Twin towns and sister cities (English)

Updated to: 05/10/2023

Vicenza’s Municipality from 1991 is twinned with the German town of Pforzheim and from 1995 with the French town of Annecy.
The Municipality of Vicenza has also signed a friendship agreement with the American city of Cleveland in 2010 and with the Croatian town of Osijek in 2011. In 2018 Vicenza signed a memorandum of understanding and mutual cooperation with the Chinese town of Guiyang. In 2018 Vicenza subscribed a brotherhood agreement with the town of Bethlehem.
The twinning activity between the Municipal administration and the twin cities of Annecy and Pforzheim is carried out through activities aimed to strengthen the citizens awareness and participation of the idea of twinning as “basic” institution. A concept, spread and experienced among the citizen, within a wider idea of European citizenship.
The twinning relations are mainly related to cultural exchanges such as musical and theatrical performances, exhibitions, concerts, artistic, folkloristic, sports and recreational activities, school exchanges, artisan, commercial, environmental, social, normative and institutional exchanges.
However, the idea of “twinning” is even wider, and it can also be related to cultural, social and economic relations and partnership, including also cities outside the European Union, through the stipulation, besides twinning, of friendship and fraternity agreements.
The International Relations and Twinning Office provides information on twin cities, and it also provides assistance to cultural or economic trips made by institutions, organizations, groups, and schools; it promotes, coordinates and organizes directly, or in collaboration with other subjects, activities in different spheres of interests; it works in collaboration with other municipal bodies interested, according to their peculiarity or expertise, to twinning activities. Finally, it curates every planning, technical, organizational aspect of the planned activities.

For more information on twin cities (Pfozheim and Annecy) please visit:

For more information on friend or sister cities (Cleveland – Osijek - Guiyang - Bethlehem) please visit:

How to do it

Requests and proposals of collaboration, exchange activities provided for by twinning, have to be applied to Vicenza’s Municipality International Relations and twinning office. Once received, the applications are evaluated with the foreign partners, and if they are approved, they are integrated into the activities agenda.

Where and when

Twinning office

Palazzo degli Uffici

Address: piazza Biade 26

Phone: 0444221368

Email: gemellaggi@comune.vicenza.it

Opening hours:

By appointment only