find when they choose Parthenope University of Naples for their education. The University proposes itself as an element of continuity between the historical and cultural tradition of the ancient Parthenope and the contemporary Naples, integrated in the international context, crossroads of the Mediterranean, with the specific purpose of incorporating the most recent trends in the scientific, technical and cultural fields.

Contacts: General administration office: Address: Via Ammiraglio Acton 38, 80133 – Naples Tel: 081 5475207 Fax: 08 5521485 Email: maria.grasso@uniparthenope.it , affari.generali@uniparthenope.it Website: http://www.uniparthenope.it

U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI

S TUDI S UOR O RSOLA B ENINCASA

It’s located in a monastic citadel founded in the 17th century by the Neapolitan mystic and intellectual of the same name, at the time of the Counter-Reformation, on the slopes of Sant’Elmo hill, to prevent the requisition of the huge architectural complex (that nowadays occupies an area of 33.000 m²) by the state requisition law on clerical properties. The origins of the University date back to 1864, when a public school was inaugurated, with just 32 female students. In 1895, as the institution was introducing in those years new academic courses (French courses, accounting, choral singing and more), it became officially recognised as a university.

The Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples is considered the oldest private university in Italy.

Contacts: LLP Erasmus office Address: Via Santa Caterina Da Siena, 37 80132 - Naples Tel: 081-2522300 Email: socrates.erasmus@unisob.na.it Exchange manager: Prof.ssa Calabrò Giovanna International relations office Address: Via Santa Caterina da Siena, 37 80132 – Naples Tel: 081-2522529 Fax: 081-2522300 Email: giovanna.calabro@unisob.na.it

A CCADEMIA

DI

B ELLE

ARTI DI

N APOLI

“Accademia di Belle arti di Napoli” is one of the most ancient and prestigious academy in Italy.

Founded by Carlo di Borbone in 1752 to educate the young artists and candidates. It was the only one academy of this type in South Italy for a very long time. “Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli” is a fundamental place where to study arts and read about arts in Naples and in the whole South of

Italy, from the middle of the eighteen century till today. Among various events that have seen the academy as a main character of the artistic history of the South, it has always been considered an aggregator of different realities and place of debate for art. It has not only formed a whole generation of artists but here famous teachers and foreign teachers worked to create that European climate that currently still characterizes our institution through a dense network of relations and cultural exchanges.

Contacts: Erasmus office: Office manager: Prof. Mariateresa Girosi Address: Via S.M. Di Costantinopoli, 107 - 80138 Napoli e-mail : erasmus@accademiadinapoli.it phone: +39 081 441900 fax: +39 081 444245

THE ESN SECTION ESN Napoli was born in 2006 from former erasmus students which met the ESN world during their experiences abroard.

Our main goals are to help foreign students to integrate with our university world, to give useful information about Naples and to help erasmus students with everything related to live in our city, to make less complicated to study in our country.

ESN Napoli aims to rise awareness, to Erasmus students, Naples and its artistic treasures, organizing visits to museums, monuments, cultural places of interest not only in our city, but also in the rest of the country, organizing cultural trips in other cities, taking advantage of the ESN network and promoting the encounter with the other Italian sections. Finally ESN Napoli organizes moments of socialization such as weekly parties, national and international events, meetings with other Italian and European Erasmus students, as well as festival of international cuisine, movies and linguistic tandem to promote the integration and the learning of the Italian language, making the Erasmus experience even more memorable.

TIPS - Food Starting from the typical Sunday lunch to one of Neapolitan fast-food, Naples is the gourmand's heaven; food is history, art, an important piece in our culture. Neaples has his own worship for food and lunch. In typical dishes you can find the influences of all the dominations of faraway people that Naples has seen during history.

“Fritto di paranza”, a mix of fried fishes, “carne al ragù”, meat cooked for hours in a tomato sauce that by tradition is said that has to “peppea” (boiling for hours into the sauce) before to serve, a faster spaghetti “aglio e olio”, spaghetti with oil and garlic, are just a few tipical dishes from Neapolitan cuisine.

With just few euros you can buy a “cuoppo” of “zeppole e crocché” (kind of salt fried donuts and croquettes), “frittatina di pasta” (pasta omelette), or you can have a seat in one of the thousands typical Pizzeria in the historical city center of Naples. A friendly small Pizzeria, white marble tables, a towel, restaurant's service kept to minimum but the assurance of a great Pizza. This is Naples where Pizza is the Queen.

How to forget to mention the neapolitan pastry art. Here each festivity has his own dessert, each one with his own history. “Sfogliatelle” (it’s hard to explain what it is, just go in a bar and ask for a “riccia”!), “pastiera” (typical cake

during Easter time), “Struffoli” and “Roccocò” for Christmas and “Zeppole di San Giuseppe”... these and many more are waiting for you here in Naples!

- San Gregorio Armeno Situated in the historical city center of Naples, San Gregorio Armeno street is much more than a common Neapolitan street. Is a crossroad among Christmas magic and his own “Presepi” (nativity scene), unique in the world.

“Presepi” tradition in San Gregorio Armeno has an ancient origin: during Greece period, in the street there was a temple dedicated to Cerere where people offered clay statues made in near artisan shops. Neapolitan “presepe” is much older, it's from the eighteen century.

Today San Gregorio Armeno, which take name from the church in the street, is famous all over the world as an exhibition center of artisan shops which make, all the year, clay statues similar to who became famous for a positive or negative reason.

Real exhibitions' time begins in November and ends at the beginning of January.

San Gregorio Armeno is a must, for the ones that what to feel the atmosphere of Neapolitan Christmas.

- May of the Monuments The “May of the Monuments” is a cultural fair that takes place in the historic center of Naples.

This event was born in 1992, with the aim to reconsider part of the artistic heritage of the city that was left in a state of abandon and, at the same time, to encourage the tourism, not just the international one but even the domestic one. Following the success of the first editions, in the second half of the ‘90 the initiative was exported even in some towns of the Neapolitan hinterland, such as Ercolano and Torre del Greco. Organized each year during the month of May, it provides a sequence of different events such as, for example, guided tours, concerts, theatrical performances, exhibitions and other activities, most of them for free.

- ESN Napoli “SPRING BREAK” ESN Napoli, in collaboration with ESN Italy and civic institutions organize every year the “Napoli Spring Break” to celebrate Spring time all together. A weekend dedicated to Erasmus students coming from every part of Italy. 3

days to live Naples! 3 days of Sun, Sea, Music and Fun in Erasmus Style! 3 days of events, aperitifs, guided tour, journey, party with others Erasmus student !

“Toga Party” , the best Erasmus party, and the “Spring Party”!

ESN Napoli's Staff is waiting for Erasmus from all over Italy to welcome them in one of the most beautiful and suggestive Italian cities!

- Pizza Village Pizza Village is one of the most spectacular events of the year in Naples. In one of the most beautiful area, Caracciolo street, 45 stands of different pizzerias offer the chance to enjoy their pizzas. With over 4400 seats, the event takes place in the first half of September in a location which is just few steps far from the sea.

In addition to a wonderful walk, and a tasty dinner made of pizza, every year the village is surrounded by concerts, live music events, and so much fun. It's a unique opportunity to spend an evening, in the name of the world's most famous Neapolitan dish.

Padova

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

The origins of Padua, now home to one of the biggest italian universities, are still surrounded by mistery. According to legend, Padua was founded by the trojan prince Antenor, which after fleeing the seige of Troy, came to Veneto with a group of exiles. Once they settled along the banks of the Medoacus river (today called Brenta), they formed the first nucleus of what would later become the modern city. Regardless of the myth, modern archaelogical excavations have unearthed the remains of prehistoric settlements dating back to the XI and X century b.C. The Paduans distinguished themselves early on, taking part to numerous conflicts including the defeat of spartan general Cleonimus which took place in 302 b.C after a naval battle narrated by the roman historian of paduan origins Tito Livio. In addition, Padua often supported the roman troops, for example during the battle of Cannae in 216 b.C, during the second punic war and during the Social War of 91 b.C against the Italic rebels.

From 49 b.C on, the city was awarded the title of roman municipality with the latin name of Patavium. Throughout the roman period, Padua was one of the richest centers of the empire up until its destruction in 452-453 a.D at the hands of Attila's Huns. Like many other cities, also Padua underwent several dominations during the Middle Ages: first the Goths, then the Byzantines up until the Lombard conquest in 603 a.D by Agilulfo.

During the Lombard reign, the city went through a harsh period of decline which reached its peak in 899 a.D when it was raided by the Hungarians.

Only after the year 1000 will Padua finally live a long period of wealth, proven by the opening of the University in 1222 (this is the second oldest in Italy and one of the most prestigious in Europe). During the same period, St. Anthony lived and preached, and an imposing basilica was erected in his honor. Padua's cultural reneissance was also represented by the presence of many important artists who, with their great works, contributed to the embellishment of the city:the most significant example is Giotto's Scrovegni chapel, realized between 1303 and 1305 a.D. This period of prosperity peaked with the coming of the Carraresi rule of the city in 1318. Among the many artists and writers who lived in Padua in

Contatti ESN Padova ESN Contacts Ancona www.esnpadova.it padova@esn.it AEP ESN Padova Galleria Tito Livio 7, 35123 Padova

those years, the most important is Francesco Petrarca. The Carrara age ended in 1405, when the city came under the rule of Venice, Padua's feared neighbor. The nearly four centuries of Venetian rule were characterized by a period of peace and intense cultural activities: Padua became one of the major centers of Aristotelianism in Europe and its prestigious university began to recall some of the greatest intellectuals of the period, including the scientist Galileo Galilei. During the reneissance period, the great military leader Erasmo da Narni, known as Gattamelata, also served in Padua. The sculptor Donatello, between 1450 and 1453 realized in his honor an equestrian monument in front of St.Anthony's Basilica. In 1776 the Prato della Valle (the second largest square in Europe) was completed at the request of the provider of the city Andrea Memmo. The Venetian age ended in 1797 when, following the Napoleonic invasions, Padua passed under French rule.

After a short Austrian rule, the city was again occupied by the transalpine troops. In 1815, following the defeat of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna, Padua became part of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, controlled by the Austrian Empire. With the spreading of the independence riots of 1848, also Padua began to protest against the Austrian occupation, especially by university students.Following the Italian wars of independence and the unification of the peninsula, Padua was officially annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866.

THE CITY TODAY Padua, thanks to its prestigious university and its numerous artistic and cultural attractions, is without doubt one of the liveliest and richest centers of the North-East. Much of its splendor resides in the center: while walking through the medieval streets, through one gallery to the next and passing under the arches of the city’s majestic doors, you can breathe a particularly singular atmosphere, where ancient traditions meet the fast-paced rhythm of the modern metropolis. One of the city’s most important cultural spots is Eremitani square: here, inside the ex Eremitan convent, you can find the Civic Museums, which includes the Archeological Museum which has exhibitions from the pre-roman, Roman, Italic and Etruscan ages; and the Museum of Medieval Art, with a collection of pieces from the ‘300s and ‘700s of the major Italian artists. Attached to this complex, there is the public park Giardini dell’Arena, so called because of the ruins of the ancient roman amphitheater built in 70 b.C. Also inside what is known as Padua’s biggest green areas, you can visit the World Chapel (built in 1594) and the desk of the world famous scientist Galileo Galilei. In front of Bò you can find Palazzo Moroni, headquarters of the Padua municipality, next to one of the city’s most important monuments, Palazzo della Ragione. Another part of the Civic Museums is in Palazzo Zuckermann, which hosts the Museum of applied Arts and the numismatic collection of the Bottacin Museum. The Eremitan complex ends with another historically and artistically important building: The Eremitani Church, which is known for its marvelous chapels, the most important of which is the Ovetari Chapel, famous for having one of the greatest frescos ever made by Andrea Mantegna.

After walking the length of Corso del Popolo, you reach the real city center. Once you cross Garibaldi Square, one of the first historically significant spots you come across is the Caffè Pedrocchi.

Built between 1824 and 1842, this world renowned historical cafè is famous for the refined dècor and the decorations in its rooms: each one was decorated in the style of a different historical period, llike the eclectic rules of the nineteenth century imposed. Not far from Caffè Pedrocchi, you can find Palazzo del Bò (Paduans simply call it “Bò”), which has been since 1493 the general headquarters of the University of Padua and is home to the oldest Anatomical Theater of the world which now hosts the city courts. It is famous for its majestic hall decorated with a huge cycle of frescos dating back to the XV century representing stars, astrological symbols and the zodiac.The clock in Piazza dei Signori doesn’t just tell you the time, but also the month, day, lunar phases and also has an “astrological place”. From the squares, in just a few minutes you can reach the Cathedral. It stands over a complex of old buildings, the oldest of which separates Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta (Square of herbs and fruit), two of the biggest and most important squares of the city, famous for once hosting the market and local festivals. The real center of the city’s life is in another

square, Piazza dei Signori. Other than hosting markets and festivals, it is also a meeting place for kids and university students and it has a huge historical value, the buildings surrounding the square are a perfect mix between medieval, renaissance and modern architecture.Among these, the most important ones are the small San Clemente Church (dating back to 1190) and Palazzo del Capitaniato, an old Carrarese palace, that got its name when one venetian captain lived there during the Serenissima rule. This majestic palace is divided in half by the Torre dell’Orologio (Clock Tower) on which you can find the aforementioned astronomical clock I light blue and an early christian church. Next to the cathedral there is the Baptistery, dating back to the XII century containing extraordinary frescos with scenes from Genesis, Apocalypse and St. John the Baptist, painted between 1375 and 1378 by Giusto de’ Menabuoi. Through Soncin and S.Canziano streets you reach Piazza Antenore, where you can find a monument which Lovato de’ Lovati, a renaissance poet, said to be the tomb of the city’s founder, the Trojan hero Antenore. Not far from here you find Palazzo Zabarella, a prestigious Carrarese palace, which today is home to various events and exhibitions. Following Via del Santo you reach St. Anthony’s Basilica, one of the biggest churches in the world and one of the major places of worship of the Christian world. This complex also includes St. George’s oratory, a true masterpiece of the 300s, the Antonian Museums and a school (Scuola del Santo). In front of the Basilica, in Piazza del Santo, there is the equestrian monument of Gattamelata, made by Donatello and dedicated to the brave Umbrian military leader Gattamelata, who served under the Republic of Venice. Close to the Basilica del Santo you can also find the Botanical Gardens, dating back to 1545, known for being the oldest university botanical garden of the world and for being declared a UNESCO World Heritage. Not far from here there is one of Padua’s most important places: Prato della Valle. It is Europe’s second biggest square, with its elliptical shape and 88.620 m². This square is actually an extended monumental space, characterized by a central island (called Memmia Island, after Andrea Memmo, the mayor who commissioned its realization), surrounded by a channel (powered by the Alicorno channel) and a double pedestal for 78 statues, all representing important personalities form the city’s past. Finally, you can also find St. Justine’s Basilica in Prato della Valle; this too is one of Europe’s biggest churches.

H OW T O G ET H ERE - By train Padua, thanks to its strategic geographical location, is an important railway crossroads to and from all other major Italian cities such as: Venice, Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Trieste. From the station, taking buses or trams you can reach any place in the city, including the center which is actually not far from the station and can be easily reached also by foot.

From Padua you can also take a 40-minute train ride and reach Venice for just €3,40.

- By plane Despite not having its own civilian airport, Padua is still well connected also in regard to air traffic, since it's not far from Venice's Marco Polo airport, which, being Italy's third most important one, has flights to and from Europe's major airports. Other airports that are not too far are in Treviso (Antonio Canova), Verona (Valerio Catullo) and in Bologna (Guglielmo Marconi). Both from Venice and Treviso you

can take buses to reach Padua in a little over an hour. Another way to reach the city fro these airports is to take a taxi, but it's not going to be cheap.

- By bus Padua can be easily reached also by bus. The new bus station is next to the railway station.

Also, on the Sita buses you can reach several interesting places just outside the city, including the airports. You can buy tickets at the nearby booth.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITĂ€

DEGLI STUDI DI

P ADOVA

The University of Padua is one of the oldest in Italy and one of the most prestigious in the world.

Apparently in the city there were already schools of medicine and law, attended by both Italian and foreign students ever since the Middle Ages. Tradition is that the University was properly founded in 1222, when a group of students and professors from the University of Bologna migrated to Padua looking for more academic freedom. The first notarial document in which the Studio Patavino is officially mentioned for the first time is from that same year. Initially there was only one university called Universitas Iuristarum, dedicated only to law studies; but we know that from around 1250 also medicine and arts were being taught there. In 1399, by the will of Francesco Carrara II, the medicine and arts courses became independent and formed the Universitas Aristarum.

This broke the University in two distinct blocks, with two different deans and both totally independent from the other. Initially all courses took 6 years to complete, but during the 500s they were lowered to 5 and then to 4 during the 700s. Ever since the earliest stages of its history, many students from all over Europe flocked to the University of Padua; so many in fact, that they were divided in two categories: Natio Citramontana (the Italian students) and Natio Ultramontana (the foreigners). In short, it seems that Padua was already then a much desired destination for those we can consider Erasmus students of old times! The University reached its peak of splendor during the Venetian reign, between the 400s and the 600s. In this period, the prestige and fame of the University of Padua increased even more because the city became the cultural center of the Republic of Venice, one of the major economic and political power centers of that age. In 1493 the Universitas Iustarum was transferred to the Hospitium Bovis, a large building that was used as an inn with an ox for a symbol which later was remodeled into the headquarters now called Bò. During this time, the university adopted the Latin motto: Universa universis patavina libertas (Paduan Freedom is Universal for Everyone). The city of Padua, also due to the fast that it was part of the Republic of Venice, always distinguished itself for its total freedom, especially religious. Proof of this freedom is the fact that it was the only university at the time which accepted protestant students after the Reformation and that it was the first university in history in which a woman graduated (Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, in 1678). Perhaps this is the reason why the city attracted for a very long time many students and great intellectuals from all over Europe; this made Padua the most important scientific and cultural center of the continent. Between 1592 and 1610 the famous scientist Galileo Galilei taught here, while in 1595 the first anatomical theater in the world was opened here. From the 700s the two universities - Universitas Iuristarum e Universitas Aristarum – were unified under one university, the University of Padua. In 1848 the university was temporarily closed because, following the independence uprisings, some of the Italian students rioted against the Austrian troops stationed in the city. This resulted in the death of two rioting students, the expulsion of 73 others along with 4 teachers. Today the university has 65.000 students and 2.400 teachers (as of 2010) and, starting from November 1st 2012, the university is divided into 8 faculties which are: Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Economics and Political Science, Law, Engineering, Medicine, Psychology, Sciences, Social, Human and Cultural Heritage Sciences. The university has several branches scattered throughout the Venetian territory and it manages directly 11 museums, called the University Museums.

4 THE ESN SECTION The Erasmus Association of Padua was born in 1992 thanks to the work of a group of young students who just got back from their erasmus; only two years later, in 1994 did this association join the national Network as A.E.P. - ESN Padova.

Today the association has 30 active members and several honorary members, who organize and offer about 70 different activities for the exchange students of the city.

ESN Padova, with the support of the university, organizes every year the Erasmus Welcome Days, now integrated in a broader project called Welcome Week: 7 days full of events that let the erasmus students know each other, the city and the ESNers. Every year we also organize an Erasmus Day, a day completely dedicated to the outgoing and incoming students of the university. We also organize a Welcome Back, focused on the students who just got back from their experience abroad.

As for the local activities, the best - not to mention the ones that the erasmus students remember best and to which they always try to participate also in the next years- are the Carnival (a weekend where many of the other ESN sections go to Venice carnival: we organize tours in both cities and a huge party with more than 1500 people!) and the Boat Party (one day of pure fun on a boat with two floors while you make a tour of the isles in the venetian lagoon).

The section actively participates to the National and International Network's life by being involved in all their major projects (Erasmus in School, Social Erasmus, Exchange Ability, Survey) as well as the biggest national events (ICE - Incontro Culturale Erasmus, National Event. ONE - Olimpiadi Nazionali Erasmus) and has also recently hosted a National Platform (December 2012) and a SWEP (an international event, in November 2010). Its members are always present at national and international assemblies and, together with the close sections of Venice, Verona, Trento and Trieste, gave life to a regional coordination of the Triveneto region. ESN Padova is also twin section of ESN Nancy (France) and ESN Maribor (Slovenia).

TIPS - Spritz Spritz is a wine-based alcoholic cocktail with a bitter taste; it is prepared with a base of white wine or Prosecco, a bitter liqueur and sparkling water or seltz. Its Venetian origins make it very popular in Northeast Italy. Its true origins are still unknown, but venetians say that the Austrian soldiers stationed in the Republic of Venice used to spray sparkling water in the wines because the alcohol content was too high for them. Originally spritz is a simple mix of white wine and sparkling water and this is still the way Italians from this region drink it. Rather widespread throughout Italy and especially in the north, but also abroad, is its variant characterized by the addition of bitters (Aperol, Campari or Select). The classic Venetian recipe calls: 1/3 white wine, 1/3 and 1/3 bitters Sparkling water. This cocktail was recognized by IBA (International Bartenders Association), which also provided an official recipe: 6 cl Pro-

secco, 4 cl Aperol and a dash of soda/seltz. It is served, according to the official descriptions of the IBA, in an old-fashioned glass (typical low glass of cylindrical shape, generally used to serve liqueurs or cocktails with few ingredients) with ice, prosecco, Aperol and soda; you then mix everything and garnish the glass with a slice of orange.Thanks to the bartender’s creativeness, many other “minor” variations of spritz were born. In any case, it’s not at all hard to bump into couples, kids, families or groups of friends while they are relaxing and chatting away while drinking this delicious cocktail if you go around Padua after work hours, especially on Wednesday night (traditionally it’s student night) or during the weekend. In this case, the only thing left for you to do is to order one at the bar and join them!

- Festival of St.Anthony from Padua Every year, on June 13, the day on which he

died in 1231, the city celebrates St. Anthony from Padua. On this day, the city is invaded by thousands of visitors and pilgrims from all over the world that want to participate to the solemn mass or just to see the famous procession that takes place in the afternoon. During the procession, the ark containing the relics of the Saint is exhibited through the streets of the city and is then taken back inside the Basilica where the blessing of the Bishop closes the religious rites.

St .Anthony is undoubtedly one of the most revered figures in Christianity thanks to its relics which, according to tradition, bring miracles and prosperity.

- Marathon of St. Anthony Famous sports event which takes place every year in the last week of April. Everyone can take part in it, both professional athletes and common people thanks to the cnon-competitive races of 1, 2, 5 and 12 km.

Radio Sherwood music festival It is undoubtedly one of the most important events for young people and alternative music lovers. This festival takes place every year during the summer, between June and July in the North Park of the Eugane Stadium (the most important sports structure of the city and home to its football team) and it is one of the top promotors of indepentent culture in Italy. Every year the major alternative bands of the Italian and international scene perform here. The Sherwood festival is famous not only for music, but also because it also devotes ample space to debates, presentations and cultural analysis.

Inside the festival area you can also find many gastronomic stands and kiosks where you can savor any kind of food and beverages, from sandwiches to kebabs or pizzas. As for drinks, you can taste various types or craft beers, grappa, bitters, select wines or fresh smoothies or juice to beat the scorching heat that characterizes the paduan summer. If you’re interested in buying a ticket to one of the concerts that take place here, we suggest you buy them online in order to avoid long lines at the ticket offices. If you book them online, the overprice is only ₏1 more.

- Prosecco It's probably the first alternative to spritz you can find in Padua. Prosecco is a DOC (controlled designation of origin) white wine produced throughout all of Veneto (except for the provinces of Verona and Rovigo) and Friuli Venezia-Giulia. There are three categories of prosecco: spumante ("sparkling wine"), frizzante ("semi-sparkling wine"), or tranquillo ("still wine"). In any case, this wine is pale yellow in color, with a fine smell and a fresh but dry, crispy and fruity taste.

Palermo

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Founded by the Phoenicians in VII century B.C. as Zìz (flower), the city was conquered by the Romans who gave it the name of “Panormus” (from greek, “always fit for landing in”) that, with a few of changes, came to us.

The happiest age of the city began with the arab domination (IX B.C.). when it became one of the most important islamic centers of West. The city expands and new urban areas rise beyond the historical center’s boundary known as “Cassaro” (from Arabic “Al Quasar”, the Castle: that was the ancient name of the main street too, now called “Corso Vittorio Emanuele”. Particularly, nearby the outlet to the sea arises the “Kalsa” (da al Halisah, the “chosen”), fortified area and Emir’s residence. On 1072 the city fell by the norman Count Ruggero, but this passage was not violent: merchants, artisans and generally the muslim population (but also to other races and religions) were allowed to keep on living and practicing their own professions. That permitted the diffusion of that style then called arab-norman, beautiful mix of architectural and decorative motives. The city flourishes and enriches of contributions of several cultures. Ruggero II, son of the “count”, luxurious, give birth everywhere to oriental gardens with lavish palaces (Zisa, Cuba) and surrounds himself of scholars, mathematicians, astronomers and intellectuals coming from everywhere. After a period of confusion and decadence, Palermo and Sicily passed on the hands of Frederick II (1212), when the city regain centrality and strength. Follow the Angevins, expelled at the end of so-called “Guerra del Vespro”, Spanish, and on 1700, Bourbons from Naples that dress the city with baroque buildings. XIX century marks the opening to commerce and relationships with Europe by the city. Middle class is the new economic force and the new “buyer”. The City expands its boundary: the “viale della Libertà” is inaugurated as continuation of“via Maqueda”, and the area that arises around it was enriched by liberty creations. That was the last pulse unfortunately, followed by a period of standstill with bombardments from the II World War and the earthquake on 1968 and by a slow but corrosive decline of medieval areas.

ESN Palermo Contacts www.esnpalermo.com palermo@esn.it Erasmus Student Network Palermo ESNPalermo esnpalermo Via Attilia Barbera, 16 90100 Palermo (PA)

THE CITY TODAY By the way, nowadays a new impulse to the appreciation, renovation and re-use of the wonderful monuments of the city center, is trying to awake this marvelous still-asleep oriental giant. Palermo is now the capital of Sicily and the fifth biggest city of Italy. Placed in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, cradle of the most ancient civilizations it was always crossroads of culture between East and West. Strategic place of transit, favorite seaport of commercial and freight traffic, dock of people of different races, languages and religions, Palermo has enchanted visitors and foreigners thanks to its happiest position, good weather and beauty of places. There are not so many cities in the world that have saved so many testimonies of conquerors’ culture, as Palermo has done: from Romans to Byzantines, from Arabs to Normans, from Svevis to French, from Spanish to Austrians, all of them left the unmistakable track of their permanence; and nearly always we are talking about great-valued testimonies, because of the confluence of forms and styles, from Northern Europe to Africa, from Middle Ages to Baroque, which has often given birth to very original artistic, architectural and decorative creations. This is the other peculiarity of Palermo which, despite of the mix of cultures, has saved its identity: a capital city that in every time was able to combine the best of other people with its own vocation to freedom. Art and history are the scenery of daily palermitan life, quarters are colored by typical corner markets such as Ballarò, Il Capo, Borgo Vecchio and Vucciria; corners of the past that represent the ancient city’s pulsating core, tied to the scents and traditions of this land. Main interesting places concern to sacred tradition, many churches placed all over the area are a clear symbol of Christian influence but also a wonderful secular art expression. Here the Cathedral, “Casa Professa”, “San Giovanni degli Eremiti”, “San Domenico”, “la Magione”, “Spirito Santo” and “San Giovanni dei lebbrosi” have to be mentioned. Among the civic monuments we can count: the Massimo Theatre, venue of the opera, the Politeama Theatre, venue of the Symphony Orchestra of Palermo, the Zisa, Arab Emir's ancient summer residence, the Palazzo delle Aquile (the Eagles' Palace), venue of municipal administration, Piazza Pretoria or Piazza della Vergogna (Shame Square), with a name related to the nakedness of the fountain’s statues, main feature of the square itself, the Palazzo dei Normanni (Normans' Palace), venue of the region administration, Piazza Vigliena or Piazza dei Quattro Canti (The Four Cantons Square), so called thanks to its four architectural perspective which symbolize the four rivers of the ancient city.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT Public transports are managed by the Amat municipal trucking company via newly designed Buses: in fact, the whole car park has been recently renovated. the easy circulation of buses in the city centre is granted thanks to priority lanes delimitated by curbs. At every bus stop in the city centre all the bus lines and the hours of transit are indicated. There are some works in progress to realize some bus stations equipped by benches and shelters with the name of the bus station itself on the top. A single ticket for 90 minutes costs EUR 1.40, it must be validated on the first vehicle used, Amat or Metro. The ticket can be purchased from authorized retailers (tobacco, bars, kiosks, etc …). Highly recommended for tourists is the ticket valid for 24 hours (from the first use) .

The metro in Palermo consists of two lines: A and B. The service provides by the under-

ground seems particularly convenient for the route Airport -central train station whereas it is not necessary to move within the city.

