Karlsruhe, Germany - The Karlsruhe culture festival in Germany, set to begin Friday evening, has an "All Roads Lead to Rome" theme this year, with all the art and music having some kind of connection to the Italian capital.

The annual Days of European Culture festival, running until April 26, includes an exhibition of 1950s sculptures by Giuseppe Uncini and a performance of the opera Julius Caesar by George Frederick Handel at the main city theatre.

An experimental theatrical production, Experimentum Mundi, is also on the programme, along with book readings and panel discussions on baroque and modern music. Fashion is on the programme too, along with cinema.

The festival was founded in 1983 by the city of Karlsruhe, near the French border, and its State Theatre of Baden.

The aim is to highlight the richness of Europe's diverse cultures and demonstrate how their influence on modern western culture.

The Italian city is the last in a cycle devoted to "the three Romes" and devised in 2003.

The others were Istanbul, "the second Rome" as centre of the later Roman Empire, and Moscow, once praised as "the third Rome." The Istanbul and Moscow segments were held in previous years.

Other openings set for this weekend include an exhibition of photographs of Rome by Gerhard Assem in the crypt of the city's main Lutheran church.

The University of Karlsruhe hosts a symposium on "Rome, the Eternal City in Flux," from April 18 to 20. (dpa)