Old town

Stralsund in Germany, an Altstadt regarded World Heritage status by UNESCO. European old towns are easily recognizable by their density, small alleys and buildings from different eras, often even going back to Gothic times.
Traditional houses with the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross in the background, walled city of Nicosia
A typical street in the old town of Limassol

The old town of a city or town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are many places throughout the world named old town (and this is sometimes construed as a proper noun and capitalized). This is a list of some famous old towns:

Africa

Algeria

Egypt

Kenya

Morocco

Tanzania/Zanzibar

Tunisia

Asia

Bangladesh

China

India

Japan

Malaysia

Pakistan

Philippines


Tibet

Vietnam

Europe

Bulgaria

Croatia

Czech Republic

Cyprus

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

The Old Town of Albi, a UNESCO World Heritage site
The old city of Besançon and the meander of the Doubs River.

The equivalent of "Old Town" in French is vieille ville, although the more formal centre historique ("historical center") is usually written on road signs.

UNESCO World Heritage old towns in France:

Other notable/famous old towns include:

Georgia

Germany

Further information: Altstadt
Old town (Altstadt) of Regensburg in Bavaria, a World Heritage site
Hanseatic old town of Lübeck, aerial view
Old town of Quedlinburg
Wittenberg during Luthers Hochzeit festival

Other notable/famous old towns include:

Greece

Ireland

Italy

Latvia

Lithuania

Montenegro

Netherlands

Poland

Portugal

Serbia

Slovakia

Spain


Other notable/famous old towns include:

Sweden

Ukraine

United Kingdom

England

Scotland

Middle East

Israel

Lebanon

Palestine

Saudi Arabia

Syria

Yemen

North America

United States

California

Florida

North Carolina

Tennessee

Other US states

South America

Argentina

Colombia

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Uruguay

Other uses

See also

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Old towns.
Look up old town or Oldtown (disambiguation) in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. "City of Quito - UNESCO World Heritage". Whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 2010-04-30.

External links