Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse were competing to be capital of culture 2013…and the winner is Marseille chosen unanimously by the jury. Marseille will represent its region PACA but also France at the European level.
The honours are to be shared with the Slovakian town of Košice.
The Mayor of Marseille, Jean-Claude Gaudin, was pleased by the success of the Marseille Provence 2013 project, which involves 130 communes from nine urban communities gathering together over 2.2 million inhabitants.
Where does the capital of culture concept come from?
This is thanks to Melina Mercouri who was the Greek Minister of Culture in 1985. Her aim was to make all Europeans meet and share together. So, each year Europeans focus on two cities who have the opportunity and the visibility required to show their culture, their heritage.
Why this nomination should be granted to Marseille? This is time for Marseille to renew its image of a dirty poor city!
