Tag: Great Cities

Ten More Great Cities of the Ancient World

Heritage Key looks at ten more Great Cities in History. John Julius Norwich’s new book – “The Great Cities in History” – selects a list of major cities that have been hugely influential throughout their eras. The cities that were chosen spanned across the globe, and you can read more about them in my recent article. In addition, you should definitely also watch Heritage Key’s video interview with Lord Norwich himself as he discusses his book, and how he came to choose the cities that made it to the final edition.

But what about cities that didn’t make the cut?There are still several cities in the world which I still consider to be great in terms of the culture they hold, and the history that enriches them. So I offer you 10 more Great Cities of the Ancient World, and if you can think of anymore, then feel free to add them as a comment!

1. Plovdiv

The second largest city in Bulgaria was known in ancient times as Philippoupolis. With a history dating back 6,000 years it is one of the oldest settlements in Europe and a key city in the Roman Empire. Boasting several public buildings, baths, temples and shrines, as well as a city sewage and water system, Plovdiv was an important crossroad and route to the Baltic region.

It was described by the Roman writer Lucien as being “the biggest and loveliest of all towns. Its beauty shines from faraway.” Under the rule of Rome, the city saw huge growth and significant cultural progress and is considered to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in history. This beautiful city is often overlooked despite being rich in ancient artefacts and architecture, of which only a small proportion has been excavated by archaeologists.

2. Beirut

With a history going back over 5,000 years, Beirut today is synonymous with war and conflict after the recent Lebanon War. The devastation that Beirut’s city centre was left in opened up the possibility to explore the past, and found remains from the Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Arab and Ottoman eras.

In Roman times, the city of Beirut was developed by Rome with several public buildings and investments, the pearl of which was Beirut’s School of Law. Attracting scholars from across the empire, Beirut became a centre for learning excellence until 551AD when a large earthquake destroyed much of the city, claiming 30,000 lives.

3. Tel Aviv

Israel’s second largest city is Tel Aviv, and is technically only about 100 years old. So why have I classed it as an ancient city?

Well this relatively new city is on the site of Jaffa, and ancient port city with a past stretching back 4,000 years. Although originally Tel Aviv was planned on the outskirts, the city grew rapidly and incorporated Jaffa. In ancient times, Jaffa was conquered by the Egyptians under the rule of Pharaoh Thutmose III. Jaffa also features prominently in the Old Testament of the Bible as the city from which Jonah sets sail to reach Tarshish as well as the port where the wood arrived for Soloman’s Temple, Jerusalem.

4. Lisbon

At roughly 3,200 years old, the Portuguese capital of Lisbon is often overlooked as an ancient city. However, it is believed to have been founded by Phoenicians, and spent the following two millenia trading hands in various wars and conflicts.

Under the Romans, Lisbon saw a transformation which included the construction of a Great Theatre, several temples, the Cassian Baths, a large Roman Forum and many other public buildings, which were discovered by archaeologists in the mid-Eighteenth century.

5. Delhi

One of the most populated cities in the world today, Delhi has a history covering the past 3,000 years and holds many of Asia’s most culturally rich historical sites. It is believed that Delhi is home to the legendary Indraprastha: a grand and sophisticated fortress capital of Pandavas in India’s Mahabharata scripts.

With settlements in Delhi being traced from the Mauryan Empire (about 300BC), so far archaeologists have discovered seven different cities in Delhi. However, the British demolished much of the ancient remains to make way for the new capital city – New Delhi. Today, Delhi is a major cultural, administrative and financial centre of India.

6. Zurich

The vibrant and lively city in Switzerland is a centre of international business, finance and trade, which is fitting considering its ancient past in Roman times as a key city for collecting taxes. Founded in the 2nd Century AD and known as Turicum, the city acted as a gate for all goods entering and leaving Italy. Christianity was introduced in the 3rd century, and continued to heavily influence the city.

Today, the city is a hotspot for tourists, particularly as it is near to the popular Swiss Alps, as well as the home to the Swiss stock exchange, several banks and financial institutions.

7. Palermo

Palermo is famous as the capital of Sicily, and has its roots from the 8000 BC with its first settlement being an ancient Phoenician city. It’s rich history has led to its highly regarded reputation for culture, architecture and food. Under the Greek rule, the city was a centre of commerce and trade, although civil unrest during the Sicilian Wars caused instability and later the Romans would take the city during the First Punic War.

The city has seen itself ruled since by the Byzantine empire, Fascist Italy and (although not officially) the Sicilian Mafia. Today it is popular with tourists for its fantastic culture and unique environment.

