The historic port city of Genoa

3 March 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  9 minutes

Grand Hotel Miramare © Twice25 & Rinina25

Grand Hotel Miramare © Twice25 & Rinina25

Genoa is a city and a major seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city proper has a population of 609,000, while its urban agglomeration consists of 718,896 inhabitants. Finally, the coastal metropolitan area that snakes in the central section of Liguria is estimated to have a population of about 878,000. Genoa has been nicknamed la Superba (“the Superb one”) due to its glorious past and impressive landmarks. Part of the old town of Genoa was inscribed on the World Heritage List (UNESCO) in 2006. The city’s rich art, music, gastronomy, architecture and history, allowed it to become the 2004’s EU Capital of Culture. Genoa, which represents the southern access to the sea of Italy’s industrial north-west basin, is the country’s largest seaport and one of the main manufacturing and commercial hubs. The city, since the 19th century, hosts massive shipyards, oil refineries and steelworks, while its solid financial sector dates back to the Middle Ages. The Bank of Saint George is among the oldest in the world, as it was founded in 1407, playing an important role in the city’s prosperity from the middle of the 15th century. Today a number of leading Italian companies are based in the city, including Fincantieri, Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo STS and Edoardo Raffinerie Garrone.   read more…

European Capital of Culture 2012: Guimarães and Maribor

15 February 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

© guimaraes2012.pt

© guimaraes2012.pt


GUIMARÃES

Guimarães is a northern Portuguese city located in the district of Braga, in the Ave Subregion, with a population of 52 181 inhabitants, distributed throughout 20 parishes (freguesias in Portuguese), in an urban area of 23,5 km² with a population density of 2 223,9/km².   read more…

Helsinki is the capital and the largest city of Finland

13 February 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture Reading Time:  7 minutes

Downtown Helsinki © Tpienonen

Downtown Helsinki © Tpienonen

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is 596,233, making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is located some 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Stockholm (Sweden), 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of St. Petersburg (Russia) and 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn (Estonia). Helsinki has close historical connections with these three cities.   read more…

Mons and Plzeň, European Capitals of Culture 2015

3 January 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture Reading Time:  14 minutes

© rtbf.be

© rtbf.be


MONS

Mons is a Belgian city and municipality, and the capital of the province of Hainaut. Together with the Czech city of Plzeň, Mons will be the European Capital of Culture in 2015. The nearby village of Cuesmes is host to Vincent van Gogh‘s house.   read more…

Valletta on Malta

13 December 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Grandmaster's Palace © Zairon/cc-by-sa-3.0

Grandmaster’s Palace © Zairon/cc-by-sa-3.0

Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt (English: The City) in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,966. Valletta is the second southernmost capital of the EU member states after Nicosia.   read more…

Tallinn in Estonia

20 November 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Brunswyk/cc-by-sa-3.0-de

© Brunswyk/cc-by-sa-3.0-de

Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. Tallinn occupies an area of 159.2 km2 (61.5 sq mi) and has a population of 432,000. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, 80 km (50 mi) south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn’s Old Town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is ranked as a global city and has been listed among the top 10 digital cities in the world. The city was a European Capital of Culture for 2011, along with Turku in Finland. Tallinn is the financial and business capital of Estonia. The city benefits from the high level of economic freedom, liberal economic policy and has a highly diversified economy with particular strengths in information technology, tourism and logistics. Daily Mail called Tallinn one of world’s seven smartest cities. Tallinn is internationally renowned as a tourist destination, receiving more than 1.5 million visitors annually. The number of visitors has been growing steadily over the past decade. Tallinn Passenger Port is one of the busiest cruise destinations on the Baltic Sea, serving more than 520 000 cruise passengers in year 2013. From year 2011 regular cruise turnarounds in cooperation with Tallinn Airport are organised.   read more…

Rijeka on the Kvarner Bay

15 November 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture Reading Time:  8 minutes

Croation National Theatre © Djoko/cc-by-sa-3.0

Croation National Theatre © Djoko/cc-by-sa-3.0

Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 129,000 inhabitants. Rijeka is the center of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. The city’s economy largely depends on shipbuilding (shipyards “3. Maj” and “Viktor Lenac Shipyard“) and maritime transport. Rijeka hosts the Croatian National TheatreIvan pl. Zajc“, first built in 1765, as well as the University of Rijeka, founded in 1973 but with roots dating back to 1632. Apart from Croatian, the population also uses its own unique version of the Venetian language (Fiumano), with an estimated 20,000 speakers among the autochtone Croats and various minorities. Historically it served as a Lingua Franca for the many ethnicities inhabiting the multicultural port-town.   read more…

Graz in Styria

28 October 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

City Hall © Tamirhassan

City Hall © Tamirhassan

Graz is the second-largest city in Austria after Vienna and the capital of the federal state of Styria. On 1 April 2010 it had a population of 292,000. Graz has a long tradition as a student city: its six universities have more than 44,000 students. Its “Old Town” is one of the best-preserved city centres in Central Europe. Graz is situated on the Mur River in the southeast of Austria. It is about 200 km (120 mi) southwest of Vienna. The nearest larger urban center is Maribor in Slovenia which is about 50 km (31 mi) away. Styria is a green and heavily forested area.   read more…

Novi Sad in Serbia

16 October 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture Reading Time:  6 minutes

Dunavska street © Micki/cc-by-sa-3.0

Dunavska street © Micki/cc-by-sa-3.0

Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia, the administrative seat of the province of Vojvodina and of the South Bačka District. It is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain, on the border of the Bačka and Syrmia regions, on the banks of the Danube river, facing the northern slopes of Fruška Gora mountain.   read more…

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