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Frontiers of Quantum and Mesoscopic Thermodynamics

14 - 20 July 2019, Prague, Czech Republic

Venue


The main conference site is

Pyramida Hotel
Address: Orea Hotel Pyramida, Bělohorská 24, 169 01 Praha 6


Facilities available for the conference participants in the Pyramida Hotel


Registration and Welcome refreshment (Sunday, July 14, 5-9 p.m.) will take part at:
Entrance Hall and Lounge of the Pyramida Hotel.

Regular talks (Monday, July 15 - Saturday, July 20) and will take part at:
Lecture Halls of the Pyramida Hotel.

Poster Session (Tuesday, July 16) will take part at:
The first floor of the Pyramida Hotel.

Welcome Party (Monday, July 15) will take place at:
Wallenstein Palace Garden.

Public Lecture of William Phillips and Classical Concert (Tuesday, July 16) will take place at:
Pyramida Hotel Lecture Hall.

Public Lectures of Rainer Weiss and Wolfgang Ketterle and Classical Concert (Wednesday, July 17) will take place at:
National House of Vinohrady.

Round Table (Thursday, July 18) will take place at:
Pyramida Hotel Lecture Hall.

Classical Concert (Thursday, July 18) will take place at:
Saint Vitus Cathedral of the Prague Castle.

Conference Dinner and Classical Concert (Friday, July 19) will take place at:
Strahov Monastery.

Overview and times of the special conference events can be found in Program Summary or in Detailed Program.



Conference sites: About and How to get there


Pyramida Hotel
(Main conference site)

The comfortable four-star hotel, was built in 1980 in the neo-functionalist style with an interesting star-like ground plan and pyramid-like outer shape. During 2010 the hotels rooms were modernized. Some rooms have been upgraded to bussiness class in 2012. In addition, renovation of the reception took place in the beginning of 2013. The hotel offers a wide selection of conference services.

Pyramida Hotel is situated in the residential area of Prague called Břevnov near the Prague Castle and the historical centre of Prague. It is, in the same time, near the Prague international airport - about 20 minutes by car. From the Pyramida Hotel you can reach easily many historical and important places of Prague by trams which have their stops nearly in front of the Pyramida Hotel: Prague Castle within 5 minutes, Lesser Town is about 10 minutes by tram, Charles Bridge area, too, Old Town and New Town centers (in the vicinity of Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square) within 20 minutes ride. You can find more about Pyramida Hotel here.

How to get there:
Pyramida Hotel is located in the area of Prague called Břevnov near the Prague Castle. - see map Prague center - FQMT sites and a more detailed map Pyramida Hotel neighborhood.

How to reach the Pyramida Hotel from the Airport by public transport (between 4:30-23:00):

  1. Take bus No 119, to the bus terminal Nádraží Veleslavín.
  2. At the terminal, enter an underway and follow the green labels featuring a stylized M letter to reach the underground (Metro) line A. Take the underground in the direction Depo Hostivař or Skalka to the station Hradčanská (3rd stop)
  3. At the Hradčanská station, an escalator will transport you to an underway vestibule. Here turn left and follow arrows labeled Břevnov or Malovanka to reach a tram stop. Take tram No 25 and go to the stop Malovanka (4th stop). Walk in the direction the tram arrived; after 100 m you will reach the entrance of the Pyramida Hotel (see also map Pyramida Hotel access).

How to reach the Pyramida Hotel from various places in town:

Parking places
Guarded parking places are available at the Hotel for about 12 EUR per 24 hours.

Walks
Many historical places of Prague, as for example Prague Castle or Charles Bridge, can be reached from the Pyramida Hotel within a pleasant 30 minutes walk.


Wallenstein Palace
(Welcome Party on Monday evening)

The Wallenstein Palace is nowadays the seat of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. It is therefore only very exceptionally open for public events. These events must be approved by a committee of the Senate. The FQMT'19 conference is very fortunate to receive the support from the Senate and the possibility to use a part of the Wallenstein Palace for its activities.

More details on the Wallenstein Palace can be found here. You can also look at the virtual tour through the Wallenstein Palace.

How to get there:
Wallenstein Palace is situated just below the Prague Castle, in the very center of the Lesser Town (Malá Strana) in close vicinity the Lesser Town Square and the Charles Bridge - see map Pyramida Hotel neighborhood.