H OW

TO

G ET H ERE

- by train The Central train Station of the city is connected to the national railway line. Palermo is well connected to all major cities of Sicily (Messina, Catania, Enna, Agrigento ..) and Italy (Rome, Naples, Milan...). Very curious feature is the boarding of the train inside a ferry, belonging to the state railways, for those routes connecting Palermo to other cities over the Strait of Messina.

- by plane “Falcone-Borsellino” international airport is 30

km away from the city center. The airport is well connected to the city center thanks to a rail system called "Trinacria Express", belonging to the small city's subway system. Info: www.gesap.it.

- by bus Thanks to several Trasport Agencies the city is easily connected to other attractive cities in Sicily such as Catania, Messina, Agrigento and Enna. These services offer various timetable availability and competitive prices. Coach Services are also available to reach the most important cities across the mainland.

Please consult www.saistrasporti.it for further information.

- by boat As Palermo Is Internationally known as one of the busiest portal city in the Mediterranean sea, the city is also connected to the other seaside cities including Cagliari, Civitavecchia / Rome, Genoa, Livorno, Naples, Salerno, Tunis, Valencia.

Although it might be a good alternative to the other services offered, checking prices is highly recommended! For more information on costs and timetables please consult the websites of the leading shipping agencies of Palermo: www.gnv.it – www.grimaldi.it– www.ferries.com - www.tirrenia.it

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI

S TUDI

DI

P ALERMO

Palermo university, or Panormitana Studiorum Universitat, was founded in 1805. With more than 62 thousand students it’s one of the biggest italian university. The office of the dean is located in the historical Palazzo Chiaramonte-Steri, while other offices are located in the university citadel, in Parco d’Orleans.

The university of Palermo is a public institution, whose aim is the university education and development of the students, the scientific research and technology.

The university counts 10 faculties: agrarian economy, architecture, economy, pharmacy, law, engineering, literature and philosophy, medicine and surgery, media studies, mathematical and phisical sciences, sport sciences, political sciences. The university is composed also by other sections in Sicily: the pole of Agrigento, Trapani and Caltanissetta.

The official site of the university is: www.unipa.it.

THE ESN SECTION

ESN

PA L E R M O

Palermo has an ESN section, which is called indeed ESN Palermo, linked to the university. The association is 10 years old and counts every year about 200 members, 150 f them are Erasmus students.

Helping every student, the association offers lots of services like pick-up, housing, tandem, guided tour of the city, themed events, trip around the island and in the rest of Italy as well.

Among all the events, the most important clearly are the incredible themed parties: Trough funny costumes, gorgeous masked balls and crazy animation, ESN paints the city with the craziest and most waited nights of the city. The official site is www.esnpalermo.it

TIPS - Typical Food and Drink The palermitan culinary tradition is saturated with fragrant products, the right mix of flavors between the sea and the land, just like the geographic make up of Sicily. Sicily was conquered and influenced by so many different races and this can be seen in the large number of dishes (full of spices, various aromas and produce) you can taste in Palermo. The importance of such 'humble' ingredients, above all greens and vegetables but also fish, can be seen in many famous dishes based on sardines, grain, aubergines (eggplant), potatoes and swordfish.

Among the dishes we recommend pasta with sardines, the flan anelletti baked, A 'pasta' ncasciata (pasta with eggplant, eggs, cheese, salami and ground beef), the Eggplant caponata, the chickpea fritters , the muffolette and guastelle (sandwiches with cheese, veal spleen and pork fat).

Main courses are even better: Stigghiole are lamb or calf intestines that are charcoal grilled with onions on the street at night; U pani ca 'meusa or focaccia is sliced sesame seed rolls filled with slices of spleen cooked in lard; The swordfish au gratin; The sardines stuffed with anchovies, raisins, cinnamon, octopus and hake in the pan.

The mild climate of the island has led, over the centuries, the sharing of food outside in the streets, that's how the hawkers stalls were born; this tradition is known today as “streetfood”. Among the products sold on the streets there are the arancini, famous fried meatballs with rice and Bolognese sauce, the panelle (fried chick-pea farinate), or the cazzilli, simple potato croquettes, and all the vegetables fried in batter.

Among the famous traditional sweets there are: cassata, cannoli, almond sweets and frutta di martorana.

be able to choose hotels and boarding houses that will receive you with the tipical warmness of the island, offering you services with a good price/quality ratio. You will also find hotels with a hundred years of history, where everything is marked by refined luxury and where you will be pampered thanks to an extremely high quality treatment. It is also possible to find some hotels in liberty style, original from belle epoque, well known around Europe and often chosen, because of their unique beauty, as film set.

We would particularly recommend you some structures which result as a synthesis of comfort, good price and services: Hotel Cortese - via Scarparelli 16 – T 091 331722 Bhtcortese@iol.it B&B Palazzo Reale - via Cappuccini 9 T 340 2407933 Hotel Firenze - via Candelai 68 – T 091 7847645 www.palermohotelfirenze.com Student’s Hostel San Saverio – via G. Di Cristina 39 – T 091-7574580 www.ostellopalermo.com Furthermore, speaking about food, Palermo is famous for his culinary art. In the city you will find high quality restaurant and pubs where you can eat typical food or delicious pizzas. We heartily recommend some places that guarantee the possibility to taste typical local dishes with an affordable price and at the same time with a good service: Antica Focacceria San Francesco - via Paternostro 58 – T . 091-320264.

Ristorante Bellini - Piazza Bellini 6 – T . 091-6165691.

Pizzeria La Traviata - via Bara all’Olivella 77 – T 091-328861.

Ristorante Peppino - Piazza Castelnuovo49 – T . 091-324195 Pizzeria Da Caligola - via Cusmano 25 T . 091-6113284.

- Accomodation & restaurants

- Fun

Referring to your stay, Palermo is a big city that can satisfy all your needs. In the city centre you will find not only bed&breakfast but you will also

Palermo offers a lot of possibilities to all the young people who want to have fun in the gorgeous state capital, where the night life is conti-

nuously growing. Thanks to the evaluation of the historical center, it became the true referring point of the city night life. Among the most popular areas there are: the “Champagneria”, a district full of pubs and restaurants; the “Vucciria”, a very typical traditional market, which is now rich of pubs and clubs, managed by the foreign community living in the historical city centre; the “Kalsa”, an ancient neighborhood which has taken many advantages from the recovery of the city center, this part of the city is very well known because of the cultural events and the shows that it hosts during the annual event of Kals’Art. - Special Events “Festino di Santa Rosalia”: on the 15th of July the most important celebration of the city takes place; it is the celebration of the patron of the city: Santa Rosalia. During the event, a tipical parade guided by the famous wagon, in which there is the statue of the Saint, is highly waited by the population. The historical procession goes through the ancient “Cassaro”, the street which leads from the Cathedral to the Foro Italico. According to the tradition, the inhabitants of Palermo wait the gorgeous fireworks, eating, in

the meanwhile, one typical food made in occasion of this celebration, the “babbaluci” (snails).

Kals’Art: Even if this cultural event has been recently created, it is already famous in the artistic regional scene. The Kals’Art starts in July and ends in September. During the summer period, the Kalsa district becomes a scenario of lot of artistic activities, like shows, theatrical performances and exhibitions.

Wintercase: nowadays the biggest festival of electronic music in Sicily, the Wintercase receives artists from every part of Europe, who exhibit themselves in the most important clubs of the city, creating an atmosphere which enchants the most passionate spectators but at the same time animates people who are simply curious. An event really you can’t miss!

- Tourism Palermo can be defined as a perfect mixture among history, art and culture, but also for sun, fun and clubs. Attractions, which from time to time enchant tourists from everywhere, the splendid beaches, that made Palermo so famous: Mondello, Lascari, Capaci, Sferracavallo e Capo Gallo.

Parma

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Parma was founded by the romans in 187 a.C, over the via Emilia that passes through the region and the city. It was built on the basis of some Etruscan and the Gaul settlements which inhabited the area. During the the Middle Ages, Parma had alternating periods of decline and relative comfort due to the presence of different populations (Barbarians and the Lombards) and during the dispute between the Guelfs and Ghibellines, Parma first sided with the Ghibellines and then with the Guelphs.

Parma had two families who dominated: the Visconti and Sforza of Milan, but the Golden age of the city started with the establishment of the Ducato di Parma and Piacenza in 1545. It was founded by Papa Paolo III of the Farnese, whose family maintained control until 1731. During this period the city was enriched by the masterpieces of Parmigianino and Correggio, two of the most famous painters of the fifteenth century.

During the Napoleonic era the city began to be called “the small capital” because of its resemblance to a smaller version of Paris, thanks to the many important buildings wanted by Maria Luigia of Habsburg, wife of Napoleon, who resided in the city.

Then there was the return of the Burbonic family which led the city until its annexation to the Kingdom of Italy. During the march of Mussolini in 1922, Parma was the only city who organized an opposition. The citizens of the Oltretorrente district built the “barricate”: roadblocks made of wooden benches or stone slabs taken off of the road, to defend the city from the fascist troops. After a few days, the fascist troops commanded

by Italo Balbo were rejected and thus came the saying: " “Balbo t’è pasè l’atlantic mo miga la Perma ". (trans: Balbo, you’ve been passed the Atlantic but not the Parma) After the armistice of 1943, Badoglio, Parma and the Apennines in the province became home of the partisan resistance for the liberation from fascism. After the war, the city and many other villages in the region were awarded the civil and military medal of honor for their commitment and heroic actions during the resistance.

ESN ASSI Parma Contacts http://assi.unipr.it/ assi@unipr.it Esn-Assi Parma c/o Atrio delle Colonne Via Università, 12 43121 Parma (PR)

P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW

The bus company (TEP) has 17 daytime urban lines and other suburban lines and 2 lines for the night. In addition, there is also a taxi service.

To get to Parma from abroad there is the city airport with flights from London (Stansted) and national flights from Cagliari, Alghero and Trapani. In addition, the city is located 2 hours from the airports of Milan, Bergamo and Bologna which are also connected by the national railway. There are two highways connecting Parma: The A1 Milano-Bologna and the A15 Parma-La Spezia.

Parma has three highway exits: • “Parma” exit on the A1: it leads directly to the city • “Parma Ovest” close to the junction of the A1 and A15, it’s about 10km outside of the city • “Terre di Canossa – Campegine” on the A1, between Reggio Emilia and Parma, about 10 km outside of the city

TO

G ET H ERE

THE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI

S TUDI

DI

P ARMA

The University of Parma was funded in 1117 and now has 18 departments. The university is divided into several positions: The Campus, located in the outskirts of the city which collects all the scientific faculties, the economic-umanistic pole in Via d'Azeglio, the department of languages in Viale San Michele, the central palace headquarters of Law in Via dell’università and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Via del Taglio.

THE ESN SECTION ESN ASSI Parma, established 17 September 1991, ESN-ASSI Parma is one of the 6 sections that funded ESN ITALY in 1992 and of which it is the legal headquarters to this day. Consisting of about 20-25 active members, ESN-ASSI Parma has always been committed to promoting the integration of foreign students and intercultural exchange through their activities.

Among our historic events we can find: Welcome Days, Welcome Back, weekend trips, themed parties, weekly national evenings, Eurodinner .

Other additional activities and services organized by the section are: Tandem, a linguistic exchange between 2 students whose mother tongue is different; Buddy (host project for the incoming) that we have introduced and has since been adopted by the University; "Find Your Erasmus," an assistance to Italians who will go on Erasmus before their departure.

There are numerous collaborations with the institutions in the territory: the International Library with which we organize literary aperitifs; with EFSA - European Food Safety Authority - with whom we have partnered to celebrate Europe Day; € desk / Youth Information and Language Centre of the University.

TIPS • Pilotta and Piazzale della Pace: a building destroyed during WWII, it holds the Farnese Theater (entirely built in wood, it could be filled with water to play battle scenes with ships), the National Gallery, the Archaeological Museum and the Palatine Library, the oldest in Parma.

• Regio theater: this month is the bicentennial of the birth of the famous maestro Giuseppe Verdi; take a look at the shop windows, they are set up in his honor.

• St. Paul’s Gardens: a hidden oasis right in the middle of the city; watching the leaves falling on the ground is relaxing!

• Ducale Park: if you want to unwind for a moment, we suggest you take a picture at the lake and a visit at the Sanvitale palace in the middle of the Park.

• Cittadella: a pentagon-shaped park just outside the historical center, it used to be a fort, but today it’s almost an open air gym!

• Tardini Stadium and Petitot: well... it’s the centenary of the soccer team... you might see Cassano!

• Steccata Church: it has a greek cross plant, this is where the tombs of the Farnese family are, they were the dukes of the city • Annunziata Church and Oltretorrente: this is the most “heroic” neighborhood of the city, it

has earned Parma the golden medal of honor for military services • Cathedral and Baptistery: you can admire the frescos in the cathedral and the statues of the pink marble building and find out that this image sin’t entirely new to you....

• The Metalhad! If you see a man with a long beard and white hair that walks around with a tank top and shorts, don’t worry, he’s becoming one of the symbols of Parma after Giuseppe Verdi!

Pavia

HISTORICAL SUMMARY The city of Pavia has a rich history. It was founded during the Roman Empire, and was called Ticinum. During the Roman Empire, Pavia was an important military site (a castrum). Today you can still see the influences of this time in the historical centre. Later, the name of the city in Latin became Papia, which evolved to the modern Italian name Pavia. Sometimes it’s been referred to as Ticinum Papia, combining both Latin names.

In 576, Pavia became the capital of the Longbard Kingdom and would stay the capital for 2 centuries. In 774 it got taken over by Carlo Magno, but remained an important centre, because many royal coronations took place in the church of San Michele Maggiore.

After various events in Italy, Pavia lost most of its power in the middle ages. In the 18th century and the 19th century it was taken over by the Visconti. In this time they built the castle Visconteo, which is still an important attraction for tourists. After the domination of the Visconti, Pavia was in the hands of foreigners (Spanish, French, Austrians). It became part of the Kingdom of Sardegna (the future Kingdom of Italia) in 1859, just as the rest of Lombardy.

THE CITY TODAY Pavia is a city in the region Lombardy and has around 70.000 inhabitants. The nearest big city is Milan, which is distant 35 kilometres. It has still an historical centre, where you can see the old roman influences. The historical centre of Pavia lies between the so called ‘Mura Spagnole’, which are Piazza Vittoria, Piazza Duomo, Strada Nuova e Corso Garibaldi, and it’s closed off to traffic. In the historical centre you can also find the main building of the university, shops and a lot of bars visited by students.

ST.E.P. ESN Pavia Contacts http://www.esnpavia.org pavia@esn.it Step Esn Pavia c/o Servizio Relazioni Internazionali Mobilità Internazionale, Via S.Agostino 1, 27100 Pavia, Italia

P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW

The historical centre of Pavia is quite small and closed off to normal traffic. Don’t be surprised if you see a lot of students on a bicycle, because this is the most common way to move around Pavia. If you don’t like to bike, or when it’s raining: there are various busses towards the centre and his surroundings. If you want to go somewhere during the night there is a public service (not a taxi) available on reservation.

All the students, including the Erasmus students, can make a bus card for 13 euros a year.

With this card you can use the bus as often as you want totally for free! You can find more information about the busses at the website www.lineservizi.it

You can reach Pavia by train in only 30 minutes from Milan, or you can come by car using the highway A7 Milano-Genova, through the exit Bereguardo or the highway A21 Torino-Piacenza, through the Casteggio exit.

TO

G ET H ERE

- by train Pavia has a train station that connects Genoa with Milan, and has direct trains to the ligurian coast and to the Padana area. During peak hours there is a direct train to Milan every 30 minutes and during the rest of the day there is at least one train per hour. This is the same for Genoa. If you want to visit any another big city in Italy you will almost always have to change trains in Milan.

- by plane To reach Pavia by airplane you have the choice to fly to one of the three most important airports of Milan: Linate, Malpensa (VA) e Orio al Serio (BG). All the airports are connected with Milan by train or by bus. Once you arrive at Milano centrale you can get the train to Pavia.

If you are flying to Milano Linate there is also another option. From Linate there is a direct bus to Pavia, for more information check www.migliavaccabus.it.

- by bus If you prefer to travel by bus, don’t worry, you can also reach many places by bus! In front of the train station of Pavia you’ll find a bus station with busses that can bring you to the little towns in the province of Pavia or to the bigger cities like Milan. For more information about the destinations, timetables and prices check the website www.silla.it

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DI

P AVIA

The University of Pavia, in Latin called ‘Alma Ticinensis Universitas’, is the second oldest university in Italy after Bologna and it is the only university in the city. Already in 825, Lotario I, an emperor of the Roman Empire founded a school for the employers of the kingdom, and in 1371 Carlo IV founded the ‘Studium Generale’, a school for literature and law. The ‘Studium generale’ attracted a lot of students all over Europe, and in 1485 it was transformed to a real university.

The university of Pavia has had a few famous students: Cristoforo Colombo (in the library of the university you can still find some of his works) and Alessandro Volta (he did his first experiments with electricity here in the university).

One of the best moments of the university was the XVIII century, where the university was transformed to the way it is now. The university has 9 faculties, 4 of them are humanistic faculties: literature, Politic sciences, law and economics. You can find all the humanistic faculties in the historical centre. You can find all the natural sciences at a modern campus just outside of the city centre.

The faculty of musicology is outside Pavia, in Cremona.

THE ESN SECTION The section of ESN in Pavia is called ST.E.P. ESN Pavia and is part of the ESN network since 2005. It was founded in 1992 with the name ST.E.P., acronym of STudenti Erasmus Pavia, and is one of the founders of ESN Italia. ESN is an association with volunteers that organises activities for the incoming students. The activities have the aim to help the incoming students find their way in Pavia, to get to know the other international students and Italian students. With various initiatives (like the ‘welcome month’, ‘Social Erasmus’, ‘Infopoint’, ‘Eurodinner’) and cultural trips all over Italy we try to create unforgettable moments between Italian and international students, to promote integration and the multi-cultural experience.

The number of incoming Erasmus is around 300, and because of this relatively low number the activities of ESN Pavia are really different from the cities with more than 1000 incoming students. Our volunteers have a close contact with the Erasmus, they help them in difficult moments and they organise trips, parties and dinners. In this way ESN gives the Erasmus the possibility to be part of one big international family with whom they can share the best experience of their lives!

TIPS - Duomo di Pavia the Duomo di Pavia, dedicated to Saint Stefano is the most importand church in Pavia. It has one of the tallest domes of Italy, after the one in Turin, Novara and Florence. The big square in front of the church is an important meeting point for the University students!

- Piazza Vittoria The central square of the city, Piazza della Vittoria (former named Piazza Grande) has a

narrow form and is divided in two pieces by a street. Under the square you’ll find a big indoor market, built in 1958 and afterwards extended.

- Castello Visconteo The Castello Visconteo was built in 1360. The family Visconti wanted to design also a big park to hunt next to the castle, that was chilometres long. Today you can still find a piece of the park in Pavia, it is no longer attached to the castle, but a little bit further away from the center. It is called Parco della Vernavolo. The

castle is now used for expositions, concerts, and manifestations.

present bridge was built in 1949, and is a copy of the antic Ponte Coperto, which was destroyed during the second world war.

- Ponte coperto - Oltrepò Pavese Il Ponte Coperto is a bridge over the river Ticino, that links the historical center of Pavia with the rest of the city situated at the left side of the Ticino, called Borgo Ticino. It has 5 arcs and is totally covered, it has a little religious chapel in the center of the bridge. The

The Oltrepò Pavese is an area of the province of Pavia which is has a nice landscape and is well-known for its wine. Every year ESN organizes trips in Oltrepo, so that Erasmus students get to know the territory and its products!

Perugia

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

The city of Perugia was founded by the Umbrians, but owns its development to the Etruscans, as testified by the Etruscan walls, well and arch.

Even during the Roman rule it kept the Etruscan order, but still acquiring new beauty, so that it was called “Augusta Perusia”. Since the fall of the Roman Empire the city has been the scene of many internal fights, which justified the presence of the Pope, seen as a pacifier. However, Perugia has never accepted the supremacy of the papacy and in the war between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines it always sided with the Guelphs. After an impressive urban development, with the construction of the “Fontana Maggiore” and the institution of the university between 1200 and 1300, Perugia got back under the papal authority, testified by the construction of the “Rocca Paolina”. Although in the following years it was homogenized with the other papal provinces, from the architectural point of view it could count on more and more valuable buildings, such as Palazzo Gallenga and Palazzo della Penna. In 1860 Perugia was conquered by the Piedmontese and then annexed to the Kingdom of Italy. After the unification, the city was the capital of a wide province, but during the first decades of the 20th century, the territory was reduced and even remaining the regional capital, another province was constituted, Terni, and the consequent order reflects the current one.

THE CITY TODAY Perugia is known all around Italy and abroad as an important university city. In addition to the famous University of Perugia, there is also the “Università per Stranieri” (university for foreigners), the most ancient institution taking care of the teaching of the Italian language, making Perugia a multicultural and multilingual city. The city rises on the hills, and the old town is on the highest part, where student life mainly takes place. From the station you can reach the city centre with various buses (heading to Piazza Italia) or the “minimetrò” (to the end of line at “Pincet-

ESN PEP Perugia Contacts perugiaerasmusproject.eu perugia@esn.it Esn Pep Perugia Piazza Fortebraccio, 4 06122 Perugia (PG)

to”), while from the buses terminal you can reach it thanks to escalators passing through the fortress of the city. The university area is along Via Pascoli, where you can find most departments (such as Economics, Law, Pharmacology and Political Science) and the university cafeteria, which offers good and cheap meals, and it is just a few minutes’ walk from Piazza Morlacchi, where other departments are located. The premises of the Università per Stranieri are easy to reach too: they are within Palazzo Gallenga (in Piazza Fortebraccio) and the buildings located in Santa Margherita park, along Via XIV Settembre, connected to the highest part of the old town by elevators. All these areas are quite busy during the day, whereas nightlife changes as seasons change: in winter students go the various bars and pubs of the city centre, but when the weather gets warmer, they emerge from hibernation and animate Piazza IV Novembre, filling up its “scalette” (small stairs): perfect location to be together and chat, considering the beauty of this square.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW

Public transport is managed by the company Umbria Mobilità. You can find bus schedules online on www.umbriamobilita.it or on paper at the toutist information centers in Piazza Italia and at the entrance of the station FS Fontivegge. Since 2008, Perugia has a modern transport: the minimetro (www.minimetrospa.it) which connects different areas of the city. It is useful, for example, if you have to move from the station to the center, since it avoids the traffic and it is quite frequent (about every 10 minutes).

- by plane Near Perugia there is Sant’Egidio airport.

Despite being a quite small airport, it offers destinations which are often really handy and cheap too. Another airport you should consider when you need to get to Perugia is Roma Fiumicino, as there is a bus going directly to the buses terminal in Perugia (timetables of the buses from/to the airport are available on the website www.sulga.it).

- by bus The buses terminal is in Piazza Partigiani, in the city centre, and is linked to Piazza Italia through escalators. At the terminal there are buses getting from and leaving for many towns in different Italian regions. Timetables and tickets are available online and at the ticket counter in Piazza Partigiani. The bus to Rome takes about two hours and fifteen minutes and gets to the terminal of Tiburtina station, whereas getting to Milan by bus takes approximately seven hours, leaving you in Piazza Famagosta (timetables are available on www.sulga.it).

From the terminal in Piazza Partigiani not only can you get to other regions, but there are also buses from and to the area of Trasimeno lake, the Terni area (Terni, Orvieto, Amelia, Narni), and also Foligno, Spoleto, Norcia, Cascia, Nocera, Deruta, and many more.

TO

G ET H ERE

- by train Perugia is located in the centre of Italy and can be reached through two main rail lines, depending on where you are: from Florence, the journey takes approximately two hours; from Rome instead, there are some direct trains taking about two hours and forty-five minutes, and others with change at Foligno or Terontola taking approximately three hours in all. Lastly, from Ancona you can get to Perugia changing at Foligno, and the total journey length from Ancona to Perugia is about two hours and a half. Be careful: the name of Perugia’s central station is Fontivegge. In the old town there is another train station: Sant’Anna, which is particularly useful if you want to go on some excursions, as it connects Perugia to many beautiful towns of the Umbria region, such as Città di Castello, Todi, San Sepolcro and Terni. Timetables and information are available on the website www.umbriamobilita.it and at Sant’Anna station, which is located in Piazzale Belucci. You can get to Piazzale Belucci both rom Piazza Partigiani and from Corso Cavour, through the escalators.

A CCOMODATION • Ostello della gioventù Via Bontempi,15 www.ostello.perugia.it.

The international welcome center for Youth is in Perugia's historical center, just a few steps from the cathedral and the University for foreigners. It offers rooms for 4 or 6 people, hot and cold showers, a kitchen, reading or conversation rooms and a library. It's possible to book a room online through their website.

• Break and Bed Via Bonaccia, 3 www.breakandbed.com Very nice and clean Bed & Breakfast in Perugia's historical center, close to the Minimetrò but in a quiet area with a garde. Ideal for those who want to ejoy a few days of realxing while getting to know the city.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

PER

S TRANIERI

The University for foreigners is the oldest and most prestigious institution for the promotion of italian culture worldwide. Studying in this university isn't only an experience full of significance for any of its students: foreigners can learn in an extremely specialized university and italian students can discover an international environment, full o stimula where different cultures can get in touch and enrichen one another. The main building is Palazzo Gallenga, very close to the Etruscan Arch; the University for Foreigners occupies other 4 buildings: Prosciutti, Orvieto, Lupattelli and the brand new Valitutti; all in the wonderful Santa Margherita park. Since 1992 the University has implemented several Bachelor and Master courses, other than the language and italian culture courses which were already implemented. The formative offer is based in the areas of communication, publicity, international relations and, naturally, the promotion of italy worldwide. The University of Perugia is one of the oldest italian universities, it was founded in 1308 by Pope Clemens V. The institution includes several departments, among which we can find: Law school, Political sciences, Economics, Literature and Philosophy, Education Sciences, Medicine and Surgery, Mathematical, physical and natural Sciences, Pharmacy, Agriculture, Veterinary medicine and Engineering. The number of members is approximately thirty-five thousand, divided into the various faculties spreadthroughout the city and beyond, the university has branches also in Assisi, Citta di Castello, Foligno, Spoleto, Orvieto, Terni, Narni. The Accademia di Belle Arti Pietro Vannucci is one of the oldest in Italy, since it was founded in 1573 and occupies the rooms of the convent of San Francesco al Prato.

THE ESN SECTION "The association Perugia Erasmus Project (PEP) comes from the idea of a small group of students of the University for foreign students of Perugia that once joined the erasmus population they couldn't say goodbye to such experience that had irredeemably left a mark in their life. The association's""mission"" is to provide assistance to the exchange students in Perugia, to create occasions where italians and international students can meet each other and to organize activites in order to discover Umbria region and Italy. From October 2008, the association Perugia Erasmus Project became part of the european network ESN - Erasmus student network, taking the name ESN PEP Perugia and extending the initiatives. The reasons for the entrance inside the network is the shared idea of ""students helping students"" and the will of help the exchange students. The association have organzied also important events, together with other ESN sections, it organizes parties, meeting and guided tour where it hosts another Esn section or it can be hosted. "

TIPS In Perugia, and in Umbria, you can taste typical products, such as cold pork meat, cheese and truffles. You cannot miss the chance to try the "torta al testo": a savoury pie you can fill up with cold pork meat, cheese or vegetables, even if the original one is filled with vegatables and sausage!

Among desserts, it is worthy to be mentioned the "torcolo di San Costanza", typical during the celebration of our saint patron, in January, even though you can find it whenever you want during the whole year. Last but not least, the famous Baci Perugina, generously availables in every bar and shop in Perugia. Another pride of our city are our great local wine: white, red, sweet or dry. The most famous are the Grenchetto and the Orvieto for white wines, Torgiano's wines for red and white, and the sweet DOCG Sagrantino di Montefalco. If you want to enjoy these tasteful delicacies, you can ask for wine and food routes at information centers.

- Where and how to find a place to live The best way to find a place to live is searching for in on websites for houses for rent or on Facebook's groups. Students usually live in the neighborhood of Elce, even though it is far from the city center; in Corso Garibaldi, perfect for its close proximity both to the center and the university area; and, obviously, into the city centre (Morlacchi neighborhood, piazza Italia or Corso Cavour).

- Mobile thelephony services In Italy telecommunications market can be really competitive. That guarantees cheaper prices and various proposals from the different companies. They are four: Tim, Vodafone, Wind and 3. Since the great dynamism of this market, we cannot suggust you any of this company, since you should choose the one which can fit the best for your needs. The Italian area code is 0039 or +39, while you can find the other codes to call abroad on Internet.

