Old town

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

• Casbah of Algiers, in Algeria

Egypt

• Medieval Cairo, in Cairo
• Old Rashid
• Saint Catherine's Monastery, in Sinai

Kenya

• Mombasa Old Town

Morocco

• Old Meknes in Morocco
• old Essaouira, in Morocco
• Old Fes, in Morocco
• old Marrakech, in Morocco
• Tétouan in Morocco
• El Jadida in Morocco

Tanzania/Zanzibar

• Stone Town in Zanzibar City (World Heritage site)

Tunisia

• old Kairouan, in Tunisia
• Medina of Sousse in Tunisia
• Medina of Tunis in Tunisia

Asia

Bangladesh

• Old Town in Dhaka

China

• Forbidden City and Old Town remnants of Beijing
• Mountain Resort temple town in Chengde
• Old Town of Dengfeng
• Old Town of Kaiping
• Old Town of Lijiang
• Historic Centre of Macau
• Walled old town area of Nanjing
• Old Town of Pingyao
• Old Town of Qufu
• Old Town of Suzhou
• Historical centers of Xidi and Hongcun
• Old Town of Yinxu
• Old Town of Zhouzhuang

India

• Old Town and monuments of Agra
• Historical center of Alchi
• Historical center of Amritsar
• Old Town of Delhi
• Old Goa
• Historical center of Hyderabad
• Historical ruined center of Mandu
• Historical center of Mumbai
• Old Town and palace of Udaipur

Japan

• Historic remnants of old Kyoto
• Historic remnants of old Nara
• Historic remnants of old Nikkō
• Historic centers of Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama

Malaysia

• Old Town in Ipoh
• Old Town in Petaling Jaya

Pakistan

• Old Town in Karachi

Philippines

• Old Town of Baclayon
• Old Town remnants of Intramuros in Manila
• Old Town of Iloilo
• Old Town of Laoag
• Old Town of Loboc
• Old Town of Santa Maria
• Old Town in Vigan

Tibet

• Old Town and Potala Palace of Lhasa

Uzbekistan

• Tashkent

Vietnam

• Old Town of Hanoi
• Old Town of Hội An
• Old Town of Huế

Europe

Bulgaria

• Old Town in Plovdiv
• Old Town in Lovech
• Old Town in Nessebur

Croatia

• Old Town of Dubrovnik, UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Old Town of Split with Diocletian's Palace, UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Old Town of Trogir, UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Old Town of Varaždin
• Gradec and Kaptol, twin old towns of Zagreb

Czech Republic

• Staré Město in Prague

Cyprus

• Walled city of Nicosia
• Walled city of Famagusta
• Old town of Limassol

Denmark

• Den Gamle By in Aarhus

Estonia

• Old Town (Vanalinn) in Tallinn, UNESCO World Heritage Site

Finland

• Vanhakaupunki in Helsinki

France

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:

• Albi (Tarn)
• Avignon (Vaucluse)
• Bordeaux (Gironde)
• Carcassonne (Aude)
• Lyon (Rhône)
• Provins (Seine-et-Marne)
• Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin)

Other notable/famous old towns include:

• Auxerre (Yonne)
• Besançon (Doubs)
• Lille (Nord)
• Nice (Alpes-Maritimes)
• Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine)
• Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine)
• Toulouse (Haute-Garonne)

Georgia

• Old Tbilisi (Dzveli Tbilisi) in Tbilisi
• Historical Center in Mtskheta, UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Old Town in Kutaisi
• Old Town in Batumi

Germany

Further information: Altstadt

• UNESCO World Heritage old towns in Germany:
  • Bamberg (Franconia)
  • Goslar (Lower Saxony)
  • Lübeck (Schleswig-Holstein)
  • Quedlinburg (Saxony-Anhalt)
  • Regensburg (Bavaria)
  • Stralsund (Western Pomerania)
  • Wismar (Mecklenburg)

Other notable/famous old towns include:

