The
European Gravitational Observatory or
EGO is located in the countryside near
Pisa, in the hamlet of Santo Stefano a Macerata in the
comune of
Cascina. In order to ensure the long term scientific exploitation of the
VIRGO interferometric antenna for
gravitational waves detection as well as to foster European collaboration in this upcoming field, the VIRGO funding institutions (
CNRS for France and
INFN for Italy) have created a consortium called EGO (European Gravitational Observatory).