The Council of European Union has designated Istanbul together with Essen & Pecs as European Capitals of Culture 2010
THE EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE is a city designated by the European Union for a period of one year during which it is given a chance to showcase its cultural life and cultural development. A number of European cities have used the City of Culture year to transform completely their cultural base and, in doing so, the way in which they are viewed internationally. Conceived as a means of bringing citizens of European Union (or EC, as then was) closer together, the European City of Culture was launched on June 13, 1985 by the Council of Ministers on the initiative of the Greek Minister of Culture Melina Mercouri. Since then, the initiative has been more and more successful amongst European citizens and has had a growing cultural and socio-economic impact on the numerous visitors it has attracted.
Throughout history, ISTANBUL has been home to countless societies and cultures. Yet this beautiful harmony, which is embedded in the city's foundations and entwined in the branches of its family tree, is not just a pleasant memento from a bygone era. Istanbul still retains its rich cosmopolitan character, sometimes concealing and sometimes revealing the evidence of its unrivalled physical and cultural legacy. The city is a living example of the much sought-after meeting of civilisations, something so desperately missing in the modern world that the search for it seems almost utopian. For more than two thousand years, as if inspired by Aristotle's theory of the four elements, the city has captivated humankind's attention.
Once it was gold that people saw as the perfect blend of the four elements. Istanbul, which once ruled lands on three continents, throughout the ages has served as a magnet for migrants for whom its streets are paved with that proverbial gold. After all the traumas it has experienced since its foundation, symbolically guided by the four elements, Istanbul now promises to revitalise the formula imprinted in its genes. In cultural and in artistic terms it will be be worth its weight in gold to the world as a European Capital of Culture.