• Northern Germany:
  • Bad Doberan (Mecklenburg)
  • Binz (Western Pomerania)
  • Celle (Lower Saxony)
  • Eckernförde (Schleswig)
  • Flensburg (Schleswig)
  • Friedrichstadt (Schleswig)
  • Güstrow (Mecklenburg)
  • Hamelin (Lower Saxony)
  • Hann. Münden (Lower Saxony)
  • Heringsdorf (Western Pomerania)
  • Lüneburg (Lower Saxony)
  • Neustrelitz (Mecklenburg)
  • Putbus (Western Pomerania)
  • Ratzeburg (Holstein)
  • Schwerin (Mecklenburg)
  • Stade (Lower Saxony)
  • Waren (Mecklenburg)
  • Wolfenbüttel (Lower Saxony)

• Eastern Germany:
  • Bautzen (Lusatia)
  • Erfurt (Thuringia)
  • Görlitz (Silesia)
  • Meissen (Saxony)
  • Pirna (Saxony)
  • Stolberg (Saxony-Anhalt)
  • Weimar (Thuringia)
  • Wernigerode (Saxony-Anhalt)

• Southern Germany:
  • Baden-Baden (Baden)
  • Dinkelsbühl (Bavaria)
  • Freiburg (Baden)
  • Füssen (Bavaria)
  • Heidelberg (Baden)
  • Konstanz (Swabia)
  • Landshut (Bavaria)
  • Lindau (Bavaria)
  • Nuremberg (Franconia)
  • Ravensburg (Swabia)
  • Rothenburg (Bavaria)
  • Schwäbisch Hall (Swabia)
  • Tübingen (Swabia)

• Western Germany:
  • Bacharach (Rhineland-Palatinate)
  • Beilstein (Rhineland)
  • Bernkastel-Kues (Rhineland)
  • Cochem (Rhineland-Palatinate)
  • Hattingen (North Rhine-Westphalia)
  • Landau (Palatinate)
  • Lemgo (Westphalia)
  • Limburg (Hesse)
  • Linz am Rhein (Rheinland)
  • Marburg (Hesse)
  • Monschau (Rhineland)
  • Montabaur (Rhineland-Palatinate)
  • Rüdesheim (Hesse)
  • Soest (North Rhine-Westphalia)
  • Trier (Rhineland-Palatinate)
  • Wetzlar(Hesse)
  • Xanten (Rhineland)

Greece

• Old Town in Rhodes, UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Old Town of Corfu (city), UNESCO World Heritage Site

Ireland

• An Seanbhaile in County Roscommon

Italy

• Old Town in Bari

Latvia

• Vecrīga in Riga, UNESCO World Heritage Site

Lithuania

• Senamiestis in Vilnius (a part of UNESCO)
• Senamiestis in Kaunas
• Senamiestis in Klaipėda
• Senamiestis in Trakai

Montenegro

• Old Town of Kotor, a World Heritage Site
• Old Town of Budva
• Old Town of Herceg Novi
• Stara Varoš (Podgorica)
• Stari Bar

Netherlands

• Oude Stad in Nijmegen
• Oude Stad (Tilburg)

Poland

• Kraków Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Warsaw Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Old City of Zamość, UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Medieval Town of Toruń, UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Poznań Old Town
• Old town of Chełmno
• Old town of Sandomierz
• Old town in Gdańsk
• Old town in Lublin
• Old town in Przemyśl
• Old town of Szczecin
• Old town of Stargard Szczeciński
• Old town of Trzebiatów
• Old town of Wrocław
• Police Old Town
• Old town of Nowe Warpno

Portugal

• Old town in Póvoa de Varzim, named "old town" (Vila Velha) since 1343.

