  ASTRI is a Flagship Project financed by the Italian Ministry of Education,
University and Research, and led by the Italian National Institute of
Astrophysics, INAF. Primary goal of the ASTRI project is the design and
production of an end-to-end prototype of Small Size Telescope for the CTA
(Cherenkov Telescope Array) in a dual-mirror configuration (SST-2M) equipped
with a camera at the focal plane composed by an array of Silicon
Photo-Multipliers and devoted to the investigation of the highest gamma-ray
energy band. The ASTRI SST-2M prototype will be placed at the INAF M.G.
Fracastoro observing station in Serra La Nave on the Etna Mountain near
Catania, Italy. After the verification tests, devoted to probe the
technological solutions adopted, the ASTRI SST-2M prototype will perform
scientific observations on the Crab Nebula and on some of the brightest TeV
sources. Here we present the Serra La Nave site, its meteorological and weather
conditions, the sky darkness and visibility, and the complex of auxiliary
instrumentation that will be used on site to support the calibration and
science verification phase as well as the regular data reconstruction and
analysis of the ASTRI SST-2M prototype.