Piemonte Orientale

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

A LESSANDRIA : The province of Alexandria occupies the Piedmont south-eastern area , extending for about 3560 Km^2 and including a pool of 190 municipalities, mostly small or very small. The peculiar conformation made this area one of the most varied and interesting of the whole peninsula able to accommodate internally a lot of regional varieties also very diversified the landscape and morphological level. These morphological diversity reflect also in the culture. Those feautures found explanation in its foundation, officially took place May 3, 1168 by the Lombard League, in the middle of fights between supporters of the papacy and those empire. His name, in fact, was hired in honor of Alexander Pope III, a supporter of the Lombard League against the Sacred Roman Empire.

However, the city has much more ancient origins between the end of the third century BC and the beginning of the second century BC. The Roman presence changed greatly over the centuries the socio-economic system of the territory, and despite the future invasions of the Lombards maintained populations culture and the degree of civilization. Between 700 and 1000, thanks to trade, treaties and alliances of the royal courts of the Villa Hole, Rovereto, Bergoglio, and Marengo Gamondio, and the addition of autonomous centers like Solero, Quargnento, Felizzano and Oviglio. It began to point out what would be the city of Alexandria. Later it came under the control of several Italian powers and European such as Visconti, the Duchy of Milan, Napoleon's France Bonaparte and the Savoy, and then become, with the Italian unification, a province of Piedmont .

N OVARA : NOVARA: Capital of the Province and Episcopal, Novara is located in the Po Valley between the rivers Agogna and Terdoppio and is far 101 km from Turin and 50 from Milan, just 11 km from the Ticino River, which It marks the border with Lombardy. The City now has about 100,000 inhabitants and it had ancient origins, so that was formed long before Rome, although at first it was not a real city center, but it was formed by the populations inhabiting the nearby lakes or the surrounding

ESN PiemonteESN Orientale Contacts Contatti Ancona piemonte_orientale@esn.it ESNPiemonteOrientale Via Perrone 18 28100 Novara

plains. The city plan recalls the Roman origins. It’s in fact built around two main roads: the Cardo (corresponding to Corso Cavour and Corso Mazzini) and Decumanus (corresponding to Corso Cavallotti and Corso Italia). The city's name, Novaria, interpreted by some as "nova aria" may be ascribed to the founding of a colony founded by Romans around to '89 BC. With the Roman occupation the city was defended by walls built with large river pebbles alternating courses of bricks.

Whether these walls are visible in the Piazza Cavour and Largo Solaroli. The existence of public buildings and the terme is testified by many finds conserved in the Canonica Museum and the archaeological museum. The Lombard domination starts in 69 and had a great significance from the religious point of view, as the population Novara abandoned the cult greek-Roman Olympic and embraced Christianity organizational influence of St. Ambrogio of Milan and St. Eusebio of Vercelli.

The first bishop of Novara is considered San Gaudenzio. After the conquest of the Carlo Magno , Novara was divided into various committees. At the cathedral was built a center for copying the ancient manuscripts. (It was produced some of the most precious manuscripts performed in Italy).

It was the recognition of a new reality , the reality of a small town community that was organized independently, giving life to the city. In Novara at the middle of XII century , between the city and the suburbs, there were about twenty churches, of which today remains the Chiesa romanica di Ognissanti. The agreement which reigned between the bishop and the men of the town allowed in Novara a strong economic development. In 1154 Frederick Barbarossa, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, came to Italy to fight against Milan, among his allies there was also Novara. Between 1200 and 1300 Novara was a city full of towers because of the fortifications of the palaces, and the area between Corso Cavallotti and sVia Canobio was indicated in the documents of the time as: "Via delle Torri Lunghe ". The interior contrast brought the town of Novara to experience the power of Milan. Novara, passed under the protection of the Visconti family of Milan and was subsequently annexed to the Duchy of Milan. Then he became part of the Duchy of Milan until 1535, when it was taken by the Spanish, for pass in 1714 to Austria and then in 1738 at the stato dei Savoia. At the end of May 1800 Napoleon taken possession of Novara. After the break of Napoleon hegemony French troops left the City (1814) who returned to the Kingdom of Sardinia, ruled by Vittorio Emanuele I. Novara participated in the Risorgimento movement. His name, however, is especially linked to the defeat and abdication of King Carlo Alberto in the evening of March 23, 1849 after the Battle of Bicocca. The city remained in the hands of the Austrians until the month of August of the same year then they returned the Piedmontese troops. Novara in 1859 saw the passage of Vittorio Emanuele II and Napoleon III before the battle of Magenta, which marked the start decisive unification of Italy. Throughout the nineteenth century it was then good for me demographic and urban development of the city.The War in 1915-1918 led mourning for 692 families; the rise of fascism was the cause of strife and victims in both sides. With the Second World War knew alarms for enemy raids, the food rations and the departure from his barracks of soldiers for the various fronts. With the endthe war the city was still developed with the building and the trade, with new industries and new democratic institutions in the administration.

V ERCELLI : “A flourishing city” , with this words Tacitus described Vercelli in the primo libro delle Storie ; In his opitinio , together with Milan Novara and Ivrea, the city was among the most prosperous region of the ancient Transpdana region. The quote Tacitus relates a city with behind already several centuries old. About the origins they have been a number of assumptions, which ensure the definitions given by the ancients. Vercelli was foundated by the Libyans, Celtic tribes, on an earlier Ligurian settlement of Salluvii around the VL century BC. The Romanization process began after the Second Punic War, probably with a pact of submission and fidelity to Rome and culminated in 49 BC, when it was established the Ver-cellae municipium then subscribed to Aniense tribes.

During the imperial times the city enjoyed a good moment, perhaps for this reason, was the first diocese to be built west of Milan, resulting drawn of a long evolution that started from the spread of Christianity in the city among the high classes, in time not known. In 1335, after reaching the maximum prosperity with construction of the Abbey of St. Andrew and the founding of the University, the city submits to power Visconti after serious internal struggles between Imperial factions and Church power. Nel 1427 is Vercelli was added to the Savoia who will rule the city with the only

brackets in 1798 with the occupation of the French until the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. The history of Vercelli in the nineteenth century, it remains linked toSavoia until the creation of the Kingdom of Italy and continues with the Italian Republic from 1948

THE CITY TODAY A LESSANDRIA : 93,943 inhabitants, November 6, 1994. Alessandria was heavily hit by a severe flood that swept for most submerging large residential areas (especially the Orti district, Rovereto, Borgoglio, Borgo Citadel, Astuti and San Michele) and various fractions. The flood , which was caused by the overflowing of the Tanaro River, also carry the death of eleven people as well as extensive damage to both private homes and the town's economic structure. The city has a great cycling tradition: 6 times Alexandria was home to stage finish the Tour of Italy: the first in 1929, the last in 1984. In 1956 and in 1967 he reached the first stage the "corsa rosa”. In other two editions, in 1979 and 2006, Alexandria hosted the Giro as seat stage starting.

N OVARA : 104,384 inhabitants, the second largest municipality in the region to population and crossroads of important many commercial traffic between the roads that connect Milan to Turin and Genoa to Switzerland. The city was awarded with the Gold Medal for Civil Merit in 2007. In the ranking of "Recycling Municipalities' 2010 of Legambiente , Novara is the third among the Italian cities with a recycling rate of 72%, first among cities over 100,000 inhabitants. From the point of Novara culturally has a long historical tradition, still represented today by “Bollettino Storico della Provincia di Novar” and "Novarien “.Moreover the DeAgostini Geographic institute that assume international relevance. In addition, the Negroni Library is the second public library in Piedmont.

V ERCELLI : 46,633 inhabitants, is the eleventh largest city in Piedmont by population and has always a major agricultural and commercial center, specifically for rice trade across Europe, which earned her the title of "European Capital of Rice". At the beginning of the twentieth century the city lived a huge expansion. With the revival of the fifties and recent vicissitudes, Vercelli returned to the calm and the carrier resource agriculture land is mutated thanks to increasing mechanization of the processing means. Still, for the province of water lands, rice cultivation is a real wealth that characterizes the rural landscape, typical for the rice fields, and stands as a driver of the economy of the area. However, precisely because mechanization, agriculture no longer offers great job opportunities. In addition the city has affected by the recent crisis in the textile sector, resulting in the closure of some major sites industrial.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT A LESSANDRIA : ALESSANDRIA: ATM (Agency transport and mobility) managed by the holding company AMAG Mobility S.p.a., it provides various transportation services and mobilization including: -Services Scheduled urban and suburban-time (Set timetables and routes) -Service on call "Eccobus" -The on-call service for people with handicap http://www.atm-alessandria.it/trasporti/it/ho-me_page.aspx

N OVARA :NOVARA: Novara bus service is operated by the company Sun Spa, municipal utility of the city of Novara which currently has nearly

200 employees and over 100 buses that offer their service on the nine urban public transport lines. (The cost of the ticket is 1 euro and is valid 90 minutes; the four races carnet costs 2 euro and 80 cents while the carnet 10 races costs 9 Euros; The monthly subscription costs 30 euro and the annual 271 euro.)

H OW T O G ET H ERE - By Train By train -Novara is also well connected to nearby Turin and Milan and the rest of Italy by rail system road to which you have access from the station Novara.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ D EGLI S TUDI D EL P IEMONTE O RIENTALE The University of Eastern Piedmont (UPO) is an Italian state university founded in 1998. It’s structure is polycentric, as the educational activities are divided between the cities of Alessandria, Novara and Vercelli. There are also offices in seven other cities of Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta.

Includes School of Medicine, Department of Health Sciences, Department of Translational Medicine, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Humanities, Department of Science and Technology Innovation, Department of Studies for Economics and Business, Department of Law and Political Science.

THE ESN SECTION Erasmus Student Network Piemonte Orientale becomes part of the ESN network from June 2016, the idea was born from the need to make the Erasmus student experience on a visit in our area the more complete as possible, the activities are focused on the integration of social and academic student exchanger through tandem, events and trips enhancing the discovery of the territory Piedmont and participating in activities organized at national level .

TIPS - Il cibo Rice is the most important element of the kitchen Novara, used to cook many recipes from pasta and desserts. The most classic recipes based on rice is paniscia, a risotto essentially with lard, salam dla doja, onion, cabbage and beans. The main cheese Gorgonzola DOP, in sweet and spicy versions, although it has Lombard origins today mainly produced in Novara and surrounding municipalities. The city is also home to the "Consortium for the protection of Gorgonzola”. The most typical local cookie is the" Cookie of Novara "Biscottificio Camporelli 1852, a rectangular biscuit with rounded corners, very light. the biscuit has origins very ancient; the first historical trace fact in 1500 when it was prepared by nuns in convents. the cookie also gives its name to the typical mask of Novara: "Re Biscottino".

Another typical sweet Novara is the "Pane di St. Gaudenzio"; it deals with of a sweet with an outer coating of pasta pastry and a soft filling made up of flour wheat, sugar, raisins, butter, eggs and lemon. The surface can be grain sprinkled with pine nuts or hazelnuts and powdered sugar. Novara is also home of Campari, famous throughout the world; It was in fact in the "Bar of Friendship" that Gaspare Campari, back in In 1860, he developed the recipe of the

drink that took his name. Among the wines D.O.C .: Boca, Fara, Ghemme and Sizzano.

- Barriera Albertina La Cittadella of Alessandria is one of the most magnificent monuments in Europe concern the permanent fortification of the XVIII century, one of the few still in existence and surely mind one of the best preserved in Europe. It’s the only lowland fortress built by the Savoia in the eighteenth century and is the only European fortress still seated in its environmental context the original: there is a screen of houses which closes the view of the ramparts, or a road high-speed road to surround the ditches. There Citadel of Alexandria, the fortress of the first rank, was designed to work from landings of military transits of "Road Flanders. "It's a perfect example of fortification modern, it consists of six bastioned fronts provided knights, linked by curtains rectilinear paths, galleries and casemates. Among the best preserved in Italy, it is located on left bank of the river Tanaro, in the municipality of Alexandria. Survive in over other military architectures as Valfré Barracks Bonzo, Forte Bormida, Forte and Forte Ferrovia Acqui.

- Cittadella La Cittadella di Alessandria costituisce uno dei più grandiosi monumenti europei nell'àmbito della fortificazione permanente del XVIII secolo, uno dei pochi ancora esistenti e sicuramente uno dei meglio conservati in Europa. È l'unica fortezza di pianura costruita dai Savoia nel XVIII secolo ed è l'unica fortezza europea ancora oggi inserita nel suo contesto ambientale originario: non esiste uno schermo di case che chiude la visuale dei bastioni, o una strada ad alta percorrenza a circondare i fossati. La Cittadella di Alessandria, fortezza di primo rango, venne concepita per funzionare da sbarramento dei transiti militari della "Strada di Fiandra". È un perfetto esempio di fortificazione alla moderna, si compone di sei fronti bastionati forniti di cavalieri, collegati da spesse cortine rettilinee e percorsi da gallerie e casematte.

Tra le meglio conservate d'Italia, sorge sulla sponda sinistra del fiume Tanaro, nel comune di Alessandria. Sopravvivono in oltre altre architetture militari come Caserma Valfré di Bonzo, Forte Bormida, Forte Ferrovia e Forte Acqui.

Pisa

HISTORICAL SUMMARY Pisa was allegedly founded on the right shore of the Arno river by the Etruscan civilization, in the middle of the 6th Century b.C. In the 2nd Century b.C. this civilization was then absorbed by the Romans, who built the “Portus Pisanus” (Pisa’s harbour).

Since then, Pisa had begun to be a very important naval base and from the 11th Century it intensified the business with the Arab world, thus becoming a powerful maritime republic, which also made the city grow fast. This development allowed Pisa, in the 11th Century, to become one of the four most powerful Maritime Republics together with Genoa, Venice and Amalfi.

For almost all the Medieval age Pisa’s strong marine has had the rule of the Western Mediterranean sea.

In this period the construction of the buildings that made Pisa famous began to take place: the construction of the Duomo (built by the architect Buscheto in 1063 A.D. and consecrated in 1118 by Pope Gelasio II) , the Baptistery (designed by Diotisalvi in 1152 A.D. but finished in the following century by Nicola Piano), the famous leaning Tower (designed

by Bonanno: the works started in 1173 but were interrupted soon because of a subsidence of the ground which caused the present inclination; the works were resumed by Giovanni di Simone in 1275 and finished in the second half of 1300), the monumental churchyard (1277) and lastly its city walls (1154-55). The decline of the maritime republic began in 1284, when it was defeated by Genoa. The city went under Florence domination in 1406 and flourished again under the rule of the Medici family.They built the university again, giving prestige to the old town.

ESN Pisa Contacts http://www.esnpisa.it esnpisa@yahoo.it ESN Pisa @ESNPisa via Fermi, 8 56126 Pisa

THE CITY TODAY The heart of the city originally had four neighbourhoods: two to the north of the Arno river – San Francesco and Santa Maria – and two in the south – San Martino and Sant'Antonio. The one among these which definitely tells us more historical facts is Santa Maria, where there are two important mainstays: the civil one in the “Piazza dei Cavalieri” and the religious one in “Piazza del Duomo”.

The evidence of civil architecture are the survived “case-torre” (=house-towers), characterizing the image of the Medieval city. In the San Francesco neighbourhood there are some areas where monuments have different architectural styles: Medieval age style along Via delle Belle Torri, Via dei Mercanti and in Borgo Stretto, Renaissance age style in Piazza Cairoli, Piazza della Berlina and the buildings along the Arno river, baroque style in the Santa Marta area, and finally neoclassical in Piazza Martiri della Libertà. Sant'Antonio area, together with San Martino, forms the southern part of the old town. In ancient times this area was called “Kinzica”, then after the unification of Italy it was divided into the two present neighbourhoods. Kinzica grew entirely during Medieval age and mainly had a commercial role, receiving foreign populations in the mercantile square of Pisa.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW

Inside the city it is possible to easily walk or cycle around. Pisa’s municipality put at its citizens’ disposal a comfortable service of bicycles rental called "cicloPI" (www.ciclopi.eu). There is also an efficient bus network which serves all city areas (www.cpt.pisa.it).

By car From Florence: Highway A11 “Firenze-Mare”, exit “Pisa Nord”, then “SS Aurelia” towards the south to Pisa (about 6 km).

From Rome and Bologna: Highway A1 to Florence, then Highway A11, exit “Pisa Nord”.

From Genoa: Highway A12 “Genova-Rosignano”, exit “Pisa Nord” or “Pisa Centro”.

TO

G ET H ERE

By train “Pisa Centrale” station, address: Piazza Della Croce Rossa, 1

By Plane “Galileo Galilei” airport website: www.pisa-airport.com

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITY

OF

P ISA

The University of Pisa was founded on September 3rd 1343 by Pope Clemente VI. After a difficult period in the beginning, Pisa University started to grow fast, and in 1839 boasted already six faculties: Theology, Law, Humanities, Medicine, Maths and Natural Sciences; with about 600 registered students, among whom about 100 foreign students.

In 1862, Italy then recognized Pisa University as one of the six main National universities, and this was also confirmed in 1923 by the Gentile reform.

Since its foundation up to now, the University of Pisa’s chairs have been held by some of the greatest Italian personalities, such as Galileo Galilei, astronomer, physicist, mathematician and founder of the scientific method, the jurists Francesco Carrara and Francesco Buonamici, the economist Giuseppe Toniolo, the mathematicians Ulisse Dini and Antonio Pacinotti.

The University of Pisa has today 20 departments: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Biology Chemistry and industrial Chemistry Civilizations and knowledge forms Economics and Management Pharmacology Philology, Literature and Linguistics Physics Law Computer science Civil and industrial Engineering Energy, Systems, Territory and Building Engineering Information Engineering Mathematics Clinical and experimental Medicine Surgical, Medical, Molecular, Critical Area Pathology Translational research and research in the new Medicine and Surgery technologies Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences Earth Sciences Political Sciences Veterinary Sciences

For a total of 51641 students coming from all over Italy and hundreds of Erasmus students from all over Europe.

THE ESN SECTION Hello everyone!

We are the group of boys and girls in charge of the Erasmus coordination and our association, existing in all Europe, is called Erasmus Student Network - Pisa. In particular, our section was founded by 7 young people on October 26th 2000. The association is apolitical, voluntarist and non-profit and is mainly formed by students who in the past have taken part of Exchange programmes abroad, especially Socrates/Erasmus.

We have a double aim: we want to help foreign students find a comfortable accommodation, get to know new people and our city, and at the same time to create an international environment that everyone can enjoy.

Every year about 350-400 students arrive to our University and we do our best to ensure that each one of them can remember this experience for the rest of their lives! Pisa is a charming city, but it might be a bit confusing to the newcomers... Here there is a mixture of ancient and contemporary architectures, sea and mountains, traditions and modernity... There is something for every taste, if you get to find what you are looking for!

You can consider our ESN section as a point of reference for anything you may need. Our office is located in the university area and we periodically organize meetings, guided visits, trips, screening of films, traditional dinners, parties... To sum up, anything that comes to our mind or you suggest!

We also have special commercial agreements with some bars and clubs in order to ensure that nightlife is as exciting as you expect!

The last “service” we started to offer is Tandem, which is a free programme of language learning where the two participants (one Italian student and one Erasmus student) teach their own language to each other and increase their knowledge.

TIPS - The Luminara di San Ranieri It’s a city feast taking place in the evening of June 16th every year, the day before San Ranieri, patron saint of the city.

During this night the whole old town is lighten up, the colourful buildings along the Arno river are filled with lights creating a unique and magic atmosphere. A city that for one night stops, is lighten up by the candles’ flames and livens up thanks to the lots of buskers and musicians that make the atmosphere cheerful and suggestive. An unforgivable night that is worth experiencing... be sure!!!

- The Bridge Game It‘s a historical-evocative public performance taking place on the last Saturday of June and consists of two main moments: the historical parade along the Arno river and the battle on the “Ponte di Mezzo” (middle bridge).

The protagonists of this “battle” are the Judiciary (representing the city neighbourhoods),

reunited in the roles of “Mezzogiorno” and “Tramontana” (representing respectively the southern and northern area of the Arno river).

Before the Battle there is the historical parade, composed by 710 figurants, among whom 41 horse-riding, all of them wearing Spanish 6th Century-style costumes. The parade takes place in the four streets running along the central part of the Arno river (the so-called “Lungarni”).

- Miracoli Square Masterpiece of this small but amazing city. It was included among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1987.

It is a large artistic complex formed by the tower, the baptistery, the cathedral and the monumental churchyard, surrounded by a green English-style lawn.

To access Miracoli square you need to get through the city walls which surround the whole area; the bright green of the grass mixed with the white monuments rising in the blue sky

leave any visitor breathless... How not to get enraptured by such a sublime view?

- Lungarni Walking along the “lungarni” is definitely a great way to relax and discover the beautiful buildings of the most ancient Pisa’s families, which colour the riverside and architectonically enrich it, thanks to the variety of styles.

There are also some old “case-torre”, which were once numerous, but now there are just a few ones left.

- “Torta co’ Bischeri” The most typical dessert in Pisa’s cuisine is "torta co' bischeri". It is especially made during Carnival time; nevertheless, bakeries never interrupt its production. It is a chocolate tart enriched with pine-nuts and raisins, appetizing the most finicky eaters too.

Potenza Matera

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Ancient land as Basilicata, was already inhabited in prehistoric times; date back to the Paleolithic settlements of Venosa and Valle del Bradano, while in Neolithic arose the organized agricultural villages around Matera and Melfi. Eneolithic to the Bronze Age the region became an important center between the Ionian and Tyrrhenian populations, giving rise to important settlements. In VIII century a.c. Greek colonists landed on the Lucanian shores of the Ionian Sea, giving birth to that flowering civilization that will go down in history as the Magna Grecia. Metaponto, Siris, Heraclea are the most important nuclei. Between the sixth and fifth centuries A.C. came down from some tribes Osco Sabellic. The Lucanians meanwhile settled the more inland areas. Then in the fifth and fourth centuries BC Lucans, driven by the search for new land to cultivate, they attack the Greek colonies of the Ionian coast. In the meantime, between the fourth and third centuries BC, the Romans growing push in Lucania.

At first allied with the Romans against the Samnites, the Lucanians not wanting to yield to Roman domination, they allied with the Samnites and the Greek colony of Taranto against the Romans. Meanwhile, in 291 BC Venusia (today Venosa) becomes the first Roman colony in Lucania. The Romans fight against Pyrrhus came to the aid of the Greek colonies and lose a battle became famous for the heavy losses incurred on both sides between Metaponto and Heraclea (today Policoro). In the northeast, Roman domination increases: born Grumentum (today Grumento) and builds the way Herculia joining Grumentum to Venusia. The 280 BC witnesses the end of the civilization of Ancient Greece. In the second century BC Lucania is under Roman rule. Meanwhile, the Lucani, proud and warlike people, they rebel against Rome which requires the large estates, but are defeated. From 27 BC to A.D. 14, under the Augustan Empire, Lucania is divided into two parts and unified with, Region II, and Brutium, Regio III. At the end of the third century Dioclesian reunites the area, unifying it Brutium. With the decline of the Western Roman Empire the region sinks back into deep isolation, which destroys the already impoverished economy. We are in the Middle Ages. Between the sixth

ESN Sui-Generis Contacts www.suigenerisbas.com suigenerisbas@esn.it ESN Sui Generis Basilicata Via dell’Ateneo Lucano 10 85100 Potenza

and ninth centuries, the Longobards annex Lucania to the Duchy of Benevento, excluding the Byzantine possessions of Matera. The Byzantines, gathered in Lucania to escape religious persecution in the East, gave birth to the phenomenon that on the rock churches of Matera Murgia found their highest expression. Meanwhile, the Saracens, with invasions force the Lucanians to retreat to the mountains and hills. Between the eighth and ninth century, Matera is annexed to the Duchy of Benevento and the rest of the region passes under Byzantine rule. The Normans conquer Lucania, making, between the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the center of Italian political life. Melfi in 1059 is the capital of the Norman kingdom. After the Normans, Swabians and Angevins control of Lucania and southern Italy. It born Frederick II of Swabia in 1231 emanates, in Melfi, the Constitutiones of Sicily Utrisque Kingdoms. At the end of the thirteenth century the Angevins control the Realm of Naples and the Two Sicilies. Feudalism has begun, during which time many Lucanian lordships, which the Aragonese attempt to oppose.

In 1799 a peasant rebellion is suppressed with mass executions. Then the power goes to the French that after a short time they are forced to return it again to the Bourbons. Part of the Lucanian bourgeoisie adheres to the "Moti Carbonari". Between 1861 and 1868 the region is interested in the phenomenon of banditry, rebellion against power generated by the extreme poverty in which all the people poured, which finds its ideal habitat in the thick woods of Mount Vulture.

POTENZA, an event that begins the twentieth century. Poverty has reached unacceptable levels, begins the phenomenon of emigration, which in 1913 touched its peak. In 1943 Matera was the first province in the south to rebel Nazi occupation. After the war it becomes necessary to deal with the problem of Sassi, that because of overcrowding had become unhealthy. In 1952 a state law decrees the evacuation of the Sassi. In the same period begins the Land Reform which transforms the face of the region, while the emigration unfortunately hurts the municipalities of Basilicata since it provokes a progressive demographic impoverishment. The 1980 earthquake creates serious problems throughout the northern part of the region and to the same capital city of Potenza. Potenza was established in 1984 in the University of Basilicata, a few years later he opened a branch in Matera. In 1986 the State finances through a law on rehabilitation of the Sassi of Matera, which with great difficulty is still in full swing. In early 1994, UNESCO declared the Sassi of Matera "World Heritage Site to be handed down to future generations" and counts them among the territories under its protection. FIAT establishes an enormous factory in the industrial zone of S. Nicola di Melfi. In the same year was established the Pollino National Park.

THE CITY TODAY Potenza Population: 69,735 (Potentini) Potenza, situated on a hill at over 800 meters high, has been inhabited since the fourth century.

B.C. The city had probably originated from the destruction of the nearby town of Serra di Vaglio, which are visible The good geographical position made it an important crossroads of the Mediterranean, facilitating the benefits of influences from the greek world.

Under Roman domination, Potenza was first a prefecture and then an important town hall.

At that date back to the bridge St. Vitus, built between 248 and 305 BC and the Mosaic Malvaccaro, belonged to Interesting to see the Old Town, with its churches, the Cathedral, the Tower of the Castle, the Provincial Museum.

Characteristic of the Turks parade, which takes place every year in May. And 'Oone of the centers in with Tito, Pignola, Vaglio and Trecchina, where the Gaul-Italian dialect is spoken, probably depends on the migration (XIII sec.)

Matera Population: 56,924 (Materani) The town of Matera rises on a characteristic landscape, with sheer cliffs of a deep ravine, below which the Gravina stream flows. It 'a city of many faces, of which the

best known is certainly that of the Sassi, UNESCO has recognized as, a World Heritage Site to be handed down to future generations. The Sassi are dominated by the Cathedral of the medieval period. The Sassi lodge inside them the suggestive rural museum. Around Matera, in the Murgia, is situated on the Rock Churches Park. It s beautiful are the church of St. Francis of Assisi, in the homonymous square and the church of San Domenico, in the square on a little hill outside the town center is the Castle Tramontano. Nearby is the National Archaeological Museum D. Ridola, housed in the former Santa Chiara monastery. On July 2, we celebrate the feast of the Madonna della Bruna, which dates back to 1389. Only municipality of the province to look out over the sea, stretching for about 32 km on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its coast set in a unique geographical location and environmental, is variegated of inlets and coves, cliffs and secche. There are many characteristics and the coastal beaches, facing one of which emerges the one of Santo Gianni. On all stands the Cave of Marina with stalactites and stalagmites. In addition, the mountains inland, arriving with their ridges on the sea, creating a strong visual contrast of sea and mountains, that gives life to picturesque views and visual views

H OW T O G ET H ERE - By car: Potenza can be reached whit A3 highway until the exit for Sicignano degli Alburni and take the highway l 5 which takes you up into town. To reach Matera just take the A14 to Canosa di Puglia and continue on the SP230 up to Gravina in Puglia and from there follow to Matera.

- By plane: The nearest airports to Potenza is in Salerno (90 km) and Naples (180km), while from Matera, Bari is the closest (70km)..

- By train: Potenza is connected with Salerno, Naples and Rome, also is available FrecciaLink and ItaloBus service that connects to the high speed of Salerno station, Matera on the other hand does not have a railway station (Trenitalia) but is connected with Bari station by bus .

- By bus: The two cities are connected by FlixBus service..

UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI

S TUDI

DELLA

B ASILICATA

The Facilities of the University of Basilicata are housed in the two different cities, Potenza and Matera, in five different areas, covering an area of about 96,000 square meters. Two are the university centers present in Potenza, one of this is Francioso (in via Nazario Sauro) and second is Macchia Romana (in Via Dell’Ateneo Lucano).

P OTENZA U NIVERSITY

CENTER OF F RANCIOSO (via Nazario Sauro, 85) The Francioso houses the Department of Human Sciences (Disu), the Central Library of the University, the offices of the Rector, the University Language Centre, the Service and the Disabled Student Secretariat offices.

