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Pilsen – European Capital of Culture 2015

photo: (czechtourism)

Pilsen, the fourth largest city in the Czech Republic, has been selected as the European Capital of Culture for the year 2015. For each year, the European Union selection panel picks two bearers of this prestigious title. In this case, the panel made the decision that in 2015 Pilsen will share the title of the 2015 European Capital of Culture with Mons (Belgium).

Pilsen had entered the competition with a number of ambitious cultural projects and with the motto, "Pilsen Open up!", which could, by the way, be understood as a reference to the most famous product of the city – Pilsner Urquell. Pilsen (map) was competing for the title with the third largest city in the Czech Republic – Ostrava (map), the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region.

The city of Pilsen intrigued the EU Council of Ministers with its projects, for example, a new theatre in Pilsen, a multi-cultural quarter devoted to design and non-professional artists, modernisation of the presently used sports centre into a large sports-and- relaxation centre, etc. The City had promised a new amusement park – Gambrinus Park – with a skate park, a rope climbing centre, an artificial climbing wall – and also a new building for the West Bohemian Gallery.

The title of the European Capital of Culture is granted every year to two cities among EU member states and the aim is to support European cultural cooperation. Not only is the title a matter of prestige for the city but it is a promise of financial support from the state budget and EU budget for investments in cultural projects.