The VIII National Congress of Bioengineering will take place at the Altinate | San Geatano Cultural Centre
of Padua , located in via Altinate 71, in the center of Padua (www.altinatesangaetano.it).
The Cultural Centre organizes and proposes exhibitions, debates, festivals, shows, courses and
conferences. It is a place “to exploit”, where people can socialize, study, attend concerts, shows, have
lunch or just have a cup of coffee and read a book. The building is a five-storeyed structure with a total
floor area of 12,000 sqm. The congress will be hosted on the basement and on the ground floor. The first,
second and third floors include exhibition spaces, the civic library and offices.
The basement includes the main auditorium, a small adjacent room, and a leisure room (foyer). The basement
can be accessed from the ground floor by a stairway or an interior lift. It is also possible to reach the
basement through an exterior entrance located in Lucatello street with a staircase and inclined plane
compliant with the legal standards for disabled people. The auditorium has got an occupancy capacity of
234 places, with 10 places for disabled people. The excavation made in order to create the basement places
and to carry out structural reinforcements, revealed late Medieval pavements and sediments as well as a
considerable amount of archaeological findings stratified from the Renaissance back to the Roman age.
The ground floor includes the central gallery, the commercial area facing Alessio street, the city centre
children’s space, the so-called “Paduans’ drawing room” also used as expositive cloister, and the Library
Archives rooms. There are three main entrances: one from Altinate Street which, through a gallery, goes
right through the whole complex up to the other entrance on Lucatello Street; the other on Alessio Street,
on the corner with Altinate Street; and the last one in the middle of the building, that is also the
previous entrance of the ex-Law Court. The ground floor has become a gallery which extends from Altinate
Street to Lucatello Street. The area of the cloister, previously occupied by the Hall of the Assizes, now
demolished, has become a big covered square, called Agorà, devoted to great events.
The Cultural Center Altinate San Gaetano (www.altinatesangaetano.it) is located in via Altinate 71,
in the center of Padua, near Piazza della Frutta and Piazza delle Erbe and the main seat of University of
Padua (Palazzo del Bo').
The Cultural Center can be easily reached by tram (the closest stop is Ponte Romani, 3 min by foot) or by
buses (n. 3 and n. 12 from the train station, the closest stop is near Porta Altinate, 3 min by foot).
Tickets are sold at the stations and are the same for buses and tram.
The venue can also be easily reached by foot (16 min from train station).