Intermediate IQSA 2025 conference

Tropea is a lovely town situated on the Tyrrhenian coast in the south of Italy in the Vibo Valentia province. This part of Calabrian coast is called Costa degli Dei (Coast of the Deities). Tropea is known as the pearl of the Tyrrhenian coast. It is the most important touristic place in Calabria and one of the most important in Italy. It has often been ranked among the first three most beautiful beaches in Italy. In 2020 it has been declared the most beautiful village in Italy. 

Calabria as well as Campania, Puglia and Basilicata are the Italian regions  where Magna Graecia was founded in the VIII century b.c.. The places where Magna Graecia was founded were Greek colonies. The same happened in Sicily but in this case the historians speak of Greek Sicily. Magna Graecia and Greek Sicily were very important from the cultural and social point of view. Pitagora moved to Calabria from Greece and founded his school in Crotone (about 158 km from Tropea). Several very important philosophers and mathematicians were born in Magna Grecia. Here is a partial list: Parmenide (Campania), Zenone (Campania), Empedocle (Sicily), Timeo (Calabria), Archimede (Sicily). Here are some pictures of Tropea:

The legend says that Tropea was founded by Ercules when he stopped on the coast of southern Italy on his way back from the Columns of Ercolus (in Spain). Tombs from the Magna Graecia period have been found near Tropea. 

The coast to the south of Tropea, in the province of Vibo Valentia, is also very beautiful and is connected to Tropea by a regional train.

Tropea is also famous for the special onion produced locally, which is very mild and appreciated and exported all over the world. It is also easily digestible. The area around Tropea is famous for its 'nduia, a kind of cream made with pork fat, pork and lots of red pepper.

Here is a partial list of attractions the visitors can find in Calabria, in Tropea and close to:

• In Tropea: In Tropea there are a lot of very old buildings. We suggest a visit to the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Romania.  The Cathedral was built by the Normans in the XII century. The structure was built entirely in tuff and pale yellow lava stone. It has a longitudinal development, with three naves in Norman style. The Cathedral hosts the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Romania which was painted by a pupil of Giotto.

• In Pizzo: Pizzo Calabro, is a town (and a seaport) in the province of Vibo Valentia (Calabria, southern Italy), situated on a steep cliff overlooking the Gulf of Saint Euphemia. Pizzo is famous for the tuna fish, the ice-cream (tartufo di pizzo), the castle and the Piedigrotta church carved into the tuff. The former King of Naples Joachim Murat, who was the brother-in-law of Napoleon, was imprisoned for several days in the town's Aragonese castle and then sentenced to death. He was executed by firing squad on October 13, 1815, in the main hall of the castle and was possibly buried in the church of San Giorgio. Paradoxically, the castle is now called Castello Murat. The castle hosts the Provincial Museum Murat. In 1783 the town was almost destroyed by an earthquake, and it suffered some damage from the same cause in 1905.

• In Reggio Calabria: The Riace Bronzes, placed in the Archeological museum of Reggio Calabria are considered among the most significant examples of classical Greek art. They are two full-size Greek bronzes of naked bearded warriors, cast about 460–450 BC[1] that were found in the sea near Riace in 1972. Reggio Calabria can be easily reached by train from Tropea (about 2 hours).

They are two of the few surviving full-size ancient Greek bronzes (which were usually melted down in later times), and as such demonstrate the superb technical craftsmanship and exquisite artistic features that were achieved at this time. (from wikipedia)

• In Vibo Valentia: The Hipponion Castle, about 35km from Tropea, is a Norman-Hohenstaufen Castle, located most likely on the site of Hipponion acropolis, and built around 1000. For its construction materials from the Greek temples nearby were used. It was damaged by an earthquake in 1783. Today the castle is home to a state museum where you can find the gold leaflet from the Necropolis of Hipponion Ca. 400 BCE and the Greak Walls of Hipponion, including about 350 metres (1,150 ft) of remains and foundations of eight towers, each with an estimated height of 10 metres (33 ft).

• In Stilo: The Cattolica di Stilo is a Byzantine church in the comune of Stilo, Calabria, southern Italy. It is a national monument. The Cattolica was built in the 9th century, when Calabria was part of the Byzantine Empire.

• Locri: Epizephyrian Locris (Greek Ἐπιζεφύριοι Λοκροί; from ἐπί epi, "on", Ζέφυρος (Zephyros), West Wind, and the plural of Λοκρός, Lokros, "a Locrian," thus "The Western Locrians")[2] was founded about 680 BC on the Italian shore of the Ionian Sea. Plato called it "The flower of Italy", due to the local peoples' characteristics. Locris was the site of two great sanctuaries, that of Persephone — here worshipped as the protector of fertile marriage — and of Aphrodite. In the early centuries Locris was allied with Sparta, and later with Syracuse. It founded two colonies of its own, Hipponion and Medma.

• Aeolian Islands: From Tropea by ferry or hydrofoil you can reach the Aeolian Islands (/iːˈoʊliən/) (Italian: Isole Eolie, pronounced [ˈiːzole eˈɔːlje] Greek: Αιολίδες Νήσοι, Aiolides Nisoi) are a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea (Sicily). The Aeolian Islands are a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea.  There are two active volcanoes – Stromboli and Vulcano.[2] The volcanic activity of steaming fumaroles and thermal waters are on most of the islands. See Wikipedia for more details. There are ferries and hydrofoils from Tropea to the islands for 40-50 euros euros. The trip takes about 1,5 hours from Tropea to the Islands.

The University of Calabria is the main university in Calabria with around 34 000 registered students. It was founded in the 1972 and is located in the north part of Calabria, in the province of Cosenza, at about 130 km from Tropea. The Department of Physics of the University of Calabria will be a sponsor of the conference. The Department of Physics counts 55 professors, 10 post-doc and 60 PhD students. The research groups of the department cover most of the main topics in the experimental and theoretical research (Astrophysics, nuclear and subnuclear physics, theoretical fundamental interaction physics, molecular biophysics, molecular physics, condensed matter physics, Mathematical Physics). The group of Mathematical-Physics and the group of Theoretical Physics will be involved in the organization of the conference. 

The conference will be held at the Tropis Hotel (www.tropis.it). A list of room rates will be available soon. The conference room in the hotel can accommodate up to 100 people. There is a second (smaller) room next to the conference room.