Ancona will be the Italian Capital of Culture 2028. A choice that arrived a few hours ago with a unanimous opinion that leaves no room for doubt: the project presented by the Marche city has convinced, and a lot.
A concrete commitment which, accompanied by a funding of one million euros which will serve to transform ideas, visions and proposals into real actions, capable of impacting the territory, will intertwine with the places, cross them and transform them.
The winning dossier, with an essential and powerful title “Ancona. This now”tells exactly this: a present to be lived to the fullest, without putting it off. A project capable of holding together identity and openness, memory and future, roots and visions. The jury defined it as “excellent”, rewarding a rare balance between urban regeneration, social inclusion and widespread cultural participation.
At the center are the neighborhoods, associations and communities. And above all young people, called to build, becoming active protagonists of the creative processes. A choice that talks about the future in a concrete, non-rhetorical way.
In this story, Ancona shows itself for what it is: a city suspended between sea and land, crossed by an often silent beauty, where the natural landscape enters into the urban fabric. The work, as the mayor Daniele Silvetti underlined, was precisely to mend what was fragmented, putting archaeological, architectural and environmental heritage into dialogue.
The path was not easy: over 20 candidate cities, 10 finalists, ambitious projects and different visions of culture. From Catania to Tarquinia, from Forlì to Mirabella Eclano, each proposal brought with it an idea of the future, a different way of describing the territory. And the hope, today, is that none of these visions will be dispersed. Because culture should be seen like this: as a process that remains, that takes root, that can continue to grow even beyond a title.
And so perhaps the real question is not just what Ancona will become in 2028, but what we can become if only we truly choose to put culture at the center of our cities, our communities, our lives.
