France and Slovakia have announced their respective cities short-listed for the title of European Capital of Culture 2013.

From an initial list of seven potential locations in each country, four have been put forward as preferred cities.

The four French locations are Bordeax, Marseille, Toulouse and Lyon, while the Slovak short-list favours Kosice and Presov in east Slovakia, Martin in central Slovakia and Nitra in west Slovakia.

The winners – one Slovak town and the other one in France – will be announced at the end of the contest in late 2008.

This year’s capitals of culture are Liverpool (pictured) and Stavanger and Sandnes in Norway.