KeithBinns/iStock(NEW YORK) — The “city of love” is looking for a partner.
Terni — the birthplace of Saint Valentine located in central Italy just an hour north of Rome — has begun a search for a U.S. sister city.
The search launched Friday, Valentine’s Day, a holiday that commemorates the day Saint Valentine was martyred.
Sister cities are long-term partnerships between two communities in two countries to help maintain or improve international relations. Terni already has sister cities in France, Hungary and Spain, but none in the U.S. yet.
Terni is looking for an American city that is somewhat comparable to itself. Specific traits include places with a romantic element and places with aquatic features (Terni is located outside of a man-made waterfall created by the Ancient Romans).
“Terni is the city of love. … We decided to bring the idea of friendship and love into the modern age by launching a search for an American city or town which shares our values and with which we might twin,” the mayor of Terni, Leonardo Latini, said in a statement to ABC News.
Interested cities must submit a short video showing why they would be a good match. The submissions will be judged by Latini and Julie Hansen, the CEO of the language-learning app Babbel, which is helping Terni in the search and will donate 1,000 Babbel subscriptions to the city so residents can learn Italian.
The closing date for applications is September 2020 and the winner will be announced on Valentine’s Day 2021.
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