On the occasion of the Italian Festival 2007, the Dante Alighieri Cultural Association, will offer a cultural tour through the Italian architectural sites in Bangkok.

“…Venice of the East was the name Westerners gave Bangkok over a century ago, when the capital was crisscrossed by a network of canals. The canals may be vanishing, but Bangkok’s architectural landmarks and buildings affirm that links with Italy remain strong as ever…” (Thanin Veeradet, Bangkok Post, Horizons).

Purpose of the visit is the historic recollection of the sites where the artistic influence and role were mainly played by Italian architects, artists, painters, sculptors and engineers, who were invited by King Rama V, at the beginning of the XX century, with the vision to turn Bangkok into the modern capital of Siam.

At one time there were several dozen of such figures including men of the artistic stature like Emilio Gerini, architects like Carlo Allegri, Annibale Rigotti, Mario Tamagno, Ercole Manfredi, painters like Galileo Chini and Carlo Rigoli and sculptors like Corrado Feroci (Silpa Birasri) , the most revered Italian artist in Thailand who founded the Silpakorn University.

Government House, Victory Monument, Anantasamakom Parliament House, Democracy Monument, Bank of Thailand, Hua Lamphong Railway Station, Wat Rajatiwas, the statues of King Rama I and Rama VI, Ban Pitsanulok, Neilson Hays Library and Siam Commercial Bank Headquarters are some of the locations that will be introduced along the tour by Prof. Paolo Piazzardi, author of the book “Italians at the Court of Siam”.

Admission: 500/600 Bath (Dante’s members/non members).

For information/reservations call 085-2484243 or 02-3921035

or send an email to dantebangkok@hotmail.com