How Gorizia and Nova Gorica turned a divided Italy-Slovenia border into a cultural bridge
Once defined by conflict and division, the border cities have reinvented themselves as Europe’s joint Capital of Culture, using art, collaboration and a year of shared events to reshape their future.
The border between Italy and Slovenia has historically been marked by tragedy and conflict. The story is one of differences – cultural, linguistic and ideological – that culminated with the division of land between Italy and what was then Yugoslavia in the Paris peace treaties after the Second World War.
Over the past year, however, there has been a decisive shift in the narrative, thanks to the EU’s European Capital of Culture initiative. In 2025 the Italian town of Gorizia and its Slovenian counterpart, Nova Gorica, have shared the honour. Between them, they have put on some 2,000 border-fluid events, spanning everything from concerts to an Andy Warhol exhibition – a refreshing spirit of collaboration at a time of hardening global views on migration. “We have shown how a border that was seen as a limit or the end of a territory could become a place of sharing,” says Gorizia’s centre-right mayor, Rodolfo Ziberna, who explains that he can be in Nova Gorica in less time than it takes him to get to work.
Europe has celebrated a City of Culture annually since 1985. In the early years, it lasted a few months, with the focus on the continent’s biggest metropolises, such as Athens and Paris. Since then, it has covered lesser-known corners of the union, including this year’s two towns, alongside another nominee, Chemnitz in Germany. Since 2000 the gong has mostly gone to multiple places at a time. In 2026 both Oulu in Finland and Trencin in Slovakia will share what has now become a year-long celebration of cultural events.” “While it’s normal for other European cultural capitals to have a spruce up – in Gorizia’s case, a former wholesale market has been transformed into an events space and there’s a new park, Valletta del Corno, on a site of a once impenetrable wood – how many can claim a complete image revamp? “What we leave as a legacy is a town that has learnt to take part in dialogue,” says the mayor, reflecting on the closing ceremony on 5 December.
One of the places in recent decades to have most benefited from the status has been Glasgow in Scotland, which was the 1990 European City of Culture. It took the opportunity to regenerate the city centre and move away from a reputation of post-industrial blight. Another standout was Lille, which was a European Capital of Culture in 2004 (alongside Italy’s Genoa). Its efforts to regenerate focused on the region: 193 towns and cities nearby, including over the border in Belgium.
This year, Gorizia enjoyed a marked increase in visitors and it wants to capitalise on this once the fanfare has moved on to other parts of Europe. “This is the symbol of a community that is growing, that is opening up and that knows how to make its identity an engine of development,” says regional councillor Sergio Emidio Bini.
While the region’s cultural calendar might not be as packed in 2026, there are plans to welcome several events on either side of the border and to build on 2025’s uptick in tourists (up 30 per cent in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2024). “We are part of a network of places to visit now,” says Ziberna. That’s something worth toasting – and the mayor assures Monocle that the province’s Ribolla Gialla is rather good.”
