# Italian Capital of Culture, 2015 to 2028

> Seventeen cities appear on the Italian Capital of Culture roll from 2015 to 2028. L'Aquila holds 2026, Pordenone 2027, and 2019 has no capital.

URL: https://myitalia.it/best/capitals-of-culture
Last updated: 2026-09-02

Seventeen Italian cities appear on the Capital of Culture roll from 2015 to 2028: L'Aquila holds it in 2026, Pordenone takes 2027 and Ancona 2028, and 2019 is the one year with no Italian capital at all.

## The criterion: a written dossier and a state decree

Nothing on this page is a recommendation. A city is here because a jury of seven experts read its dossier, it survived to a public hearing of ten finalists, and the ministry awarded it the title and 1 million euro to deliver the program it had promised.

The title was instituted in 2014 and first held in 2015. That makes the roll below a full record, not a selection, and it is the only Italian cultural calendar that is fixed three years into the future.

## The complete roll, 2015 to 2028

Five cities shared the first year, and only one year since has had more than one holder.

| Year | City | Region |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Cagliari, Lecce, Perugia, Ravenna, Siena | five cities |
| 2016 | Mantova | Lombardy |
| 2017 | Pistoia | Tuscany |
| 2018 | Palermo | Sicily |
| 2019 | no Italian capital | |
| 2020 | Parma | Emilia-Romagna |
| 2021 | Parma | Emilia-Romagna |
| 2022 | Procida | Campania |
| 2023 | Bergamo and Brescia | Lombardy |
| 2024 | Pesaro | Marche |
| 2025 | Agrigento | Sicily |
| 2026 | L'Aquila | Abruzzo |
| 2027 | Pordenone | Friuli-Venezia Giulia |
| 2028 | Ancona | Marche |

Parma held the title for two years, 2020 and 2021, because the pandemic swallowed the first of them. Bergamo and Brescia shared 2023, the only other year with more than one holder since 2015.

## 2026: L'Aquila, a title held on a building site

L'Aquila was proclaimed Italian Capital of Culture 2026 on March 14, 2024, at the culture ministry, with a dossier called L'Aquila. Città Multiverso and the standard 1 million euro. The year opened on January 17, 2026 with a program of more than 300 events.

The part worth planning around is the reopenings rather than the events. The city used the year to hand back the Teatro Comunale, the Teatro San Filippo and the MuNDA in the Forte Spagnolo, the sixteenth century castle that had stood empty since the 2009 earthquake. Those buildings stay open after the title moves on.

## Already booked: Pordenone 2027, Ancona 2028

Pordenone was proclaimed on March 12, 2025 for 2027, and Ancona holds 2028. Neither city is on a standard first trip to Italy, which is the point of the scheme rather than an accident of it.

The proclamation pattern gives a city roughly two years to build a program, and gives you the same two years to decide whether to be there. Nothing else in the Italian calendar offers that.

## The hole in 2019, and why it is Matera's

There is no Italian Capital of Culture for 2019 because Matera was European Capital of Culture that year. Matera had been designated at the end of 2014, the first city in the Italian south to take the European title, and received dedicated state funding for it.

The official ministry roll simply lists 2018 and then 2020, with no note explaining the gap. If you find a list that shows an Italian capital for 2019, it is wrong.

## 2029 is still open: 17 towns have said yes

The call for 2029 was published on June 3, 2026, and by August 2026 seventeen comuni had declared an interest in bidding. Declarations of interest are not formal candidacies, so the number will change before the shortlist.

Seventeen dossiers for one title and 1 million euro is the clearest measure of what the scheme is worth to a small Italian city. For the year-by-year mechanics of what a title does to a place, see [a different capital of culture every year](/stories/a-different-capital-of-culture-every-year).

## FAQ

### Which city is Italian Capital of Culture in 2026?

L'Aquila, in Abruzzo. It was proclaimed on March 14, 2024 with a dossier titled L'Aquila. Città Multiverso and a state grant of 1 million euro, and its year opened on January 17, 2026 with more than 300 events.

