Wikipedia

Old town

For other uses, see Old Town (disambiguation).

In a city or town, the old 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. In some cases, newer developments on the periphery of the original settlement may have become the town's principal commercial and/or residential hub, leaving the historic "old town" as a secondary focus. There are many places throughout the world referred to as the old town (sometimes construed as a proper noun and capitalized). This is a list of some famous old towns:

Stralsund in Germany, an old town designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. European old towns are often recognizable by their density, small alleys and buildings of different eras.
The medieval old town of Porvoo on the Porvoonjoki river, Finland
Traditional houses, with the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross in the background, in the walled city of Nicosia, Cyprus
A street in the old town of Limassol, Cyprus
Historical centre of Verona, Italy

Africa

edit

Algeria

edit

Côte d'Ivoire

edit

Egypt

edit

Ethiopia

edit
  • Old Town of Harar, UNESCO World Heritage Site

Kenya

edit

Libya

edit

Mali

edit

Morocco

edit

Niger

edit

Tanzania/Zanzibar

edit

Tunisia

edit

Asia and the Pacific

edit

Australia

edit

Bangladesh

edit
 
Old Town of Lijiang

China

edit

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

edit

East China

edit
 
Old Town of Qibao
 
Street in the Dali Ancient City

Southwestern China

edit
 
Street in the Old Town of Kashgar

Northwestern China

edit

South Central China

edit
 
Fenghuang Ancient Town

Northeast China

edit

Fiji

edit

India

edit
 
The Stadhuis is an old building in Jakarta Old Town
 
Keraton Kanoman is one of the oldest buildings in the historic town of Cirebon

Indonesia

edit

Japan

edit
See also: Groups of Traditional Buildings
 
Old Kyoto

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

edit

Chūbu

edit

Chūgoku

edit

Kansai

edit
 
Post town of Narai

Kantō

edit

Kyushu

edit

Shikoku

edit
 
View on Ouchijuku from above
  • Yokaichi Merchant District
  • Kasashima Port Town

Tōhoku

edit

Malaysia

edit
 
Old Town of Ipoh

New Zealand

edit
 
Oamaru historic district

Pakistan

edit

Philippines

edit

Philippines as the former colony of Spain has numerous heritage structures, most notably in:

South Korea

edit
 
Old town (Bukchon Hanok Village) in Seoul

Taiwan

edit

Thailand

edit
 
Rank of Sino-Portuguese shophouses on both sides of the road in Phraeng Phuthon of Sam Phraeng within Rattanakosin Island

Uzbekistan

edit

Vietnam

edit

Europe

edit

Austria

edit
Main article: Altstadt
 
Old Town Salzburg across the Salzach river

UNESCO World Heritage old towns in Austria:

Other notable/famous old towns include:

Armenia

edit
 
Abovyan street in the Old Town of Gyumri

Albania

edit
 
A view of Gjirokaster

Azerbaijan

edit
 
Old houses in the Inner city of Baku

Belgium

edit

Bosnia and Herzegovina

edit

Bulgaria

edit

Croatia

edit

Czech Republic

edit

Cyprus

edit

Denmark

edit

Estonia

edit
 
Town Hall square in the Old Town of Tallinn

Finland

edit

France

edit
 
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

edit

Germany

edit
Main article: 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
 
Old town of Würzburg

Other notable/famous old towns include:

Greece

edit
 
A street in the Old Town of Corfu

Crete

edit

Attica

edit

Macedonia

edit

Thessaly

edit
 
A street in Plaka, Athens

Thrace

edit

Epirus

edit

Peloponnese

edit
 
A view of Monemvasia from above

Ionian Islands

edit

Aegan Islands

edit
 
Street in Mykonos

Central Greece

edit

Italy

edit
 
Old town of Siena
 
Historic Centre of Rome
 
Venice as seen from the air
 
Old town of Urbino
 
Genoa
 
Vernazza, one of the towns of Cinque Terre in Liguria, Italy
 
Skyline of Assisi

I Borghi più belli d'Italia is an association of small Italian towns of historical interest.

