At the conclusion of the G7 meetings, the Mayor of Brindisi, Giuseppe Marchionna, sent the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, a letter of thanks for choosing Brindisi as the place in which to host the heads of state and government for the gala dinner of the G7. At the same time, the Mayor of Brindisi extended an official invitation to President Mattarella for a visit to the city on the occasion of the U23 Mediterranean Fencing Cup which will be held in Brindisi from 18 to 20 October.
Mister President
on behalf of the entire City of Brindisi we express our deepest gratitude for your decision to host the Heads of State and Government of the G7 inside the splendid residence of the Castello Svevo which overlooks the extraordinary setting of the port of Brindisi . We are certain that you will not consider it a mere rhetorical exercise to underline the honor with which you have invested us by hosting such a high-profile initiative of the Forum for International Dialogue on Development, Peace and Global Security.
She intended to gratify the City of Brindisi by indicating it as the seat of this formidable vehicle of relationality and, we believe in our hearts, she will appreciate the intent that lies in our Community to significantly enhance the opportunity that she intended to offer us. We understood your choice as recognition of a City that identifies itself and intertwines its destiny with its port, which today more than ever appears to be a bridge projected towards all the shores of the Mediterranean: from the Balkans to Anatolia, from the Mashrek to the Maghreb, in an effort of cooperation and peaceful coexistence, of religious confrontation and cultural hybridization with all the peoples overlooking the ancient Mare Nostrum.
Over the centuries Brindisi has been the “Gateway to the East”, through which men and goods who have made history have passed: pilgrims, religious people, merchants, artists, generals, templars, crusaders, emperors and saints, up to migrants of every ethnicity and country who have always found refuge and welcome here.
In many centuries of contradictory human events, many people have passed through here. And everyone continues to pass through here, because Brindisi is a port of peace and welcome.
Today we are planning our future by basing it on these ancient roots: our ambition is to represent a natural bridge between continental Europe of which we are the extreme offshoot and the worlds that open up beyond the sea. If in the nineteenth century we were a fundamental stage of the “Suitcase of the Indies”, which united two antipodal worlds by connecting London to Bombay, in the contemporary world we aspire to become a “Bridge in the Mediterranean” by joining shores different in customs, cultures and religions, in an effort aimed at guaranteeing peace and civil coexistence among all peoples.
In this context, from 18 to 20 October 2024 we will host for the second consecutive year the under 23 Mediterranean Fencing Cup, organized by the Mediterranean Fencing Confederation and the Italian Fencing Federation. It would be a further great honor for us all if you would accept our invitation to visit the city of Brindisi, attending this “noble art” event reserved for very young athletes from 18 countries in the Mediterranean basin. Confident in a favorable acceptance of our invitation, we extend our most deferential greetings.
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