The city of Matera has been chosen as the European Capital of Culture for 2019, Italy's Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities Dario Franceschini announced on Friday. Matera was selected out of six cities - Cagliari, Lecce, Siena, Perugia, Ravenna, and Matera itself - that had remained on the list after a preselection.

Steve Green, the chairman of the jury of 13 experts which nominated Matera, and a representative of the European Commission, K. Bartak, were also present at the press conference in Rome.

Source: http://www.agi.it