There are three primary venues at the Firenze Fiera:
Fortezza da Basso Palazzo dei Congressi Palazzo degli Affari
The Fortezza is laid out more like a castle than a traditional single-roof convention center, with numerous buildings on a large green campus enclosed in a five-sided fort-shaped wall. It provides a total of over a hundred thousand square meters of usable space, a little over half of this indoors.
This venue is most often used for artistic exhibitions. It has a wide variety of rooms in many shapes and sizes, and this is no surprise; most of the complex was designed during the time of the Medicis, by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger.
The largest building is the Central Pavilion, or the Spadolini Pavilion. Its three levels provide 26,000 square meters, nearly half of Fortezza da Basso's total indoor area. Adjacent to it is the Cavaniglia Pavilion, with additional generous space. Also of interest is the Teatrino lorenese, which was built during the Lorraine rule.
The Palazzo dei Congressi is located in the old Villa Victoria, built by the Strozzi family, and is the most classically ideal venue at the Firenze Fiera for concerts and live arts. The auditorium here, renovated just in 2004, can accommodate up to a thousand people, and the whole building is centered in a small park located only a few steps from the center of Florence. There is also an outdoor amphitheater for other events large enough to seat 500 people.
The Palazzo degli Affari is the most modern of the Firenze Fiera's venues. Opened in 1974, this modern building was designed by Pierlugi Spadolini, and is host to many upscale events, including most of Florence's large fashion shows, of which there are many.
This venue is slick and technologically sophisticated, with a giant plasma screen display connected to the wireless network to make it simple for those running events at the venue to present multimedia. Of all the venues, this one is the most ideal for running any kind of technological event.
While it's the most modern, it also has one of the best locations of all the venues. From the lawn, you have an excellent view of the city of Florence.
