Many people love to travel to modern, cosmopolitan cities such as London, Paris, Rome, New York, and Tokyo. However, if you’d like to explore some of the planet’s oldest communities, you may want to consider a trip to one of these ancient destinations.
1. Jericho
The earliest settlements in this historic city are believed to reach all the way back to the year 9,000 BC. This is why historians believe it’s one of the earth’s oldest cities even though it has been destroyed and then rebuilt on more than one occasion. Jericho has been invaded several times throughout the centuries and it has been ruled by many different nations and cultures. These include the Persians, Syrians, Arabs, Greeks, Crusaders and the British. Currently, the city of Jericho sits in the Palestinian territories’ West Bank. It’s still a popular destination with travelers who are there to visit the Jordan River, Jerusalem, and the Dead Sea.
2. Damascus, Syria
The road to Damascus in Syria has definitely been a long one as this is regarded as the oldest continuously-inhabited community on the planet. Like Jericho, the history of Damascus also stretches back to about 9,000 BC. Damascus was a very important destination back in the second century as it was a meeting point for traders from the Middle East and China, it a popular commercial center. There are about five million people living in Damascus today, and it is filled with numerous historical sites.
3. Byblos, Lebanon
The Lebanese city of Byblos has been inhabited since about 5,000 BC. The name Byblos is Greek for Gebal, which is a Phoenician community which lies on the Mediterranean Sea in Lebanon and is close to the city of Beirut. These days, Byblos is growing as a popular tourist destination. You’ll find many amazing sites such as Phoenician temples that date all the way back to approximately 2700 BC. You’ll also find the 12th-century Byblos castle as well as an historic section of town which hosts a centuries-old market on its cobblestone streets.
4. Athens, Greece
The beautiful Greek city of Athens is believed to have been inhabited by people as far back as 1100 to 7000 BC. However, historians believe it was inhabited continuously since 7000 BC. Around 1400 BC it became a very important community and about 900 years later the Golden Age took place in Athens. This is when it was considered to be Greece’s most important center. Many famous intellectuals and historians came from Athens, as Socrates, Sophocles, Hippocrates and Herodotus. The city is generally considered to be the Western civilization’s birthplace. One of the most famous sites is theAcropolis, which was erected back in 3,000 BC.
5. Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Many people may not have heard of Bulgaria’s Plovdiv. However, it’s regarded as one of the world’s oldest cities as its history dates all the way back to about 4000 BC. Plovdiv, over the years, became an important Ottoman, roman, and Greek city. Plovdiv is now recognized as Bulgaria’s second-largest city. The population is only about 350,000, but you’ll find over 200 fantastic archaeological sites here which include mosques, Ottoman baths, an ancient theater, and medieval walls from the second century.
