LOCATION
HYPOTHESIS XII has been held in Syracuse, one of the most ancient and beautiful cities of Sicily (Italy), city of sun and land of millenary culture.
Syracuse is located in the south-east cost of Sicily and was founded in 733 B.C by Greek people that established the first city in Ortigia Island: a sea island with a pure fresh water spring. Syracuse today is one of the most known touristic resort in Sicily due to the heritages of Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines that selected this place for living and not just for political reasons. Today, Syracuse is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and offers a magnificent balcony on the Mediterranean sea and on the Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe. It also host an experimental concentrated solar power plant, the evolution of the burning mirrors invented by Archimede to defend Syracuse from Roman naval attack.HYPOTHESIS XII has been hosted at Grand Hotel Villa Politi * * * *, Via Maria Politi Laudien, 2. The Austrian noblewoman Maria Teresa Laudien in 1862, after she met the man of her life, Salvatore Politi, Syracuse’s painter, founded Villa Politi, which quickly became an international leader thanks to its style and subtlety. It is and has been a meeting place for Art, Culture, Politics, Nobility: Princes and Kings from all over Europe, D'Annunzio, Ojetti, Vergani, Sir Winston Churchill, Pope John Paul II, President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and fascinating women such as Monica Bellucci. Winston Churchill said during his holidays in April of 1955 "I never rested so well in my life". Edmondo De Amicis wrote in 1906 – "delicious hours I spent on the terrace of the Grand Hotel Villa Politi - ah this elegant villa that rises above the ancient ruins on rocks used by the Greeks thousands of years ago...Syracuse seen from this terrace seems floating as if sleeps, dreaming on the two thousand and seven hundred years of history".
TRANSPORT FACILITIES
Syracuse is easily accessible from the International airport of Catania Fontanarossa, located about 62 km north. The best way to reach Syracuse from the airport of Catania is the bus. This offers the opportunity to enjoy of panorama during the relaxing travel. Two bus companies serve this connection: Interbus and AST. There is a departure every half hour about, from 8:40 till 20:40 every day of week. Please check the web site of bus companies in order to be sure of the needed service. Bus tickets may be bought directly on site.
Train serves only from Catania rail station (about 7 km from airport and served by city bus).
A secondary airport, airport of Comiso "Pio La Torre", is located about 90 km west and serves a limited number of international connections (mostly low cost companies) and may be chosen according to needs. In this case, the best way to reach Syracuse is by taxy service or car rental.