Study visit in Italy

The study visit started on the 12th September 2019 in Vicenza in Italy. Representatives of the Project Partners from Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland and Italy met in Vicenza to better understand good regional practices on Intangible Cultural Heritage Valorization. After welcoming speech of the representative of the Veneto Region, participants visited the Palladio Museum.

The history of the "Palladio Museum" is very inspiring. Andrea di Pietro della Gondola was born on 30th November, 1508 in Padua, Italy. He was a member of a modest family of craftsmen. Under the influence of his patron - Gian Giorgio Trissino - he changed his name to Andrea Palladio. 

He was a very famous Italian Renaissance architect and was mostly active in Venetian Region. Nowadays, he is widely considered to be one of the most influential individuals in the history of architecture. As it may be considered, most of buildings designed by him, are located in the area of Venetian Republic, but the whole knowledge, which he included in his treatise "The Four Books of Architecture", is widely recognized even till now. 

The city of Vicenza, with its 23 buildings designed by Palladio, and 24 Palladian Villas of the Veneto is listed by UNESCO as part of a World Heritage Site named City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto. 

The Palladio Museum is a very interesting place, that highlights the whole history and activity of Andrea Palladio - the most famous citizen of Vicenza. The large-scale models of many of his amazing designs, are kept in the museum and catch the attention of its visitors. 

After visitng the Museum, all attendants of the study visit took a walk to the city centre. During that walk they had a chance to see more of Palladio's incredible designs.

The next point of the study visit was the Bassilica Palladiana. The mighty building, which has been the center of political and economic life in Vicenza for centuries, rises at Piazza dei Signori and it's name is inseparably connected with the name of the famous architect.

The second day of the study visit was organized in Verona.

Verona is a beautiful city, situated in northern Italy. The city owns one of the richest collection of Roman remains in that part of the country. the elements preserved from that era are (for example): the city gate, Porta Borsari, the remains of Porta Leoni, Arco dei Gavi that were destroyed in Napoleonic period and rebuilt in 1930s. Other remains worth mentioning are Ponte Pietra, Roman Theater and Amphitheater Arena. In ancient time, Verona was an important point of land communication. We can also find there a very well preserved old town that its existence dates back to the 1st century BC and that's why the city is inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

All participants of the study visit were welcomed by Project Leader at the Chamber of Commerce of Verona. At the beginning guests had a chance to get some interesting and important facts about the company itself and its important initiatives. The second point of the meeting, was a very interesting speech of MA Annachiara De Carlo, who presented us more facts about Verona City, its charm, importance and the role of Verona Chamber in Commerce in this area.

Presentation of the representative of Associazione Giochi Antichi, the organizer of Tocati Festival, introduced participants to the importance of thi event for the cultural identity.

During the meeting, participants of the study visit had an opportunity to meet and admire performance of the representatives of Italian ICH creators, who are going to conduct crowdfunding campaign (participate in oproject's Pilot Actions).

Tocati is an annual festival, taking place on the streets of Verona. Guests from the whole world have there the opportunity to take part in one of over forty street games. That gives the great possibility to get to know the city from a slightly different angle.

While taking part in Tocati events, that were located in different parts of the city, study visit participants had a possibility to admire the most important Roman remains in Verona, to see and play games such as Backgammon, Checkers, Carrom, Wari, Chess, Frisbee, and attended beautiful and colorful parade opening the XVII Edition of Tocati Festival.

Study visit prepared by ARTISTIC Lead Partner -  t2i Technology Transfer and Innovation, and ARTISTIC project partner - Veneto Region and all good practices presented during this two-day event were very beneficial for its participants - helped to understand the tradition of that area of Italy and was an inspiration for the future activities on implementation and valorization of ICH local initiatives.