Venue

Location

The third Meeting of the EASD Study Group on Genetics of Diabetes 2011 will take place at the Smolenice castle located in the western part of Slovakia, in the village of Smolenice, approximately 50 kilometres north-east from Bratislava.

Travel to the venue

By plane

The Capital City of the Slovak Republic - Bratislava is reasonably connected by air traffic with most of the European capital cities. However, if someone would require more flexible flight schedule for his/her travel to Slovakia, the use of Vienna Schwechat Airport in Austria is recommended. Schwechat airport is located only 55 km west of Bratislava.

For more information about the airports, flight connections and destinations, please visit:

Bratislava Airport: www.airportbratislava.sk
Vienna-Schwechat Airport: www.viennaairport.com

Those congress participants who will tick in the Registration Form the box for special bus transport from Vienna-Schwechat Airport and/or Bratislava-Stefanik Airport, a special bus will collect them at the relevant airports and ride them to the Smolenice Castle. Similar transport will be organized after completion of the meeting.

The journey from Vienna Airport to Smolenice takes approximately 2 hours and from Bratislava Airport to Smolenice it is approximately 75 minutes.

For information regarding shuttle bus transportation from and to the airports please contact: transportation [at] emerge.sk.

By train

Intercity and international express trains connect Bratislava with all parts of Slovakia, including Smolenice and with many major cities in Europe. Please visit the home page of the Slovak National Railways for connections and rates.

Official webpage of the Slovak National Railways: www.zssk.sk/en

By car

When arriving from Bratislava, head towards the motorway D1 to the east in direction to Trnava. In Trnava change to road number 52 and continue to Smolenice.

When arriving from north and east to Smolenice using the highway, continue on the motorway D1 to Piestany. In Piestany change to road 499 to Vrbove. In Vrbove turn left to road 502 and continue to Smolenice

When arriving from Czech Republic, exit the motorway D2 in Kuty and continue on the road 500 to Senica. In Senica turn right to road 501 and head to Jablonica to change to road 51. After reaching Trstin turn right to road 502 to Smolenice.

After reaching Smolenice continue to the junction with Zámocká street. Turn to Zamocká Street and continue straight away until you reach the castle.

Car drivers will certainly benefit mostly from the GPS coordinates of Smolenice Castle which are as follows: WGS 84 48° 30′ 49″ N, 17° 25′ 56″ E

About Smolenice

The cozy village of Smolenice is located in the beautiful surroundings of the Small Carpathian ranges. These mountains stretch from the north east of Bratislava to the New Town upon Vah River (Nove Mesto Nad Vahom).

There is a valley called Hlboča, the largest and the most beautiful valley of the Smolenice karst with rocky reefs and rain dependent waterfalls which appear depending on the weather. The surrounding park of the Smolenice Castle gradually changes into a wide forest with the tallest mountain of the Small Carpathian ranges - the Zaruby peak (768 metres).

The area offers wonderful trails for walking and mountain biking. About a 45 min walk from the Castle there is a very interesting cave named Driny with perfectly preserved stalactites and stalagmites.

Driny is a limestone cave in West Slovakia in the Little Carpathians Mountains. It is located around 2 km south-west of the village of Smolenice. The cave's entrance altitude is 399 m. The first attempt to enter the cave was made by Prussian soldiers, who were camping nearby during the Austro-Prussian War. It was finally explored in 1929, and in 1934 the first 175 meter route was opened. In 1950 other parts of the cave were explored and in 1959, the cave was reopened. The cave was declared a nature monument in 1968 and became part of the newly designated Little Carpathians Protected Landscape Area in 1976. Today, from the total explored length of 636 m, 550 m are open to the public.

The first written data on the existence of the Smolenice village originate from the mid 13th century. Several noble families have changed here as landlords over the centuries. For example in 1388, the King Zigmund donated the Smolenice estate to Duke Ctibor from Ctiboric. In 1438 the owner changed and the new landlord of Smolenice became the Count Joseph of Pezinok and St. Jur.

In the 15th century, significance of the Smolenice village grew due to construction of the Smolenice Castle which had become centre and residence of the Smolenice County. In the early years of the 16th century, Smolenice estate was taken over by the noble Orsagh family. In the 1777, Count Johannes von Palffy recieved the Smolenice estate as a backbond. Palffy family members were not living in the Smolenice Castle, as already during the era of the last Erdody - Christoph the 3rd - the building was deteriorating due to the lack of finances for its maintenance. The consequences of doom were accomplished in the era of the Napoleon wars, when the main castle building and the tower were burned down.

The construction of the current Smolenice Castle was started up in the beginning of the 20th century by the owner of the Dobra Voda County (Good Water County), the Count Joseph von Palffy senior. First work at the fortification walls had began already in 1887 by modification of the bastillions. Bastillions from the old castle had remained, they got only new stories and the new roofs.

The Count von Palffy started the construction works with his own financing according to a plan elaborated by the architect Joseph Hubert. The World War First led to a stop of the constrution works at the castle. Some rooms were neatened up in a provisional form only. Nevertheless, they were later used for the archives of the Palffy family.

Until the end of the World War Second, the construction works at the castle were frozen down. In 1945, the Czechoslovak state became the owner of the castle. Later on, Slovak National Assembly took over the ownership and has used the Castle as a summer resort. The Castle was finished and furnished up, and on the 26th of September the Castle was handed over to the Slovak Academy of Sciences with the aim to become a representative congress facility serving for meetings of scientists coming from all over the world to Slovakia.