U NIVERSITY CENTER OF M ACCHIA ROMANA ( Via dell’ateneo lucano ) The center of Macchia Romana houses the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Economics (DiMIE), the Department of Sciences (DiS), the School of Engineering (SI-UniBas), the

School of Agricultural Sciences, Forestry, Food and Environment (SAFE), Caos (University student Orientation Center), the Cisit (Interfaculty Centre Telematic and Information Services), the University Library and the student Secretariat offices.

M ATERA The UNIBAS facilities in Matera are located in via San Rocco, Via A. M. di Francia and in via Lazazzera. Home to the Postgraduate School of Archaeology, the Department of European Cultures and the Mediterranean, architecture, environment, cultural heritage (DECEM) and some front desk office dedicated to information for students and the provision of library services, guidance and placement.

THE ESN SECTION In Basilicata is operating a single section called ESN sui generis Basilicata which brings together students from all departments of Unibas. ESN SuigenerisBas became part of the network ESN Italy since June 2016 constituting the 51st Italian section. The association was founded with the intent to support and welcome all students of UNIBAS and also all incoming erasmus students. The association operates in the territory for more than 10 years and promotes trips for exploring the region, also as well organizes a variety of events ranging from the most playful to more cultural events in the most exclusive local’s of Potenza and Matera (International Dinner, Welcome days ....).

TIPS - Culture and Folklore Thirty Years have passed since Piovene presenting Basilicata wrote that this poor region emanates from its narrow a sharp intelligence, dry and effective. proud Lucanians, have managed to maintain their cultural identity is based on solid traditions, both hospitable and proud character, stubborn and determined, essential to the survival of a people. Dominations and not have them overwhelmed policies defaults and you are always back on their feet even if on a difficult dancer land to work, who fought hard for it and, if forced to leave it, I'm never really far away. Many Lucanians today hold important roles, especially in the culture; perhaps because the study is a challenge, because it offers the chance to redeem himself from the condition of the 'southern peasant "even if the land if the door inside simply because it is a land full of light, you can not forget. It is a land that has seen the birth of important poets, Horace, Isabella Morra Luigi Tansillo and then Scotellaro, Albino Pierro, Michael Parrella and Leonardo Sinisgalli; writers Thomas Stigliani, Giuseppe de Robertis and Carlo Salinari; philosophers such as Paolo Emilio Lamanna and jurists Mario Pagano and Emanuele Gianturco; historians such as Giacomo Racioppi and Giovanni Battista Bronzini; intellectuals southerners Giu-

stino Fortunato, Francesco Saverio Nitti and Ettore Ciccotti, or medical researchers as Rocco Mazzarone; archaeologists as Ridola, Michele La Cava and Vittorio de Cicco; composers such as Gesualdo da Venosa and Egidio Duni. Many others this land have studied or represented, as archaeologists François Lenormant, Eleonora Bracco and even more Dinu Adamesteanu and art historian Emile Bertaux; other southerners like Salvemini or Zanotti Bianco or Carlo Levi, political prisoner; and even anthropologists, ethnologists, urban planners or intellectuals like Adriano Olivetti, Manlio Rossi Doria, Ernesto De Martino, Edward Banfield, Frederick G. Friedmann, Luigi Piccinato and Ludovico Quaroni. From this immense anthropological observatory, full of rituals, the family emerged as the primary source of wealth for the individual of the rural society. Now disappeared the outward manifestations, there remain fundamental values such as solidarity and hospitality. For several decades a very important role in the development of culture is done by the many cultural circles that lead to knowledge of the area and exploitation and more recently by the University of Basilicata, in a few years has created new challenges in search of their cultural roots. Positive experience is certainly that of international sculpture

exhibitions in the rock churches of Matera. This event, which stems from a cultural requirement and involves more than a decade of valuable artists, has the merit of creating a new relationship with art, both for the beauty of its surroundings that for the accuracy of the selection of the works. But, probably, one of the key events in Lucan society is that of the popular festivals that, even today, play a role very important cohesion. The most extraordinary thing is undoubtedly the unconditional participation of all, the return to "country" emigrant to consume a ritual that most often has its roots in pre-Christian rituals. Many are in fact the parties that are divided between the religious and the pagan reason: just think of those held as a thanksgiving for the harvest and to propitiate the next year. May of Accettura is a typical pagan festival, certainly from ancient origins. A big tree is felled and taken to the center of the country, where "marry", stripped of branches and bark, a younger tree that will be grafted on top. The ritual, which gives the trees the power to generate, is done mainly to propitiate a good agricultural year. identical events are held in Oppido Lucano, Pietrapertosa and Garaguso.

In Potenza, however, the Parade of the Turks, though born of a history- legend with a religious background, we can call it a historic celebration. It is said that on the night of May, while the Potentini rested, a group of Saracen pirates sailed up the Basento on some boats and attacked the city. Taken by surprise, the Potentini found themselves helpless. Suddenly the sky lit up and a host of angels appeared, surprising the Saracens, gave the Potentini time to organize the defense. Expelled the invader, the people attributed the miracle to St. Gerard, who in life had been bishop of Potenza. The parade goes through the stages of the legend in honor of St. Gerard on the 2nd which takes place for over 600 years, also born from a legend. He tells of a poor woman, and beautiful that near Matera asked for a lift to a farmer who was returning on a cart and who agreed. At the gates of the city she was revealed as the Madonna and asked the farmer to deliver a message to the bishop of the city. These, received the message, he went, accompanied by a group of faithful, to receive the Madonna, but arrived at the place they found a statue of a triumphal chariot. The bishop ordered him to bring

the wagon in the Cathedral, but in the meantime the soldiers in the city had been ordered to kidnap him. The people, rather than deliver it, destroy it preferred to remain in the possession of each part. The festival, which begins at dawn with a procession of shepherds, culminates, after the parade of the triumphal chariot escorted by the Knights, in the destruction of the same with a popular assault. Since the destruction of the Cart are drawn the auspices for the harvest and anyone who can own a piece will have good luck for. A barrel for the Good Friday tradition, from the middle of 1600, a repetition of the Mysteries of the Passion.

Very charming and engaging the emotional and painful participation of any person found in the Via Crucis, repeats the ancient rituals of pain that were typical of the "wake." Another tangible sign of the character of the countryside is the typical arrangement of the farmhouse. Now an architecture that over time is steadily changing, and who already live in the city only as a reconstruction. The typical country house was that of the Sassi of Matera, probably the most significant, as a symbol of a social condition which covered an entire population. Set in a grotto, with no windows and the damp walls, was the environment in which the farmer lived with his family and the animals workmates.

Essential the decor, almost all used and built in order to preserve food stocks. The used items, from plates to cutlery to what else could serve, was mostly homemade. The animals spent the night in the bottom of the cave dwelling. One can well imagine that it is not so, although only from 1952, the "farmhouse" is revived only in a reconstruction, but for those who know those environments, it is not difficult find the main characters in the arrangement of space and furniture in many modern homes.

Reggio Calabria

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Reggio Calabria was founded with the ancient name of "Rhegion" in the mid of the VIII century by greek colonists from Eubea island. It actually was the first greek colony of Calabria.

Thanks to its position, considered very centric for the commercial trade and strategic to rule both the Ionian and Tirrenean seas, the city lived a cultural and economic development and became an area of interest for several populations of the Mediterranean sea.

In the III century B.C. the city decided to ally with Rome and in the I Century B.C. it became a roman city with the name of "Rhegium Julium".

During this period Reggio Calabria had been enriched with many monuments and artworks but it lost all its economic importance due to the fall of the Roman Empire and the arrival of the barbaric populations.

Starting from the first half of the X Century the city was under the control of the Arabs followed by byzantine, Norman, suevi, angevin and Aragon populations. During the XVI century, under the Spanish domination, Reggio Calabria got its ancient richness back with some magnificent architecture buildings and churches. In 1783, at the time of the Bourbon dynasty, a terrible earthquake destroyed the city and later it was reconstructed by following engineer Mori's project. In 1860 Garibaldi won against the bourbon dynasty, letting Reggio Calabria be free. The city left the Kingdom of The Two Sicily for the Kingdom of Italy. Unfortunately, in 1908 a violent earthquake plus a tsunami destroyed the city for the second time. Nothing survived and the "old" city was considered completely burned to the ground. The process of reconstruction was given to Engineer Nava.

During the fascist regime the city extended itself and became state capital until 1970; later this title passed to Catanzaro, causing a citizens huge revolt.

On the 16th of March 2009 Reggio Calabria officially became "Metropolitan city" together with Rome, Milan, Turin, Venice, Genoa, Bologna, Florence, Bari, Naples, Cagliari, Palermo, Catania and Messina.

Contacts ESN Reggio Calabria esnreggiocalabria.org reggiocalabria@esn.it Erasmus Student Network Reggio Calabria @ESNReggioCal @esnrhegium Ufficio Relazioni Internazionali UniversitĂ â€œMediterraneaâ€?

Via Salita Melissari, Feo di Vito, 89124, Reggio Calabria

THE CITY TODAY The city changed many times its urban aspect due to tremendous natural events. Today Reggio Calabria is a modern city, with a city center located between Fiumara (river) Annunziata and Fiumara Capolinace. A very characteristic aspect of the urban structure is the presence of several elevations which offer a spectacular view from many points in the higher part of the city, the so-called "telescope streets", from where tourists can enjoy an unforgettable view of the sea.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW

The bus is the best public transport for visiting the city. Moreover, a totally free transport service (Universibus), which connects the city center with the Università Mediterranea degli Studi di Reggio Calabria, is available for everyone who lives near the university.

The city is very livable: it is very easy (even by walking) to move inside the city center or into the nearest districts.

- by train There are many trains which connect Reggio Calabria to the most important italian cities, ensuring a very good connection with the rest of the nation. The two most important stations are “Reggio Calabria Centrale” and “Reggio Calabria Lido”, both very centric and easy to reach.

More connections with other cities are guaranteed in the very near Villa San Giovanni, junction point for who needs to go or comes from Sicily.

TO

G ET H ERE

- by plane Tito Minniti Airport is just 4 km far from the city center, in the south part of the city. It is possible to reach the city center via public transport or taxi. The airport is well connected with many important hubs such as Rome, Milan, Venice, Bergamo and Malta island. Moreover, to reach Reggio Calabria, it is really convenient to fly to the very near Lamezia Terme or Catania.

- by bus There are several public and private bus companies which provide a service from the italian most important cities. All the bus stations of the city are located near both the train stations.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ M EDITERRANEA

DEGLI

S TUDI

DI

R EGGIO C ALABRIA

The “Libero Istituto Universitario di Architettura” born on the 17th of June 1968. Two years later , in february, the I.U.S.A. (Istituto Universitario Statale di Architettura), was instituited with Francesco Pontorieri as the dean of the university. In 1972 the official university badge was chosen. It took inspiration from the most ancient coin hedged in the National Civic Museum of the city. Lyon Nemea’s head is portrayed in one of the two faces of the little treasure. It is dated 400 B.C. The transformation from I.U.S.A. to public university has been carried out through a law dated 1982: engineering and agriculture universities born that year, while medicine, surgery and law were located in Catanzaro. The first dean of this new group of universities was Antonio Quistelli. Nowadays the buildings are centralized in the University town of Feo di Vito: It is a creation, still not totally completed, which changed radically the university campus life.

In 2001 the Law department left Catanzaro and became the forth specialization. With Alessandro Bianchi, the university became real “Mediterranean” with a specific goal to reach: to be the cultural and scientific point for all the Mediterranean area. Today several sectors put the campus in a reliable position. In 1984, thanks to an initiative of the local committee of the “Dante Alighieri” company, the “Università per Stranieri Dante Alighieri di Reggio Calabria” has been created. The aim of this institution is to contribute to the learning of the Italian language and culture and to the awareness of the respect for the most authentic comprehension among people, through the sharing of different experiences lived in foreign countries. After a law decree made by the university ministry on the 17th of October 2007, the Università per Stranieri “Dante Alighieri” became legally recognized as an institute with a special organization. Very prestige reputation has been gained by the “Conservatorio Francesco Cilea”, one of the first high cultural public institutions founded in Calabria (1964). It has been short time since the European Commission gave it the authorization for the Erasmus University Charter.

THE ESN SECTION ESN “Rhegium” . Founded in 2006, ESN “Rhegium” today is 8 years old. Every year about 100 students ( Erasmus, Erasmus Mundi) join the association. ESN Rhegium organizes, together with other near ESN sections, many trips to discover the area and helps erasmus students to embrace and live the city life with promotional events to let them know the cultural and historic heritage the city is characterized with. The association has a great relationship with local institutions such as the municipality and the university itself. Thanks to these relations, in 2008 ESN Reghium together with ESN Turkey, hosted the Cultural Medley. More than 70 people, members of more than 30 ESN sections, took part of the event.

In 2009 the section was one of the promoters of the Intensive Programme “Changing Landscapes” – Mediterranean Sensitive Areas Design. In the same year, ESN Reghium has been a supporter of the International Specialization Course in “Technology innovation and Olive culture sustainability” and of the “Youth Mediterranean Meeting”, held in Falerna (CS) in November 2009.

Moreover, the city was chosen to host the III National Platform of year 2010, from the 30th of July to the 1st of August. During the event more than 100 delegates, from many Italian ESN sections, had the chance to live the crazy summer of the city thanks to the parties organized for them in the beautiful location of the “Lungomare Falcomatà” www.esnreggiocalabria.org is the official website of ESN Reghium.

TIPS - Costa Viola Bagnara, Palmi, Seminara e Scilla”. Beautiful small jewels of the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria. These are places with very ancient origins characterized by a mix of European and Mediterranean cultural traditions.

- Aspromonte

The greek-roman colonies in the ionian coast offer the chance to go back to the past. Eduard Lear, Alexandre Dumas, M.Cornelius Escher wrote many stories about these “must to be visited” places among artists.

- Locride

This mountain protects the “Aspromonte National Park” where, 1400 metres above the sea level, the ski station and small town of Gambarie is located. It is possible to enjoy a beautiful view of Reggio Calabria and all the pieces of sea in front of it: from the snowy most high point of Etna to the Eolie islands.

Africo Vecchio, Ardore Superiore, Bianco, Bivongi, Bovalino Superiore, Gerace, Gioiosa Ionica, Locri Epizephiri, Monasterace, Polsi, Riace, Roccella Ionica, Stilo, Zomaro. These are places full of history, with a past full of historical and archaeological proofs. Traces of the Greek-Roman empire and byzantine places of worship can be admired by visiting these small towns.

- Area Greganica

- Bergamotto e Olio Extra-Olive Oil

Amendolea, Bagaladi, Bova Superiore, Bova Marina, Condofuri, Galliciano’, Motta San Giovanni, Montebello Ionico, Palizzi, Pentedattilo, Roccaforte del Greco, Roghudi, Staiti. In these places you can feel history, charm and mystery.

With a very ancient tradition, these products are considered as symbols of a millennial culture for the local people.

Rimini

HISTORICAL SUMMARY The History of Rimini can be split in 3 periods, Ancient, Middle Ages, and Modern history. In the Ancient period which starts in 268 BC at the mouth of the Ariminus river, in an area that had previously been inhabited by the Etruscans, the Umbrians, the Greeks and the Gauls, the Romans founded the colony of Ariminum, probably from the name of a nearby river, Ariminus (today, Marecchia). Previously the area had been Gaulish, from the 6th century BC, to that group's final defeat in 283 BC by the Umbri, in whose possession it remained until 263 BC when it became a Latin colony very helpful to the Romans during the late Gallic wars. The city was involved in the civil wars but remained faithful to the popular party and to its leaders, firstly Marius, and then Caesar. After crossing the Rubicon, the latter made his legendary appeal to the legions in the Forum of Rimini. Ariminum was seen as a bastion against invaders from Gaul and also as a springboard for conquering the Padana plain. As the terminus of the Via Flaminia, which ended here in the surviving prestigious Arch of Augustus (erected 27 BC), Rimini was a road junction connecting central Italy and northern Italy by the Via Aemilia that led to Piacenza and the Via Popilia that extended northwards; it also opened up trade by sea and river. Crisis in the Roman world was marked by destruction caused by invasions and wars, but also by the testimony of the palaces of the Imperial officers and the first churches, the symbol of the spread of Christianity that held an important Council in Rimini in 359.

During the Middle Ages Ostrogoths conquered Rimini in 493, Odoacer, besieged in Ravenna, had to capitulate. During the Gothic War Rimini was taken and retaken many times. In its vicinity the Byzantine general Narses overthrew (553) the Alamanni. Under the Byzantine rule, it belonged to the Pentapolis, part of the Exarchate of Ravenna. In 728, it was taken with many other cities by the Lombard King Liutprand but returned to the Byzantines about 735. King Pepin gave it to the Holy See, but during the wars of the popes and the Italian cities against the emperors, Rimini sided with the latter.

In the 13th century, it suffered from the discords of the Gambacari and

ESN Rimini Contacts http://www.esnrimini.org info@esnrimini.org Erasmus Student Network Rimini c/o Giuseppe Sammartano Via Due Palme, 2 47900 Rimini (RN)

Ansidei families. The city became a municipality in the 14th century and with the arrival of the religious orders, numerous convents and churches were built, providing work for many illustrious artists. In fact, Giotto inspired the 14th-century School of Rimini, which was the expression of original cultural ferment. The Malatesta family emerged from the struggles between municipal factions with Malatesta da Verucchio, who in 1239 was named podestĂ (feudal lord) of the city. Despite interruptions, his family held authority until 1528. In 1312 he was succeeded by Malatesta II, first signore (lord) of the city and Pandolfo I, the latter's brother, named by Louis the Bavarian imperial vicar in Romagna. Ferrantino, son of Malatesta II (1335), was opposed by his cousin Ramberto and

by Cardinal Bertando del Poggetto (1331), legate of John XXII. Malatesta Guastafamiglia (1363) was also lord of Pesaro. His son Carlo, one of the most respected condottieri of the time, enlarged the Riminese possessions and restored the port. Carlo died childless in 1429, and the lordship was divided into three parts, Rimini going to Galeotto Roberto, a Catholic zealot who turned out to be totally inadequate for the role. The Pesarese line of the Malatestas tried, in fact, to take advantage of his weakness and to capture the city, but Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, Carlo's nephew, who was only 14 at the time, intervened to save it. Galeotto retired to a convent, and Sigismondo obtained the rule of Rimini.

Sigismondo Pandolfo was the most famous lord of Rimini. In 1433 Emperor Sigismund sojourned in the city and for a while he was the commander-in-chief of the Papal armies. A skilled general, Sigismondo often acted as condottiero for other states to gain money to embellish it (he was also a dilettante poet). He had the famous Tempio Malatestiano rebuilt by Leon Battista Alberti. However, after the rise of Pope Pius II he had to fight constantly for the independence of the city. In 1463 he was forced to submit to Pius II, who left him only Rimini and little more; Roberto Malatesta, his son (1482), under pope Paul II nearly lost his state but under Sixtus IV became the commanding officer of the pontifical army against Ferdinand of Naples. Sigismondo was, however, defeated by Neapolitan forces in the battle of Campomorto (1482). Pandolfo IV, his son (1500), lost Rimini to Cesare Borgia, after whose overthrow it fell to Venice (1503–1509), but it was later retaken by pope Julius II and incorporated into the Papal States. After the death of pope Leo X, Pandolfo returned for several months, and with his son Sigismondo held a rule which looked tyrannous even for the time. Pope Adrian VI expelled him again and gave Rimini to the Duke of Urbino, the pope's vicar in Romagna. In 1527 Sigismondo managed to regain the city, but in the following year the Malatesta dominion died forever.

At the beginning of the 16th century begins the Modern period and Rimini, now a secondary town of the Papal States, was ruled by an Apostolic Legate. Towards the end of the 16th century, the municipal square (now Piazza Cavour), which had been closed off on a site where the Poletti Theatre was subsequently built, was redesigned. The statue of Pope Paul V has stood in the centre of the square next to the fountain since 1614. In the 16th century, the 'grand square' (now the Piazza Tre Martiri in honor of three civilians hanged by the retreating Nazis at the end of World War II), which was where markets and tournaments were held, underwent various changes. A small temple dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua and a clock tower were built there, giving the square its present shape and size. Until the 18th century raiding armies, earthquakes, famines, floods and pirate attacks ravaged the city. In this gloomy situation and due to a weakened local economy, fishing took on great importance, a fact testified by the construction of structures such as the fish market and the lighthouse. In 1797 Rimini, along with the rest of Romagna, was affected by the passage of the Napoleonic army and became part of the Cisalpine Republic. Napoleonic policy suppressed the monastic orders, confiscating their property and thus dispersing a substantial heritage, and demolished many churches including the ancient cathedral of Santa Colomba. On 30 March 1815, Joachim Murat launched his Rimini Proclamation to the Italian people from here, hoping to incite them to unity and independence. In 1845 a band of adventurers commanded by Ribbotti entered the city and proclaimed a constitution which was soon abolished. In 1860 Rimini and Romagna were incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy. The city was transformed after the 1843 founding of the first bathing establishment and the Kursaal, a building constructed to host sumptuous social

events, became the symbol of Rimini's status as a tourist resort. In just a few years the seafront underwent considerable development work making Rimini 'the city of small villas'. At the beginning of the 20th century The Grand Hotel, the city’s first major accommodation facility, was built near the beach. During the first World War Rimini and its surrounding infrastructure was one of the primary targets of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. After Italy's declaration of war on 15 May 1915 the Austro-Hungarian fleet left its harbours the same day and started its assault on the Adriatic coast between Venice and Barletta. During World War II the city was torn apart by heavy bombardments and by the passage of the front over the Gothic Line during the Battle of Rimini and was eventually captured by Greek and Canadian forces. Following its liberation on September 21, 1944, reconstruction work began, culminating in huge development of the tourist industry in the city.

THE CITY TODAY Rimini is a city of 146,606 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna (Italian region), is located on the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most famous seaside resorts in Europe, thanks to its 15-kilometre-long sandy beach, over 1,000 hotels, and thousands of bars, restaurants and discos. Founded by the Romans in 268 BC, throughout their period of rule Rimini was a key communications link between the north and south of the peninsula, and on its soil Roman emperors erected monuments like the Arch of Augustus and the Tiberius Bridge, while during the Renaissance, the city benefited from the court of the House of Malatesta, which hosted artists like Leonardo and produced works such as the Malatesta Temple. Rimini is located in a historically strategic position, at the extreme southern edge of the Po Valley, at the junction point of Northern and Central Italy. It is surrounded towards southwest by the gently hills of Covignano (153 metres high), Vergiano (81 m), San Martino Monte l’Abbate (57 m) and San Lorenzo in Correggiano (60 m), widely cultivated, with vineyards, olive groves and orchards, and dominated by ancient mansions. Rimini’s territory, for its geographical position and its climatic features, is situated on the edge between the mediterranean and the central European phytoclimatic zones, and thus it represents an environment of notable naturalistic value. Rimini is a major international tourist destination and seaside resort, among the most famous ones in Europe and the Mediterraneanbasin,[16] thanks to a long sandy beach, well-equipped bathing establishments, theme parks and a number of opportunities for leisure and spare time. Rimini is a leading trade fair and convention site in Italy, with an important Trade Fair (Rimini Fiera) and a Convention centre (Palacongressi di Rimini).

P UBLIC T RANSPORT The network of urban transports, provided by START Romagna, includes 13 urban bus lines, 9 suburban bus lines and a trolleybus line which connects Rimini city centre to the nearby seaside resort of Riccione. There is a ticket and information kiosk outside the railway station.

Services are efficient and tickets are cheap.

Within the historic centre it is easy to get around on foot, but the seaside areas spread a long way, and are quite boring to walk through, so hopping on a bus is often a good option.

Stops are labelled with numbers which is very helpful for travellers. A town map available from the tourist office shows bus routes and stops. It is generally worth buying a period bus ticket -

for example a 3-day ticket at the time of writing costs just €5.50.

H OW

TO

G ET H ERE

Rimini is an important road and railway junction, thanks to its position at the intersection between the Adriatic coastal routes and the Po Valley ones and its proximity to theRepublic of San Marino. Moreover is very well connected, indeed you can easily reach Rimini through car, train or simply flying.

- by car The Adriatic motorway (A14) connects Rimini

to Bologna towards North and Taranto towards South, through the tolls of Rimini Nord and Rimini Sud. Rimini is a junction of three highways of Roman origins: the Via Emilia (SS 9) to Milan, the Via Flaminia (SS 16) to Rome and the Via Popilia (SS 16) to Padova. The Rimini-San Marino Highway (SS 72) connects the Adriatic Riviera to the capital of the Republic of San Marino, entering the Sammarinese territory after the State limit at Dogana. Via Marecchiese (SP 258), leading to Sansepolcro, pass through the Apennines at Viamaggio Pass and links Rimini to its hinterland,Tuscany and the Tiber Valley. Roads of local importance are the provincial roads to Coriano (SP 31), Montescudo (SP 41) and Santa Cristina (SP 69).

- by plane The city is served by the Federico Fellini International Airport, at Miramare, the second airport in Emilia-Romagna by passenger traffic.

It has regular links to national and international hubs, low cost, charter and seasonal flights.

The closest major international airports are Bologna-Marconi, Venice-Marco Polo and Milan-Malpensa.

If you land to Bologna airport, there is a shuttle right outside the airport which will get you to the train station and then you can catch the train to Rimini Station.

- by train Trenitalia and Italotreno both connect other Italian cities with Rimini, indeed it is a major junction of the regional railway network and it is one of the main stations of the Adriatic railway. Rimini Station is a junction of the railroad lines Bologna-Ancona and Ferrara-Ravenna-Rimini, and trains of all categories stop there, including Frecciarossa and Frecciabianca. It is also the ending point of long-distance railway services to Rome and of regional services to Bologna, Ancona and Ravenna. Rimini also has four minor railway stations: Miramare, Viserba, Torre Pedrera, served by regional services, and Rimini Fiera, periodically served by regional and intercity services in conjunction of the main trade fairs.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI

S TUDI

DI

B OLOGNA – P OLO

SCIENTIFICO - DIDATTICO DI

R IMINI

The first University courses at Rimini date back to 1972; then, in the Eighties degree programmes were started in Economics and Statistics. When other degrees were added – Industrial Chemistry, Fashion, Pharmacy, Motor Science, Medicine and Educational Science – a proper university dimension began to take shape. Over the years the Rimini set-up has grown in many senses: from a few dozen students in the 1970s, to over 6,000 enrolled for the last academic year; from two degree programmes to today’s 19; from a handful of teaching staff to over 100 at present; and in 2012 the creation of an innovative department – the only one such in Italy – theDepartment of Science for the Quality of Life. To match this expansion, there has been a growth of services and scientific-teaching areas supporting students(the centralized library, the student association, ICT laboratories, a Wi-Fi network, a language centre, study rooms, services for international projects, welcome and help for foreign students, the psychological support service, etc.), and likewise laboratories for scientific and technological research on behalf of the teaching staff (laboratories for Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Biomedicine). The Rimini Campus is also actively supported by Local Institutions providing concrete help to integrate and boost the University Campus in a spirit of awareness that working together towards common goals is a winning strategy for economic and social development of the surrounding area. At the end of 2013, as part of overall reorganization of the University General Administration – geared to enhancing the Multicampus system and introducing transversal connections between the General Administration, the local area and the supporting organizations – there came into being the Ravenna and Rimini Campus Area.

Over the years we have seen more and more young people from other areas of Italy, Europe and the whole world enrolling on Rimini degree programmes. This affords some confirmation that the quality of our education is competitive not just within the Italian peninsula but internationally as well.

THE ESN SECTION ESN Rimini was founded in 2005 and since is birth it has been the landmark for all the international students studying in Rimini. The founder and the first president of the section, after his Erasmus in Belgium was Domenico Melpignano, who was assisted by four other people, all members of the Board. Due to the fact that Rimini is a small city, ESN Rimini is a small section, but it didn’t affect the section, indeed during September 2008 the city of Rimini hosted the famous Council of National Representatives (CNR), meeting for all the national representatives from the other countries.

Nowadays the section is still composed by a few people, but all of them are full of spirit and enthusiasm who organize always new activities, for instance one of the fixed event is the Beachparty, an event opened to all the Italian sections.

The section regular activities include: the project called find an accommodation, where the members of ESN Rimini help the Erasmus finding a suitable accommodation based on the students’s requests and needs. Moreover, they organize guided tours of the city informing Erasmus about the most important events on the territory (fairs or festival). And more than that, the members of ESN Rimini organize also trips all over Italy and parties only for students. One of the most appreciated activity is the welcome week, which starts in the university, thanks to the current collaboration; basically it consists in a warm welcome to all the new Erasmus and an amazing trasur hunt in order to discover the city.

The section is involved also in project like Social Erasmus and Erasmus in Schools, all is possible thanks to an amazing cooperation in the national network. Every year the section tries to improve its work offering a new and better service and aiming to new and high goals.

