Italy is surrounded by beauty, from the mountains to the sea, passing through the hills; towns and cities rich in culture, history, food and tradition. Would you be able to choose the city for the title of the “Italian Capital of Culture”? Perhaps it would be a difficult choice, and indeed every year a selected jury has the duty to designate the winning city. At the beginning the 28 candidate cities for 2022 were: Ancona, Arezzo, Arpino, Bari, Carbonia, Castellammare di Stabia, Cerveteri, Fano, Isernia, L’Aquila, Modica, Molfetta, Padula, Palma di Montechiaro, Pieve di Soligo, Pisa, Procida, San Severo, Scicli, Taranto, Trani, Trapani, Tropea, Venosa, Verbania, Verona, Vigevano and Volterra.
On November 16, the 10 finalist cities and their projects were announced, let’s find out which they are:
1. Ancona – Ancona. La cultura tra l’altro (Ancona. Culture among other things)
2. Bari – Bari 2022 Capitale italiana della cultura (Bari 2022 Italian capital of culture)
3. Cerveteri – Cerveteri 2022. Alle origini del futuro (Cerveteri 2022. At the origins of the future)
4. L’Aquila – AQ2022, La cultura lascia il segno (AQ2022, Culture leaves its mark)
5. Pieve di Soligo – Pieve di Soligo e le Terre Alte della Marca Trevigiana (Pieve di Soligo and the Terre Alte della Marca Trevigiana)
6. Procida – Procida Capitale italiana della cultura 2022 (Procida Italian capital of culture 2022)
7. Taranto – Taranto e Grecia Salentina. Capitale italiana della cultura 2022. La cultura cambia il clima (Taranto and Grecia Salentina. Italian capital of culture 2022. Culture changes climate)
8. Trapani – Capitale italiana delle culture euro-mediterranee. Trapani crocevia di popoli e culture, approdi e policromie. Arte e cultura, vento di rigenerazione (Italian capital of Euro-Mediterranean cultures. Trapani crossroads of peoples and cultures, landings and polychromies. Art and culture, wind of regeneration)
9. Verbania – La cultura riflette. Verbania, Lago Maggiore (Culture reflects. Verbania, Lake Maggiore)
10. Volterra – Volterra. Rigenerazione umana (Volterra. Human regeneration)
These ten cities will have the task of showing their dossiers to the Jury, chaired by prof. Stefano Baia Curioni, during a public event. The title of “Italian Capital of Culture” is awarded for a period of one year, exceptions aside, and the winning “capital” receives one million euros.
Which were the previous winners? In 2015 the cities of Cagliari, Lecce, Perugia, Ravenna and Siena won the prize; in 2016 Mantua; then in 2017 Pistoia; whereas the following year Palermo; in 2019 Matera which was already the “European Capital of Culture”; in 2020 Parma which will also be the “capital” in 2021 due to the coronavirus emergency.
The Minister of Cultural Heritage, Cultural Activities and Tourism, Dario Franceschini, pointed out that “It is not a beauty contest, the city that develops the most engaging, most open, innovative and transversal cultural project will be awarded”. The goals of the program are the enhancement, the support and the encouragement of cultural projects in the different cities so that they can contribute to a greater social cohesion, creativity, integration, innovation, economic development and growth.
The cities can benefit from this project which has positive effects both on tourism development and on the use of the cultural heritage in the different territories.
Are you curious to know who will be the winner? All we can do is wait until January 18 to discover the next “Italian Capital of Culture”.
