The prospects for cooperation at the level of districts of St. Petersburg and Italian municipalities were discussed today, July 8, in Smolny, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg Andrei Khlutkov and adviser for balance, sport and international relations of the mayor of San Felice del Benaco (Italy ) Marco Baccolo.
As was noted by the parties during the meeting, relations between Russia and Italy have always been friendly and constructive. The best confirmation of this was the recent visit to Rome (on July 4 this year) of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and cabinet head Giuseppe Conte.
Andrey Khlutkov told the members of the Italian delegation about cooperation at the regional level between St. Petersburg and its partner cities Milan (cooperation agreement of 1967), Genoa (agreement of 2002), Turin (agreement of 2012), Venice (agreement of 2013). In September 2018, the Information Business Center of St. Petersburg was opened in Milan.
Extensive historical and cultural ties were also noted. So, in St. Petersburg the renowned architects of Italian origin Karl Rossi, Giacomo Quarenghi, Bartolomeo Rastrelli created, whose names mean a lot to the Northern capital of Russia and find a response in the heart of every Italian.
At the same time, representatives of San Felice del Benaco admitted that they are very fond of Russian culture. They especially noted the literature - the works of Fedor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Ivan Turgenev. It turned out that in the region nearby there is even a bust of Fyodor Dostoevsky in memory of the places where he stayed in Italy.
Mr. Baccolo proposed a school exchange between St. Petersburg and the commune of San Felice del Benaco. According to him, if schoolchildren studying Russian could visit St. Petersburg and vice versa, this would certainly lead to an increase in mutual understanding between the countries as a whole and, in particular, the strengthening of trade and economic ties in the future. Now in one of the schools in the city of Salo (located on the west coast of Lake Garda), students are already learning Russian.
Deputy Chairman of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg Andrei Khlutkov supported the idea of partners. As a positive example of work in this direction, he cited the school competition for readers of poetry and prose in Russian “The Monument to Pushkin”, revived in Slovakia. As noted, the winners of the competition get the opportunity to come to St. Petersburg, which becomes an additional incentive for them to learn the language and then gives conversational practice.
Andrei Khlutkov invited the mayor's office of San Felice del Benaco to consider the possibility of signing a cooperation agreement with one of the districts of St. Petersburg so that the ideas could be put into practice.
So, he said that they are already successfully cooperating with partners in Italy, the Admiralteysky, Kronshtadtsky, Kurortny, Petrodvorets and Pushkin districts. And in May of this year, the Cooperation Agreement was also signed by the Central District of St. Petersburg and the city of Sorrento.
At the end of the conversation, Marco Baccolo thanked the St. Petersburg side for the meeting and expressed confidence that the dialogue that had begun would open a new stage of cooperation. He said that Lake Garda (the largest lake in Italy) receives about 6 million tourists every year, and the commune of San Felice del Benaco - about 600 thousand people. According to him, it would be good if the St. Petersburg schoolchildren, as part of school exchanges, could also visit these places, improve their knowledge of the Italian language and get to know their peers.
For reference:
San Felice del Benaco is an Italian commune located on the western shore of Lake Garda on a cape between the bays of Salo and Manerba. It includes the territories of three settlements: San Felice, Porteze and Cisano, as well as the largest island of the lake - Isola Garda.
Since 1927, San Felice, Porteze and Cisano form a single municipality.
Among the main attractions of the city are the Palazzo Rotinho - the place where the famous sculptor Angelo Zanelli was born - the author of the equestrian statue of the first king of the united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II, located in front of the Altare della Patria or Il Vittoriano monument ) on Venice Square in Rome.
As was noted by the parties during the meeting, relations between Russia and Italy have always been friendly and constructive. The best confirmation of this was the recent visit to Rome (on July 4 this year) of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and cabinet head Giuseppe Conte.
Andrey Khlutkov told the members of the Italian delegation about cooperation at the regional level between St. Petersburg and its partner cities Milan (cooperation agreement of 1967), Genoa (agreement of 2002), Turin (agreement of 2012), Venice (agreement of 2013). In September 2018, the Information Business Center of St. Petersburg was opened in Milan.
Extensive historical and cultural ties were also noted. So, in St. Petersburg the renowned architects of Italian origin Karl Rossi, Giacomo Quarenghi, Bartolomeo Rastrelli created, whose names mean a lot to the Northern capital of Russia and find a response in the heart of every Italian.
At the same time, representatives of San Felice del Benaco admitted that they are very fond of Russian culture. They especially noted the literature - the works of Fedor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Ivan Turgenev. It turned out that in the region nearby there is even a bust of Fyodor Dostoevsky in memory of the places where he stayed in Italy.
Mr. Baccolo proposed a school exchange between St. Petersburg and the commune of San Felice del Benaco. According to him, if schoolchildren studying Russian could visit St. Petersburg and vice versa, this would certainly lead to an increase in mutual understanding between the countries as a whole and, in particular, the strengthening of trade and economic ties in the future. Now in one of the schools in the city of Salo (located on the west coast of Lake Garda), students are already learning Russian.
Deputy Chairman of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg Andrei Khlutkov supported the idea of partners. As a positive example of work in this direction, he cited the school competition for readers of poetry and prose in Russian “The Monument to Pushkin”, revived in Slovakia. As noted, the winners of the competition get the opportunity to come to St. Petersburg, which becomes an additional incentive for them to learn the language and then gives conversational practice.
Andrei Khlutkov invited the mayor's office of San Felice del Benaco to consider the possibility of signing a cooperation agreement with one of the districts of St. Petersburg so that the ideas could be put into practice.
So, he said that they are already successfully cooperating with partners in Italy, the Admiralteysky, Kronshtadtsky, Kurortny, Petrodvorets and Pushkin districts. And in May of this year, the Cooperation Agreement was also signed by the Central District of St. Petersburg and the city of Sorrento.
At the end of the conversation, Marco Baccolo thanked the St. Petersburg side for the meeting and expressed confidence that the dialogue that had begun would open a new stage of cooperation. He said that Lake Garda (the largest lake in Italy) receives about 6 million tourists every year, and the commune of San Felice del Benaco - about 600 thousand people. According to him, it would be good if the St. Petersburg schoolchildren, as part of school exchanges, could also visit these places, improve their knowledge of the Italian language and get to know their peers.
For reference:
San Felice del Benaco is an Italian commune located on the western shore of Lake Garda on a cape between the bays of Salo and Manerba. It includes the territories of three settlements: San Felice, Porteze and Cisano, as well as the largest island of the lake - Isola Garda.
Since 1927, San Felice, Porteze and Cisano form a single municipality.
Among the main attractions of the city are the Palazzo Rotinho - the place where the famous sculptor Angelo Zanelli was born - the author of the equestrian statue of the first king of the united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II, located in front of the Altare della Patria or Il Vittoriano monument ) on Venice Square in Rome.