TIPS - La Piadina Romagnola The most typical thing of Rimini is the Piadina which is a thin Italian flatbread, typically prepared in the Romagna region (Forlì-Cesena, Ravenna and Rimini). It is usually made with white flour, lard or olive oil, salt and water. The dough was traditionally cooked on a terracotta dish, although nowadays flat pans or electric griddles are commonly used. It is the national food for Romagna inhabitants.

- Clubs they are famous in all Europe because they have been entertaining the public for more than 30 years. The discos are located along the entire Romagna coast and in Rimini e Riccione are situated the most famous ones. In Rimini

you can find the 16th best disco in the world, called Cocorico’; you can easily enjoy the best djs in the world, like David Guetta, Steve Aoki, LMFAO - Pink Night It is an event taking place along the entire Romagna coast tourism destinations. It takes place on the first weekend of July and since in 2010 reached 2 million attenders nowadays it is an international event. This big event/party is strictly correlated to the territory: the pubs, bars, shops and any type of facilities are adorned with pink decorations, as well as streetlight fireworks and historical buildings.

- The Beach

- The Historical Center

it is famous in the entire Europe for its accessibility and it is been hosting millions of tourist from the continent since 1950. The beach is sandy and suitable to get relaxed and tanned.

The beach resorts provides any types of comfort and they organize many happy-hour and party on the beach - Il Centro Storico

Rimini contains many cultural attractions and historical sites. From the Roman age the city has preserved the Augusto arch, the Tiberio Bridge, the roman amphitheater and the Domus del chirurgo. From the middle age you can visit the Sigismondo castle, il palazzo dell’Arengo and the Malatestian walls. From the Renaissance you can visit the Tempio Malatestiano (the white marble cathedral) and many buildings spread in the center city

Roma

HISTORICAL SUMMARY Rome, known as Caput Mundi and The Eternal City as well, is the State Capital of both the Italian Republic and Lazio. More than 2.700.000 people live there and that makes the city the most populated one in Italy.

Around 3.700.000 live in the metropolitan area. The Vatican City, heart of Catholic Church, is located inside Rome.

The earliest archaeological traces in the area where now stands the city of Rome date back to the 14th Century BC, while the first settlements on the Palatine Hill and in the surrounding areas date back to the 10th Century BC. According to legend , Rome was founded on April 21 , 753 BC by Romulus. Since then, and for the next three millennia, Rome has played a fundamental role in Italy and in Europe. Since its foundation, the City continued to grow until it reached one million inhabitants during the imperial age. When the Empire had fallen, Rome lost its importance, people started to leave the City so that many areas inside the walls became completely deserted.

In the 2nd Century A.D. Rome became the Holy See and in the 8th Century A.D. it became the State Capital of the Papal States. In the 14th Century, thanks to the Renaissance, the City began to rise again and became one of the most important cultural centers in Europe.

In 1871 occurred the Union of Italy so Rome became the State Capital of the Italian Reign and, since 1946, it is the State Capital of the Italian Republic.

Contatti ESN Roma ESN ASE Ancona Contacts www.esn-roma.it roma_ase@esn.it FacoltĂ di Economia Via del Castro Laurenziano, 9/c 00161 Roma (RM)

Contatti ESN Roma ESN TreAncona Contacts www.esnroma3.com roma_3@esn.it via Ostiense 159, 00149 Roma

Contatti ESN Contacts ESNRoma Ancona LUISS www.esnromaluiss.it romaluiss@esn.it Via Di Trasone, 56 00199 Roma (RM)

THE CITY TODAY Throughout its long history, the city of Rome has seen three major periods of development which were followed by a significant urban growth.

During the Roman period the city was the capital of the Empire so the wealth from all over the Empire flowed into the City. The oldest and most famous monuments of Rome belong to this period: the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, the Aqueducts, etc.

Many of the buildings that created the intricate network of narrow streets in the old town center belong to the the medieval period.

When the Middle Ages and the Empire had collapsed, the Renaissance began. During this era the greatest artists of Europe were called to Rome by the popes to build churches, fountains, squares and bridges. St. Peter's Basilica, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain belong to this period.

Finally, when the Reign of Italy was born, Rome became the State Capital of the unified country; since then the Roman modern urban development began and it still continues today.

In this period the Reign of Italy went through the fascist dictatorship (1922-1945) that led to the building of different areas: the university city of La Sapienza, the EUR district and the sports facilities of the Foro Italico.

The historic center of the city that shows more than 2,800 years of history has been listed as a World Heritage Site of UNESCO and makes the city one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Most of the old town is located in the area bounded by the ancient walls that Emperor Marcus Aurelius ordered to build between 270 and 273 AD to defend the city.

The city is divided into 35 neighborhoods; the first one coincides with the historic center and is further divided into twenty-two areas called districts, including for example Trastevere, Testaccio and Monti.

Thanks to the continuous flow of tourists, the city center is always crowded; the most common meeting places, especially for young people, are the San Lorenzo district (near the University La Sapienza), Campo de 'Fiori and Trastevere (in the center, full of pubs and restaurants), Ostiense and Testaccio (near University of Roma Tre).

P UBLIC T RANSPORT The urban area is much vast as to the number of inhabitants, but – mostly due to the several archaeological finds still lying in the Roman underground – there are just two metro line fully operational, while a third line is still near completion, with just few metro stations opened and operational.

City traffic often gives mobility some problems: the best way to avoid it is using transports by rail, such as metro and tram. There are also urban trains, marked by the code FR: these are trains belonging to the company Ferrovie dello Stato going outside Rome. Yet they can be used for links within the city, buying a regular bus ticket. For example, the FR1 line links Fiumicino airport to rail stations like Trastevere, Tuscolana and Tiburtina.

There is a bus line too, able to drive you anywhere you like. However these transport are not so reliable, since they are often late because of the traffic. A night line substitutes the diur-

nal bus line: N1 and N2 lines respectively substitute the metro lines A and B.

H OW T O G ET H ERE - By train The main rail station is Roma Termini, where the metro lines A and B cross and there are several bus terminus.

There are many secondary stations, such as Tiburtina, Trastevere and Ostiense, through which pass most of the trains crossing Italy. In Tiburtina and Ostiense stations, there are line A and B metro stations, while the others are easily accessible by bus or tram.

- By plane In Rome there are two main airports: Fiumicino and Ciampino.

Fiumicino is the second largest airport in Italy for importance and flow of planes. Several international airlines have its base there. The

airport is easily accessible from the city centre, thanks to a railway line which links the main stations to Fiumicino, with trains leaving every 15 minutes. The ticket costs only 8€.

From Roma Termini, there are also private buses and taxis, with a fixed price of 48€ for/to the centre of Rome.

Ciampino is smaller than Fiumicino and it receives the majority of low-cost planes coming from Europe. It does not have a railway connection, so you have to take a bus or a taxi to get it. The fastest and cheapest way to get to Ciampino is to take a bus from Anagnina station, only for 2€.

Alternative ways are: private bus leaving from Termini station, belonging to these companies www.terravision.eu and www.sitbusshuttle.it; prices may vary from 4 to 6€; a circular bus line (720) which links the metro station Laurentina to the airport (Fioranello/Appia bus stop) at the same price of a urban bus, yet the route is quite long and the buses often late.

Finally you can take a taxi: from the city centre to the airport the fixed price is 30€.

there, it is possible to the line B of the metro to reach (almost) every area of the city, or bus lines.

Lately, also the bus company Megabus offers routes from/to Rome. http://iteu.megabus.com/

- By bus Every bus which leaves from other Italian cities to Rome are getting to Tiburtina station; from

THE UNIVERSITY There are several public and private universities in Rome. Among these, the first one is “ L A S APIENZA ”, knows also as “Roma 1”, the largest and most ancient, with its more than 140.000 students. It is the largest in Europe too.

Others public universities are: T OR V ERGATA , known as “Roma 2”, has its faculties placed in a wide campus of 560 hectares, near the Grande Raccordo Anulare; and R OMA T RE , founded in 1992, the youngest one, placed in the Ostiense area (Basilica of Saint Paul). Then, there is the “ U NIVERSITÀ DEGLI S TUDI DI R OMA F ORO I TALICO – IUSM – Istituto Universitario di Scienze Motorie”, which is the first university in Italy completely devoted to sport disciplines.

Among the private universities, the most famous is probably the “ LUISS Guido Carli”, meaning Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali. Founded in 1974, it is specialized in economics, social, legal and managerial sciences.

Other private universities are LUMSA , UNINT , C ATTOLICA DEL S ACRO C UORE and P ONTIFICIA Lateranense.

ESN SECTIONS Among all the universities in Rome, the only ones hosting an ESN section are La Sapienza, Roma Tre and LUISS. These three sections are parts of the ESN network and often cooperate among them, organizing city tours, one-day trips, parties and sport events, being at the same time independent sections which manage its own events.

Pay attention: official Erasmus association in Rome are only three! Unfortunately there are some unofficial association run by people who pretend to be an ESN section in order to confuse Erasmus students and benefit from it. The official ESN associations are a guarantee, since they are recognized by their own respective universities and because all their events are non-profit. Trusting these unofficial associations, you run the risk of having a worse service at an higher price; moreover, you help the illicit enrichment of these associations, damaging the image of ESN sections, which DO NOT HAVE ANY BENEFIT from the activities they organize.

ESN R OMA ASE The section of the University "La Sapienza" is called ESN Roma ASE, and has been operating since 1993 with the name of ASE. It joined ESN in February 1995, and contains something like 1900 erasmus students every year, a fact that makes it the biggest section in the Italian and in the European Network. ESN Roma ASE has been taking care of Erasmus students for 20 years, knows their problems, knows how to help them and how to achieve their integration. The most important activities of the association are its trips, which have the objective to show to the erasmus students the best of Italy. The official website is: www.esn-roma.it.

ESN R OMA T RE The Erasmus association in Roma Tre University was founded in 1997 with the name “Erasmus Tre” (known also as e3) and entered in the ESN network with the name ESN Roma Tre in February 2007. Every year almost 600 international students come to the office to buy the ESN card.

ESN Roma Tre offers a wide range of weekly activities, such as Tandem, Buddy System, Cineforum. Yet the strong points of this section are guided tours and sport events.

During the year, ESN Roma Tre staff will bring you to visit the most wonderful places in the millenary capital of the Roman Empire. And the section have always given a particular attention to sport.

ESN Roma Tre organizes five-a-side football tournament every semester, for both male and female; it also participates with its Erasmus team to a football tournament among various universities in Rome. If you prefer volleyball or basketball, don’t worry! There are these kinds of tournaments too.

The volleyball and basketball teams from ESN Roma Tre have lately won the second edition of ESN ONE, the Erasmus Olympic Games, which took place in Avellino in March 2015. Thanks to these victories, they participated in the International Olympic Games (ESN Team) in Cracovia.

If you do like sports, if you would like to discover the beauties of the eternal city or if you just want to join us for a typical Italian aperitivo come here, we are waiting for you in the capital!

ESN R OMA LUISS ESN Roma LUISS (www.esnromaluiss.it) is the youngest ESN Roman section. It was founded in August 2010 and it has around 300 associates. It actively cooperates with the International Relations Office of LUISS Guido Carli and the University officially recognizes it as an association that both organizes various activities for international students and promotes the internationalization of the university itself. ESN Roma LUISS organizes activities such as the Tandem Program, the Buddy Program and the amazing International Dinners and, together with the University, the

“Discovering Secret Places”, that are guided tours in places that are usually closed to the public.

TIPS - Il pecorino romano It is a traditional cheese from Rome, obtained by sheep milk. Its origins are very ancient: it was really common at the era of the Ancient Rome and, thanks to its salty taste and its capacity of long-life preservation, legionaries used to eat it in their daily ration.

- La pasta alla carbonara Another traditional dish from Rome, even if nowadays it is very famous abroad too.

Its origins are doubtful. A version tells that such dish was invented during the Second World War, when US army was in Rome. Thanks to the US soldiers, it was quite easy to find eggs and bacon, so Romans did not do nothing more than put them together with more common products, such as pasta, pepper and pecorino.

- Concerto del Primo Maggio On May 1st during the International Workers’ Day, there is a big concert for free in piazza San Giovanni. The concert starts in the early afternoon and goes on until night; yet you can find people since the early morning waiting for it. On the stage, there are several singers and musicians from everywhere and in the square there is a great atmosphere created by all those people from Italy, and so many other places!!

- Festa de’ Noantri It is an ancient festivity, with a strong religious and popular value. The festivity, which takes place every year in Trastevere the first Saturday after July 16th, began in the sixteenth century to honour the Madonna del Carmine. For this reason, a statue of the Virgin is carried in procession covered by jewels and precious habits. There are other events more popular, such as musical and theatrical performance, stalls, etc.

- Festa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo On June 29th, it is the festivity of the patron

saints, so offices and schools are closed and you can find many stalls in front of the Saint Paul Basilica. By night, in the same area, you can admire wonderful fireworks.

- PAY ATTENTION! - if you are used to eat early, you will probably have some difficulties to find restaurants open before 19. In the most famous restaurants, we suggest to book your place before, because the people in Rome like to stay at dinner for a long time.

- If you want to visit churches in summer (especially St. Peter), we suggest to wear something on your shoulders, or you will not be admitted inside.

Salerno

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

The history of "Salernum" began with its colonization by the Greeks and Romans, which provided the city one of its most prosperous periods. The city fell then victim of many Barbarian invasions and it lost a lot of its prestige. In 786, with the arrival of the Longobards and of Prince Arechi II, Salerno became the cornerstone of communication in the region of Campania and, thanks to the founding of the famous "Medical School of Salerno", it was the most important medical source in Europe during the Middle Ages. After the Longobard and the Saracen invasions, the Normans with Robert the Guiscard arrived, who realized the Terracena Castle (also known as Arechi), the famous Cathedral of Saint Mathew and who gave the maximum value to the "Medical School of Salerno". However, a long period of decadence for the city then started, which only ended with its annexation to the Italian Kingdom- after the arrival of Garibaldi on the 6th September 1860- due to the wide presence of different populations, like the Swabians, the Angevins and the Spanish. During the Second World War, Salerno was the scene of the allied landing, the so called Landing of Salerno (or rather Operation Avalanche) and hosted the royal family for about 3 months and the first post-fascist government, becoming capital of the Italian Kingdom until the liberation of Rome.

THE CITY TODAY Salerno has a population of 150.000 inhabitants and it is situated in a strategic position compared to the most important touristic attractions of the province. The modern city is outlined by natural boundaries that have marked the urban development over the time. The western edge of the city has grown along the gulf of Salerno, bathed by the Tirreno Sea, and it is bordered to the North by the Amalfi Coast and to the South by the Cilento Coast and the plain of the River Sele. The city is perfectly located between the sea and the adjacent mountain ranges which offer routes

Contacts ESN PES Salerno www.esnsalerno.it salerno@esn.it Erasmus Student Network Salerno @ESNSalerno P.zza Umberto I, n° 1 c/o Accademia Leonardo 84121, Salerno

with breath-taking views directly on the cliffs overlooking the sea. The modern economy is based on tourism, agriculture and fishing. In fact, over the last few years, some new ports have been built, such as an important commercial port and a touristic port and another one called “Marina di Arechi” is under construction. The last one will consist in a huge complex of floating docks able to receive cruise ships. Concerning the agriculture, the province covers almost the entire National demand for tomatoes and it is well-known for its fruit and vegetables and dairy products. Finally, the city offers many wonderful destinations and events that attract a considerable amount of tourists and it is the perfect departure point for visiting the "Divine Amalfitan Coast” and the popular beaches of Cilento.

The city offers its citizens several parks, pedestrian areas and exciting nightlife scenery. A few remarkable places are “Parco del Mercatello” in the eastern area of the city and “Parco Pinocchio” close to the Irno railway station. In addition, the center has a long promenade which includes the Trieste seafront and the Old Town center with its small streets that climb toward the higher part of the city. Salerno is also the "city of the future": indeed, the Municipality is investing a lot of money in work of art of famous architects for the revive of the International tourism: apart from the port "Marina di Arechi", we can think about the huge "Piazza della Libertà", situated directly on the sea and where it will be built the "Crescent", the "Cittadella Giudiziaria", a group of building dedicated to the juridical administration and, last but not least, the sail-shaped building, inspired to the Dubai one.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW

The city is connected by a bus system which works in the urban area and in the surrounding villages, including Fisciano and Lancusi where the two campus of the University are located.

Tickets can be bought in tobacco shops, kiosk and in some bars (more info here www.unicocampania.it). The price of a standard urban ticket, valid for 90 minutes since the first trip, is € 1.30. During the night there are no buses so you can move by walk or by taking a taxi, nevertheless the service is quite expensive.

The Taxi parking is in Vittorio Veneto Square, at the central station (for reservation 089/757575). Another transport is the train, which connects Salerno to the districts of the Province. For those who use the car, the biggest car parking area is close to the port.

There you find a toll parking, and the cost is 2 € for each hour, like in the rest of the central area of the city. And, for those who are more athletic, there is the possibility to rent a bike.

Indeed, Salerno has a 30 km bicycle path that runs along the amazing seafront and which connect the city to Paestum.

- by train Salerno offers a really active railway station which offers both regional and National trips and it is situated at the center of the city. There are also high-speed trains (Frecciarossa, Italo) which connect the city to Milan. Other important destinations are: Rome, Florence, Bologna, Naples, Caserta, Cosenza, Reggio Calabria, Siracusa, Palermo. From and to Rome the cheapest ticket costs 25 € (but there is the chance to find even cheaper tickets if you look for them in advance) and it takes more or less 3 hours (2 hours with high-speed trains, but the ticket is more expensive), while from and to Naples the ticket costs 5 € and the train takes about 40 minutes. For the National trips it is possible to buy the ticket over internet and take advantage of some discounts if you buy it in advance: www.trenitalia.it or www.italotreno.it (here you can just find high-speed trains).

TO

G ET H ERE

- by plane Salerno has a really small airport. Nevertheless it is possible to take advantage of the airport in Naples, which is just 50 minutes away from Salerno and it is connected to the city by direct buses from and to the airport of Capodichino. It is possible to reach Salerno also if you land in Rome, but then you have to go to Roma Termini to take a train or to Roma

Tiburtina if you prefer to take a bus (which is also cheaper).

- by bus Many Italian cities are connected to Salerno by public or private buses, for example: from Rome you can get buses to Salerno at Tiburtina station, the cost is between 12 and 17 euro and it takes more or less 3 hours; from Naples there are more buses, the cost is about 5 euro and it takes more or less 40 minutes. There are also direct buses to the airport of Rome and Naples.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI

S TUDI

DI

S ALERNO

The University of Salerno is mainly located in Fisciano (province of Salerno) and Baronissi (also in the province) where there are the faculties of Medicine and Surgery. The faculties present at our University are: Economy, Pharmacy, Law, Engeneering, Literature and Philosophy, Foreign Languages and Literature, Medicine and Surgery, Education Sciences, Mathematical Physical and Natural Sciences, Political Sciences. The University offers to its students several services, among the others: Center for Orientation and Mentoring, Linguistic Center, laboratories, Library, Wi-Fi, Canteen. The Campus also has places for the free time: sports facilities, Theater, green spaces.

Since two years the University has a web-radio called "Unis@und" whose aim is to let students know about all the activities of the Campus and to broadcast programs produced by students. The University also has an Orchestra "Jazz Orchestra of the University of Salerno" which aims to support the talented students. During the academic year 2009/2010 the Campus opened its university residence, with several places for studying, didactics and free time. It is a very wide space which is constantly expanding.

C ONSERVATORIO S TATALE

DI

M USICA "G. M ARTUCCI "

The University of Salerno, in short, is a real campus which holds facilities for students, orientation, teaching, studying and free time too. It represents a crucial point of reference that is constantly expanding. The Martucci Conservatory of Music of Salerno (“Conservatorio Statale di Musica G. Martucci”) is located in Salvatore De Renzi street, it was firstly intended as a music school during the Borbonic reign and it was built in 1819. At now the Conservatory is in charge of promoting politics for the improvement of European cooperation related to a new concept of quality evaluation.

This would lead to a new dimension of higher education, by taking care of curricula improvement, cooperation between institution, international mobility programs, integrated study plan, professional training and research.

THE ESN SECTION

SA

LE

R PE NO S

ESN PES Salerno was born in 2011 thanks to the initiative of 5 ex-Erasmus students eager to convey their experience and to keep in contact with Erasmus network. “ESN Salerno” became candidate section on October of the same year. The group grew in few months and on April 21, 2012 became the 46th Italian section. The activities of the association consist in welcoming and receiving the foreign students and help them to find an ideal collocation in the city. The association is also in charge of the organization of several cultural and recreational events in order to improve their stay in the hosting country and promote the city and the local culture. Besides its presence into the University of Salerno, that has more than 300 students, the organization is also recognized by the Martucci Conservatory of Music as a partner for promoting music culture to students.

TIPS - Typical Food and Drink

stered as a DOP certification.

The city of Salerno has always benefited from the sun and the sea breeze. These particular climatic conditions have favored the development of a typical food, worldwide envied.

- Local dishes Because of its proximity to the sea Salerno has a strong relationship with it. In fact among the traditional Salernitan dishes we remember for the first courses with seafood, “risotto alla pescatora” and “ “pasta con la colatura di alici”, among the second courses we remember “le alici in tortiera”, “il cuoppo di mare”, il “baccala arraganato” e la “mpepata di cozze”, and the side dish with sea perfume. Among the traditional dishes of Salerno there are also “le zucchine alla scapece”, la “cianfotta”, la “caponata” e “scarole imbottite” e la “milza imbottita”.

- Lemons from the Amalfi Coast Called “sfusato” in slang for its unmistakable shape, the lemon is the real symbol of Salerno.

It is also referred as the yellow gold of the Amalfitan coast. It has a light peel and an intense perfume and flavor. The pulp is juicy and acid with few seeds. Its slices are so sweet that they can be eaten raw as a dessert, with or without sugar.

- Buffalo mozzarella Amongst the typical Campanian products, mozzarella cannot be forgotten. Arrived with The Longobardi, the region of Piana del Sele has been reserved to the breeding of buffaloes.

Their milk allows the production of an exceptional mozzarella. To have the DOP (protected origin) mark it must the result of the milks of buffaloes bred in freedom and with natural feed.

To prepare it is necessary all the ability of master cheese, able to cut off the hot racy dough.

- The extra virgin olive oil We can’t forget the “extravergine oil” from Campanian hills, undisputed king of every Campanian traditional dish. Among them we can’t forget the Cilento oil, whose production is regi-

- Wine Everything is accompanied with excellent wines, three of them are DOC (controlled origin) wines, “il Cileno”, “il Castel San Lorenzo”, e ”il Costa D’Amalfi” and another one, “il Colli di Salerno”, is an IGP wine (protectedgeographical indication).

- Special events in the city - San Matteo The 21 of September in Salerno there is the celebration in honour of Saint Matthew, the protector of the city, with a procession in which a silver statue of the Saint passes through the old town centre. At the end of the religious celebration, it begins a feast in an open space with various stands and with the possibility to go on carousels, placed purposely for this occasion.

At the end of the day, it is possible to see the fireworks (“fuochi pirotecnici”) from the Lungomare.

- Luci d’artista From October to January it is possible to see a special art exhibition in all the streets of the city and in the main squares of the city, named Luci D’Artista. Thanks to this event, the city attracts millions of people for this special Christmas atmosphere (or Yuletide Christmas period).

- Salerno Porte Aperte The event takes place in May: it is possible to know the cultural, handcrafted and gastronomic local beauties thanks to various events dedicated to art. Years after years these events are presented according to a different calendar, involving the major cultural and educational centers of the county seat.

- The fair of the crucifix This is another event expected from all the citizens. The event involves the arrangement of stands in different areas of the county seat every Friday of March. These stands vary from the antique trade to traditional stand. Two months later there is the Fiera del Crocifisso Ritrovato: the inner city is animated by various initiatives of reconstruction with medieval theme. Artists and people with vintage clothes fill the streets with enormous preparations, handcrafted stands and delicious gastronomy.

- Exhibition of Minerva In April the environmentalists can participate in the exhibit or rare and beautiful plants that habitually takes place in the “villa comunale of Salerno”.

- What to see The tour of Salerno can start visiting the cathedral of the city (“il Duomo”), that was built by Roberto il Guiscardo after the conquest of the city. Nowadays the cathedral is dedicated to Saint Matthew, the patron saint of Salerno.

Through the years, the building has undergone several reconstructions, but it recently has

been renewed to its original Roman structure.

The cathedral holds many ancient tombs, among them the most important are the ones of Gregorio VII, Ruggero Borsa (the son of Roberto il Guiscardo) and queen Margherita Durazzo.

Another destination worth to visit is the Arechi castle (“il castello Arechi), which was built during the Salerno Longobard period. The imposing castle overlooks the city and allows visitors a breathtaking sight of the whole city.

The Crocifisso church (“la Chiesa del Crocifisso”) dates back to tenth and eleventh century and underwent several renovations. The church has a basilica and the crypt holds a fifteenth-century painting. It's also recommended to have a walk in the historical centre, starting from Mercanti street (“via dei Mercanti”), plenty of small shops, and go on for the upper part of the city to reach Minerva gardens (“i Giardini della Minerva”), the oldest european botanical garden and a point of reference for the very famous medical school of Salerno (“Scuola Medica Salernitana”). It's also worth a walk the promenade of the city (“il Lungomare”) during which you can enjoy whatching some historical buildings and you can have a little sample of the Amalfi coast (“Costiera Amalfitana”). Salerno is worth a visit both during the summer and the Christmas period during which special lights illuminate the city and in particular the town park (“la Villa Comunale”). Also the suburb of the city is plenty of historical places to visit and the archeological area of “Fratte” is one of the most notable examples. In addition to the city, it's also important to remember the province of Salerno: the Amalfi coast, in particular Vietri, Cetara, Amalfi, Ravello, Positano and the Cilento coast, which is located in the southern part. The archeological area of Paestum is home of the best preserved temples in the world. It's also woth the visit the Pertosa caves (“le grotte di Pertosa”), the Charterhouse of Padula (“la Certosa di Padula”) and the WWF oasis of Persano.

Sassari

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

The surrounding area of Sassari has been inhabited since the Neolithic age, as the prehistoric step pyramid -ziqqurat- of Monte d'Accoddi shows.

Sassari was probably founded by the inhabitants of the ancient Roman port of Turris Lybisonis (current Porto Torres) who sought refuge in the mainland to escape the Saracen attacks from the sea. In the early year of the 13th century Sassari was the most populated town of Torres District, called “Civitas Turritana”. In 1284 the Pisans were defeated by the Genoese fleet at the Battle of Meloria, and the city was able to free itself: it became the first and only early independendant renaissance city-state of Sardinia, with statutes of its own, allied to Genoa. Its statutes of 1316 are remarkable for the leniency of the penalties imposed when compared with the penal laws of the Middle Ages. From 1323 the Republic of Sassari decided to side with the King of Aragon, in whose hands it remained for much of the following centuries. In 1420 the city was sold along with the remaining territory to the Crown of Aragon, replaced by Spain after 1479 on the joining of the Aragonese and Castilian thrones. In 1562 The Jesuits founded the first University of Sardinia. After the end of the Spanish period was succeeded by domination by the Piemontese, who then took over the Title of Kingdom of Sardinia(1720–1861). At the end of 18th century the University was restored. In 1836, after six hundred years, the medieval walls were partially demolished, allowing the town to expand.

New urban plans were developed, on the model of the capital of the new regime's, Turin, with geometric streets and squares: the new hospital, prison, town theater, schools, squares, railway, sewer, street lighting were built; the close sea port of Porto Torres were refurbished and the first naval connection between Sassari and Genova were established: Sassari became an important industrial center. At the end of the 19th century “La Nuova Sardegna” were founded and it soon became the most common daily newspaper of the whole island. Sassari kept relatively unharmed to the World War II, as it had to bear a long food shortage.

Today Sassari is the second most important town of the island and th main cultural, administrative and historical centre of Northern Sardinia.

Contatti ESN Sassari ESN Contacts Ancona www.esnsassari.eu sassari@esn.it ESN SASSARI @esn_sassari Via Largo Macao, 32 07100 Sassari (SS)

THE CITY TODAY Sassari is located in the island of Sardinia, which is known as one of the most beautiful hotspots of biodiversity in the Mediterannean Region. It is the second largest town in Sardinia in terms of population (over 120,000 inhabitants) and political importance. It stands on a plateau at 225 metres above sea level and slopes gently down towards the Gulf of Asinara in north-western Sardinia.

Since its origins at the turn of the 12th century, it has a considerable amount of cultural, touristic, commercial and political importance in the island. Visitors will be surprised by the contrast between its new districts, with their spacious avenues, and the old town, nestled round its cathedral. In 1836, after six hundred years, the medieval walls were partially demolished, allowing the town to expand. The walls were interrupted by four gates, leading to the early “quarters” of Sassari. Porta Grusele, now Porta Rosello, on the east side; Porta Capu de Villa, now Porta Castello, on the south side; Porta Utzeri on the west side; Porta Santu Flasiu, now Porta Sant'Antonio, on the north side.