Serbia

• Tešnjar, Valjevo - Cultural Heritage of Extraordinary importance
• Stari Grad, Sremski Karlovci - Cultural Heritage of Extraordinary importance
• Stara čaršija, Grocka, Belgrade - Two quarters of Old City are a Cultural Heritage of Extraordinary importance
• Stara čaršija, Novi Pazar - Cultural Heritage of Extraordinary importance
• Stari Grad, a municipality in Belgrade
• Stari Grad, a neighborhood in Novi Sad
• Stari Grad, a municipality in Kragujevac
• Stari Grad, the remains of a fort in Užice

Slovakia

• Staré Mesto in Bratislava
• Staré Mesto in Košice

Spain

• UNESCO World Heritage old towns in Spain:
  • Alcalá de Henares (Madrid)
  • Ávila (Castile and León)
  • Baeza (Andalusia)
  • Cáceres (Extremadura)
  • Córdoba (Andalusia)
  • Cuenca (Castile-La Mancha)
  • Salamanca (Castile and León)
  • San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Canary Islands)
  • Santiago de Compostela (Galicia)
  • Segovia (Castile and León)
  • Toledo (Castile-La Mancha)
  • Úbeda (Andalusia)

Other notable/famous old towns include:

• Albarracín (Aragón)
• Andújar (Andalusia)
• Avilés (Asturias)
• Arévalo (Castile and León)
• Besalú (Catalonia)
• Bilbao (Basque Country)
• Burgos (Castile and León)
• Cádiz (Andalusia)
• Carratraca (Andalusia)
• Castro Urdiales (Cantabria)
• Covarrubias (Castile and León)
• Culla (Valencian Community)
• Elorrio (Basque Country)
• Ferrol (Galicia)
• Fregenal de la Sierra (Extremadura)
• Getaria (Basque Country)
• Girona (Catalonia)
• Granada (Andalusia)
• Hondarribia (Basque Country)
• Ibiza (Balearic Islands)
• Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)
• León (Castile and León)
• Lorca (Murcia)
• Lugo (Galicia)
• Orihuela (Valencian Community)
• Oviedo (Asturias)
• Palma de Mallorca (Balearic Islands)
• Pals (Catalonia)
• Pamplona (Navarre)
• Pedraza (Castile and León)
• Peniscola (Valencian Community)
• Plasencia (Extremadura)
• San Sebastián (Basque Country)
• San Roque (Andalusia)
• Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Andalusia)
• Santillana del Mar (Cantabria)
• Sepulveda (Castile and León)
• Seville (Andalusia)
• Tarragona (Catalonia)
• Teruel (Aragón)
• Trujillo (Extremadura)
• Vélez-Málaga (Andalusia)
• Vic (Catalonia)
• Villena (Valencian Community)
• Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country)
• Zamora (Castile and León)

Sweden

• Gamla staden, Malmö
• Gamla stan, Stockholm
• Gamlestaden, Gothenburg
• Gammelstaden, Luleå Municipality

Turkey

• Istanbul, Historic Penisula
• Ankara, Historic city Center
• Amasya, Historic city Center

Ukraine

• Stare Misto in Lviv

United Kingdom

England

• UNESCO World Heritage old towns in England:
  • City of Bath
  • Maritime Greenwich
  • Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City

• Old Town, Barnsley
• Old Town, Chard
• Old Town, Croydon
• Old Town, Cumbria
• Old Town, Eastbourne
• Old Town, Hastings
• Old Town, Isles of Scilly
• Old Town, Northumberland
• Old Town, Southampton, a district of the city of Southampton
• Old Town, Swindon
• Old Town, West Yorkshire

Scotland

• Old Town, Edinburgh, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the New Town, Edinburgh

Overseas territories

• Historic Town of St George, Bermuda, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Middle East

Israel

• Old City of Acre
• Old City of Beersheba
• Old City of Haifa
• Old Jaffa
• Old City of Jerusalem in Israel
• Old City of Nazareth
• Old City of Ramle
• Old City of Tiberias
• Old City of Safed
• Old City of Lydda
• Neve Tzedek in Tel Aviv
• Sakhnin
• Peki'in (also includes native Jewish community alongside Druze, Christians and Muslims
• Shefa-'Amr
• Afula
• Carmel City (the historic centers of Daliyat al-Karmil and Isfiya)

