10 Históricas cidades

Damascus, Syria

(images via: Frederick

Highland, Man In Demand and Historic Cities)

Damascus, the current capital of Syria, has a long and colorful history that stretches
back nearly 12,000 years. Located in a fertile region well-watered by the Barada river,
Damascus was a prime target of numerous kings and conquerors - and often wound up
on the losing side.
 (image via: EuroMesco)

Over 4 million people live in metropolitan Damascus today and, partly due to a skilfully
constructed network of canals built nearly 3,500 years ago, boasts a multitude of parks
and green spaces. Since 1979 Damascus has been UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Jericho, West Bank

(images via: Wikipedia

and Bible Archaeology)

The ancient city of Jericho is the world’s oldest walled city, with evidence of stone
fortifications dating back nearly 9,000 years; long before the “walls came tumblin’
down” events depicted in the Bible. Archaeological digs have turned up traces of
habitation that are even older: up to 11,000 years ago!
 (image via: SBF)

Not only has Jericho been continually inhabited for over one hundred centuries,
scientists have uncovered a virtual layer cake of settlements - 20 in fact, built one on top
of the other down to the present day. Now that’s something worth blowing your horn
about… oh, wait.
Susa, Iran

(images via: Iran Facts)

Dating back to approximately 8000 BCE, the ancient Iranian city of Susa rose to
prominence again and again under Elamite, Babylonian, Achaemenian, Greek, Parthian,
Sasanian and Persian civilizations.
 (image via: CAIS
News)

Today Susa is known as “Shush” though things have rarely been quiet there over its
very long life. Susa is where the sole representation of the Code of Hammurabi was
found. The 7-foot tall basalt stele was taken back to Susa in the 12th century BC and
rediscovered in 1901. It now resides in Paris’ Louvre Museum.
Plovdiv, Bulgaria

(images via: Cultural

Tourism and Virtual Tourist)

One way of measuring a city’s age is to note the number of names it has had. In the case
of Plovdiv, the list begins with Eumolpias, changing to Philippoupolis when it was
conquered by Philip II of Macedon (Alexander the Great’s father) in 342 BCE.
Centuries passed and Philippoupolis became Trimontium, then Philippoupolis again,
then Paldin, Filibe and finally Plovdiv.
 (image via: Discover
Bulgaria)

Presently home to around 380,000 (580,000 in the metro area), Plovdiv is Bulgaria’s
second-largest city and one of Europe’s oldest - signs of urban activity there go back
nearly 9,000 years.
Jerusalem, Israel

(images via: Hamline

University and Pierre Tristam)

Holy to a number of the world’s leading religions, 5,000-year-old Jerusalem was already
settled centuries before any of them had their tenets put to paper, papyrus or pre-fired
clay. According to the entry on Jerusalem in Wikipedia, “In the course of its history,
Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured
and recaptured 44 times.”
 (image via: Trip
Advisor)

Sadly, those numbers are likely not the final score for this exceptional city 747,600
people call Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, Al-Quds and… home.

Tyre, Lebanon

(image via: Skyscraper

City)

Source of prized Tyrian Purple dye and home base of those legendary master traders, the
Phoenicians, Tyre was truly a wonder of the ancient world. The city was located on a
walled island just off the coast of Lebanon and managed to thwart every siege until
Alexander the Great built a causeway so his soldiers could march up to the city walls.
(image via: Sophismata)
 (images via: Hezbollah
Connect and El Baluarte De La Utopia)

The causeway changed the flow of the sea currents and caused the island to become
permanently joined to the mainland. Today Tyre is Lebanon’s fourth-largest city and can
proudly trace its history back nearly 6,000 years.
Athens, Greece

(images via: Erasmus

Student Network, Destination 360 and BiblePlaces)

The capital of Greece is home to over 4 million today and is the 5th-most populous
capital city in the EU. With its soaring Acropolis and majestic Parthenon symbolizing
the golden age of Classical Greece and the foundation of Western civilization, Athens
has been lived in for approximately 3,400 years.
 (image via: Theodora)

The city has not always enjoyed prominence, however - by the early 19th century it had
deteriorated to a backwater town with only a few thousand citizens. That all changed
when Athens was named capital of Greece in 1834, with the city truly coming of age
due to the many infrastructure improvements completed in time for the 2004 Olympic
Games.
Lisbon, Portugal

(images via: Galen Fry

Singer and Lgougo)

Due to its exceptional harbor situated where the Tagus river empties into the Atlantic
Ocean, Lisbon has always been an ideal military and commercial location - incidentally
attracting settlers to serve the soldiers and traders. Archaeologists have uncovered
Phoenician objects at Lisbon dating back to 1200 BCE; remnants of what was likely a
Phoenician supply base for ships voyaging to and from the British Isles, an ancient
source of tin.
 (images via: Wall Street
Meeting and John P Pratt)

Disaster struck Lisbon in 1755 when one of the most destructive earthquakes ever to
strike Europe, accompanied by a massive tsunami and wildfires, leveled much of
Lisbon and killed tens of thousands of residents.
 (images via: Book
Depository and Links On Waves)

Lisbon quickly bounced back from the disaster to regain her rank as one of Europe’s
leading cities, a distinction she still holds today.
Varanasi, India

(image via: Sacred

Destinations)

The city of Varanasi, formerly known to English-speakers as Benares, has been a

religious and cultural center for at least 3,000 years. Over one million pilgrims from
across the Hindu world visit Varanasi each year to participate in ceremonies and swim
in the sacred Ganges river.
 (image via: Without
Borders)

Varanasi is as close to being a true “living city” as one could imagine. Every bit of
space is utilized, every disused building is re-worked into a new purpose and over
centuries of conflict and conquest, the city heals itself through the power of human
conviction and devotion to a greater glory.
Cholula, Mexico

(images via: Webshots

Travel and Cultura)

Arguably the oldest continually inhabited city in the western hemisphere, Choloula was
a contemporary of more famous Teotihuacan yet never suffered the crisis that saw it’s
neighbor abandoned in the 6th century CE. By the late Aztec period more than 100,000
people lived in Cholula, and the city near Puebla is home to over 90,000 today.
 (image via: Rahuno)

Cholula rose to prominence in the 2nd century BCE but settlement on a more modest
scale goes back a further thousand years. The partially excavated monumental buildings
at Cholula are among the largest in the world, with the Great Pyramid of Cholula being
the largest man-made monument ever made! Its base covers approximately 25 acres and
the pyramid’s total volume is estimated at 4.3 million cubic yards.

What’s it take to make a long-lived city? The same thing any realtor will tell you:
location, location, location! Prime real estate does tend to attract the wrong crowd -
conquerors have a way of ruining anyone’s backyard barbeque - but once all the fuss
has died down people do what they’ve always done; keep on coming back for more.

[weburbanist]