Beyond the old town we find wide streets with council housing (Monte Rosello), modern architecture (Colle Cappuccini), impressive buildings (Porcellana) or of a residential nature with several villas (Luna e Sole, Monte Bianchinu). In addition to its historical monuments and artistic treasures, especially its churches, Sassari has characteristic features too. First of all the dialect spoken there is unique: Sassarese originates from Pisan domination and it is very close to the Tuscan language of the 13th century, a little bit of Corsican and a lot of Spanish. It is a very sweet dialect, different from the other Sardinian languages, it totally suits the typical Sassarian: he is smart, well-educated, sharp, a food and wine gourmet and very friendly.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW

Public transport in Sassari is guaranteed by ATP (Public Transport Company). The company manages 22 lines: 11 urban and 11 suburban.

Special lines are provided, one (Amico Bus) for customers with limited mobility and one summer line (Marina di Sorso) to reach the nearest beach. ARST is the leading company in public transport in Sardinia (bus) connecting Sassari to the other Sardinian towns. In the cities of Sassari and Cagliari there are also overground metro lines. Trenitalia operates also in Sardina. The train stations are located in: Cagliari, Carbonia-Iglesias, Oristano, Ozieri- Chilivani, Olbia, Sassari and Porto Torres.

- By Boat You can reach the island either by ferry or by plane. Porto Torres is the closest sea port, it is located 17km away from Sassari and it connects the town with Genoa, Marseille, Ajaccio, Propriano, Civitavecchia (Rome), Barcelona and the Asinara Island

TO

G ET H ERE

- By Plane Ajaccio, Propriano, Civitavecchia (Rome), Barcelona and the Asinara Island.

The most convenient and direct way to get in Sassari, however, is definitely the plane; the closest airport is Alghero Fertilia (33km from the city center and 10km from the center of Alghero) operating 15 airlines including Ryanair and Wizzair, you can choose between 40 destinations

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI STUDI DI

S ASSARI

The University of Sassari celebrated its 450th academic year in 2012. Today it offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, as well as PGCE qualifications and PhD degrees: it hosts about 700 researchers and professors distributed among 13 Departments, 22 libraries, and over 40 institutes and research centres; over 15,000 students are enrolled in the University of Sassari and about 600 of them are currently spending a study or training period in other European Uni-

versities/Institution; about 200 visiting professors teach at the University of Sassari every year; the number of incoming Erasmus students from other European Universities is constantly increasing; the University of Sassari has established exchange partnerships and academic agreements with over 200 Universities participating in the Erasmus Programme. The University of Sassari is a public university with very old traditions, where academic offer is based on a wide array of study programmes, multidisciplinary teaching and high quality scientific research. A medium-small size promotes integration of incoming students within the academic community and the establishment of enriching personal relationships. The University offers a wide range of libraries, study and internet points, and an efficient University Library Network. The University Language Center offers incoming students a multiple choice of both institutional and intensive free Courses of Italian language and culture. All incoming students may benefit of special facilities for accommodation, canteen, transportation, health assistance, sports, cultural and recreational activities. Sassari is a student-tailored city, with an active social life animated by the ESN and many other Students’ associations at the faculty level.

THE ESN SECTION In Sassari there in an ESN section, “ESN Sassari”, born in March 2006 as “ErasmuSS” founded on initiative of some students from the University of Sassari who had returned from a few months from student mobility programs; with over 200 participants per year the association carries out reception activities, provides academic support and moving in assistance in order to make international students feel welcome; it also gives information to students interested in mobility programs. The association joined the big ESN family during the National Platform which took place in Bologna in December 2006.

ESN Sassari, in 2008 and in June 2015, has had the honor of hosting two National Platforms. It is based in Via Largo Macao, 32 in the same building of the University of Sassari Research and International Relations Office.

TIPS - Kitchen Sassari cuisine consists of traditional delicious peasant food dishes. The most typical and famous one is the zimino: veal offal (diaphragm, intestin, heart, liver, spleen) cooked over charcoal in the grill. It's usually accompanied with fresh or grilled vegetables and red sardinian wine like Cannonau or Cagnulari. The act of cooking zimino and eating it in company is called ziminadda.

In May you can't afford to miss out on “Universitari in Piazza”, the annual students festival held in Piazza d’Italia where university associations play games in their stands and local music bands,but even well-known ones, perform a big gig.

- Traditional Festival Sassari is very devoted to tradition too. The Cavalcata Sarda is one of Sardinia’s major festivals. It takes place on the penultimate Sunday of May. It attracts hundreds of richly costumed participants from villages throughout the province and beyond. The festival is divided into three stages, the morning featuring a horseback parade and a slow procession, in which the decorated costumes unique to each village are displayed; in the afternoon, the scene shifts to the Ippodromo where horse races and equestrian feats are performed, while the evening is devoted to traditional songs and dances in Piazza d’Italia, showing groups from all over the island.

However, the most heart-felt festival in Sassari is “I Candelieri”. It takes place in the afternoon

of August 14 and is linked to the Pisan devotion to the Madonna of the Assumption. It became a regular event when an outbreak of plague in Sassari mysteriously abated and the ritual has been repeated annually on the eve of the feast of Assumption as a token of thanks. I Candelieri is a crowded, rumbustious occasion, involving bands of gremi, or medieval guilds of merchants, artisans and labourers, carrying through the old town huge wooden candlesticks 8 m tall, decorated with colorful ribbons and other symbols of the guilds they represent. La Faradda (the descent through the town) usually begins in Piazza Castello, ending at the church of Santa Maria di Bethlem, with a stop at the Teatro Civico, where the representative of the farmers hails Sassari’s mayor saying “A zent’anni!” (may you live a hundred years!).

- Monument The Rosello Fountain is the city’s most attractive Renaissance relic and it represents the symbol of Sassari. Located at the end of the Rosello valley, it stands under the Rosello bridge, built during the Fascist period. It is a metaphor of the passing of time, like the flowing of the water, symbolized by the twelve kantharos and by the four statues that represent the seasons: a sleeping old man (winter), a girl with a flowered garland (spring), a lady with a bunch of ears of wheat (summer) and a young Hercules (autumn).

Siena

HISTORICAL SUMMARY Legend says that Siena was founded by Senio and Ascanio, sons of Remus, of the famous duo Romulus and Remus who founded Rome. Statues of the wolf feeding the twins are spotted throughout Siena, but without historical foundation! Instead, the Romans established a military outpost in 30AD called Siena, and it developed into a busy little trading post in the following years. The Lombards arrived in 6th century AD, and the Franks also had an input in the governing of the city.

Great works were carried out, the most important being the Via Francigena, the road which linked Rome to France, used by pilgrims and travellers; this greatly increased Siena's importance. During this time the Church was actively involved in governing the city, especially between the 9th and 11th centuries, after which Sienese people claimed their right to govern and administer the city.

Economic and military power grew enormously and an inevitably friction grew between Siena and Florence, as both cities tried to enlarge their territory. There were many battles between the two cities between the 13th and 15th centuries, some won by Siena, but eventually Florence had the upper hand and Siena was incorporated into Florentine territory and administration.Despite both external disputes with neighbours and internal disputes over government, in the years 1150-1300 great artists were discovered and the city wasadorned with beautiful monuments such as Duomo,Palazzo Pubblico and Torre del Mangia. The Council ofNine, a beneficent governing body in the mid-13thcentury, were behind a lot of these improvements,which you can still see today. However a devastatingplague hit Siena in 1348, while citizens were planning the extension of the Duomo, and killed 3/5 of the population, after which the city was slow to recover.With a diverse group of rulers from the 14th -19th centuries, including Emperor Charles V and Cosimo I de' Medici, Siena grew in economic power, with the famous bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena giving employment and security to the citizens throughout the ages. When Italy formed a republic, Siena became part of the region of Tuscany and prospers today from a combination of finance and tourism, thanks to its

ESN GES Siena Contacts +39 0577232392 www.gruppoerasmussiena.it

siena@esn.it ESN Siena GES ESNSienaGES esnsienages Via Banchi di Sotto 55 53100, SIENA

beautiful artistic heritage...

P UBLIC T RANSPORT Siena is not such a big city. The historic city centre is closed to traffic, and being very suggestive from the artistic point of view and not overly large, making it more pleasant to walk around. The city is well served by an efficient network of urban and suburban buses.

Visit the website: http://www.trainspa.it/home.html

H OW T O G ET T HERE - By Car From the north. A1 “Milan – Rome- Naples”.

Motorway exit: “Firenze Impruneta” (known before as "Firenze Certosa"); Highway Florence/Siena (40 min.)

From the south. A1; Motorway exit “Valdichiana”; Great Ring Bettolle- Siena S.S.326 (2h 30min.)

- By Train FromFlorence. Change at Empoli (1h30min) Railway line: Florence – Empoli – Siena From Rome. Change at Chiusi (3 h) Railway line: Rome – Chiusi - Siena From Pisa. Change at Empoli (2 h) Railway line: Pisa – Empoli - Siena From Grosseto. Railway line: Grosseto-Montepescali- Buonconvento-Siena Siena railway station is about 2 km far from the history centre that is reachable in 5 minutes by bus. Consult the site “Trenitalia” to check the timetable.

- By Plane From Florence (68 km): Aeroporto "Amerigo Vespucci" di Firenze From Pisa (150 km): Aeroporto "Galileo Galilei" di Pisa

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ D EGLI S TUDI

DI

S IENA

The history of the University of Siena has developed along the cultural tradition of Tuscany, from the Middle Ages. The first document is a decree of December 26, 1240 that reveals the particular legal model of the University of Siena, which was not based on the initiative of students as in Bologna, neither the administration of teachers as in Paris, but on the direct organization of the Municipality.

The people who rented rooms to the pupils had, in fact, to pay a fee: this with the proceeds of the City arranged to pay salaries to teachers, of course, chosen among the best. The first major expansion of the University of Siena took place in 1321, when many students moved there from the University of Bologna. On 16 August 1357, thanks to the long and intense diplomatic work of the Consistory of Siena, Siena was finally counted among the universities of the Holy Roman Empire in a diploma granted by Emperor Charles IV in Prague. In eight centuries of the University of Siena has produced knowledge in every field of study, and is now one of Italian universities which presents the best results in innovative research, teaching and service.

The headquarter of the University is located in the premises of the former monastery of San Vigilio, in Banchi di Sotto corner of Via San Vigilio. The seat back, in the original, the XI-XII century, rebuilt in the sixteenth and restored in 1891 by Giuseppe Partini. At the centre of an arcaded courtyard houses the monument to the fallen students in Curtatone (29 May 1848), bronze group of Raffaello Romanelli, as well as the tomb of William of Ciliano and Nicholas Aringhieri from the church of San Domenico, were re-assembly of a nineteenth-century of two monuments, one of which is the work of Goro di Gregorio (about 1325), and there is also memory of Giulio Bianchi Bandinelli, “maire” of Siena, of Peter Tenerani.

Visit the official website: http://www.unisi.it/

THE ESN SECTION Gruppo Erasmus Siena (GES) represents the students of the University of Siena at national and international level inside the European network ESN (Erasmus Student Network), which promotes and supports international exchanges between students, through the principle of "Students Helping Students". ESN Siena GES is a voluntary association that annually supports and assists students in mobility, throughout their academic year in Siena, creating with them moments of socialization and cultural exchange.

Principal activities are: -Welcome and tutoring of foreign students (help locating; city and universities tours; small practical supports daily); -Recreational and cultural activities (excursions; tours; sports; meetings that encourage language exchanges; parties and special) that promote the integration between the various members of different nationalities.

The voluntary, according to the Social Erasmus project, offers to international students the opportunity to get closer to the local community.

5 TIPS -Il Palio di Siena A race which lasts less than 2 minutes is the subject of debate and competition all year round and can cause men and women to laugh or cry; we are talking about the Palio, the greatest traditional festival in Siena. Siena is divided into seventeen contrade, or areas of the city. The Sienese people belong first to a contrada and then to the city. Each contrada competes against one another in the Palio, and rivalry and competition are an integral part of the preceding months before the event. Ten contrade are selected for each race, each contrada is assigned a horse, and the horses compete in “la corsa” of Piazza del Campo while thousands of people come as spectators and participants, transforming the main square into a teeming sea of people. There are two Palio races each summer; one on the 2nd of July, and the second on the 16th August.

For each race ten contrade are selected and a horse, that will run against the others, is assigned to each one. Obligatorily, the following year the remaining 7 contrade will run, and other three, among the one who run the previous year, are sorted so that 10 contrade can take part to the race. The draws occur about one month before the Palio. There are two curiosities about the horses: the first one is that the horse – and not the jockey- represents the contrada thanks to the “spennacchiera” (the cockade on th forehead shows colours that the of the contrada); second fact concerns that the horse wins the Palio even if he “scosso” the jockey fall during the race

- The Sienese Cuisine The Sienese cuisine has a rich tradition. In the restaurants you can taste those dishes that bring us to rediscover ancient flavours of foods simple and very tasty. Impossible not to notice the shops of meats and cheeses, where we can also find the sausages and ham from the wild scent with a hint of spicy, in addition to the cheese and white truffle. The locals still have the taste and the 'culture' of fresh homemade pasta: typical ravioli, tagliatelle, pappardelle, pici (typical Sienese). For second, the wild boar meat is the highlight. The wines of the area are famous and a strong point of Tuscany.

Chianti is certainly one of the most appreciated and famous wines in the world. Brunello di Montalcino was one of the first wines to get DOC and the first Italian wine to obtain in 1980 the Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin. These are just two of a long series.

-Theatres The possibilities to spend free time in Siena are many, such as going to the theatre. Rinnovati Theatre was built in 1560 when the historic Hall of the Great Council of the Republic, built in 1343, is first transformed into a place of entertainment, Teatro dei Rozzi, nicknamed the "theatre of my glory." It’s possible to have a special student discount about subscribing to the theatre season.

To be updated about life and culture in Siena just consult the following sites: Il Comune di Siena, http://www.comune.siena.it/

-Parks and Gardens -The Botanical Garden, was founded in 1784 by Biagio Bartalini. The entrance is located by Piazza Sant’Agostino. The origins of the garden date back to the beginning of the 17th century, when Orto dei Semplici of the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala was used for the cultivation of plants with medicinal properties. In 1856, the garden was moved to its current location.

-Orto de’ Pecci, a cooperative garden with a fabulous view of the Torre del Mangia. To reach this cooperative garden, walk to Piazza del Mercato, then take the stairs leading down to the field of green below. Take the small street which bears to the right of Via Del Sole. A short walk down this road and past the gate, it is pleasant and filled with the aroma of lavender, rosemary and plants of the Tuscan countryside.

The view of the Torre del Mangia and Piazza del Mercato is fabulous from this peaceful spot.

-A few steps from the table of the DSU, there is another park, Orto dei Tolomei. To strike the attention of passersby is the drop sculpture which stands in the middle of the park. It is a statue that has strongly backed the district, and which has become a symbol. During the summer, in fact, alternating big outdoor concerts and film shows: Orto dei Tolomei becomes so one of the beating hearts of Siena, where locals and tourists can find moments to relax and live intensely the culture that this city gives so generously.

-This public garden and its fountain are located in front of the Forte di Santa Barbara, a fortress built by Cosimo I of the Medici family after the Florentines conquered Siena. The fortress was opened for public use in 1778. The area inside the Fortress, Piazza della Libertà, is used for

recreational activities, festivals, summer film series. A view of Siena and the surrounding fields can be enjoyed from the height of the bastions of the 16th century fortress. The Fortress is also the home of the Enoteca Italiana, the Italian Wine Cellar, a centre for wine. The Enoteca Italiana sponsors exhibitions, events, and conferences on wine all over the world.

-Cus – Centro Universitario Sportivo The University of Siena is equipped with a sport centre (CUS), which offers plenty of activities for all students enrolled at the University. CUS also organizes many tournaments in different sports. Visit the site: http://www.cussiena.it/ C.U.S. Siena, Via L. Banchi 3 phone (+39) 0577 / 52341 - 54114 Fax (+39) 0577 / 52324

Teramo

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

The town of Teramo was born as a Phoenician marketplace named Petrut, which means “high place surrounded by waters” (because of the two water courses delimiting the town, the river Tordino and the creek Vezzola, which join together further out of town and link Teramo to the nearby Adriatic Sea). Petrut was latinised in Praetut and, then, in Praetutium, with the surrounding territory known as Ager Praetutianus. The Romans named it Interamnia Urbs ("town between the two rivers"), and was called Praetutium, or Praetutiorum.Teramo was annexed to the Picenum regium by Augustus with the name Interamnia Praetutianorum (III century b.C.) e acquired architectural and cultural glory under emperor Adrianus.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 AD), the town, which had already been destroyed by the Visigots (410 AD) and then set to fire, was dominated by the Longobards (7th - 12th centuries) and then by the Normans, going through a difficult period.

The rebirth started in the 12th century, when bishop Guido II started rebuilding the Cathedral, which was to host the relics of Saint Berardo (the protector of the town), after count Roberto III di Loritello destroyed the ancient Santa Maria Aprutientis cathedral and most of the town in 1155. The cathedral was completed and consecrated in 1176: it features an unmistakable Romanesque style, three naves, a majestic facade and works by great artists such Nicola da Guardiagrele and Jacobello del Fiore.

After Charles I of Anjoux split the Abruzzo region in Upper and Lower, Teramo (part of Lower Abruzzo) acquired more monuments, the porch of the Episcopal Palace and the portal of the Cathedral (14th century).

In the 15th century the economic and cultural growth was again hindered by the extremely violent rivalry between the De Melatino family, known as the Spennati faction (spennato means “without feathers”; they received this nickname because, after their defeat, they lost everything, like a bird without feathers), and the De Valles, knows as the Mazzaclocchi (which comes from the name of the club they used as a weapon). A stone shield

Contatti ESN Teramo ESN Contacs Ancona www.esnteramo.eu teramo@esn.it esn.teramo ESNTeramo via balzarini,1 colleparco Campus Universitario 64100 Teramo Italy

commemorates the “exemplary hanging” of 12 Spennati featuring two heads with their tongues hanging down and the sign “A lo parlare agi mesura”. According to the legend Teramo women put an end to the pointless warm starting an “affection strike”. Despite interior turmoil, in the 1400’s in Teramo operated great artists, such as Jacobello da Fiore and Nicolò da Guardiagrele, and the town strengthened trading ties with Umbria, Tuscany and Venice.

In the 1700’s and 1800’s Teramo enjoyed a vibrant cultural life, opening itself to the enlightened ideas of eminent scholars such as Melchiorre Dèlfico, who was born there. Until the Unification of Italy (1861) the town followed the fate of the Kingdom of Naples and underwent occupation by both the Austrians and the French (18th century).

THE CITY TODAY The town of Teramo is one of the four administrative centres of the Abruzzo region. Today it has a population of 55,000 inhabitants, and it is situated at a height of 264 meters on the sea level.

Teramo is located at the joining point of the creek Vezzola withe the river Tordino, in a mostly hilly area on the eastern edge of Gran Sasso, which sweetly goes don’t towards the Adriatic coast (about 30 kilometers away), and covers a surface of 152 square kilometers. The town has an active agricultural market dealing cereals, grapes, vegetables, fruit, olives and livestock. The local industry works in the sectors of mechanical products, foods, pottery, furniture, textiles and clothing.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT Inner-city transport are run by the company STAUR, providing 8 inner-city lines and one extra-urban line.

Students regularly enrolled with the University of Termo and Erasmus students may enjoy discounted fares for monthly tickets for inner-city transport.

Further information on the website: www.staur.it.

Teramo is linked to the main Abruzzo towns, L’Aquila, Pescara, Giulianova, by buses provided by ARPA regional bus lines, as well as to the main Italian cities (Rome, Milan, Naples) by private bus lines: GASPARI BUS and BALTOUR.

H OW T O G ET H ERE - By Plane and Train The airports closest to Teramo are the following: Pescara (70 km), Roma Fiumicino and Roma- Ciampino( 200 km) and Ancona (140 km). ∙ From Pescara (Aeroporto Internazionale d’Abruzzo / Abruzzo International Airport) to Teramo: number 38 line bus (GTM) from the airport square to Pescara central train station, then regional train (“treno regionale”) PescaraTeramo. info: http://www.abruzzoairport.com/; http://www.gtmpescara.it/; http://www.trenitalia.com/ ∙ From Roma (Fiumicino e Ciampino) to Teramo: the two airports in Rome are linked to Teramo by a comfortable line of direct buses: Gaspari bus. info: http://www.adr.it/; http://www.gasparionline.it/ ∙ From Ancona to Teramo: train as far as Giulianova, then regional train to Teramo o bus (ARPA). info: http://www.trenitalia.com/; http://www.arpaonline.it/arpaonline/it/

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI

S TUDI

DI

T ERAMO

The University of Teramo includes 5 schools, 19 degree courses, 24 master’s courses, 6 graduate schools and 10 departments. The Campus in Coste Sant'Agostino is home to the schools of Law, Political sciences and Communication studies. The Scientific Campus is under construction, and is going to host the school of Veterinary medicine and Agronomics, as well as the veterinary hospital and the sanitary doghouse. Two realities, two campues, representing the two souls of the university: the juridical-political-communication soul and the agrarian-bio-veterinarian one, the two excellence centres in the University of Teramo. The university’s logo is an exahedron reproducing the ancient town and the modern town on two of its visible faces. It is associated to the “Civitas Aprutiensis”, which geographically, ethnically, politically and culturally made up the Teramo area for centuries. This reality was represented by Jacobello del Fiore in a painting kept in Teramo Cathedral. Jacobello’s “terra vetus” is to be put next to the modern town. The “Y” slitting and uniting them is a graphic element from Jacobello’s works, but is also a possible way to sum up the concept of a town which has been surrounded by two joining rivers forever. The geometrical solid, on the other hand, is a simple and innovative symbol which well represents a young university like Teramo.

THE ESN SECTION The Teramo Eramus Students Association was born in December 1999 on the initiative of the coordinator of the LLP Erasmus project, professor Maria Cristina Giannini. She convinced a large group of Teramo students, who had returned from a study experience abroad, to found a student association dedicated to the Erasmus phenomenon. The important goals achieved, thanks to the constant support by the local URI (including international congresses, welcome activities for incoming students, mentoring and tutoring activities for outgoing students), lead the Teramo Eramus Students Association, in a few years, to an important step: the entry into the ESN network in January 2003, during the National Platform organised by ESN Trento. Year after year, the section has experienced an increase in the number of incoming Erasmus students: from the 30 “pioneers” of 2000 to the around 100 current students. Another significant factor is the effort by the small university in the internationalisation of teaching activities, which attracts a large number of international students (exchange students with different programs). The activities offered by ESN Teramo to incoming Erasmus students and international students basically include welcoming services, trips and support related to teaching activities. In September, the services provided by our volunteers also include pick-up, housing (in cooperation with the “Accomodation research helpdesk” of the local services for the right to study (ADSU Teramo), and general assistance related to teaching and the university world. The “Welcome program” reaches its climax in the official day when the Town and the University of Teramo welcome the incoming students: the “Erasmus Welcome Day”.

In the past 10 years within the network, the section was able to take a challenge several times, organising two National Platforms (January 2005 and February 2010, in Teramo and Prati di Tivo respectively) and a CNR (Council of National Representatives), split between Teramo and the Adriatic coast (September 2006). Moreover, several active members from ESN Teramo have hold positions within the national board.

Starting from academic year 2011-2012 ESN Teramo, together with the other sections from Abruzzo (Acquilasmus – ESN L’Aquila and ESN ASE Chieti-Pescara) created the basis for a regional coordination the aim of which is to allow the small local realities to achieve great goals. The three sections have started coordination in particular regarding the organisation of “contemporary” Welcome Days, where one another’s projects are exposed to incoming Erasmus students of the three town. The aim of this cooperation is to organise events and trips involving the entire Erasmus population of Abruzzo.

TIPS - Typical cusine The surprisingly rich and various Teramo gastronomy draws its unmistakable tastes from ancient agricultural traditions. Teramo cuisine is famous for its simple but very smart and delicious specialties: an example is the dish symbolising the end of winter, which Teramo people usually eat on 1st May, “le Virtù” (“the virtues”).

This recipe has been cooked since very ancient times, when countrywomen mixed the early products of the good season with was left over from the winter. Today it is still cooked following the old recipe, which, according the tradition, is prepared in three days and three nights, because the numerous ingredients making up leVirtù (broad beans, fresh peas, lentils, checkpeas, endive, artichokes, spinach, chicory, chards, turnips, celery, zucchini, garlic, onion, aromatic herbs, ham, rind, pork ears and feet and “pallottine”) are to be cooked separately and be mixed with pasta only in the end.

Another typical dish is Chitarra con le pallottine (“small guitar with pallottine”). This is a some kind of squared-shape spaghetti obtained by pressing pasta dough on the “chitarra”, a traditional Abruzzo utensil made up of parallel steel strings on a wooden frame. The peculiarity of this dish is a sauce full of meat in the shape of “pallottine”, tiny mixed meatballs, which are handmade and fried. Another typical element of the Teramo cuisine is scrippelle: very thin omelettes cooked by pouring a flour, butter and water batter on a burning pan. They have a very close resembles to French omelettes, and some think they were brought to Teramo by the French army. Scrippelle are also the bases of two more essential dishes of the Teramo cuisine: the amazing “scrippelle mbusse”, which means “wet” scrippelle, which are plunged in hen stock, after being sprinkled with parmesan and rolled; and timballo, where scrippele act as a pastry separating the various layers of ingredients.

Arrosticini, shee meat skewer that are typical of the Abruzzo cruisine are widespread all over the region (and also called “rustelle”), are also worth mentioning.

- Typical wine The mild climate of the Teramo hills favours the growth of indigenous grapes, allowing the pro-

duction of excellent wines: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo “Colline Teramane” DOCG, il Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Controguerra DOC, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo cerasuolo and the Trebbiano d’Abruzzo white wine.

- Town festival The town offers a calendar full of event throughout the whole years, including: Fiera di S. Giuseppe ( March); Aspettando il 1 maggio (30th April); Maratonina Pretuziana (1st May); maggio fest (month of May); Interamnia world cup (July); Sportissimamente- Lo sport sotto le stelle (September); Premio internazionale della fotografia cinematografica “G. Di Venanzo” (Ottobre); Cineramnia (mid November); Pigro Omaggio a Ivan Graziani (late November); holiday of Saint Berardo, protector of the town (19th December)..

- Water According to statistics carried out by the Ministry for Healthcare in 2005, Teramo is one of the towns with the cleanest water in Italy. Most of the water comes from the Gran Sasso mountains. The water is distributed by the Ruzzo water system, the construction of which was started in 1931 by a very important citizen of Teramo, engineer Alfonso De Albentiis.

- University (urban) legend Also Teramo, like in the rest of Italy, there are acts or rituals that you shouldn’t absolutely do if you don’t want to risk missing an exam or not graduating. In Teramo, the legend states that the students entering the cathedral will not graduate. But this is, indeed, just a legend!

Trento

HISTORICAL SUMMARY The ancient “Tridentum”, city of the “Three Teeth” (because of the hills Doss Trento, Doss Sant’Agata and Doss of San Rocco) became a roman settlement after harsh battles between Rhaetian tribes from the first century b.C. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was ruled by Ostrogoths, Lombards, Franks and finally became part of the Holy Roman Empire until 1207, when the Emperor Corrado II created the Princedom-Bishop of Trento, a large mineral deposit, which received the first Alpine mining statute under the prince bishop Federico Vana.

Known, in modern times, for the Council of Trento (1545-1563), the city was annexed to the Habsburg Empire after the Congress of Vienna and merged with the Province of Tyrol. Meanwhile, the first railway was built in 1859 in the Valley of Adige and several administrative and economic measures were taken that made the province more modern. The newly-modernized province along with Trieste became icons with a strong presence in the Austrian culture. In 1950 Trento, Bolzano and the South Tyrol joined Italy, continuing to grow also thanks to the special autonomy to the Trentino-Alto Adige recognized by the Italian government.

THE CITY TODAY The city of Trento (Trènt in local dialect, Trient in German), the provincial and regional capital city, now has about 115.000 inhabitants.

In the middle of a glacial valley in the southern Dolomites, where the rivers Fersina and Avisio flow into Adige (the second biggest river in Italy, from which the valley takes its name), the city of the Trident is surrounded by mountains, including the Vigolana (2.150 m), the Bondone (2.181 m), the Paganella (2.124 m), the Marzola (1.747 m) and the Calisio (1.096 m). There are also several lakes in the surrounding area: Caldonazzo, Levico, Toblino and Garda, as well as many other small alpine lakes. A popular touristic destination both in summer and in winter, Trento offers the opportunity of trying many sports, such as skiing, clim-

Contatti ESN Trento Ancona www.esntrento.it trento@esn.it esn.trento ESNTrento C/O Dipartimento di Economia e Management Via Virgilio Inama 5 38122 Trento, Italy

bing and dragonboat.

