Continuously - Inhabited Oldest Cities in the World

In some cases, the older a thing is the more precious it becomes. And places of antiquity arguably do not either fall short of this fact. Here are some of oldest inhabited regions in the world bearing a variety of precious imprints of the thousand dead years.

Byblos Lebanon
 

Believed to have been founded in 5000 B.C., Byblos, Lebanon is generally considered by historians as the oldest inhabited city in the world. It held a couple of names, and was once known as Gibelet during the crusade; today it is known in Arabic name as the city of Jbeil. A Mediterranean city of the Mount Lebanon Governorate of the preset day Lebanon, a biblical region itself, Byblos existence dates back to the biblical era as it is mentioned in the Holy Bible in 1 Kings 5:18. The verse refers to the nationality of the builders of the temple of Solomon. Ezekiel 27:9 also made mention of this city, referring to the riches of Tyre.

Cadiz, Spain
 

Characterized by the antiquity of its quarters, among them El Popula, La Vina, and Santa Maria, historians considered Cadiz as the oldest continuously – inhabited city in the Iberian Peninsula if not of all Southwestern Europe. It has been one of the principal home ports of the Spanish Navy since the accession of the Spanish Bourbon in the 18th century. Over time, Cadiz has evolved into becoming a city of modern standard, but it still holds a host of one of the richest, well-preserved historical remnants in the world that are gathered in designated region called the Old City. Notwithstanding, the modern city hosts numerous parks bearing kinds of exotic plants whose arrival in Spain is believed to be brought by Columbus.


Kavala, Greece


Time flashbacked many centuries, Kavala was founded by the early settlers from Thasos in the 16th century. This ancient city was for once a base of Brutus and Casius in 42 BC for it became a base of the Roman civita is 164 BC. On his first voyage to Europe, the apostle Paul had landed in Kavala. Subsequently, in the Byzantine era, the city was called Christoupolis by the Greeks and Morunets by the Bulgarians, and because of its maritime location, the region flourished but was captured and burned during the 1185 Norman raid of Macedonia. A couple of centuries later, the Ottoman took over and under the leadership of Sultan Bayesid I, the city was completely destroyed, forcing the inhabitants to flee. Rebuilt was only started at the beginning of the 15th century, and during which time the city started to be known as Karvala. Historical remnants of the Ottoman reconstruction have become landmarks of modern Karvala, the largest city in modern Greece and the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia.


Zurich, Switzerland


Zurich as we might all know is one of the most famous cities in modern day Europe. It is the cultural and commercial capital of Switzerland, Bern being the political capital of the country. Historically, the magnificent Zurich ranks among the oldest and still inhabited cities in the world; Turicum was the name it was known in the earliest times as evidenced by a tombstone that dates back to the 2nd century AD. Lake dwellers were believed to be the first inhabitants of the future site of Zurich and this lake side settlement dates back to the Neolithic period.


Damascus, Syria

Damascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. Archeological excavations at the outskirts of the city at the Tell Ramad have shown that Damascus have been inhabited as far as 8,000 B.C. to 10,000 B.C., qualifying Damascus as one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world. It was not as important with the rest of the old cities in the world however, until the advent of the nomadic tribe from Mesopotamia – the Arameans. They were known to build canals and tunnels to maximize the efficiency of the Barada River. This network of engineering structures was subsequently improved by the Romans and the Umayyads whose water system still forms the basis of the old part of Damascus today. Damascus, an antiquarian city as it is, is mentioned in Genesis 14 as existing during the war of the kings.


Jerusalem, Israel


Jerusalem is the capital and largest city of the relatively young state of Israel, and among others, it probably is the most credible and genuine of all places mentioned in the Bible. Dating back to the biblical times, Jerusalem is unquestionably one of the oldest cities in the world. Jewish tradition has it that Jerusalem was founded by Shem and Eber, ancestors of the Old Testament prominent figure Abraham. Melchizedek, an ally of Abraham once ruled Jerusalem and was later allocated to tribe of Benjamin during the time of Joshua. Over time, it was conquered by King David and made the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel. This biblical account about the antiquarian existence of Jerusalem bears strong credence from recent excavations that modern archaeologists themselves traced back to the time of David.


Athens, Greece


Athens being ranked as one of the oldest cities in the world has been continuously inhabited for at least 4,500 years. The reign of the classical era are made evident and famous by the presence of ancient monuments and works of art, famous of which being the Parthenon on the Acropolis which is considered a major landmark of early Western civilization. Further, modern Athens still holds rich and great kinds of sculptural works of art of the Roman and Byzantine. Ottoman monuments are well present in this ancient city, indicating Athens’s great history across the ages. Aristotle, Socrates, Plato and other great Greek thinkers, writers, artists, and philosophers lived and walked Athens many centuries before Christ. So, there’s no denying that Athens is the birthplace of our democracy, modern sciences, philosophy and almost any other arena of human intellectual pursuit.


Beirut, Lebanon


Beirut is the largest and capital city of Lebanon. Having its history that dates back to 5000 years , makes Beirut one of the oldest cities in the world. This claim is well supported by archaeological facts unearthed in the down town area, showing layers of Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Ottoman and Arab remains. In addition, Beirut is mentioned in the cuneiform tablets of the “Armand Letters”, whcih is believed to have been existing since the 4th century. Today, Beirut is fastly becoming progressive as it is home of the largest seaports of the eastern Mediterranean Sea while its tourism is as well becoming popular the world over.


Lisbon, Portugal


Lisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal. As shown by numerous archaeological and historical records, Lisbon certainly ranks among the oldest inhabited regions in the world. For one, this ancient region was once inhabited by Iberian-related people. Religious monuments called, dolmens,. Megaliths and menhirs are some of the existing testaments of the Iberian settlement. For another, Phoenician influence is thought to have existed in the region as suggested by archaeological findings, dating back to 1200 BC. Prominently, Phoenician remains were found recently underneath the Mediaeval Se Lisboa or main cathedral of the modern city. However, many historians maintained doubts with regards to the historical truth of Phoenician settlement; instead they believe that ancient Lisbon was just one of the major and active regions of trading in which Phoenicians had had good commercial relations; thus the archaeological remains of pottery and other material objects found beneath the cathedral.


Beijing, China

Beijing or Peking is the capital city of the People’s Republic of China, and for the record it ranks among the oldest inhabited regions in the world. Human habitation were found to be dating back to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago, as shown through carbon dating performed on the archaeological remains of the now famous Peking Man (Homo Erectus) whose remains were excavated in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill in the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District. 27,000 years ago, Paleolithic Homo sapiens also lived in the region.