Romanian Medieval City of Sibiu becomes European Culture Capital

SIBIU, Romania: The medieval Saxon city of Sibiu in Transylvania on Monday became one of Europe's official capitals of culture among Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for a year.

Every year EU has set up a tradition to pick a town to host multicultural events to bring member nations closer.

After the European Union Inclusion of Romania, Sibiu's inhabitants and Local Autorities are expecting hundreds of thousands of visitors this year in the Europe's cultural capital of 2007.

Sibiu, which is called Hermannstadt in German, was founded by Transylvanian Saxons in 1190 by ethnic Germans in the late twelfth century and rapidly became a significant trade center.

Sibiu is situated near the geographical center of Romania, 290 km north of Romanian capital Bucharest, 1,400 km from Luxemburg.

Sibiu is one of the most prosperous cities of Romania, and also receives one of the highest rates of foreign investment in the country.

The city also lies close to the Fagaras Mountains - a very popular trekking destination, close to the Paltinis resort - a popular winter holiday destination, and it is at the heart of the former Saxon communities in Transylvania renowned for its fortified churches.

Klaus Johannis, the mayor of Sibiu, is one of around 2,000 ethnic Germans who remained. . He has become a symbol of the city's rebirth, which helped Sibiu, a town of 160,000 people, to be chosen as Europe's next cultural capital. He is also a prestigious member from of the Democratic Forum of Germans of Romania.

"This is the most important European programme for Romania," head of the Sibiu 2007 project Marius Constantin told IPS on phone. "Our aim is to put the name of Sibiu on the world map." As said before the region is looking for an economic and tourist boom this year.

The local government has invested more than 130 million dollars over the past two years to give a face-lift to the town of 180,000.

"Sibiu shows clearly this year an important aspect of what Romania brings to the EU: its cultural contribution," Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said at the newly built Astra library building, where a power outage disrupted the inauguration.