Departing from Piazza Duomo, the real heart of the city with its Neptune’s fountain, you can easily visit the small historic centre by foot.

Via Verdi is a popular student street in the city center, full of bars where students always go, since it is within a few hundred meters from the Faculty of Law, Sociology, Humanities and Economics, as well as the CLA (the language centre of the University), the Public Library and several offices of the University, including the Agreements Office and International Mobility Division.

P UPLIC T RANSPORT Trento has an efficient public transportation system, based mainly on buses operating in the city and in the province, whose routes are organized by one single company: Trentino Trasporti (www.ttesercizio.it).

Discounted subscriptions are available for Italian and foreign students, through forms provided directly from the university.

The most frequently used lines are line 5 (which connects the city center to the scientific departments) and the lines 2, 3 and 8 which take you to the university residence halls.

Unfortunately, there aren't any night buses but, since the city is very small, it is easy to reach any destination by foot. Many students remedy the problem by renting bicycles.

H OW

TO

G ET H ERE

- by plane The closest airport is the one in Bolzano (BZO, www.abd-airport.it, 60 km), which is very small and it offers daily flights to Rome. Also close and of average size is the airport of Verona (VRN,www.aerooportoverona.it, 100 km) which has low-cost flights. 150 km away in opposite directions are the airports of Brescia (VBS,www.aeroportobrescia.it) and Treviso (TSF, www.trevisoairport.it); here you can also find low-cost tickets. A little more distant but reachable by direct trains are the airports of Venice, from which Easy Jet also leaves (VCE, www.veniceairport.it), and Bologna (BLQ,www.bologna-airport.it).

Last but not least, the airports in Milan (BGY, MXL, LIN, www.sacbo.it, www.sea-aeroportimilano.it) are also quite easy to reach: they are 200 km away from Trento and they are linked to a lot of airports around the world.

- by train Trento is located on the railway line Verona-Munich. Linking trains to Rovereto, Verona and Bolzano come frequently. In just a few hours, and without changing trains, you can reach Venice, Bologna, Innsbruck, Rome and Lecce, thanks to the Italian (www.trenitalia.it) and Austrian (www.dbahn.com) railway network..

- by bus It could be quite difficult to reach Trento by bus.

The railways have a more extensive network.

However, it is possible to reach Trento by bus leaving from Riva del Garda (in the south of the province of Trento, www.ttesercizio.it, Trentino Trasporti), from Verona and Desenzano (Autobus A.P.T.V., www.apt.vr.it), from Brescia and Milan (Autobus S.I.A., www.sia-autoservizi.it).

During the summer it is also possible to leave from Venice. Some special routes are established during the Christmas Market (from the second half of November to the end of December).

THE UNIVERSITY The University of Trento always places high on interntional ratings such as THE - Times Higher Education, QS World University Rankings or CENSIS 204/15. The Atheneum is the only one in Trento and offers a valid and various choice of courses, among 10 departments which you can find in Mesiano –Povo (polo collina), Trento (polo città) and Rovereto.

The various Exchange programs, such as Bilateral Agreements, Double graduation, Erasmus+, Erasmus Mundus, Fulbright program GE4 (Global Education: Exchanges for Engineers and Entrepreneurs), T.I.M.E. (Top Industrial Managers for Europe) are organized for students, researchers and teachers and they contribute to give the Athesina Universitas Studiorum an international atmosphere.

The Opera universitaria is definitely worth mentioning (http://www.operauni.tn.it), because it is responsible for the distribution of rooms and scholarships, for the running of the mensas and of the 150 hours collaborations, for the renting-bike service and other activities, such as theatre, music, creative writing and sport. The Opera Universitaria together with the University of Trento and of the University Sport Center (C.U.S.) is one of the founders of the Unisport (http://www.unisport.tn.it ) , a network that organizes every sport facility and that collaborates with the main local research companies. It is only thanks to the great diligence of this organization that the winter Universiade of December 2013 will take place in Trento, allowing the city to become an interesting destination for thousands of students from all over the world.

THE ESN SECTION ESN Trento was founded in 1992 as “Erasmus Students Association of Trento” and one year later it took part in the foundation of ESN Italy, whose first president came from this section. Ever since, a large group of active members have organized many activity: trips to Rovereto, Verona, Vicenza, to further destinations, such as Florence, Venice or Innsbruck, other great events (Rafting, ESNow) and other frequent events (Tandem Cafè, ESN Cup, Sail Togheter). ESN Trento collaborates with local authorities such as the Province, the Opera Universitaria and the Erasmus Office.Thanks to the Tutor-Buddy service it stimulates the interaction between local students and Erasmus students, supporting the cultural exchange in a friendly atmosphere.

TIPS - ESNOW 15 years of experience are a guarantee for ESN Trento: Esnow lasts four days and it’s the most important event of the season. More than 200 Erasmus students from the Italian sections normally take part in this unforgettable experience: skiing, after-skiing and theme parties are surrounded by awesome landscapes and made special thanks to the big lovely ESN family.

Saying ESN Trento means ESNOW! - Christmas Market The local Christmas market creates a magical atmosphere in Trento from the 15th of November each year; this tradition attracts thousands

of tourist from all Europe, who look forward to enjoying the warm Christmas lights and decorations and walking among the lively little huts situated near the old crenellated city walls in Piazza di Fiera, where you can also taste the typical delicacies, such as vin brulè, bombardino and the parampampoli.

- Feste Vigiliane and TrentoBondone The striking benedettinian dinner on Doss Trento, the sacrilegious satire of the Penitence Court, the funny Duck-Palio are just a few of many activities that the city of Trento offers during the patron saint’s festival in honour of Saint Vigilio. Five days of colourful hustle and bustle that will finish with the White night and

with the typical 6 am breakfast near the Cathedral and the majestic Nettuno fountain. Few days after, the most important automotive race leaves from Trento and it follows a route up the mountains towards Vason, on top of mount Bondone. The Trento-Bondone route is known in all Europe and it is an event that attracts a lot of people that visit Trentino and crowd the woods with their tents, which one expects to notice together with the rumble of the vehicles that wait for the start aligned in piazza Duomo. The 17 km of the winding itinerary, which is on average 9% uphill, have been trembling at the transit of the competitors of the race since the 5th of July 1925. The fastest racer was Simone Faggioli, who drove at an average speed of 111,12 km/h riding his Osella FA30 Zytek the 7th of July 2013.

- Eat The inhabitants of Trento as other people from the north of Italy are called "polentoni" and they are proud of it.: the typical kinds of cornmeal mush (the so called “polenta”), the Storo and the Mosa, are doubtless a real pleasure for demanding eaters. The same applies to Strangolapreti or Canederli, the tasty Ciuighe and Carne Salada; the best way to eat these delicious food is to drink the typical wine of Trento with it, such as Teroldego Rotaliano and Marzemino from Val D’Isera, or eat the valued cheese along. Should you be known as gourmands, Trento has a wide choice of sweets you can try: Zelten, Smorrn and the mysterious Grostoi (also called chiacchiere). It is routine to drink a shot of grappa after lunch, to help the digestion and to warm up the hearts.

- Facoltiadi When the summer is getting closer, some may be afraid of the upcoming swimsuit season; it’s not the case of the brave students of Trento, who keep training to get ready for the Department Olympic Games in June. This event mixes students, teachers and personnel in different sports, such as dragon boat, volleyball, soccer, beach tennis and they compete to achieve the glory (given by the dean) of their own faculty in a pacific lake scenary.

Trieste

HISTORICAL SUMMARY Trieste lies at the feet of the Karst Plateau, on an arch of many hills (Barcola, Gretta, Roiano, Cologna, Scorcola, Chiadino, Chiarbola, San Giacomo, San Giusto, San Vito) which surrounds the harbour like an amphitheatre. The geological structure of the plateau, with many caves, led to the rise of several settlements during palaeolithic and neolithic ages. The first cavemen were later replaced by newcomers, maybe Illyrians, who built many “castellieri” (villages fortified with dry stone walls).

Between the X and the IX century b.C., the “castellieri” civilization clashed with Veneti, Indo-European populations spreading a strong cultural influence. During the III century b.C., Rome started to conquer the surrounding region, aiming at securing its borders. Noteworthy episodes of this period are the war against the Istri pirates in 221 b.C., and the Istric war in 178-177 b.C. As part of a precise defensive strategy, in 181 b.C. Aquileia became a Roman colony, and Trieste became a military settlement as well during the I century b.C., when Augustus built a line of walls around the hill of San Giusto; the southern gate, called “Riccardo's arch”, still exists. Many vestiges of the Roman city still endure the test of time, like the forum, the theatre, the aqueduct in the Rosandra valley...

The Middle Ages were a troubled time for Trieste: after the fall of the western Roman Empire, the city was a Byzantine domain and, later, it was conquered by the Franks, being annexed to the Holy Roman Empire.

During the XII century Trieste became a free commune; it was occupied

by Venetian troops in 1283 and was later freed by a patriarchal army. In 1382 Trieste gave itself to the House of Hapsburg, retaining much autonomy until the XVII century.

During the XVIII century, the Hapsburg policy led to major changes of the city: in 1719 the city gained the free port status, which turned the city into a thriving business hub. In 1749 the city walls were demolished to encourage urban and commercial growth. Being the main port of the Austrian Empire, Trieste became a cosmopolitan city, growing from 3000 inhabi-

Contatti ESN Trieste ESNContacts Ancona www.esntrieste.it info@esntrieste.it ESN Trieste ESN_Trieste esn_trieste Piazzale Europa 1, ed. Centrale Trieste

tants at the beginning of the XVIII century to over 200000 at the beginning of the XX century. Trieste gained the urban structure that still has today, material statement of the merchant middle class' wealth of that period. At the end of the XIX century, irredentism appeared in Trieste, a political view which aimed to annex the city to Italy. After World War I, the city was indeed annexed to Italy, but that implied the loss of its background and trade function.

The social climate grew worse during World War II. German troops occupied the city in September 1943, annexing it, along the whole region, to a military administration, the OZAK (Operationzone Adriatisches Kűstenland). The nazis also turned the Rice processing factory of San Sabba into a lager.

The end of the war was a troubled period for Trieste, which was occupied by the Yugoslavian army in 1945, between May and June. An Allied Military Government ruled then the city until 1954, when Trieste was reunited to Italy.

THE CITY TODAY P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW

I trasporti pubblici urbani sono gestiti dall’azienda Trieste Trasporti, e sono capillari (56 linee di autobus e una linea tranviaria). Gli autobus urbani permettono di raggiungere anche comuni limitrofi come per esempio Muggia, Opicina, Aurisina. Il costo di un biglietto orario valido sull’intera rete è di € 1,25 e sono possibili abbonamenti quindicinali, mensili e annuali. La stessa compagnia gestisce anche una linea di traghetti (“Delfino verde”), che offrono tre linee: Trieste Muggia, TriesteBarcolaGrignanoSistiana, TriesteGrado. È possibile muoversi all’interno della città anche con i taxi e in automobile: non ci sono, salvo occasioni particolari, limitazioni alla circolazione per nessuna categoria di veicolo, ma se ci si deve recare in zone centrali è bene considerare la presenza di zone pedonali e il fatto che buona parte dei parcheggi è a pagamento.

- by car From Venice to Trieste there's the Highway A4.

Coming from Venice, the last exit is Monfalcone – Lisert; then you arrive to Trieste following Statale 202 or Statale 14 for about 25 km

TO

G ET H ERE

- by train Many national and international flights stop over at the closest airport, which is in Ronchi dei Legionari (“Aeroporto del Friuli-Venezia Giulia”). The airport is 30 km away from the city.

The route between Trieste and Ronchi is served by bus number 51 of the local transport company.

- by plane Many local and national trains can carry you to Trieste, leaving from Udine and Venice. The train station in Trieste is close to the centre.

International trains only stop on the plateau, in Opicina, which is linked to Trieste by many local buses.

- by bus the bus station is next to the train station, this means that also travelling by bus allows you to end your journey close to the city centre. International bus companies link Trieste to Slovenia, Croatia and other Balkan countries.

- by boat Many ferries serve the sea routes between Trieste and Croatia, Albania and Greece.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DI TRIESTE

The University of Trieste was founded in 1877, when the need of an “Advanced School of Commerce” started to be felt in order to create professional and practical figures in the commercial field, the navigation field and the related subjects. In 1924 it became the “University of Business and Commerce studies” and during the following years other faculties were added, such as Law, Engineering and then Modern Languages, Philosophy, Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences, Pharmacology, Education Sciences, Medicine and Surgery, Political Sciences, the Advanced School for Translators and Interpreters (a faculty famous all over Europe), Psychology and Architecture.

Today the University of Trieste is one of the best in Italy; on the rating drawn up by the prestigious British magazine “Times Higher Education” it is confirmed among the first universities in Italy, first for scientific quotations at a national level and with a respectable 226th overall position at a global level.

Furthermore, some internationally renowned names are linked to the University of Trieste: among the distinguished professors there are James Joyce, Margherita Hack and Luciano Fonda, one of the most famous Italian physicists, founder of the only one synchrotron in Italy, Elettra, located in Trieste.

The University, having today more than 20.000 students, 8% of whom are international, offers about sixty career paths of first and second level and forty among courses and PhD schools, besides post-graduate and specialization courses. There is also a University Linguistic Centre organizing Italian language courses for international students.

Since 2008 it has also been active the “RadioInCorso” association, managing the homonymous student web-radio.

Moreover, in Trieste there is the Academy of Music “Giuseppe Tartini”, one of the thirteen historical Conservatories in Italy and the International School of Advanced Studies (SISSA), an institute of high doctoral education, committed in the promotion of scientific research.

Lastly there is the ICTP, the International Institute of Theoretical Physics.

THE ESN SECTION In 2011 a group of 6 friends, too addicted to the Erasmus spirit to let it evaporate after coming back home, decide to create an association to assist foreign students in Trieste. On the 29th of September Associazione Studenti Erasmus Trieste sees officially light and the adventure begins.

In February 2012, in Bologna, Trieste is formally the 45th Italian section.

The section counts right now on 20 active members.

The section is very active in whetting the enthusiasm of the students, proposing to them a lot of different activities: as soon as they arrive they are involved in the Welcome Week, which includes welcome meeting and campus tour, "useful" city tour, pizza dinner, meeting party, disco party, cultural tour of the city centre, visit of the marvellous Miramare Castle, football tournament and day trip to Venice.

Then we organize several 2-3 days trips, almost once a month (for example Ljubljana and the Postojna caves, Rome, Milan, Venice-Padua, Florence-Bologna and others) and shorter day trips (Verona, Udine, Koper, Aquileia, Cividale del Friuli).

The promotion of our territory is also very important, and therefore the biggest opportunities we give are the carnival in Muggia, a very typical small town near Trieste, a ride on the old “Tram di Opicina” and an afternoon spent in one of the dozens of “osmize”.

Local students often take part to section parties and events, but most of all they are involved in cultural tandems, where they meet foreign students and learn different languages while teaching

Terrano� (Terrano path) was designated, which from Opicina to Sistiana leads to the main places where wine is produced.

Italian, and in the “Buddy System” (BuSy). This is a project developed in cooperation with University of Trieste (UNITS) by which incoming exchange students are matched with students of the University of Trieste. The purpose of the Buddy program is not only to assist exchange and international students with practical matters regarding their settlement in the new country. It mainly aims at facilitating integration in the Italian academic life and the Italian student community.

TIPS - Barcolana One of the most beautiful characteristics of Trieste is undoubtedly its sea, and every year this sea welcomes more than a thousand sailing ships coming from far away to participate to the “Barcolana”. It's a historical regatta, started in 1969, taking place in the gulf of Trieste, on the second Sunday of October and in which boats of any shape and size are competing.

This regatta is the biggest in the Mediterranean sea, and one of the biggest in the world.

Nevertheless, for most participants, the classification list doesn't really matter, because the Barcolana is especially a celebration, a celebration of the sea. During the whole week the city fills with events, theme exhibitions, street markets and concerts.

- Bora The “bora” is a dry and cold continental wind coming from Russia which violently goes from the Karst highlands down to the sea, especially during winter. If the sky is clear it is called light bora, whereas if it's cloudy it's called dark bora.

It's the most representative weather phenomenon of Trieste, as well as one of the most important ones in the Mediterranean basin. This "super-wind", which can blow even at a 160km/h speed during winter months, is probably the first thing that comes to Italians' mind when Trieste is mentioned!

- Kars Trieste's Karst (“Kras” in Slovenian) is a plateau, unique for its nature and history, which extends over the city and is famous especially for wine production, but not only. The Karst is composed of a wide network of paths you can walk along or ride along on a mountain bike.

They stretch through the various types of landscape: from hills and meadows to the most stony ground. Besides, within the Karst there are thousands of caves of different sizes, some

of which are open to the public (the most famous ones are the ”Grotta Gigante”, the biggest touristic cave in the world, the San Canziano cave and the Postojna one). Karst landscapes are therefore a destination not to miss for nature fans!

- Osmiza During a stay in Trieste, a must-see to enjoy the city the most is the “Osmiza”. The name comes from "osem", Slovenian word meaning "eight", as eight were originally the days these characteristic places were open, where today it's possible to taste typical wine and food (such as eggs and different kinds of ham, salami and cheese) directly produced in the farmers houses and cellars. The “Osmize”, these cheerful meeting places, are usually scattered around the Karst plateau, but there are some urban versions of them located in the outer city.

- Specialità culinarie Trieste area typical cuisine shows the influence of Austria, Veneto and the Balkans which makes it rather peculiar as it is not only rich in sea food recipes but also meat ones, due to the city's traditional bonds with the Karst inland.

The use of aromatic spices is very common, especially nutmeg, cumin, marjoram, bay and rosemary. Very common is also the use of kren, a root with a pungent and unmistakable taste.

The first courses of the Middle European tradition are the “jota” (soup made of beans, sauerkraut and potatoes), bread gnocchi and "gnochi de susini", meaning plum dumplings. The varied and delicious desserts come from the Austro-Hungarian and Slavonic tradition; among these: the “coch”, similar to pudding, the “presnitz” (rolled pastry cake with dried fruit) and “putizza” (soft pastry filled with fruit, rum and cinnamon). Some typical Karst wines are Terrano, Malvasia and Refosco. In order to celebrate the wine production, the “Strada del

Udine

HISTORICAL SUMMARY The city centre is overlooked by a Medieval castle, which lies on a hill made by detritus, built up over the centuries. However, according to the legend, it was Attila the Hun, after plundering Aquileia (one of the biggest cities in the Roman Empire at that time), who asked his soldiers to raise this hill for him to watch the city burn. This was accomplished by filling up with soil the helmet of each soldier. The place has been unhabited for many years, but it finally took on a more crucial role when, in 1200, the patriarchs of Aquileia decided to move there as it was a less vulnerable and more central area within the region. Since then, Udine has always been considered the historical and institutional capital of the Friuli region.

Besides the castle and the cathedral, dated back to the Medieval age, there are many buildings inspired by the Venetian style as well as many works by Tiepolo belonging to the XVIII century which can be admired.

THE CITY TODAY "Udine is a province of the region Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The city, with its 176,000 inhabitants, is considered today the capital city of Friuli. Located in the middle of the region, Udine is 20 kms away from Slovenia and 54 kms away from Austria as the crow flies. It stretches on a lowland that surrounds an isolated hill, on top of which the castle stands. It borders on the river Cormor to the west and on the river Torre to the east, and is crowned by hills that are not far from the city."

Contatti ESN NASE ESN Udine Ancona Contacts www.esnnaseudine.it udine@esn.it esnnaseudine Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi 27 33010, Tavagnacco (UD)

P UBLIC T RANSPORT

H OW

The main public transport in Udine is the bus, and SAF (SocietĂ Autotrasporti Friuli-Venezia Giulia) manages urban transports. There are 12 urban lines, plus other special lines running during the school period and the lines from/to the University (Polo Scientifico dei Rizzi). http://www.saf.ud.it/RicercaOrari2.aspx?area=UD Transports for disabled and elderly people.

A shuttle-bus from Piazza LibertĂ to Piazzale del Castello and back, dedicated to people with reduced mobility (elderly and disabled people), runs during the days of the event (??) at the following times: Friday from 5 pm to 11 pm, Saturday from 11 am to 11 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 8 pm.

Udine-San Gottardo line Since June 2008, on the Eastern municipal area there is a rail station along the Udine-Cividale line called "San Gottardo" serving the homonymous hamlet.

Bike Sharing: Udinebike is the bike sharing service for those moving around the city. The bikes are stationed in strategic spots around the city and are easy to combine with cars left in parking lots, buses and trains. h t t p : //w w w .com une.u d ine.it/opencms/ o p e nc m s / r e l e a s e / C o m u n e U d i ne/cittavicina/viabilita/mobilita/bicicletta/udinebi ke.html?lang=en&style=2 Car Sharing: www.blablacar.it Car Rental: We suggest the following website where you can find a list of the main car rental firms, almost all located near Udine rail station: www.noleggioauto.it Parking: For those driving inside the city ring, it is possible to park in the streets or in the various garages.

The "Vascello" is open 24/7, whereas the other ones (Venerio, Moretti, Andreuzzi, Caccia, Magrini and Tribunale) are open until 1 am on Thursdays and Sundays and until 4 am on Fridays and Saturdays. There are also the free parking spaces of the Friuli Stadium, the Fair, via Chiusaforte and the Giovanni da Udine Theatre, where you can pick up your car 24/7.

Parking inside blue lines requires payment from 8 am to 1 pm and from 2.30 pm to 8 pm.

- by train Main railway company in italy: www.trenitalia.com Other railway company sponsored by ESN ITaly with connections to/from Mestre (VE): www.italotreno.it Railway line connecting Udine with Cividale: www.ferrovieudinecividale.it Austrian railway line connecting our region with the most important Austrian cities: www.obb-italia.com Keep in mind: always check what tiype of train you want to ge: regional trains usually only get as far as Mestre, while the Frecce are high velocity and long distance trains. Italo only covers certains national areas with high speed trains.

TO

G ET H ERE

- by plane Udine is just a few kilometers away from three international airports: FVG Friuli Venezia Giulia Airport Via Aquileia, 46 - Ronchi dei Legionari (UD) Regional Airport of Trieste, 40 kilometers away from Udine Flights info: tel. +39.0481.773224/5 Official website: www.aeroporto.fvg.it Marco Polo Airport - Venice Viale Galileo Galilei, 30/1 - Tessera (VE) Venice Airport, 120 kilometers away from Udine Flights info: tel. +39.041.2609260 Official website: www.veniceairport.it Antonio Canova Airport - Treviso Via Noalese, 63E, 31100 Treviso (TV) Venice Airport, 117 kilometers away from Udine Flights info: tel.+39 0422 315111 Official website: http://www.trevisoairport.it/ - by bus main company operating in the province of Udine: www.saf.ud.it main company operating in the province of Gorizia: www.aptgorizia.it main company operating in the province of Pordenone: www.atap.pn.it main company operating within Triveneto: www.atvo.it

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITĂ€

DI

U DINE

The University of Udine was founded in 1978 as part of the reconstruction plan of Friuli after the earthquake in 1976 to give a new prospect to the inhabitants. Strongly desidered by the citizenry, intellectuals and politicians from Friuli region, the University was born in 1978, realizing the committment of the University Consortium, which was active since 1968. Initially the departments were situated in historical buildings in the town centre; then, with the development of the university, some branches were established in Pordenone, Gorizia and Gemona.

The mission: Through a process of constat exchange and improvement, the variety of ideas, initiatives, experiences and projects create a model that distinguish it from other university. The University of Udine shines, indeed, due to the research and technology, interaction with the territory and internationalization.

Didactics: Based on the ideas of society development and new professions, the University has inside it an institute of excellence, a School of Advanced Studies, a student and teachers community with a great cultural and scientific profile, sustaining the common degree programme. The latter are integrated by interdisciplinary educationl path, seminaries and learning of foreign languages, offering many services, among which room and board for free.

Research: The committment in research and innovation is proved by the collaboration of high specialized structures, such as the agriculture university company "Antonio Servadei", the hospital university company of Udine, the research and technological transfer centre "Friuli Innovazione", the publishing company Forum and the Consortium Friuli Formazione. Consultancy, analysis, project management: the University of Udine offers tools of support, research and company laboratories and certification centre. It allow the university to get in position at the first positions in Europe due to its scientific partnerships, publications and licences.

Internationalization: "Udine and its university are the point of reference of a region which historically is meeting point and crossroads of different worlds and cultures. Being geographically located in the centre of Europe, the university actively takes part in a close network of partnerships, encouraging the circulation and diffusion of knowledge. The university of Udine has always pursued an internationalization aimed both at the education of students who need to face the challenges of a world and a global economy that require more and more professionalities which can be used on an international level, and at a constant increase and refinement of the collaborations and partnerships with other universities and European and global institutions." www.uniud.it "Furthermore, in Udine there are also the Conservatorio Statale di Musica (academy of music) Jacopo Tomadini, http://www.conservatorio.udine.it/; the Academy of Theatre Nico Pepe, http://www.nicopepe.it/ and the Academy of Fine Arts G. B. Tiepolo, http://accademiatiepolo.it/."

THE ESN SECTION "On the cry of “NASE is the way!�, NASE Udine was founded in September 2013 by three young guys just gotten back from their Erasmus, wishing to bring to Udine the happy experiences they lived abroad and share them with the international students on exchange in the Friulian city. In October 2014, after one year of hard work, NASE Udine joined Erasmus Student Network Italia (ESN Italia), thus becoming ESN NASE Udine. The association is based on volunteer work and on the desire of turning Udine into an European and international city. ESN NASE Udine has the aim of letting exchange students know, discover and live the city of Udine, and not only. Therefore at the beginning of every semester the section organizes Welcome Days for them to get to know the city and start to settle in, whereas during the academic year it organizes trips inside or outside the region as well as events in town. The association is also socially involved, organizing events that let students be part of the society and help the community. All this is ESN NASE Udine. The section is currently composed of 24 active members and two honorary members forming different committees: communication, sport, Social Erasmus and events. During one month of stay in Udine, our section usually organizes at least four events among which at least one day-trip. During 2014 and

2015 we have successfully organized visits to: Trieste and Verona (more than once), one time each Cividale, Klagenfurt, Gorizia, Venice, Rome for the “Incontro Culturale Erasmus” (Erasmus Cultural Meeting), and twice the Erasmus National Event, respectively in the district of Catania and in the district of Cosenza. Our intention is to further improve the stay of our guests and we therefore wish to offer them the opportunity to travel across the country and abroad and at the same time enjoy local activities also by creating partnerships with institutional partners like the University and the Municipality of Udine.

TIPS - Climate The climate in Udine is half continental and half Mediterranean, warm and sweaty in summer, very cold in winter and characterized by heavy rains appearing over more than one period during the year. Between November and March temperatures may fall under zero, however snowfalls are not frequent. So wrap up well and bring an umbrella with you, while in summer follow the rules and instinct of self-preservation in cool and shady places drinking a lot of water!

- Friulian cusine The most important thing in this region is its wine-and-food culture, created by the crossroads of flavours, trade routes, historical wars and different cultures. In our territory we can enjoy a cuisine coming from the peasant culture, with dishes that had to keep you strong in the most freezing periods, therefore a cuisine rich in proteins that can fulfil your daily energy needs! Among our local specialties you’ll enjoy Frico, polenta (maize porridge), Muset (cotechino, a type of pork sausage) and brovada, Cueste cu li verzis (pork spare-ribs with Savoy cabbage), scuete frante (re-fermented ricotta cheese), cjarsons (typical Carnia dumplings), salami with vinegar, salami with onion, frittata (omelette), San Daniele ham, desserts like Tiramisù, Strudel and Gubana, distillates like Grappa, some craft (or not) beers, and white and red wines from Collio.

- Udine brings you to the East: Calendidonna, Far East Film Festival and Vicino/Lontano - Tiziano Terzani award (spring) Spring in Udine begins in March, in a bond of arts and science, with the Festival delle Lettere.

Then, in April, the most common of the Friulian

meeting: the Far East Film Festival which, born in 1997, is a worldwide showcase for the Asian cinema; organised by the Centro Espressioni Cinematografiche, it is held at the new Theater Giovanni di Udine and at the cinema Visionario.

Every year, during the event "Vicino/Lontano", on Saturday night, they award a prize to the international literature prize dedicated to the journalist and writer Tiziano Terzani. Many philosophers, writers, reporters and scholars attend the event, holding debates and conferences on identity and differences.

- Friuli DOC (september) Friuli DOC is a wine-and-food festival that has been taking place since 1995 in the main squares and streets of the old town centre, where food & beverage stands are set up. The exhibition lasts four days, from Thursday to Sunday during the second week of September and its dictum is ""vini, vivande, vicende, vedute"" (wines, food, events, views). In the most successful edition so far (2007) there were over 1,200,000 visitors. Friuli DOC is not the festival of Udine, but the discovery of all the peculiarities of our region: from Carnia to the Marano lagoon, from the Province of Gorizia (“Isontino”) to Tagliamento river.

