Welcome Message
Dear Colleagues, Guests and Friends
Between 31 May and 3 June 2015, the Local Organizing Committee would like to welcome you to Lisbon, to the 23rd European Conference on General Thoracic Surgery.
Lisbon city has a population of 550,000 but the Greater Lisbon Area is the country’s largest population centre, with 2,821,697 inhabitants (2011), or around 20% of Portugal’s entire population. It is home to four public universities, with a total of some 100,000 students.
Lisbon occupies an advantageous geographical position, with archaeological evidence indicating that it was...
Dear Colleagues, Guests and Friends
Between 31 May and 3 June 2015, the Local Organizing Committee would like to welcome you to Lisbon, to the 23rd European Conference on General Thoracic Surgery.
Lisbon city has a population of 550,000 but the Greater Lisbon Area is the country’s largest population centre, with 2,821,697 inhabitants (2011), or around 20% of Portugal’s entire population. It is home to four public universities, with a total of some 100,000 students.
Lisbon occupies an advantageous geographical position, with archaeological evidence indicating that it was first settled over 6,000 years ago. Its location has proved favourable to the shipping and commercial activity that has attracted so many peoples over the ages, from Phoenicians to Greeks and Romans to Arabs.
Throughout the 15th Century and into the early 16th Century, such Portuguese navigators as Vasco da Gama, Pedro Álvares Cabral and Ferdinand Magellan set sail from here in their caravels. They opened up the world for Europeans and helped forge contacts between the people of the various continents. The Belém Tower and the Jerónimos Monastery, masterpieces of the Portuguese art and architecture of the time, are just two of the monuments that continue to evoke the era that was immortalised by the Portuguese poet Luís Vaz de Camões (1524-1580) in his celebrated work “The Lusiads”.
Lisbon is a city that is both ages-old and cosmopolitan. Its soul has always been manifest in the dialogue and meeting of cultures and civilisations. This interaction takes place on the open stage that nestles between the “seven hills” that mythically encircle the city and the Tejo River, whose horizon is a mystifying melding of a unique quality of light and the blue of the sky.
A city where poets, heirs of the old gods, sit in cafés and write in the voice of Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935), the universally renowned poet whose multiple personality was reflected in his various heteronyms and in an extensive opus that was published throughout the world. These poets write “Saudade” (longing), a word that epitomises a unique emotion, moored between the past and the future but with eyes firmly set on the present.
"Saudade" is the soul of Fado, an urban song form that was recognised by UNESCO in 2011 as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. We invite you to come and hear it – and feel it – in Alfama, one of the city’s historical neighbourhoods. Here you will find the Fado Museum and myriad iconic “Fado Houses”, which open their doors each night to offer visitors a unique and unforgettable experience.
Lisboa is just a short 1 to 3 hour flight from most European cities and only 5 to 8 hours from North America. Lisbon airport is centrally located and transfer times to the city are as short as 15 minutes. The airport is served by all major airlines and there are daily non-stop connections to all major European cities as well as to the US, South America and Africa.
The 23rd ESTS European Conference on General Thoracic Surgery will be held at the Lisbon Congress Centre, located in the Belém neighbourhood, close to the Jerónimos Monastery, the Belém Tower and the River Tejo. Riverside restaurants are just a short walk from the conference centre. The buses and trams that pass right by the congress centre also interchange with the metro.
With its mild climate, 3,000 hours of sunshine per year and 850 km of splendid beaches bathed by the Atlantic Ocean, Portugal is the perfect holiday destination all year round.
I encourage you to spend a few extra days in Portugal. For visitors, Lisbon is at the heart of a vast resort. Along the coast road, you’ll find beaches and beach resorts populated by magnificent early 20th Century villas and hotels, with their accompanying marinas, terraces and first-class golf courses. Further along the coast, you’ll come across world-renowned surfing beaches and the palaces that are scattered across the cultural landscape of Sintra, a World Heritage Site.
Portugal has the oldest borders of any country in Europe. Within these borders, the country offers an exceptionally varied range of landscapes in a relatively compact area. On offer are myriad leisure activities and a truly unique cultural heritage, in which tradition and modernity blend in perfect harmony. Our superb cuisine, fine wines and hospitable people make this a tourist paradise of the highest quality.
Come to the 23rd ESTS Annual Meeting 2015 and discover the charms of our country, too.
Fernando Palma Martelo
On behalf of the ESTS Local Organizing Committee
