VENUE ::
Santa Maria della Scala
Constructed along the Via Francigena, Santa Maria della Scala was one of the first hospitals in Europe, with its own organization set up to care for pilgrims, assist the poor and provide for abandoned children.
This huge complex, located in the heart of Siena, in front of the Cathedral, conserves extraordinarily intact testimonials of thousands of years of history, revealing a path that runs uninterruptedly from the Etruscan and Roman age, through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, to us.
The conference will be held in Palazzo Squarcialupi, which looks onto Piazza del Duomo and stands at right angles to the main Santa Maria della Scala building. It was very probably erected in the first half of the 14th century in order to create a hospital for women.
The three storeys are now used as a bar, a bookshop, and display areas on the ground floor, conferences, workshops and libraries on the first level, while the top floor is reserved for exhibitions. This wing of Santa Maria della Scala affords striking views over the cathedral and the Sienese countryside.