- Udinese, the vexillum of the city in the world "Where are you from?" "I'm from Udine!"

"Ah...Udinese!"

The first sentence recognised by a citizen of Udine! Udinese is a soccer team in the Italian championship; since 30 years, it is well known and appreciated in the whole world. Zico, Causio and Edinho are just few of the names that make it famous in Europe. Since that

moment, it was always increasing: always richer and with a special consideration for young talents. But the best is yet to come... the Stadium Friuli is currently under renovation to follow the dream of asserting the presence of the team among the "big ones" of Europe.

Venezia

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

Venice has been founded on the 421. At that time the celtic population, named Veneti, used to live along the cost of the, nowadays known as North-East Italy. Since 49 DC they became Roman population.

When, in the 453, Attila invaded the italian territory, some “Veneti” took refuge into the islands of the laguna and started to build villages.

At the beginning, Venice was controlled by the Byzantine empire; However in the 726 the venetians got their indipendence and Orso Ipato was elected Doge.

Venice started fastly to grow and to develop, putting itself in the centre of economic trades where many ships sailed from and to its harbour.

Populations was growing and in the 828 the body of Saint Marco was transported cladestinely from Egypt to Venice. Saint.Marco became then the Patron of the city.

During the medieval age Venice kept growing as harbour but in the 1348 the Black Death killed half of the population so that venetians introduced in the city the quarantine. All the ships that arrived from infected zones had to stop in the island named Lazzaretto and all the passengers and sailors had to wait 40 days in order to get into the city centre.

The top of the imperial power of Venice was reached in the XV century while its reputation of “party town” went on till the point that in the XVI century a turist guide counted more than 11.654 registered prostitutes in the city.

The powere of Venice started to fade when the last Doge of Venice abdicated when Napoleone got in the city and eventually it got united to the Reign of Italy in the 1866.

ESN Venezia Contacts www.esnvenezia.it venezia_mam@esn.it ESN Venezia Dorsoduro 3246 30123 Venezia

THE CITY TODAY Venice is the chief town of Veneto, situated in the north-east of Italy, this area has many different kind of landscapes: Dolomiti, Lake of Garda, beaches and hills.

Built into the Laguna, Venice is made by 118 small islands, connected between them by more than 150 channels and more than 400 bridges.

The most popular zone of Venice is the historic center, crossed by the Canal Grande that divides the city in two. Venice includes also Mestre, situated in the solid ground and some other islands (Murano, Burano, Torcello, Lido) One very tipical thing in Venice is the way venetians called many places that in the rest of Italy have totally a different name; Calle = Long and narrow street (in italian: strada) Campo = Square (in italian: piazza) Campiello = Small square (in italian: piazzetta) Fondamenta = road where in one side there is a channel.

Piazza = it is used only for Piazza S.Marco The city is divided in six areas called “Sestieri”, each one has its own caratteristics.

HIGH TIDE It’s the phenomenon that happens usually in winter when the astronomic tide and the wind cause the flooding of the historic center. Usally this phenomenon lasts a couple of hours. People get notified of the hide tide by an acoustic signal.

Usually high tide do not compromise the access at the city and the discomforts are not that insuperable, instead it could be a funny way to discover the city from another point of view.

Hi!Tide is the official app for smartphone that let you see the tide’s level and provides forecasts for the incoming days. It suggests moreover alternative footpaths.

P UBLIC T RANSPORT Vaporetti and bus (ACTV) ACTV is the name of the Service that own and manage the public transportation in Venice. It manages both the buses transportation and the by sea transportation (vaporetti).

IMOB (now VENEZIA UNICA) Imob or Venezia Unica is the eletronic ticket device. You can charge on your Venezia Unica normal tickets (one or two ways), subscriptions or carnet etc.

You can charge it in every ACTV’s office and at the vaporetto’s stop.

The card is valid five years. To get Venezia Unica you can simply go to the main offices in

Tronchetto and Piazzale Roma (Venice) or Piazza Barche (Mestre). It costs 50 euros.

H OW

TO

G ET H ERE

- by plane From Marco Polo airport you can reach Venice both from land and sea.

The bus stop is at the groundfloor. Tickets can be bought at the ACTV’s office for the bus number 25. (6euros one way, urban line) and at the ATVO’s office (7euros one way, no middle stops).

The bus stops in Piazzale Roma, station and terminus of public transportation.

The trip lasts about 30 mins.

For more infos check:

www.actv.it www.atvo.it To reach Venice by sea you can buy the ticket for ALILAGUNA (14euros one way) on-line.

The trip lasts about 1 hours.

For more infos check: www.venicelink.com AEREPORTO DI VENEZIA “MARCO POLO” Phone: + 39 041 260 926 www.veniceairport.it

For more info: www.trenitalia.it AEROPORTO DI TREVISO CANOVA” Phone: +39 0422 315 111 www.trevisoairport.it

“ANTONIO

From the Canova Airport (Treviso) This airport is situated about 30 km from Venice. You can reach Venice by bus or by train.

You can buy bus ticket ATVO (7euros no middle stops).

You can also get the bus number 6 till the Treviso station and from there take a train for Venice, it lasts 1 hour to get the Venice S.Lucia Central Station.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ C A ’ F OSCARI Ca’Foscari University of Venice is famous for the high level “learning and teaching”.

It has been found on the 6th August 1868 as Commercial High School and it has been the first italian school that offered Economic and Business within its teaching.

In 1954 the Faculty of Languages and Literatures has been found and later, in the 1969 the Chemistry Faculty.

There are several buildings for each Faculty and they are spread in the whole Venice.

The main building is the Central Building of Ca Foscari, a building made in the ancient gotic venetian’s style which is situated close to the Canal Grande.

The building was bought and restored by the Doge Francesco Foscari in 1452. It contains important works of art and architecture, such as a room of the 16th century the Venetian sculptor Alessandro Vittoria (1525 -1608) and a room designed by the Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa (1906 -1978), with two paintings by Mario Sironi and Mario de Luigi.

Ca 'Foscari University is the third Italian in the rankings in 2011 the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) for the distribution of the Ordinary Financing Fund; and the fourth in the ranking in 2012 for the three-year planning. Moreover, Ca 'Foscari is actively involved in the cultural life of Venice, organizing more than 800 events a year, working with prestigious cultural institutions and organizing art exhibitions in the spaces "Ca' Foscari Esposizioni".

Ca 'Foscari International Ca 'Foscari has more than 400 active agreements for international cooperation, with the aim of promoting mobility for training and research. The University actively participates in European programs for technological research, education and training, with projects involving partner institutions from all continents.

THE ESN SECTION Esn Venezia has been found on 2011 from the universitarian association “Ca’Foscari meet a mate” and every year welcome more than 250 international students. Esn Venezia’s office is situated in Rio Novo Building at the 1st floor, which is close to the Main Building of Ca Foscari. Every year this section organize many events in the city for its students: • WELCOME DAYS • PARTIES • CITY TOUR • ISLANDS TOUR ( Murano, Burano, Torcello) • DAY TRIP (to the cities close to Venice) • TRIPS in the main Italian cities • International pic-nic and aperitif And much more!!!!

TIPS - Carnival of Venice The Venice carnival is the best known in the world as one of the oldest. The Venetians celebrate carnival at least since the XV century. At that time they organized private balls masked and many popular activities. By the eighteenth century the carnival lasted two months but this event fell into decline after the city was occupied by Napoleon in 1797 and was abandoned when Mussolini forbade the use of masks. Carnival was revived in 1979 making it again the most famous carnival in the world. The festivities begin on Friday afternoon with the Feast of Marie, a procession around the city. This is a precursor to the official opening on Saturday when the procession of masks from Piazza San Marco to 4 pm along all city streets.

The Toggle Next Friday night sees the culmination of the carnival with the Grand Ball of Masks or the Ballo del Doge celebrated in different places every year. Anyone with a proper costume and a mask that is able to dance dances a few centuries ago could participate.

Saturday and Sunday are dedicated to theater and music performances in Piazza San Marco and other places. Sunday you can enjoy a beautiful procession with decorated boats and gondola passengers masked.

More info: Carnival Venice (www.carnevale-venezia.com) - Historical Regata Dates: every first Sunday of September This rowing race in the Grand Canal commemo-

rates the welcome given to Caterina Cornaro, wife of the King of Cyprus, in 1489 after she renounced the throne in favor of Venice.

- International film festival of Venice The prestigious Venice Film Festival in Venice is the world's oldest film festival hold every year since 1932. It is celebrated during the last week of August and the first days of September at the Venice Lido.

Once he was completely dedicated to Italian masterpieces but later became more international film-American directors like Vincent Gallo, Robert Rodriguez, Darren Oronofsky, Sofia Coppola and Quentin Tarantino with the presence of stars on the red carpet like Jessica Alba and Natalie Portman.

Every two years the film festival coincides with the Biennale!

- The Venice Biennal The Venice Biennale has for over a century been one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world.

Since its founding in 1895 has been pioneering in promoting new artistic trends and organizing international events in contemporary art. All this is great for the film festival, for the international exhibition of art and architecture, the theater festival that goes hand in hand with the festival of contemporary dance.

- Cicheti venexiani In Venetian restaurants and bacari the “cicheti� are one of the best thing that a tourist can find in Venice, served during lunch or aperitif time between 6 pm and 8 pm with a tasty wine.

The cicheti can be simple meatballs or bruschetta (peace of bread) with fresh tomatoes and basil in creative dishes with white asparagus of Bassano Del Grappa (city in the north of Veneto) and lagoon shrimp stuffed with bacon and croutons with salami and pecorino (cheese) .

Verona

HISTORY OF THE CITY

Verona is a well-known tourist destination, visited every year by more than three million people thanks to its artistic and architectural richness, and for the international events that are hosted in the city. The city has been awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO because of its urban structure and architecture: Verona is a clear example of a city that developed progressively and continuously during 2000 years, integrating artistic elements of the highest quality in the different periods that succeeded; furthermore, it’s one of the best examples of a city that has been fortified in stages in diferent historical periods. The city developed alongthe banks of the river Adige, where it enters the Po Valley (Pianura Padana) and it forms a characteristic double meander, about 30 kms east of the Garda lake and at the feet of the southern side of the Lessini mountains. In antiquity, the city was a focal point of both ground and naval transportation in the north-east of Italy. In Roman times, it was the crossing point of four major streets: the via Gallica, the via Claudia Augusta, the vicum Veronensium and the via Postumia. Even today Verona represents an important crossing point -roads, railwaysand highways- connecting central and northwestern Italy with the Brennero pass. The first contacts between Rome and Verona probably took place around 390 a.d., when the Gauls of Brenno invaded Rome. In 174 a.d. after the submission of the cisalpine Gallia and the beginning of a new colonization period of the Po valley, the strategic importance of Verona became evident. The Roman senate asked the Cenomas and the Venetis to increase in size the fortified castrum that they gave as a concession on the San Pietro hill, while Roman settlers and indigenous peoples formed the basis for the edification of a new city inside the Adige loop. Thanks to Caesar Verona obtained in 49 a.d. Roman citizenship and the municipality could then boast the title of “Res publica Veronensium”. During the Republican era, Verona expanded and its economy strengthened: in this period the city, by now fully located inside the Adige loop, started to grow and modernize. During the imperial period the city became an even more

Contatti ESN Contacts ESN Ancona Verona www.aseesnverona.it verona@esn.it esnverona @ASE_ESN_Verona San Francesco, 22 – 37129 Verona

important strategic point, as it was used as a temporary base for its legions. Under the regency of Vespasian, the city arrived to its apex of richness and splendor. Since the city, that by the I century had already surpassed 25.000 inhabitants, needed a big building to let all its citizens attend the shows the Arena was then built, being the last big public work in the city of the Roman era. Under Theodoric the Great, Verona became a military center of primary importance and was the favourite seat of the king: Theodoric gave back its former magnificence to the city and rebuilt the walls, half-destroyed by the previous barbarian assaults. Afterwards, the Lombards interrupted the short-lived Byzantine hold of the city, that in those times was the Italian capital, when the seat of the Lombard court was moved to Pavia. Still, Verona remained the capital of an important Lombard duchy and one of the main cities of the Langobardia Maior next to Milan Cividale and Pavia. The dominion of the Lombards over Verona and a big portion of Italy was to endure for almost two centuries more, until the coming of the Franks. It was exactly in Verona that, in 774, Charlemagne ended the last resistance of the Lombards, which was led by Desiderio's son, Adelchi: the prince sought refuge inside of the city, before he was forced to flee, determining the end of the Lombard reign. With the fall of the Lombards, the carolingian empire was to be born with the crowning of Charlemagne (800). The city was often visited by Carolingian emperors, and hosted many Diets.

After 1000 a.D. northern Italy was the field of many wars, but Verona always remained loyal to the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, throughout all the wars against the Popes. 1136 the Commune was created with the elections of the first consoles, whilst two parties were emerging, Guelfi and Ghibellini (the Montague family, that became famous thanks to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, was one of its main exponents). Verona hosted the Pope for five years. Pope Lucio III established the Curia Pontificia in 1181, and at his death in 1185 he was buried in the Dome’s choir. The continuous fights between the two opposite factions stopped in 1223, when Ezzelino III da Romano, gained power over Verona and became “imperial vicar of Italy”. The Ghibellini held the power over the city and, with Mastino I della Scala, it changed from Commune to Signoria. With Cangrande I della Scala, clever and respected lord, the city lived a new period of wealth and splendour, so that Dante dedicated to him the entire book of Paradiso in the Divina Commedia. His power extended on most of northern Italy: he became Lord of Verona, Vicenza, Padova, Belluno, Feltre, Monselice, Bassano, Treviso, and also imperial vicar of Mantua and chief of the Ghibellini’s faction in Italy.

Cangrande died at the early age of 38; according to the tradition, he died by congestion drinking cold water after Treviso was conquered. His premature death left his lordship without direct descendants so the power was taken by his nephew Mastino II della Scala, who extended the Signoria to the Mar Tirreno, with the acquisition of Lucca. This expansion worried the adjacent States, which led to the foundation of a League, promoted by the Venetian Republic with the help of Visconti, Carraresi, Estensi and Gonzaga, against whom the army of Verona fought two big battles before surrendering. The Signoria Scaligera was critically reduced in terms of territory and weakened by the conflicts among the most influential families. At the end it was occupied by Visconti, whose dominion was strict but short. Taking advantage of Gian Galeazzo’s death, Francesco da Carrara thanks to the help of Guglielmo della Scala, entered the city the night between the 7th and the 8th of April 1404. On 17th April Guglielmo della Scala died in unknown circumstances and on 24th May 1404, Francesco da Carrara proclaimed himself Lord of Verona. Venice took advantage of this tumultuous situation to enter the city with its army and put an end to the short Carrarese dominance on 22nd June 1405. On 24th June 1405, Verona passed under the Venetian dominion, enjoying a long period of peace until 1501. This period was interrupted not by war, but by a devastating disease: the Great Pestilence, brought to Italy in 1630 by German soldiers. The city was full of corpses which were burnt or thrown into the river Adige due to a lack of space. It was a disaster for the city: in 1626 there were 53.333 inhabitants, which were reduced to 20.738 at the end of the plague. More than half of the population died during this period. In 1797 Napoleon, with the Treaty of Campoformio, gave the city to the Austrians. With the following Treaty of Lunéville, Verona was split in two along the river Adige: the right side to the French, the left side to the Austrians (which was badly called Veronette by the French, from which comes the name of the

neighbourhood “Veronetta”). It remained so until 1805 when the Austrians gave the entire region Veneto to France. During the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Verona was permanently given to Austria until 1866. The history of the Italian Verona began on 16th October 1866 with the conquest of Veneto by the Savoia, after the Third Independence War: from now on the city lived a short period of tranquillity, ruined by an economic crisis which lasted until after World War II. This led to the emigration of thousands of citizens. In 1882 Verona was hit by a tremendous flood and the river Adige overflew most of the city. In the following years, in order to protect the city from other floods, the so-called “muraglioni” ( high walls ) were erected, but the city had to give up its title of “city that lived over the water”. During World War II, the city underwent massive bombings. After the fall of the Fascism, Verona, seat of five Ministers and important German commands, became a fundamental centre for the Social Italian Republic.

THE CITY TODAY Verona is without any doubt a city rich rich in history, but there is more to be discovered in the narrow streets of the old quarters, between wine bars and taverns where aromas and flavors of the table are kept intact. The prestigious wine-making tradition and confectionery, from Soave to Pandoro, are the reasons of the growing interest for this area, just like the old passion for antique trade and craft shops or the trips out of town, among vineyards, the hills and the lake. While the face of the modern city is the vibrant cultural life that animates theatres, art galleries and clubs, the international events at the Fair, the elegant cafes and fashion boutiques remain a must for anyone who stops by Verona.

I NTERNAL T RASPORT In Verona there is a very efficient system of buses that connect the entire city. The bus terminal is located in front of the train station of Verona Porta Nuova. http://www.atv.verona.it There is also the new bike-sharing service called “Verona Bike”. The service is open all year round, from 6am to 12 pm, including holidays, and is accessible through the use of a special magnetic card. The registration fee is € 5, then the first half hour is free, the daily subscription is € 2 and the weekly is € 5. https://www.bikeverona.it/

H OW

TO GET TO THE CITY

Verona is easily reached by almost any means of transportation, as it is located in the centre of northern Italy and is very well supplied by two highways that pass through it and by several trains.

- By train the main train station is Verona Porta Nuova, which is located at the intersection of the two

main Italian railway lines , the Milan – Venice line and the Brenner – Rome line. Also excellent are the connections to the Adriatic line and the nearby train station of Bologna. The station of Verona Porta Nuova is linked via direct trains “Intercity” and “ Eurostar” of Trenitalia,, and the Italo company has recently started offering its services as well, connecting the city with high speed trains. porta Vescovo, on the Milan- Venice line.. In addition to the station of Verona Porta Nuova, there is also the station of Verona Porta Vescovo, on the Miln – venice line, very close to the university area. http://www.trenitalia.com/ - By plane the airport of Verona named “Valerio Catullo” is located about 15 km from the city centre, but there is a very efficient shuttle bus service from the train station Verona Porta Nuova to the airport and back every 20 minutes.

- By car Verona is easily reachable via the highway A22 Brenner – Modena, exit at Verona Nord, or the A4 Milan – Venice, exit at Verona Sud.

THE UNIVERSITY U NIVERSITÀ

DEGLI

S TUDI

DI

V ERONA

The birth of the University of Verona goes back to the Papal bull of 1339, in which Pope Benedict XII confirmed in Verona the general “studium” articulated in the faculty of law, medicine and art.

For some historian the Papal bull is proof the recognition of an academic dimension already existing in Verona. However, only after World War II, a group of intellectuals was able to give life to the Free School of Historical Sciences, from which sprang the desire to give birth to the University. From 1950 to 1960 the Institute of Historical Science “Ludovico Antonio Muratori” was founded and the magazine “Nova Historia” was edited. It was from that group of scholars who sprang the desire to give birth to a University in Verona. The idea finally became concrete in February 1959 when the mayor of that time Giorgio Zanotto put on the agenda of the session of the council “the establishment in Verona of the faculty of Economics and Business”. The Free Faculty of Economics and Business was created, the Consortium for University Studies and the seat were set at Palazzo Giuliari, current seat of the dean. The failure to recognize the initiative by the government froze everyone’s expectations and forced the city’s authorities to seek a different solution, which arrived in 1963. The University of Padua recognized, in fact, the Faculty of Economics and Business as its branch office in Verona. In a short time it also decided to transfer to Verona the sub-office of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and the Faculty of Education, which later became the Faculty of Philology Literature and Linguistic. The project of the University had its concrete and definitive realization in 1982, when the government authorities granted Verona the autonomy and the stratification of its University. The University of Verona focuses on the innovation and quality of research and teaching: it is an institute made up of 23000 students and 1500 between teachers, researchers and administrative staff. The University consists of 15 departments and the School of Medicine and Surgery for a total of 60 first degree courses, 7 doctorate schools, 26 master’s degrees, 40 postgraduate schools and 16 improvement courses. A university deeply integrated in the urban context that looks to the future through continuous strengthening of the link between educational provision and the world of work, and set to itself as primary objective for the near future, the realization of structures even more comfortable and appropriate than they now are.

THE ESN SECTION The Erasmus Students Association of Verona was founded in 1992 by students after returning from their own exchange studies who wanted to share their experiences with exchanges students in Verona. For a long time the Association has carried out activities to welcome the new Erasmus Students; in 1999 Verona became a member of ESN Italia, who was founded 7 years before in 1992, from the common effort of the seven sisters (Siena, Parma, Pavia, Milan, Trento, Bologna, and Genoa). ASE ESN Verona has 20 years of experience helping Erasmus students and foreigners during their stay in Verona, in full accordance with the ideals of the Erasmus project. After overcoming difficult times, Ase-Esn Verona is not only active locally but also nationally. ESN Verona hosts many successful events throughout the year. One of the largest events of ASE ESN Verona is the Tour of the Osterie, which is normally held twice a year and consists in a tour of the famous, traditional pubs of Verona.

5 TIPS - Santa Lucia’s markets Santa Lucia’s markets are a traditional market for Santa Lucia’s day (13th of December) usually held in Piazza Bra, via Roma, via Pallone and Piazza Cittadella, in the heart of Verona, where

you can find 326 exhibitors from all over Italy that expose their typical and handmade products, offering you an unmissable occasion to find particular stuff. In the dialect of Verona they are called Banchéti de Santa Lussia, and

they are dedicated to Santa Lucia, who lived in Sicily at the end of the III century. According to the tradition, in Verona it is believed that in the night between the 12th and the 13th of December Santa Lucia, with her trusted assistant Castaldo and a donkey, brings sweets and toys to good children, and sweet coal to the bad ones. This tradition dates back to the XIII century, when a dangerous ill of the eyes spread in Verona, and this ill hit especially children.

Parents and relatives started to make a pilgrimage to Santa Agnese church, as a vow to ask to stop the epidemic. Children were also forced to participate barefooted , with the promise that Santa Lucia would have filled their shoes and socks with presents and sweets. The habit to take the children to the church in Piazza Bra carried on until the XIX century and the presence of so many children and parents in Verona’s biggest square attracted the pedlars of sweets and toys. From here comes the “Santa Lucia’s fair”. To give the final touch to the Christmas-sy atmosphere, an enormous arch sculpture in the shape of a comet star was created by Olivieri: it starts from within the Arena and dives towards piazza Bra, also underlining the annual Nativity scenes exhibition (Rassegna dei Presepi), in the aisles of the ancient Roman amphitheatre.

- Verona in Love For centuries Verona is synonymous of Love.

And if Shakespeare sanctified the city by setting in Verona the unforgettable “Romeo and Juliet”, it is impossible to think of a better city to celebrate your own Valentine’s Day. Every year, in these days (from the 14th to the 17th of February), Verona becomes the City of Love, the capital of lovers, a town that blossoms under the touch of Love. The city center is filled with people, colours and music. The squares of the city center, in particular piazza Bra, piazza dei Signori and Cortile Mercato Vecchio, are the heart of this event. Piazza dei Signori usually hosts “A heart to discover” (“Un cuore da scoprire”), the typical heart-shaped market where you will find themed gift ideas and particular objects for you Valentine’s Day, whereas the near Loggiato di Fra’ Giocondo becomes

“Loggiato in Love”, a particular tasting area where you will find and discover famous and traditional confectionary products and wines. In Cortile Mercato Vecchio you must not lose “The message of the heart” (“Il messaggio del cuore”), the particular board where you can leave a message or dedication to your beloved, or the “Love seal” (“Sigillo d’amore”), a parchment that testifies the lovers’ feelings with a wax seal. The soundtrack of the festival is the music of “Live in Love”, which will be stopped by a coloured and heart-shaped confetti rain called “Soffi d’Amore”. Under this rain thousands of lovers could kiss each other for a minute. For those who love writing love letters, each day on the 14th of February, there is the award ceremony of the prize “Dear Juliet” (“Cara Giulietta”), dedicated to the most beautiful and passionate love letters, written to the young Capuleti from all over the world. But Verona in Love is also love illuminations in the streets of the city center, thematically decorated shop windows, discounts in the monuments dedicated to Juliet, striking performances in theatres and astonishing new events every year. A large-scale festival, with lots of initiatives to satisfy every person: The most romantic with the one-minute long kiss, the sports addicted with the marathon through the city center, the artists with exhibitions in the great palaces in Verona, the music lovers with choir performances in the squares and also the most greedy with chocolate sculptures and the famous heart shaped market that became the symbol of Verona in Love. If you love someone bring them to Verona! http://www.veronainlove.it/it - Il Pandoro Pandoro is a typical Christmas cake from Verona. It was created at the end of the XIX century and it comes from the “pan de oro” (golden bread, a typical Christmas cake of Venice) and the “nadalin”, that has been famous from the Medieval Age as a Christmas cake. The official birth dates back to the 14th of October 1894, when the baker Domenico Melegatti, founder of the confectionary industry with the

tant and strategic international areas.

same name, got the official patent to realize a soft cake, which shape was invented by the impressionist painter Angelo Dall’Oca Bianca and is like an eight-pointed star. The Pandoro of Verona is a soft and gilded cake, smelling of vanilla, sugar and butter. Without custard, chocolate or candied fruit, it is served with a wipe of icing sugar, to be dusted just before cutting the cake, so it will not lose its soft consistency. With the Panettone of Milan it is one of the most famous and beloved Christmas cakes in Italy.

Ingredients: 600 gr flour, 250 gr butter, 8 eggs, 200 gr sugar, 30 gr brewer’s yeast, ½ glass single cream, 50 gr icing sugar, grated lemon peel, 1 bag vanillin.

- The “Bacanal del Gnoco” – Verona’s Carnival Dating back to the middle Ages, Verona’s Carnival, whose original name is “Bacanal del Gnoco”, has its roots during the years of Tomaso Vico, a XVI-century doctor that wrote in his testament to distribute every year food and nourishment to the population of St. Zeno’s area. It can be considered the most ancient Carnival in Europe that survived until nowadays. In “Istoria Veronese” (a book containing the history of Verona) written by Girolamo Dalla Corte, it is narrated that Verona was being destroyed by a disastrous famine, because of the devastating floods of the river Adige (1520-1531) and the raids of the landsknechts of Carlo V. Because of these events and the uncertainty to find raw materials, the bakers (“pistori” in the dialect of Verona) raised the price of the bread. Since the population had little money and therefore the bakers had no interest in producing bread, they stopped the production and the sale. But the 18th of June 1531 the population rose in the area of San Zeno, assaulting bakers and grabbing bread and wheat. The spreading revolution was stopped by the intervention of some citizens that decided to feed the poorest people with their own money. The tradition says that also Da Vico was between them, and he is indicated as “instructor and restorer” of the “Baccanale del Gnocco”, because he decided to give bread, butter, wine and so on to the poor people of his city. In piazza San Zeno there is a stone table: It

is where on the Friday before Lent (called Venardi Consolàr, Consolation Friday) all the poor people were invited to eat. From this event on, it is tradition in Verona and in the surrounding area to eat for lunch handmade gnocchi on the Friday before Lent. In 2014 will be celebrated the 484th Bacanàl del Gnocco, the first had been celebrated in 1531.

- VinItaly Vinitaly is the international wine and spirits fair, which has been taking place in Verona every year since 1967. Vinitaly occupies more than 95,000 m2 with more than 4,000 exhibitors and records about 150,000 visitors every year. The fair receives producers, importers, distributors, restorateurs, experts, journalists and opinion leaders coming from all over the world. It hosts also more than 50 thematic tasting every year, with wines from Italy and from abroad and with a program built to face the most important problems related to the demand and supply of the wine market. The fair has not only expositive areas dedicated to the wine producers, but also workshops, buyers clubs and special areas dedicated to the promotion of the label Made in Italy and the emergent companies. During this exhibition during this exhibition, competitions and international prizes are organized; the most famous are: The International Oenological Competition, the International Packaging Competition and the International Vinitaly Prize that, combined with the International Wine and Spirit Competition, aims to promote the oenological culture in the world. At the same time of the Vinitaly, there are also the Extra virgin Olive Oil Fair, the Agrifood Club, the Quality Agrifood Fair and Enolithec, the International Exhibition of Viticulture Technologies, Enology and Technologies related to the growth of olives and the production of olive oil. Moreover, Vinitaly organizes Vinitaly for You, a winebar event open to all the wine lovers, held in the city center of Verona, in the wonderful location of palazzo della Gran Guardia in Piazza Bra. Vinitaly has also the role of ambassador of the Italian wines in the world, through Vinitaly in the World, organizing events in the most impor-

Erasmus Student Network Italia Registered office at E.S.N-A.S.S.I. Parma c/o Servizio Scambi Didattici Internazionali, Parma University Via UniversitĂ , 12 43121 Parma ITALY Tax code 92105850348 VAT 02507830343

Web: www.esnitalia.org - www.esn.org