Tuesday, May 30 |
Lisbon,
Portugal |
Wednesday, May
31 |
Lisbon,
Portugal |
Thursday, June
1 |
Lisbon, Portugal and Berlin,
Germany |
Friday, June 2 |
Aachen and Berlin,
Germany |
Saturday, June 3 |
Berlin, Germany and Moscow,
Russia |
Sunday, June 4 |
Moscow, Russia |
Monday, June 5 |
Moscow, Russia and Kiev,
Ukraine |
TUESDAY, MAY 30 LISBON, PORTUGAL
Arrival Ceremony Torre de Belem
President Sampaio will welcome President Clinton and the U.S.
delegation to Portugal at the Torre de Belem.
The Tower of Belem, also known as the Discoverers
Monument, was built to defend the entrance of the Tagos river. Construction
began in 1514, and was completed in 1520. Over time, it has also served as a
customs control point, a telegraph station, a lighthouse and even a prison. The
Tower has been classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Wreath Laying Jeronimos Monastery
President Clinton and President Sampaio will lay a wreath at
the tomb of famous Portuguese poet Luis Camoes. The President will then tour
the Monastery.
The Jeronimos Monastery is located in the town of Belem, on
the outskirts of Lisbon. In Portugals "Golden Age," the coastal area of
Belem served as the main launching point for the Portuguese ships on their
voyages of discovery. The monastery, built in memory of Vasco de Gamas
discovery of a sea route to India, used to house monks who provided "spiritual
guidance" to sailors. The site contains the tombs of discoverer Vasco de Gama
and poets Luis Camoes and Joao Pessoa.
Bilateral Meeting with President Sampaio Palacio de
Belem
The Belem Palace is the official residence of the President of
the Portuguese Republic. It was constructed around 1726 during the reign of
King Joao V. Largely rebuilt in the 19th century, Belem Palace was selected as
the official residence of the Chief of State following the foundation of the
First Republic in 1910.
Bilateral Meeting, Garden Walk and Working Lunch with Prime
Minister Guterres Palacio de Sao Bento (Prime Ministers
Residential Office)
Partnership in the New Age of Discovery
Event Pavilion of Knowledge
In the afternoon, President Clinton and Prime Minister
Guterres will tour the scientific exhibits at Lisbons Pavilion of
Knowledge. They will then address an audience of scientists, teachers and
students.
The museum currently houses exhibits on cutting-edge research,
including infectious diseases, as well as an exhibit on Portugals GLOBE
program, an internet-based environmental education program.
State dinner Ajuda Palace
President Sampaio will host a state dinner at Ajuda Palace.
The Royal Palace of Ajuda, close to the Botanical Garden, is
neo-classical in style. Construction began in 1802 but was left incomplete when
the royal family (of the Braganca dynasty) was forced into exile in 1807,
during the Napoleonic wars. It became the permanent royal residence after the
accession of Luis I to the throne in 1861. The Palace is now a museum where the
Government of Portugal holds many official receptions and dinners.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 LISBON, PORTUGAL
President Clinton, European Commission President Prodi and
Prime Minister Guterres will meet at the EU Summit and hold a news conference.
Queluz Palace, an old royal residence that has been likened to
a mini-Versailles, is midway between Lisbon and the historic town of Sintra.
The 17th century palace of Castelo Rodrigo was transformed into the Royal
Palace of Queluz beginning in 1747 under King Pedro. Queluz was the official
residence of the royal family until the court moved to Brazil during the
Napoleonic era, and again after 1861. Today Queluz is used by the President of
the Republic as the guesthouse for state visitors and, occasionally, for
special cultural events.
THURSDAY, JUNE 1 BERLIN, GERMANY
President Clinton will meet with President Rau and with
Chancellor Schroeder.
FRIDAY JUNE 2 AACHEN and BERLIN, GERMANY
President Clinton will receive the Charlemagne Prize in
Aachen, Germany. While in Aachen, he will also participate in a "Prayer for
Peace" in the Aachen Cathedral.