Other notable old towns include:

Kosovo

edit

Latvia

edit
 
Vecrīga

Lithuania

edit

Montenegro

edit

Netherlands

edit
 
Canal houses in Amsterdam

The standard term for 'Old Town' in the Netherlands is "binnenstad", which translates as "innercity", i.e. in city on the inside of the city walls.

North Macedonia

edit

Norway

edit

Poland

edit
 
Poznań Old Town

Portugal

edit

Romania

edit

Russia

edit
 
The embankment along the Moyka river, St. Petersburg
See also: Golden Ring of Russia

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

edit
Central Federal District
edit
 
Overview of the Old Town of Rostov
Volga Federal District
edit
 
Street in the Old Town of Kazan
Northwestern Federal District
edit
 
Ensemble of Pskov Kremlin
Southern Federal District
edit
 
Astrakhan Kremlin
North Caucasian Federal District
edit
 
Street in Vladikavkaz
Ural Federal District
edit
 
Tobolsk Kremlin
Siberian Federal District
edit
 
Historical center of Tomsk
  • Historic center of Tomsk, historic settlement of federal importance
  • Historic center of Irkutsk, historic settlement of federal importance
  • Historic center of Krasnoyarsk
  • Historic center of Omsk
  • Old Town of Yeniseysk, historic settlement of federal importance
Far Eastern Federal District
edit
 
A street in Old Vladivostok

Serbia

edit

Slovakia

edit

Spain

edit

Other notable/famous old towns include:

Sweden

edit

Switzerland

edit

Turkey

edit
 
Old Town of Safranbolu, UNESCO World Heritage site

UNESCO

edit
  • Istanbul, Historic Peninsula (Fatih district), UNESCO World Heritage site
  • Bursa, Historic city center, UNESCO World Heritage site
  • Cumalıkızık, UNESCO World Heritage site
  • Safranbolu, UNESCO World Heritage site

Aegan region

edit

Black Sea Region

edit
 
Old Şirince

Central Anatolia Region

edit

Eastern Anatolia Region

edit
 
Old Houses in Ankara

Marmara Region

edit

Mediterranean Region

edit
 
An overview of the Old Town of Mardin

Southeastern Anatolia Region

edit

Ukraine

edit

United Kingdom

edit

England

edit

Scotland

edit

Wales

edit
  • Holyhead Old Town, a townscape heritage conservation area with the best surviving Roman Fort in Wales

Overseas territories

edit

Middle East

edit

Israel and Palestine

edit
 
Old City of Jerusalem

Lebanon

edit

Saudi Arabia

edit
 
Historic houses of Jeddah

Syria

edit

Yemen

edit
 
Old Town of Sana'a

Iran

edit
 
Overview of Masuleh
  • Historical Center in Yazd, UNESCO World Heritage Site
  • Historical Center in Isfahan, UNESCO World Heritage Site
  • Historical City of Masuleh
  • Historical City of Meybod

Iraq

edit

North America

edit

Canada

edit

Cuba

edit

Dominican Republic

edit

Mexico

edit

Panama

edit

Puerto Rico

edit

United States

edit

California

edit

Florida

edit
  • 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

edit

Tennessee

edit

Virginia

edit

Other US states

edit

South America

edit

Argentina

edit

Brazil

edit

Northeast

edit
 
Historic center of Salvador

Center-West

edit

Southeast

edit
 
Pátio do Colégio (left) and surrounding historic buildings in São Paulo

South

edit

Colombia

edit

Ecuador

edit

Uruguay

edit

Other uses

edit

See also

edit
 
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Old towns.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Staro jezgro Zrenjanina proglašeno za zaštićenu prostorno kulturno-istorijsku celinu". 17 June 2021. Archived from the original on 13 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Neighbourhood: Old Town". Tourism Toronto. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
edit
 
Look up old town or Oldtown (disambiguation) in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Old_town&oldid=1259179507"