European Capital of Culture

The European Capital of Culture is a city (or multiple cities) chosen by the European Union for a period of one calendar year. The city is given a chance to show its cultural life and cultural development. Most of the cities are very popular and are known internationally (by people around the world).

The idea to have a European Capital of Culture came from Melina Mercouri who was the Minster for Culture in Greece. It began in 1985. It was originally known as the 'European City of Culture' until 1999, when it was re-named 'European Capital of Culture'.[1]

The European Capitals of Culture for 2025 are Chemnitz in Germany, and Nova Gorica in Slovenia (with Gorizia in Italy).[2]

List of by year

Past years

List of capitals chosen by year
Year Cities Image Details
1985 Athens
1986 Florence
1987 Amsterdam
1988 West Berlin
1989 Paris Lyon
1990 Glasgow
1991 Dublin
1992 Madrid
1993 Antwerp
1994 Lisbon
1995 Luxembourg
1996 Copenhagen
1997 Thessaloniki
1998 Stockholm
1999 Weimar
2000 Avignon
Bergen
Bologna
Brussels
Helsinki
Krakow
Prague
Reykjavík
Zaragoza
2001 Porto
Rotterdam
2002 Bruges
Salamanca
2003 Graz
2004 Genoa
Lille
2005 Cork, Limerick
2006 Patras
2007 Sibiu
Luxembourg
Greater Region
Sibiu 2007 Archived 2004-08-30 at the Wayback Machine
2008 Liverpool
Stavanger
Sandnes
Liverpool 2008 Archived 2007-04-05 at the Wayback Machine
Stavanger 2008 Archived 2009-07-13 at the Portuguese Web Archive
2009 Linz
Vilnius
Vilnius 2009
Linz 2009
2010 Essen
Sarajevo
Pécs

Essen 2010
Pecs 2010 Archived 2018-10-01 at the Wayback Machine
2011 Turku
Tallinn
Turku 2011 Archived 2010-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
Tallinn 2011
2012 Guimarães
Maribor
Guimarães 2012 Archived 2008-12-16 at the Wayback Machine
Maribor 2012
2013 Marseille
Košice
Marseille Provence 2013 Archived 2010-08-26 at the Wayback Machine
Košice 2013 Archived 2008-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
2014 Riga
Umeå
2015 Mons
Plzeň
2016 San Sebastián
Wrocław
2017 Aarhus
Paphos
2018 Leeuwarden
Valletta
2019 Matera
Plovdiv
2020-2021 Galway
Rijeka
2022 Esch-sur-Alzette
Kaunus
Novi Sad
2023 Eleusis
Timișoara
Veszprém
2024 Bad Ischl
Bodø
Tartu
2025 Chemnitz
Nova Gorica with Gorizia

Future years

These are the planned European Capitals of Culture, according to the official EU website.[3]

Future years
Year City Details
2026 Oulu
Trenčín
2027 Évora
Liepāja
2028 Bourges
České Budějovice
Skopje
2029 Kiruna
Lublin
2030

TBA
2031
2032

References

  1. "What it Means to be the European Capital of Culture".
  2. "From division to unity: European Capitals of Culture 2025".
  3. "Official EU website". Archived from the original on 2006-10-19. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  • García, B. (2005) “De-constructing the City of Culture: The long term cultural legacies of Glasgow 1990” in: Review Issue of Urban Studies (vol 42, n5/6) (pp. 1–28)
  • García, B. (2004) “Cultural Policy in European Cities: Lessons from Experience, Prospects for the Future” in: Special edition on Cultural Policy and Regeneration, Local Economy (vol 19, n4) (pp. 312–326)
  • García, B. (2004) “Urban Regeneration, Arts Programming and Major events: Glasgow 1990, Sydney 2000 and Barcelona 2004” in: Gibson, L. & Stevenson, D. (Eds) Special Issue of the International Journal of Cultural Policy: Urban Space and the Uses of Culture (vol 10, n 1) (pp. 103–118)

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