Established in 1949, the Charlemagne Prize is one of
Europes top honors. It recognizes contributions to European integration
and past recipients have included Winston Churchill, Jean Monnet, Robert
Schuman, Vaclav Havel, and Tony Blair. It is being awarded to President Clinton
for his contributions to European unity through NATO enlargement, to deepening
the EU institutionally and to a Europe with nations that are more united today
than at any time in history. President Clinton is the first American president
to receive the prize and the third American ever to receive it.
The Cathedral is one of the few buildings in Aachen not to
have been severely damaged during World War II. It was inaugurated in 805 (five
years after Charlemagnes coronation.) The architect was Odo von Metz, who
reportedly engaged masters and craftsmen from regions throughout Europe. The
old Palace Chapel also contains the shrine of Charlemagne and a collection of
relics that made it an important station in for pilgrims on the way to
Jerusalem, Rome or Santiago de Compostella. Today, it remains an active place
of worship.
SATURDAY, JUNE 3 BERLIN, GERMANY and
MOSCOW, RUSSIA
President Clinton will participate in the Conference on
Progressive Governance and travel to Moscow, where he will have a working
dinner with President Putin.
Chancellor Schroeder will host several heads of state and
government for a conference on "Progressive Governance in the 21st Century."
This is the fourth and largest in a series of such gatherings: The first was in
New York in September 1998, the second in Washington in April 1999 and the
third in Florence in November 1999.
SUNDAY, JUNE 4 MOSCOW, RUSSIA
President Clinton and President Putin will hold a series of
bilateral meetings at the Kremlin and hold a joint press conference.
MONDAY, JUNE 5 MOSCOW, RUSSIA and KIEV,
UKRAINE
President Clinton will address the Russian parliament. In
Kiev, Ukraine, he will meet with President Kuchma and deliver a speech to the
people of Ukraine.
The current State Duma consists of 450 deputies (half are
elected directly from single-mandate districts; the other half receive seats in
proportion to their partys nationwide vote.) Each session of the Duma
lasts four years. The Third Duma was elected in 1999 and took office in January
2000. The State Duma building, a nine-story structure close to the Kremlin and
Red Square, was originally built in the 1930s to house the Sovnarkom (the
"Council of Peoples Commissars.") It later became the home of Gosplan,
the Soviet state planning agency. From the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991
until 1993, the building housed the Ministry of Economics. The State Duma now
uses this site for its meeting rooms and office space.
Maryinsky Palace in Kiev is used for official
receptions and summit meetings. It was constructed in the mid-18th century in
anticipation of the visit of Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the
Great. The Royal Garden (now a large park) adjoins the Palace grounds. The
Palace was renamed Maryinsky in 1970 when it was renovated for the visit of
Emperor Alexander II and his wife Empress Maria. Through its 250-year history,
Maryinsky Palace has served a variety of purposes. During the 1812 war against
Napoleon, it was used as a field hospital. In the middle of the 19th century,
it housed the headquarters of the Kiev Art Society. In 1917, it was the
headquarters of the Kiev Workers Uprising. The Palace sustained extensive
damage during World War II and was rebuilt to its original specifications from
1945-49.
The Mykhailovskyi gold-domed Monastery (St. Michaels
Cathedral) was founded in 1108 by Prince Svyatopolk Izaslavych. Built over a
five year period, the monastery became the burial place for Kievs
princes. The Cathedral, originally adorned with mosaics and frescos, was
partially destroyed in 1240, by the Mongols. During the 17th and 18th
centuries, the Cathedral was reconstructed in the baroque style under the
patronage of Ivan Mazepa, who later contested Russian control of Ukraine. The
Cathedral was pillaged and destroyed in the 1930s during the Communist
regimes "anti-religion campaign." Some of the original mosaics were
preserved in the neighboring St. Sophia Cathedral, while others were taken to
art galleries in Moscow and St. Petersburg. St. Michaels was most
recently restored and reopened in 1998. |