The city of Sibiu in Transylvania has been selected as the European Capital of Culture for 2007, just as Romania is about to join the European Union. David Browne, eTN's European Editor, met the city's Mayor to discuss the tourism prospects that the festival opens up.

Think of Romania and the capital, Bucharest comes to mind, followed possibly by Constanta, on the country’s Black Sea coast. Meanwhile, Sibiu, or Hermannstadt as it is known in German, is a city in the central Transylvania region of Romania and is little known outside eastern Europe. But all that could change next year when Sibiu shines as the 2007 European Capital of Culture, in partnership with its better-known cousin, Luxembourg.

The city is planning a year of festivals and events that will put Sibiu truly on the cultural and tourist map. The project is the brainchild of the city’s young and dynamic mayor, Klaus Werner Johannis. In an interview, he explained that the honour of being named Capital of Culture in the year that Romania expects to join the European Union, was a golden opportunity to give the city a facelift and put it firmly on the tourist map.

“Our city awaits you to discover its music, dance, theatre, visual arts and other events which move out of our cultural halls into the most provocative settings: in the streets and squares, lofts and cellars, fortification walls and churches,” said Mayor Johannis.

The selection of Sibiu as Europe’s capital of culture was at the very least surprising, and is the fruit of a cooperation pact with Luxembourg launched in 2000. The two cities are linked by many centuries of history, including settlement by Saxons from the region now occupied by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, in an effort to ward of invaders from the Ottoman empire.

Sibiu has always been a place for the spectacular. The squares are lined with grand architecture and the lower town is one of Europe’s best examples of a medieval neighbourhood, full of narrow streets and colourful ancient houses. It is a city with a population of 155,000 and some 25,000 temporary residents, mainly students attending the city’s well-respected universities.

The opening of the 2007 year of cultural festivities should coincide with Romania’s entry into membership of the European Union, scheduled for January. The Capital of Culture project is intended to demonstrate the city’s and the country’s commitment to full integration into modern Europe.

A close look at modern Sibiu reveals a prosperous city with a local economy that thrives on light industry, electronics, textiles and clothing. The city has its own Philharmonic orchestra that performs weekly concerts of classical and modern symphonic music. It is home to Romania’s national theatre Radu Stanca which specialises in classical and modern drama, and also the Theatre Gong, which presents puppet shows, mime and non-conventional theatrical events with young people its main audience.

Above all, Sibiu sees itself as a city of art and culture, with fine museums, galleries and churches. An 18th century governor of Transylvania, Samuel von Brukenthal, amassed an art collection that is on display in the Brukenthal Museum in the city centre. It includes works by Rubens, Botticeli, Titian and Van Dyck.

Sibiu already hosts an annual theatre festival, a jazz festival and numerous outdoor concerts on temporary stages in the Big Square. It has a track record of organising cultural events that will hold it in good stead for next year’s enterprise. “Due to its unique architectural heritage, Sibiu is a perfect platform for projects taking place in public spaces,” said the Mayor. “Street parades, open-air events and festivals are planned across the board.”

Over 200 major events have been selected by an organising committee, plus hundreds of smaller events and exhibitions. Many of the events will display Romanian art and music, but the prospect of a year-long celebration has attracted the attention of international artists too. Some events will be held jointly with Luxembourg.

As well as the historic city centre, Sibiu has one of Europe’s largest open-air museums set in over 100 acres of forest and parkland around a lake. The Astra Museum of Traditional Folk Civilization will be a major venue for events in 2007 and is already a popular attraction for visitors who can see and explore hundreds of reconstructed houses and water mills assembled from all over Romania.

In addition to the year-long festival of culture, Sibiu is also hosting in September 2007, a huge gathering of church leaders, for the Third Ecumenical Assembly. This is a world conference of bishops that will attract some 3,000 delegates, and is organised by the Catholic Council of European Bishops’ Conferences and the Conference of European Churches which includes Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants. A team of officials from the Vatican were in Sibiu recently, raising hopes that Pope Benedict XVI will attend.

There are hopes also that UNESCO will look favourably on the city and declare its historic center a world heritage site during the 2007 cultural festivities.

In the meantime, work is under way to catch up on restoration work on old buildings that suffered deterioration through neglect during Romania’s troubled decades under Communist rule by the notorious Ceaucescu regime. Around $50 million has been secured for renovating buildings and a program of modernisation designed to retain the harmony of the city’s built heritage.

Much of the city centre is like a building site and large buildings are shrouded in plastic sheeting as restoration work goes on. “It will get worse” said the Mayor apologetically, “but the work will be completed by the end of the year and no construction work will interfere with any of the cultural events in public spaces during 2007.”

“Most of what you see in the old part of the city is paid for by the City of Sibiu,” explained Mayor Johannis. “We have embarked on a program of restoration of the three squares, a pedestrian area in the public space and traffic measures and a guiding system to cope with increased numbers of visitors. The Ministry of Culture is an important partner and is paying for the restoration of the facades of public buildings.

“The government regards the 2007 Capital of Culture project as very important so it is paying for much of the renewal work that you see now in the streets. We also have loans from the European Bank for infrastructure improvements, mainly modernising roads. The airport is also undergoing modernisation and extension.”

The 2007 Capital of Culture project is a unique opportunity for Romania to show off its cultural side, the Mayor explained, and has provided the impulse that’s driving the work to give Sibiu a much-needed facelift.

“This is the most important event for Sibiu in decades. We are convinced it will change Sibiu, make it better known and really put it on the map. We expect a huge increase in the number of tourists and investors and so it is important that we devote a lot of energy into improving the city’s infrastructure,” said Mayor Johannis.

“Tourists<