### Why was there no Italian Capital of Culture in 2019?

Because Matera was European Capital of Culture that year, the first city in southern Italy to hold that title, designated at the end of 2014 with dedicated state funding. The Italian roll runs 2018, then straight to Parma in 2020.

### Which cities are already confirmed after 2026?

Pordenone in Friuli-Venezia Giulia for 2027, proclaimed on March 12, 2025, and Ancona in the Marche for 2028. That makes the Italian Capital of Culture the only Italian cultural calendar published three years ahead.

### How is the Italian Capital of Culture chosen?

Cities submit a dossier, a jury of seven experts assesses it, and ten finalists defend their bids at a public hearing. The winner receives 1 million euro to deliver the project it wrote, not to build anything permanent.

### Why did Parma hold the title for two years?

Because of the pandemic. Parma was designated for 2020 and kept the title through 2021, the only city in the roll to hold it twice. Every other year since 2016 has gone to a single city, except 2023, shared by Bergamo and Brescia.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dal 2015 il titolo di Capitale italiana della cultura e' stato assegnato a Cagliari, Lecce, Perugia, Ravenna e Siena (2015), Mantova (2016), Pistoia (2017), Palermo (2018), Parma (2020-2021), Procida (2022), Bergamo e Brescia (2023), Pesaro (2024), Agrigento (2025), L'Aquila (2026), Pordenone (2027) e Ancona (2028) | [Ministero della Cultura - Capitali della cultura](https://capitalidellacultura.cultura.gov.it/) | medium | 2027-12-31 |
| La Capitale italiana della cultura 2027 e' Pordenone (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), proclamata il 12 marzo 2025 | [Ministero della Cultura - Capitali della cultura](https://capitalidellacultura.cultura.gov.it/); [Ministero della Cultura](https://cultura.gov.it/comunicato/27337) | high | 2028-01-31 |
| La Capitale italiana della cultura 2028 e' Ancona (Marche) | [Ministero della Cultura - Capitali della cultura](https://capitalidellacultura.cultura.gov.it/) | medium | 2029-01-31 |
| La procedura per la Capitale italiana della cultura 2029 e' in corso: 17 comuni hanno manifestato interesse a candidarsi (agosto 2026) | [Ministero della Cultura - Capitali della cultura](https://capitalidellacultura.cultura.gov.it/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| La citta' designata Capitale italiana della cultura riceve un milione di euro per realizzare il progetto culturale presentato | [Ministero della Cultura - Capitali della cultura](https://capitalidellacultura.cultura.gov.it/) | medium | 2027-12-31 |
| L'Aquila e' Capitale italiana della cultura 2026: la proclamazione e' avvenuta il 14 marzo 2024 al Ministero della Cultura, con il dossier "L'Aquila. Citta' Multiverso" e un contributo statale di 1 milione di euro. | [Ministero della Cultura - Capitali della cultura](https://capitalidellacultura.cultura.gov.it/laquila-capitale-italiana-della-cultura-2026/); [Ministero della Cultura](https://cultura.gov.it/comunicato/28576) | high | 2099-12-31 |
| L'anno da Capitale italiana della cultura e' stato inaugurato a L'Aquila il 17 gennaio 2026 con un programma di oltre 300 iniziative e la restituzione alla citta' di luoghi simbolo (Teatro Comunale, Teatro San Filippo, MuNDA al Forte Spagnolo). | [Ministero della Cultura](https://cultura.gov.it/comunicato/28576) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| Matera e' stata designata alla fine del 2014 Capitale europea della cultura per il 2019, prima citta' del Mezzogiorno a ottenere il titolo, e per l'occasione ha ricevuto finanziamenti dedicati con successivi provvedimenti statali | [Camera dei Deputati - documentazione parlamentare](https://temi.camera.it/leg19/temi/tl18_le_capitali_della_cultura.html) | medium | 2099-12-31 |

## Image

https://media.myitalia.it/media/city.l-aquila.1600.jpg
Author: LIAP. License: CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castello_500.JPG

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