Learn Hardcore French: Le centre de la ville est magnifique.

centre is a masculine noun, so it takes the masculine article le → le centre.
There is no logical reason here; it’s just part of the word’s dictionary form: un centre / le centre.

By contrast, ville is feminine: une ville / la ville. That’s why we get le centre de la ville (masc + fem).

What does de la mean in de la ville, and why isn’t it du or de l’?

De is a preposition that often means “of” or “from”.

In de la ville:

de = of
la = the (feminine singular article)
ville = city

So de la ville = “of the city”.

We don’t use du or de l’ because:

du = de + le, used before masculine singular nouns (e.g. le centre du village – “the center of the village”).
de la is used before feminine singular nouns starting with a consonant → de la ville.
de l’ is used before singular nouns (masc. or fem.) starting with a vowel or mute h (e.g. le centre de l’école).

Is there a difference between le centre de la ville and le centre-ville?

Yes, there’s a nuance:

Le centre de la ville literally means “the center of the city”. It’s a neutral, descriptive phrase.
Le centre-ville (with a hyphen) is a fixed expression that means “downtown / the city center” as a specific area (shopping area, main streets, historic center).

In many contexts, you could say either, but:

On a tourist brochure: Le centre-ville est magnifique.
In a very literal, geographic description: Le centre de la ville est ici.

Your sentence is perfectly correct and natural; just know that centre‑ville is also very common.

Why is it est and not c’est in this sentence?

Est is the 3rd person singular of être (il/elle/on est = “he/she/one is”).
Here, le centre de la ville is the subject, so the normal pattern is:

Le centre de la ville (subject) + est (is) + magnifique (adjective).

You could say, in more spoken or emphatic French:

Le centre de la ville, c’est magnifique.

But that slightly changes the structure: we’re commenting on the idea of “the city center” rather than making a simple descriptive statement. For a straightforward description, est is standard.

Where does the adjective usually go in French? Could we say “le magnifique centre de la ville”?

In French, most adjectives normally come after the noun:

un centre magnifique – a magnificent center
le centre de la ville est magnifique – the center of the city is magnificent

Some very common adjectives (especially those of size, beauty, goodness, age, etc.) can also come before the noun, including magnifique:

un magnifique centre-ville – a magnificent downtown
le magnifique centre de la ville – the magnificent center of the city

So yes, le magnifique centre de la ville is grammatically correct, but it slightly changes the style and focus; your original sentence is a simple “X is Y” statement.

Does magnifique agree in gender and number? Why is there no change here?

Adjectives in French must agree with the noun they describe in gender (masc./fem.) and number (sing./pl.).

Magnifique has these forms:

Masculine singular: magnifique
Feminine singular: magnifique
Masculine plural: magnifiques
Feminine plural: magnifiques

So the singular masculine and feminine forms are identical. In your sentence:

The subject is le centre → masculine singular
The adjective is magnifique → masculine singular form (looks the same as feminine)

If the subject were plural:

Les centres de la ville sont magnifiques.
Here we add an -s to show plural: magnifiques.

How would pronunciation of this whole sentence differ from what an English speaker might expect?

A rough guide, in standard French:

Le → [lə] (like “luh”)
centre → [sɑ̃tʁ]
- cen- = nasal vowel [ɑ̃], like “ahn” but through the nose
- final -tre → [tʁ], not “-ter” as in English “center”
de → [də] (like “duh”; often reduced, almost like [d] before la)
la → [la] (“lah”)
ville → [vil] (“veel”) – final -e is silent
est → [ɛ] (“eh”)
magnifique → [maɲifik]
- gn = [ɲ], like the ny in “canyon”
- final -que → [k], not “kə”

Spoken smoothly, you might hear:

[lə sɑ̃tʁ də la vil ɛ maɲifik]

No liaison between est and magnifique, because magnifique starts with a consonant.

Could the sentence also mean “The town center is beautiful,” not just “city center”?

Yes. Ville can mean “city” or “town”, depending on context and size.

Le centre de la ville est magnifique.
→ “The city center is beautiful”
→ or “The town center is beautiful”

English forces you to choose town or city; French ville covers both.

Can I drop de la ville and just say Le centre est magnifique?

Grammatically, yes:

Le centre est magnifique. = “The center is magnificent/beautiful.”

But then it’s less specific:

It could be the center of anything (a shopping center, a sports center, the center of a village previously mentioned, etc.), and you would normally rely on context.

Le centre de la ville est magnifique explicitly tells you we’re talking about the city/town center.

Is magnifique as common as “magnificent” in English, or is it used more broadly?

French magnifique is much more common in everyday speech than English “magnificent.” It can simply mean:

“beautiful,” “lovely,” “gorgeous,” “fantastic,” “awesome.”

So:

Le centre de la ville est magnifique.
can feel as natural as
“The city center is beautiful / gorgeous”
not as heavy as English “The city center is magnificent.”

How would I say “The centers of the city are beautiful” in French?

You need to pluralize both the noun and the adjective:

Les centres de la ville sont magnifiques.

Breakdown:

les centres → plural of le centre
de la ville → stays the same (only one city)
sont → 3rd person plural of être (“are”)
magnifiques → plural adjective (add -s)

So the agreement chain is: Les centres (plural) → sont (plural) → magnifiques (plural).