Istanbul is the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2010

The idea of having a European Capital of Culture was first put forward in 1985 when Melina Mercouri was Greek Minister for Culture. In the same year the European Union Council of Ministers determined the scope of the project and put it into implementation. From 1985 to 2000 one city from the countries which were members of the European Union was selected each year as European Capital of Culture. To mark the start of the new millennium, from 2000 onwards the title of European Capital of Culture began to be given both to more than one city each year and to cities in countries which were candidates for EU membership.

Which cities have been chosen as European Capital of Culture?
1985 Athens -Greece
1986 Florence -Italy
1987 Amsterdam -Holland
1988 Berlin -Germany
1989 Paris -France
1990 Glasgow -Britain
1991 Dublin -Ireland
1992 Madrid -Spain
1993 Antwerp -Belgium
1994 Lisbon -Portugal
1995 Luxembourg
1996 Copenhagen -Denmark
1997 Thessalonica -Greece
1998 Stockholm -Sweden
1999 Weimar -Germany
2000 Avignon -France, Bergen -Norway, Bologna -Italy, Brussels -Belgium, Helsinki -Finland, Krakow -Polond, Reykjavik -İceland, Prague -Czech Republic, Santiago de Compostela -Spain
2001 Porto -Portugal, Rotterdam -Holland
2002 Bruges -Belgium
2003 Salamanca -Spain, Graz -Austria
2004 Genova -Italy, Lille -France
2005 Cork -Ireland
2006 Patras -Greece
2007 Luxembourg, Sibiu -Romania
2008 Liverpool -Britain, Stavanger -Norway
2009 Linz -Austria
2010 Istanbul