Bad Ischl in Salzkammergut

20 March 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Capital of Culture Reading Time:  7 minutes

Kongress- und Theaterhaus © Peter Haas/cc-by-sa-3.0

Kongress- und Theaterhaus © Peter Haas/cc-by-sa-3.0

Bad Ischl is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the cadastral community Ahorn, Bad Ischl, Haiden, Jainzen, Kaltenbach, Lauffen, Lindau, Pfandl, Perneck, Reiterndorf and Rettenbach. It is connected to the village of Strobl by the river Ischl, which drains from the Wolfgangsee, and to the Traunsee, into which the stream empties. It is home to the Kaiservilla, summer residence of Austro-Hungarian monarchs Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth. In 2024, Bad Ischl will be one of the European Capitals of Culture – the third city in Austria after Graz (2003) and Linz (2009).   read more…

Veszprém in Hungary

27 December 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Capital of Culture Reading Time:  9 minutes

Veszprém Castle © Csendesmark/cc-by-sa-4.0

Veszprém Castle © Csendesmark/cc-by-sa-4.0

Veszprém (German: Weißbrunn) is one of the oldest urban areas in Hungary, and a city with county rights. It lies approximately 15 km (9 mi) north of the Lake Balaton. It is the administrative center of the county (comitatus or ‘megye’) of the same name.   read more…

Theme Week Latvia – Liepāja

28 May 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Capital of Culture Reading Time:  8 minutes

University of Liepāja © Zinneke/cc-by-sa-3.0

University of Liepāja © Zinneke/cc-by-sa-3.0

Liepāja is a city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region and the third largest city in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an important ice-free port. The population in 2020 was 68,535 people. Liepāja is chosen as the European Capital of Culture in 2027.   read more…

Theme Week Friuli Venezia Giulia – Gorizia

23 December 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Capital of Culture Reading Time:  20 minutes

Gorizia and the castle © T137

Gorizia and the castle © T137

Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It was the capital of the former Province of Gorizia and is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin town of Nova Gorica has developed on the other side of the modern-day Italian–Slovenian border. The entire region was subject to territorial dispute between Italy and Yugoslavia after World War II: after the new boundaries were established in 1947 and the old town was left to Italy, Nova Gorica was built on the Yugoslav side. Taken together, the two towns constitute a conurbation, which also includes the Slovenian municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba. Since May 2011, these three towns have been joined in a common trans-border metropolitan zone, administered by a joint administration board. The name of the town comes from the Slovene word gorica ‘little hill’, which is a very common toponym in Slovene-inhabited areas. In 2025 both cities will be the European Capital of Culture together as one.   read more…

Eleusis on the Saronic Gulf

25 September 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture Reading Time:  7 minutes

General view of sanctuary of Demeter and Kore and the Telesterion center for the Eleusinian Mysteries © flickr.com - Carole Raddato/cc-by-sa-2.0

General view of sanctuary of Demeter and Kore and the Telesterion center for the Eleusinian Mysteries © flickr.com – Carole Raddato/cc-by-sa-2.0

Eleusis is a suburban town and municipality in West Attica Regional unit in Greece. It is situated about 18 kilometres (11 miles) northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of its metropolitan area. It is located in the Thriasian Plain, at the northernmost end of the Saronic Gulf. North of Eleusis are Mandra and Magoula, while Aspropyrgos is to the northeast.   read more…

Theme Week Hungary – Pécs

23 September 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

County Hall of Baranya © Jan Mehlich/cc-by-sa-3.0

County Hall of Baranya © Jan Mehlich/cc-by-sa-3.0

Pécs is the fifth largest city of Hungary, located on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the south-west of the country, close to its border with Croatia. It is the administrative and economic centre of Baranya County. Pécs is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pécs.   read more…

Theme Week Luxembourg – Esch-sur-Alzette

28 August 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture Reading Time:  12 minutes

Town Hall © -wuppertaler/cc-by-sa-4.0

Town Hall © -wuppertaler/cc-by-sa-4.0

Esch-sur-Alzette is a commune with town status in south-western Luxembourg. It is the country’s second “city”, and its second-most populous commune, with a population of 35,040 inhabitants, as of 2018. It lies in the south-west of the country, on the border with France and in the valley of the Alzette, which flows through the town. The town is usually referred to as just Esch; however, the full name distinguishes it from the village and commune of Esch-sur-Sûre which lies 45 kilometres (28 miles) further north. The country’s capital, Luxembourg City, is roughly 15 km (9.3 mi) to the north-east. The town has the longest shopping street in Luxembourg. On November 10, 2017, Esch was selected by the European Council as the European Capital of Culture in 2022 on the recommendation of the responsible committee. The city shares this title with the Lithuanian city of Kaunas. In addition to the other ten municipalities of the PROSUD syndicate, the municipalities of the Pays Haut Val d’Alzette municipal association across the border in France will also take part in the events.   read more…

Matera in Southern Italy

12 October 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  11 minutes

© Tango7174/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Tango7174/cc-by-sa-4.0

Matera is a city in the province of Matera in the region of Basilicata, in Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Matera and the capital of Basilicata from 1663 to 1806. The town lies in a small canyon carved out by the Gravina. Known as la Città Sotterranea (“the Underground City”), Matera is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, having been inhabited since the 10th millennium BC. Its historical center “Sassi“, along with the Park of the Rupestrian Churches, is considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1993. On 17 October 2014, Matera was declared Italian host of European Capital of Culture for 2019 with the Bulgarian town of Plovdiv.   read more…

Leeuwarden in Friesland

16 April 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture Reading Time:  6 minutes

© panoramio.com - L-BBE/cc-by-3.0

© panoramio.com – L-BBE/cc-by-3.0

Leeuwarden is a city and municipality with a population of 108,000 in Friesland in the Netherlands. It is the provincial capital of the States of Friesland. The Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities Tour), an ice skating tour of eleven cities in Friesland, started and finished in Leeuwarden.   read more…

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