  The UV properties of old stellar populations have been subject of intense
scrutiny from the late sixties, when the UV-upturn in early type galaxies was
first discovered. Because of their proximity and relative simplicity, Galactic
globular clusters (GGCs) are ideal local templates to understand how the
integrated UV light is driven by hot stellar populations, primarily horizontal
branch stars and their progeny. Our understanding of such stars is still
plagued by theoretical uncertainties, which are partly due to the absence of an
accurate, comprehensive, statistically representative homogeneous data-set. To
move a step forward on this subject, we have combined the HST and GALEX
capabilities and collected the largest data-base ever obtained for GGCs in UV.
This data-base is best suited to provide insights on the HB second parameter
problem and on the first stages of GCs formation and chemical evolution and to
understand how they are linked to the observed properties of extragalactic
systems.