Special tram will depart from the Pyramida Hotel to the Malostranská stop to facilitate FQMT'19 participants transfer.
Stop Malostranská can also be reached from the Pyramida Hotel by regular tram line No 22 or No 23. The entrance to the Wallenstein Palace is from the Wallenstein Square which you can reach within five minutes walk either from tram stop and underground station Malostranská or from tram stop on the Lesser Town Square (Malostranské náměstí) - see map Prague Castle and Wallenstein Palace.
Alternatively, you can get to the Wallenstein Palace directly from the Pyramida Hotel within 30-40 minutes of a nice walk.


National House of Vinohrady
(Public lectures and concert on Wednesday evening)

The Neo-Renaissance National House of Vinohrady (Národní dům na Vinohradech) was built in 1894. At the end of 19th century the area of Royal Vinohrady (then an independent town) developed rapidly. The construction of the National House became one the symbols of this development. After its completion the National House of Vinohrady served as theatre and seat of various associations and clubs. Nowadays, it is a center where numerous cultural events, conferences and exhibitions take place. The National House and the closely situated, neo-Gothic Church of St. Ludmila make prominent buildings of the Náměstí Míru (Peace Square), a main square of this part of Prague. You can read some facts about National House and see some photographs here.

How to get there:
National House of Vinohrady is situated not far from Wenceslas Square, in the district called Vinohrady (see maps Prague Center - FQMT19 sites and National House of Vinohrady).

Special tram will depart from the Pyramida Hotel to the Náměstí Míru stop to facilitate FQMT'19 participants transfer.
The Náměstí Míru can also be reached from the Pyramida Hotel by regular public transport. The easiest way from the Pyramida Hotel is to use tram No 22 from Malovanka stop to the Náměstí Míru stop (14 stops, about 30-35 minutes) - see the map National House of Vinohrady.
Alternatively, e.g., if your prefer speed over convenience, you can reach the Náměstí Míru by underground (metro) line A. Náměstí Míru is one of the underground station of this line - see the map National House of Vinohrady. In this case, the total traveling time from the Pyramida Hotel to the National House of Vinohrady (with the change from tram No 22 (23) to underground A at the Malostranská station) should be about 25 minutes.



Prague Castle and Saint Vitus Cathedral
(Concert on Thursday evening)

The Prague Castle, the ancient seat of Czech sovereigns, now the seat of the president of the Czech Republic, is the most important historical and cultural place of Prague. Its palaces, Saint Vitus Cathedral and churches situated at the hill above the Vltava River represent the symbol of the Czech Lands. These palaces, gardens and churches create the largest castle complex in Europe. You can read more about the Prague Castle in various books on the European and Czech history besides much special literature devoted just to the Prague castle, its history and architecture. There are also many www pages where you can find details related to various aspects of the history and developments of the Prague castle, for the first orientation, see e.g. this info.

St. Vitus Cathedral has been always considered to be the the most important church of the Czech lands and intimately related to the history of the Czech state. The coronations of Czech kings took place in it, and many kings are burried there. You can see some photographs of the Saint Vitus Cathedral here and read about its history here.

How to get there:
The Prague Castle is situated not far (20 minutes walk) from the Pyramida Hotel. St. Vitus Cathedral is located in the middle part of the Prague Castle about 1500 m from the Pyramida Hotel.

Special tram will depart from the Pyramida Hotel to the Pražský Hrad stop to facilitate FQMT'19 participants transfer to the St. Vitus Cathedral.
You can also reach the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral (see maps Pyramida Hotel access and Prague Castle and Wallenstein Palace):

  1. either by about 20 minutes walk, starting down along the Bělohorská street (the main street where the Pyramida Hotel is situated)
  2. or by tram No 22 or No 23 (1 stop, about 2 minutes) down along Bělohorská street from the stop Malovanka to the stop Pohořelec, from where you can reach the Prague Castle within 10 minutes walk
  3. or by going tram No 22 or No 23 (3 stops, about 5 minutes) to the stop Pražský Hrad from where you can reach the central part of the Prague Castle by a side entrance within 5 minutes walk.


Strahov Monastery
(Conference dinner and concert on Friday evening)

It was founded as a Premonstratensian abbey by Jindřich Zdík, Bishop John of Prague, and Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia already in 1143. It is located in Strahov in the vicinity of the Prague castle.

The original monastery has been rebuilt many times. The monks began to build their monastery first of wood, with a Romanesque basilica as the center of all spiritual events in Strahov. The building was gradually completed and the construction of the monastery stone buildings continued, in order to replace the provisional wooden living quarters with permanent stone. In 1258, the monastery was heavily damaged by fire and later renewed.

