The Slovenia Times

European Capital of Culture 2025

Model of cross-border basketball court to be built in Nova Gorica. Photo: Rosana Rijavec/STA
The humanitarian foundation of Goran Dragić, one of the greatest Slovenian basketball players of all time, will build a basketball court in Nova Gorica on the border with Italy.
The two half-courts will symbolically connect the two countries and are expected to open in June as part of the European
Police brass bands from Slovenia and Italy jointly perform at the official opening ceremony of the 2025 European Capital of Culture in Europe Square, which is shared by Italy and Slovenia. Photo: Nebojša Tejić/STA
Two cities that used to be split by a hard border have become united in a celebration of shared culture as Nova Gorica in Slovenia and neighbouring Gorizia in Italy officially kicked off a year of events as the first ever transnational European Capital of Culture.
The day-long event series titled F
A customs check on a smuggling tour in Nova Gorica. Photo: STA

Smuggling tour taking visitors back in time

European Capital of Culture 2025Travels
Visitors to Nova Gorica will be able to try out their smuggling skills on a guided tour of a once tight Slovenian-Italian border in a new tourism product inspired by the European Capital of Culture.
The two-hour Smuggling Tour will run from Europe Square to the Smuggling Museum in Pristava, crossin
Michelangelo Pistoletto and his Newspaper Sphere. Photo: Facebook profile of Primorski Dnevnik/Gorizia municipality

Pistoletto's newspaper sphere to roll into Nova Gorica

CultureEuropean Capital of Culture 2025
A huge ball of newspapers containing articles on seminal events affecting the border region will roll from Italy's Gorizia to Nova Gorica in Slovenia as part of the opening ceremony of the European Capital of Culture on 8 February in a recreation of a 1966 performance by Italian artist Michelangelo
Austro-Hungarian soldiers in trenches on the Isonzo Front. Photo: Archive of the Isonzo Front 1915-1917 Association

Unique exhibition to present complexities of 20th century

CultureEuropean Capital of Culture 2025
One of the main projects of the Nova Gorica-Gorizia European Capital of Culture will be a permanent exhibition on the complexities of 20th-century history. Displayed in a former warehouse next to the Nova Gorica railway station, it will shed light on the area's multiculturalism and troubled past.
C
Europe Square in front of the Nova Gorica railway station ready to host the European Capital of Culture opening ceremony. Photo: STA

European Capital of Culture to open with 14-hour spectacle

CultureEuropean Capital of Culture 2025
The first cross-border European Capital of Culture will get under way on 8 February with a 14-hour programme in five locations in Nova Gorica and Gorizia featuring more than 2,000 performers. Senior guests, including the presidents of Slovenia and Italy, are expected to attend.
Coinciding with Slov
Gorizia (pictured) to host European Capital of Culture with Nova Gorca. Photo: Jure Makovec/STA

Gorizia, a city steeped in multicultural history

CultureEuropean Capital of Culture 2025
Nova Gorica is a modernist city built a mere 80 years ago, while its neighbour Gorizia (Gorica in Slovene) has a much longer history, shaped for centuries by Slovenians, Friulians, Italians and the Habsburgs. The European Capital of Culture (ECOC) will be an opportunity to get to know it better.
No
The Solkan Bridge to provide one of the most scenic backdrops for European Capital of Culture events. Photo: Jure Makovec/STA
Settings such as parks, a castle and a quarry will come to life with art as the city of Nova Gorica and its Italian neighbour Gorizia host the European Capital of Culture (ECOC) this year. One of the highlights will be a piano concert under an iconic railway bridge.
Mija Lorbek, head of the GO! 202
Open-air cinema, Grgar. Photo: Kinoatelje
Kinoatelje, a cultural organisation based in Italy' Gorizia that is dedicated to promoting and producing films in the cross-border area, is joining the European Capital of Culture with two of its major projects to bring cinema to small local communities and take local film production to European au
A sign in the centre of Europe Square between Nova Gorica and Gorizia, the focal point of the European Capital of Culture. Photo: Rosana Rijavec/STA

GO! 2025 to celebrate heritage and innovation

CultureEuropean Capital of Culture 2025
Nova Gorica and Gorizia, the 2025 European Capital of Culture, have built their programme around heritage, innovation, survival, and green sustainability.
That approach convinced the European Commission's decision-makers to select the former "Austrian Nice" and its post-WWII neighbour as Europe's f
A railroad car promoting the European Culture Capital in Nova Gorica. Photo: Boštjan Podlogar/STA
The western city of Nova Gorica and its Italian neighbour Gorizia will host about 400 official events as they merge into the first cross-border European Capital of Culture next year. There will be four highlights, including a Walk for Europe that will bring together cities across Europe.
The first
The city of Nova Gorica and Gorizia to the right pictured from a hilltop. Photo: Nebojša Tejić/STA
The city of Nova Gorica and its Italian neighbour Gorizia are counting down to the 2025 European Capital of Culture (ECOC) when they will host more than one event per day on average. Head of programme Stojan Pelko says most of the events will be admission-free.
The grand opening ceremony is schedul