Murcia was the host city of this competition of Olympic Range in which participated
2.500 young athlets coming from 46 countries, the inauguration ceremony was
developed in the "Cuartel de Artillería" the day 22 and it
was the starting point for the development of the competition during the following
days in the 10 summoned sport modalities.
European Youth Olympic Days historical celebrations are a unique Olympic event within Europe, and one of the most important among the Olympic Movement. They were created under the auspices of the European Olympic Committees and the International Olympic Committee on its first edition -Brussels 1991-. Its first importance within the Olympic Movement has been increasing to become an Olympic manifest at its utmost.
The Netherlands, Great Britain, Portugal and Denmark hosted the 93, 95, 97 and 99 editions and Paris will host and organize the year 2003 edition, taking over from Murcia 2001.
Murcia was selected at the European Olympic Committees General Assembly held
in Stockholm, in November 1997, as host city for the European Youth Olympic
Days for the year 2001.
Situated right in the heart of the Mediterranean bow, with an area of 879K m2 and a population of 350.000 inhabitants, Murcia boasts of a fantastic climate all year round (18 C. average temperature), thanks to its situation within a fertile valley and to its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea. The city was founded and fortified in the year 825 D.C. by Abderraman II, under the name of "Mursiya", by the riverside of the Segura river. Current and modern, it gets along with its thousand-year-old past, which shows up in its magnificent archaeological richness, present in churches, palaces, gardens and public buildings.
Thanks to it being a melting pot of peoples, traditions and cultures, the Murcian
character is extremely friendly and, with its excellent tourist infrastructure,
Murcia will not only mark the beginning of a new millennium for youths of all
over Europe, with the celebration of the VI European Youth Olympic Days, but
it will also, by itself, be a tourist point of reference and a city to visit
by anyone wishing to know, understand and love the Mediterranean Europe.
Murcia in Europe
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