There will be three cultural capitals in Europe in 2023 – cities in Greece, Hungary and Romania
The European Commission (EC) has officially declared three cities as European capitals of Culture in 2023 - Elefsis (Greece), Timisoara (Romania) and Veszprem (Hungary). The title is awarded according to the results of the annual pan-European competition, which has been held on the initiative of the European Union since 1985, writes Deutsche Welle.
Within the framework of the Creative Europe program, more than 50 European cities have visited the role of cultural capitals at various times. Greek Athens was the first to be awarded this title.
The idea of the project is to help Europeans learn as much as possible about their common cultural heritage and better understand each other. The winning cities receive 1.5 million euros each for the implementation of a number of projects designed to popularize the diversity of Europe. In addition, the status of the cultural capital helps cities to develop tourism business, improve the standard of living of residents and improve their image at the European level.
Veszprem is a musical city on five hills
The Hungarian city of Veszprem is one of the oldest cities in Hungary on five hills, known for its music festivals - from classical and choral music to jazz, as well as sports achievements of local handball teams.
On January 21, on the day of the official opening of the year of the cultural capital, the city will host a big celebration called "Veszprem - Balaton 2023" - music and sports will set the tone.
Timisoara is the birthplace of two Nobel Prize laureates
The Romanian industrial city of Timisoara is located in the border triangle Romania - Hungary – Serbia and there is a rich linguistic and cultural diversity: in addition to Romanians, ethnic Germans, Hungarians, Serbs, Roma, Czechs, Slovaks and Bulgarians live in the city.
And the city of Timisoara gave the world two Nobel Prize laureates - the writer Gert Muller, who lives in Germany today, and the biophysicist Stefan Walter Hellom, one of the directors of the Max Planck Society Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany.
As the cultural capital of Timisoara, in 2023 it promises to organize an exhibition of the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) and launch the project "Paths of Revolution", which should perpetuate the memory of the popular uprising of 1989.
The town of Elefsis dreams of coming out of the shadow of the Greek capital
The small town of Elefsis is located 22 kilometers northwest of Athens. In ancient times, the city played the role of a cult center of the goddesses of fertility Demeter and Persephone.
The heyday of Eleusis occurred in the XIX and early XX centuries and was considered one of the most important industrial centers of Greece, where shipbuilding developed, cement factories and food industry enterprises worked. But then came the decline: almost all sectors of the economy were moved to Piraeus and Athens.
Today, about 30,000 people live in the city, and its residents believe that Elefsis is undeservedly in the shadow of the Greek capital and hope that the status of the European capital will help the city overcome economic decline. Whether their hopes will be fulfilled - the year 2023 will show.
ORIENT news
