Caceres 2016

“To the title of World Heritage Cities may only aspire those sets or construction complexes, isolated or joined, whose architecture, unity, and integration in the landscape give them a universal value from the standpoint of history, art, or science.”
UNESCO

The city of Caceres has been granted many awards for its rich historical heritage. The city centre within the ancient walls was declared a National Monument in 1930; three years later, in 1933, its historical centre was declared a Historical-Artistic Site. In 1949, the International Committee on Monuments and Places (ICOMOS) declared the city as the third most important Historical European complex of Europe after the cities of Venice, Italy, and Tallinn, in the Baltic republic of Estonia. And in 1986, Caceres was granted the title of “World Heritage City” by UNESCO. This distinction has made the city of Caceres a meeting point for people interested in getting to know one of the most important medieval sites in the world.
 

This vast accumulation of titles makes Caceres a part of various networks of cities with important historical and cultural heritage, such as “LOS CAMINOS DE SEFARAD”, a group of cities with Spanish Jewish heritage. It is also a member of “la Ruta de la Plata”, one of many cities along an ancient silver trading route, and it is one of the cities that form the select group of World Heritage cities. This means that Caceres occupies a unique position in both Spanish and European cultural inventory, not to mention the cultural ties that connect the city to Latin America.
 

We also can’t forget the other networks of which Caceres is also part: Triurbir, along with the cities Castelo Branco, Plasencia and Portoalegre, or the network REVE, which groups 13 European cities: Cáceres, La Roche Sur Yon (France), Gummersbach (Germany), Burg (Germany), Coleraine (Northern Ireland) as well as other cities from Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Greece.
 

One key to understanding the relationship between the city and culture is the development of an active cultural life that has transformed Caceres into a place which promotes music, art, and drama throughout the year with proposals ranging from support for new trends in art to the preservation of cultural traditions on both the local and regional level.
 

With this important "CV" Caceres has the same chance of winning the title of “European capital of Culture” as any other candidate city. The city has sufficient merit to believe in this aspiration, the same merit possessed by the other Spanish cities that aspire to be the European Capital of Culture in 2016, and the same merit as the past European Capitals of Culture.