Cork, Ireland has made the big time, culturally. With only 160,000 people, it’s not London or Paris (or even Dublin), but this city is bent on changing the course of culture not only in Ireland, but in Europe as well. Cork’s designation as the European Capital of Culture in 2005 – a European Union initiative to encourage urban innovation and regeneration – means visitors will be greeted with an ambitious cultural calendar rivaling and probably surpassing any city of this size. Planners are betting that thousands of events representing 236 creative projects, from the Cork Film Festival to stage productions such as “The Pillowman” and “The Plough and the Stars” at the Cork Opera House, will attract culture seekers like never before.

The city’s ambitious agenda of entertainment, art, sports, poetry, and exhibitions is cataloged in the 200-page guide “City of Making” (for a complete rundown visit www.cork2005.ie). The overwhelming variety of cultural expressions will, according to Cork 2005 officials, reflect the “creative personality of Europe as well as the soul of Cork and Ireland.”

But the fun begins with the compact, young-old city itself: young because it’s a college town, old because, well, this is Ireland. The city’s mid-19th-century English Market – so named because originally only English settlers could trade there – is a pure Victorian delight. You probably won’t be shopping for fish, produce, or butter, but one find is a shop called On the Pig’s Back, an Irish deli with (of all things) a French touch. Snap up as many of their homemade chocolate bars as you can. Outside the brick market walls, Cork is a city laced with canals, lending it a Continental air. The River Lee, spanned by 21 bridges, flows into the huge natural harbor – often compared to San Francisco Bay and Sydney Harbour – that was once the departure point for thousands of emigrants heading to our shores in search of a better life.

Cork is the smallest city ever to be awarded such a high Euro-cultural profile. Previous official cities of culture have included the likes of Copenhagen, Madrid, and Prague. The E.U.’s zeroing-in on a mini-metropolis means, among other things, a major facelift. The massive renovation of buildings, landmarks – even streetlights – is enough to cause major traffic delays. But it’s worth the effort when you finally sit down at one of Cork’s many organically influenced restaurants, such as Jacobs on the Mall (30A South Mall, 353-021-425-1530) or modish mainstay Jacques (9 Phoenix St., 353-021-427-7387), the latter run by two Irish sisters and locally famous for its roast duck stuffed with apricots. Then there’s Fleming’s (Silver Grange House, Tivoli, 353-021-482-1621), in the 18th-century home of a prominent merchant prince, in a wooded outskirt of Cork. Here you can enjoy the likes of crab and Atlantic prawn ravioli with garden pea puree and basil cream, served in a Georgian drawing room. Inquire about the five lovely guestrooms upstairs if you really want to feel like turning back the pages of time.

Hayfield Manor Hotel (Perrott Avenue, College Road, 353-021-484-5900, www.slh.com/hayfield; room rates $300-$575), a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, is the Cork hotel of choice, not just for its luxury accommodations and intimate spa, but for afternoon tea, too. The full tea service (about $28 a person) includes a pot of tea, finger sandwiches, tea breads, miniature pastries and cakes, and scones with fruit preserves and fresh cream – add champagne for $8.”Teas” range from Granny’s Garden (a fruit blend of rhubarb rounded off with genuine bourbon!) to hot chocolate with dairy cream and chocolate shavings.

Cork is a gateway to the rest of southern Ireland. Consider visiting Ballymaloe Cookery School (Shanagarry, 353-021-465-2021, www.ballymaloe.ie), one of Europe’s finest cooking schools, in nearby Shanagarry, about a 45-minute drive east of Cork. The school has been raising the bar in the culinary arts since the late 1990s with such guest chef-led courses as “Brilliant Breads” with Rachel Allen ($375 for a two-day course) and “Foraging With Darina Allen: A Walk on the Wild Side” ($200).

Or spend a few nights in utter tranquility in neighboring County Kerry (less than a two-hour’s drive west of Cork) at the legendary Park HotelKenmare(Kenmare, County Kerry, 353-64-41200, www.parkkenmare.com; room rates $208-$484) overlooking Kenmare Bay, where the new Samas destination spa, set in a wooded knoll, offers therapeutic, holistic spa treatments in spectacular stone and glass trappings. Following an intense culture infusion in Cork, a Chakra Balancing treatment or a Samas Mystical Four Hand Massage (each treatment lasts two hours) will put you back in synch. Simply soaking in the black infinity pool, open to the mist-kissed forest, could reset your stress meter to zero. The Samas experience, which includes a one-hour thermal suite, one hour holistic treatment, and an extra hour to lounge about the spa, costs $165. After one night of gracious Irish hospitality for which the owners, the Brennan brothers, are known far and wide, it is tempting to stay even longer. Rainbows abound in these parts and enchanting country roads take you to charming villages with nary a Walmart in sight. Which constitutes a kind of cultural balm of its own.