City of L’Aquila Selected as Italian Capital of Culture for 2026

Nearing the 15-year anniversary of the earthquake that struck the capital of Abruzzo, Italy’s Ministry of Culture announced that L’Aquila is the upcoming Italian Capital of Culture for 2026. Chaired by journalist Davide Maria Desario, the selection committee of culture and tourism experts unanimously voted for L’Aquila during the nomination ceremony last Thursday in Rome.  

L’Aquila expects to receive €1 million from the government to foster cultural development for itself and its nearby vicinity. The city’s initiative “L’Aquila Multiverse City” merges socioeconomic and artistic goals; moreover, according to its organizers, the initiative adheres to the four axes of the New European Agenda for Culture: social cohesion, public health and well-being, creativity and innovation, and socio-environmental sustainability.

In 2009, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 devastated L’Aquila and its neighboring areas displacing around 300,000 people, leaving 60,000 people homeless, and killing 300 people. Yet, some people, including Abruzzo’s Mayor Pierluigi Biondi, view the 2026 selection as a step forward to recovery. Addressing the crowd during the ceremony, Biondi said that Capital of Culture title offered “an element around which to rebuild the social fabric of our community.”

In addition to congratulating the city of L’Aquila for its 2026 title, Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italy’s Minister of Culture, said “All cities that participated in the competition should be Capitals of Culture, and I personally would like them all to be awarded for their beauty.”

Source: L’Aquila in Abruzzo Named Italian Capital of Culture for 2026 | ITALY Magazine

– Diego Maldonado