Firenze Fiera - Palazzo dei Congressi

Firenze Fiera Congress and Exhibition Center is the joint-stock company running the three main exhibition and congress venues in Florence: Fortezza da Basso, a Medicean fortress designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger in the first half of the 1500s on commission from Alessandro de' Medici; Palazzo dei Congressi (conference centre), hosted in a 19th century villa built by the Strozzi family, today it's perfectly restored and houses antique furniture; Palazzo degli Affari (business centre), a modern building, multipurpose and versatile, that was designed by the architect Pierluigi Spadolini and inaugurated in 1974. The three venues stand out as particularly original and very high-profile exhibition and meeting locations. The main shareholders of the company include: the Region of Tuscany, the Municipality, the Province and the Chamber of Commerce of Florence and the Municipality, the Province and the Chamber of Commerce of Prato as well as all the main trade associations of Florence. The company offers a wide range of world-class events: congresses, conferences and 20 fairs per year. The three venues successfully promote and boost the city of Florence as a high-level conference and exhibition location in a particularly difficult and increasingly competitive sector. Every year, Firenze Fiera hosts nearly 20 national and international fairs, from haute couture (such as Pitti Immagine Uomo and Pitti Immagine Bimbo) to arts and crafts (Mostra Internazionale Artigianato), leisure, gifts shows and the Congress Tourism Market Show (BTC International). Firenze Fiera has become a reference point and plays, for these sectors, an essential role as an instrument for the companies' international growth and development.