Now all the participating cities will have to present their project which will be submitted to the evaluation of a commission of seven renowned experts in the management of cultural heritage. The winning city, thanks also to the state contribution of one million euros, will be able to showcase, for a period of one year, its original characteristics and the factors that determine its cultural development, intended as an engine for the growth of the entire community.

The title of Italian Capital of Culture stems from the lively and participatory competition that culminated on 17 October 2014 in the designation of Matera European Capital of Culture 2019. The commitment, creativity and passion that led the six finalists to build candidacy dossiers of high design quality convinced the Government to proclaim the other five competitors, namely Cagliari, Lecce, Perugia, Ravenna and Siena, Italian Capitals of Culture 2015 and to simultaneously call for a selection to identify, starting from 2016, the city worthy of this title.

The first chosen was Mantua, followed by Pistoia in 2017, Palermo in 2018 and Parma in 2020, a title also extended in 2021 due to the pandemic emergency. The 2022 edition went to Procida, in 2023 it will be the turn of Bergamo and Brescia while in 2024 it will go to Pesaro.

Here is the list of cities that have submitted the application for 2025, with the relative title of the dossier:

1) Agrigento - Il sé, l’altro e la natura. Relazioni e trasformazioni culturali
2) Aosta - Aostæ Città Plurale
3) Assisi (Perugia) - Assisi. Creature e creatori
4) Asti - Dove si coltiva la cultura
5) Bagnoregio (Viterbo) - Essere Ponti
6) Città Metropolitana di Reggio Calabria - Locride 2025. Tutta un’altra storia
7) Enna - Enna 2025. Il mito nel cuore
8) Monte Sant’Angelo (Foggia) - Monte Sant'Angelo 2025: un Monte in cammino
9) Orvieto (Terni) - Meta meraviglia la cultura che sconfina
10) Otranto (Lecce) - Otranto 2025. Mosaico di Culture
11) Peccioli (Pisa) - ValdEra Ora. L’arte di vivere insieme
12) Pescina (L’Aquila) - La cultura non spopola
13) Roccasecca (Frosinone) - Vocazioni. La cultura e la ricerca della felicità
14) Spoleto (Perugia) - La cultura genera energia
15) Sulmona (L’Aquila) - Cultura è metamorfosi