The monastery continued functioning until the period of the Hussites, when it was attacked and plundered in 1420. Consequently, the monastery took a long time to recover. It was not until the arrival of the abbot Jan Lohelius, who became the abbot of Strahov in 1586, that a turn came about. He devoted all his abilities to the renewal of Strahov. He reconstructed the church, renewed the abbey buildings, established workshops, built a new dormitory and refectory, and had the monastery gardens newly laid out. He regained many of the monastery estates in order to build up the material base of the monastery, providing funds for the institution's maintenance and further development.

In 1612, the new abbot, Kašpar Questenberg, continued in the expensive work started by Lohelius, completed the lower cloisters and prelature, and even erected a new building in the form of St. Elizabeth's Hospital, as well as adding out-buildings and a brewery. The financial account of the costs incurred by his building activities was comparable with such builders as his contemporary Albrecht von Wallenstein.

One of the biggest events in the history of the Premonstratensian order was the transfer of the remains of Norbert of Xanten, the founder of the order, from Magdeburg. The reinterring took place under Questenberg's abbacy. This came about in 1627, and since then the remains of the saintly founder have laid at rest in the abbey church.

The abbey was plundered by troops of the Swedish Empire towards the end of the Thirty Years' War. The church and the library were looted. After the departure of the Swedes, the abbot Kryšpin Fuk had the damaged abbey repaired again.

In 1670 Jeroným Hirnheim, a philosopher and theologian, became the abbot of Strahov. His greatest work, which has survived to the present day, was the building of a new library and the so-called Theological Hall which was completed in 1679. During the 17th and early 18th centuries, other abbots continued in the reconstruction of the monastery. In 1779 Václav Mayer became the abbot. His most outstanding work was the building of the new library now in Classical style. Today it is called the Philosophical Hall.

After 1950, the library was incorporated into the Memorial of National Literature. Following events of 1989 the library was, along with the monastery, returned to the Premonstratensians. The Strahov Library contains over 200,000 volumes, including over 3,000 manuscripts and 1,500 first prints stored in a special depository.

The conference dinner will be held in the summer refectory. The refectory dating back to 1691 was designed by Jean Baptiste Mathey, a Burgundy architect. Along the walls there is a portrait gallery with paintings from the end of the 17th century showing significant personalities of the Strahov Monastery. A rood screen is hung on the walls that was used for reading during meals. The vault is decorated with a fresco by Premonstratensian painter Siard Nosecký (1693-1753) and has the theme "Heavenly Feast of the Righteous with the Christ as the Host" dating 1743-1745.

The conference concert will be held in The Basilica of Assumption of Our Lady. The Basilica was constructed as a triple-aisle Romanesque basilica 56 m long and 22 m wide with a transept and two prismatic towers. This design did not last long, because the church was rebuilt in Gothic style after a fire in 1258. The flat wooden ceiling was replaced by a dome and the Chapel of St Ursula was added to the northern transept. After being plundered by the Hussites, the church was reconstructed in Renaissance style. In 17th century, the basilica was extended westwards and the Chapel of Our Lady of Passau was added to the southern transept. In 1742, the Basilica was severely damaged again, this time during the French bombardment of Prague. The building was given a Baroque overhaul under the leadership of Italian architect Anselmo Lurago, and the fruit of this project is today's church. The basilica nave is 63 metres long, 10 metres wide, and 16 metres high. It ends in an apse, which hosts an altar of marble from Slivenec, made by Lauermann in 1768. There are ten side altars located at the pillars which separate the nave from the transepts. The sculptural work on the main altar was made by Ignác Platzer in 1768.

You can see some photographs of the monastery, go through the virtual 3D tour, and read a little more about its history here .

How to get there:
The Strahov Monastery is situated very close to the Pyramida Hotel (ca 600 m) in the direction to the Prague Castle from the Pyramida Hotel.

You can reach the Monastery (see map Pyramida Hotel access and the interactive map):

  1. either by about 10 minutes walk along the Bělohorská and Dlabačov streets, going left after leaving the Pyramida Hotel. After ca 600 m you will see the narrow road going up to the Strahov Monastery gate.
  2. or by going tram No 22 or 23 (one stop, about 2 minutes) from the stop Malovanka to the stop Pohořelec (towards city center). Then, walk back with respect to the direction in which the tram arrived, cross a wide road and go right using a narrow slightly rising road. After ca 100 m, turn sharply left and you will stand in the front of the Strahov Monastery gate.