Speech given by Manuel Lamela Fernandez at the closing ceremony

摘要

It is a great honour for me to be here in this noble city of history and art, described by some scholars as the "Athens of the North". Surrounded by olive orchards and brimming with palaces, libraries and museums -art, in a word- Florence is the cradle of modern Italian civilisation. Its Piazza della Signoria or Via Calzaiuoli and environs witnessed the grandeur of the geniuses who made such a significant contribution to world culture such as Dante, Michelangelo, Galileo and Leonardo da Vinci. It is the city that was the hub of politics and Christendom for so many years, and which in 1439 even hosted the Council that bears its name.