I knew it was possible, but I never thought I could pull it off. Playing as Dutch with 6 civs on the same land mass, I got boxed in early, allowing me only 7 cities. Instead of going to war (like I should have) I cozied up to my Roman and Persian neighbors as a buffer. I founded Conf, Christianity and Islam, but never adopted a state religion. Thanks to open borders I got three other religions to spread (BudHinJew):eek: . Since I hade plenty of cottages, but not a whole lot of production I was safe in tech, but lacking in might - so Culture win was the only way to go. Monistaries and wonders in my big three, and only one artist spam gave me three Legendary cities on the same turn (1945). :goodjob:
I only went to war once, three turns before achieving victory when a defensive pact dragged me into a war I didn't want or need. Having big cultural borders saved me as the enemy couldn't reach me in three turns.:lol:

At risk of being called a jackass, i`ll ask......so?

Why is everyone convinced that in order to win you need gazillion cities and a continent of your own?

At risk of being called a jackass, i`ll ask......so?

Why is everyone convinced that in order to win you need gazillion cities and a continent of your own?
Well conventional wisdom is you need at least 9 cities to get a good cultural win (at least that is how I always thought it should go). But I am not a highly experienced Civ player yet so I, at least, thought it was impressive. No offense taken... it was just the first time I managed to do it with out at least 9 sites and without an early religion.
Plus with fewer cities, I couldn't keep up with the production of the other civs and was really conscious of getting attacked.

you only need 3 cities for a cultural victory, if we're being technical. but I've gotten one with only 6 cities on standard map, so I think for the religious bonuses 6 will do. I guess it depends on map size.

I have done it long ago (pre BTS) with 4 cities, but it is much much easier with 8 to 12 cities. That way you can have 3-4 cranking out culture and wonders like crazy and the rest doing normal things, like killing your neighbors.

Well conventional wisdom is you need at least 9 cities to get a good cultural win (at least that is how I always thought it should go). But I am not a highly experienced Civ player yet so I, at least, thought it was impressive. No offense taken... it was just the first time I managed to do it with out at least 9 sites and without an early religion.
Plus with fewer cities, I couldn't keep up with the production of the other civs and was really conscious of getting attacked.

Another misconception about cultural victories is that you absolutely need cathedrals in the 3 most cultured cities.
Although they do make job easier, you can get cultural victory without a single cathedral, just need to focus on it from the start.