The Pécs2010 programme will start with a full 24 hours of events in public places in the city on January 10. Essen will launch its programme at an old coal mine - the city is in the heart of Germany's Ruhr region - on January 9-10. Istanbul will start its European Capital of Culture programme on January 16.
One or more European cities have carried the title European Capital of Culture each year since 1985. In 2000, nine cities - Avignon, Bergen, Bologna, Brussels, Helsinki, Krakow, Prague, Reykjavik and Santiago de Compostela - were culture capitals.
Last year, Liverpool and Stavanger, in Norway, took the European Capital of Culture title.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo: Máté Nándorfi
