At The Crossroads

Brussels may be the headquarters of the European Union, but Strasbourg is the nearest thing Europe has to a true capital. For over half a century Strasbourg has been the site of the Council of Europe, a pan-regional human rights body linking 43 countries from the Urals to the Atlantic. It is also one of the European Parliament's three homes, and houses the European Court of Human Rights and a host of other international bodies.

Strasbourg, which means "city of the roads," has been a major trading post since Roman times. This has brought great wealth and cultural variety —...

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