Lebanon

• Old Byblos
• Old Sidon
• Old Tripoli
• Old Tyre
• Beirut Central District
• Old Batroun
• Deir el Qamar
• Rachaya

Palestine

• Old City (Jerusalem) in Palestine
• Old Nablus
• Old Bethlehem
• Old Hebron

Saudi Arabia

• Diriyah in Riyadh

Syria

• Ancient City of Aleppo, in Syria
• Ancient City of Bosra, in Syria
• Ancient City of Damascus in Syria

Yemen

• Old City of Sana'a in Yemen
• Old Walled City of Shibam in Yemen
• Zabīd in Yemen

North America

United States

California

• Old Town Eureka, California an original 19th Century Victorian commercial district in Eureka, California
• Old Town, Kern County, California
• Old Town, Marin County, California
• Old Town, Santa Barbara County, California
• Old Town, Ventura County, California
• Old Town, California, former name of Pine Town, California, in Lassen County
• Old Town Pasadena, California
• Old Sacramento State Historic Park, Sacramento, California
• Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, San Diego, California
• Old Town, San Diego, a neighborhood of San Diego

Florida

• Old Town, Florida, a town in Dixie County, not to be confused with the one in Orlando
• Old Town Fernandina, Fernandina Beach, Florida; the last town in the Western Hemisphere to be platted according to the Spanish "Law of the Indies" in 1811; named for King Ferdinand VII
• Old Town, Key West, the historic section of the city of Key West, Florida
• Old Town, an amusement park/shopping center in Kissimmee, Florida

North Carolina

• Old Town, Brunswick County, North Carolina
• Old Town, Forsyth County, North Carolina
• Old Town Township, Forsyth County, North Carolina

Tennessee

• Old Town (Franklin, Tennessee) a location along the Natchez Trace named for the Mississippian mound complex there
  • Old Town (Mississippian culture mound complex), Franklin, Tennessee
• Thomas Brown House (Franklin, Tennessee), also known as Old Town, NRHP-listed

Other US states

• Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona
• Old Town, Augusta, Georgia
• Old Town, Chicago, Illinois
• Old Town, Maine, a city
• Olde Towne Gaithersburg, Maryland
• Old Town Lansing, Michigan
• Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Old Town, Staten Island, New York
• Old Town Chinatown, Portland, Oregon
• Old Town Fairfax, Virginia
• Old Town Alexandria, Virginia
• Old Town Manassas, Virginia
• Olde Towne Portsmouth, Virginia

South America

Argentina

• San Telmo and La Boca in Buenos Aires

Colombia

• La Candelaria, a historic neighborhood in downtown Bogotá

Dominican Republic

• Ciudad Colonial in Santo Domingo, oldest European city in America, UNESCO World Heritage Site

Ecuador

• Quito´s Historic Center has one of the largest, least-altered and best-preserved historic centers in the Americas.^[1] This center was, together with the historic centre of Kraków in Poland, the first to be declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO on 18 September 1978. The Historic Centre of Quito is located in the center south of the capital on an area of 320 hectares (790 acres), and is considered one of the most important historic areas in Latin America.There are about 130 monumental buildings (which hosts a variety of pictorial art and sculpture, mostly of religious inspired in a multi-faceted range of schools and styles) and 5,000 properties registered in the municipal inventory of heritage properties.

Uruguay

• Ciudad Vieja in Montevideo, "Old City" is the name of the oldest part of the city

Other uses

• The Girls of Old Town, a group of prostitutes in the comic series Sin City
• Old Town (song), a song by Phil Lynott, later covered by the Corrs

See also

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Old towns.

Look up old town or Oldtown (disambiguation) in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Altstadt
• Eskişehir, "Old City" in Turkish
• Old City (disambiguation)
• Oldtown (disambiguation)
• Stare Miasto (disambiguation), "Old Town" in Polish
• Stari Grad (disambiguation), means "Old Town"

References

External links

• Media related to Old towns at Wikimedia Commons