8. Gaziantep

Thought to be the site of the historical city Antiochia ad Taurum, and is one of the oldest cities in Turkey, Gaziantep was an important agricultural and industrial hub of the region. Remains of Gaziantep’s rich heritage exist in the centre of the city in the form of a historic fortress and the Ravanda citadel. The ruins of Doliche also lie just a few kilometres north of the city.

Throughout history, the city of Gaziantep has been ruled by several different empires, including the Egyptians, Hittites, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks and Romans.

9. Varanasi

The Indian city of Varanasi lies next to the River Ganges, and legend says it was founded 5,000 years ago by the Hindu god Shiva. Archaeologists date the city back 3,000 years, when it became a major centre for the production of textiles, silk, sculptures and perfumes. Varanasi was also a larger city spanning over 5 kilometres along the river banks, and was famed as a centre for culture, religious worship and education.

Also known as Benares, the city is a popular pilgrimage spot and is held in Hindu religion as the place where the cycle of reincarnation can be broken, if a person were to die there.

10. Trier

One of the oldest cities in Germany, archaeologists have uncovered pottery fragments from Neolithic times in Trier. The city saw major investment and improvements under Roman rule, when Constantine the Great built a new bascilica and baths, and the city had played host to imperial palaces of emperors.

Roman relics still standing today include the amphitheatre, and a Roman fortified gate called Porta Nigra. During the Middle Ages, this structure was converted to a church, but legend has it that when Trier was under the rule of Napoleon’s forces, he ordered it to be destroyed after dissolving the church. Locals informed him of its Roman past in an attempt to save it, and Napoleon gave the order for Porta Nigra to be restored to its original Roman form.

Google Earth Tour: Great Cities of the Ancient World

After Heritage Key’s recent video interview with John Julius Norwich on his new book “The Great Cities in History” (which you should definately watch here) I wrote an article looking at the greatest ancient cities that Lord Norwich selected. With cities across the globe and ranging from the Greeks and Romans, to the Egyptians and Muslims, as far as the Indus Valley and Chinese to the Mayan Civilisation. The city is very much an ancient concept, but one which our society relies upon today in order to maintain a place of power, culture and trade.

The earliest cities were based on sites near rivers where transportation and trade would be easiest, without having to combat the rough waters of the sea. Agriculture was also a key factor in the growth of cities, as farm workers congregated together to work the land in larger groups. The adoption of religion and the birth of social structures came about with the spread of the city, and soon came the need for defences and stores.

An ideal way to see the various world cities would be through Google Earth, which brings together satellite images from around the world in a 3D form to be able to see the position and general look of these city sites today. Although the images aren’t as high resolution as the GeoEye satellite imagery that Heritage Key is showcasing of Giza and Leptis Magna, it certainly does give you a good idea of these sites and the context in which they were born in.

The Google Earth Tour below shows 3D models and locations of the amazing ancient cities picked out in Lord Norwich’s book, in a flyover which will take you across the continents and zoom in on these magnificent structures.

VIDEO: John Julius Norwich on the Great Cities in History

To open webpages in a new window, right click the link in the information window and select “Open link in new window”. This will enable you to view the link in a full web browser.

You can also download this tour to your computer by clicking here, selecting “Save” and then running the file. It will automatically open Google Earth and begin the Heritage Key: Pyramids of the World tour.

Have a look through our Google Earth Tours too to experience more flythrough tours of world heritage sites!

Lord Norwich: Tourism in Venice is Reaching Meltdown

Legendary history writer John Julius Norwich knows Venice better than most, if not all. Having recently edited The Great Cities in History (Thames & Hudson; see more info here), an epic ramble through the pioneering places in human history, he has also penned A History of Venice: The Rise to Empire and Venice: A Traveller’s Companion – and was, until recently, on the board of the Venice in Peril Fund. No surprises, then, that Venice occupies its own page in Great Cities, at the pinnacle of renaissance culture.

Yet Lord Norwich, speaking to Heritage Key in this exclusive video, confides his worry for Venice’s future. And while no-one can fully predict the tempestuous seas around the city, Venice’s tourism troubles are all too apparent. “Venice is now becoming a very uncomfortable city,” he says, “largely because there are so many tourists in the summer. They outnumber the natives by about five or six to one.” This is an understatement: just 60,000 Veneziani still live in the lagoon, down from around 150,000 just 50 years ago. Conversely, in 2007 over 20 million tourists stepped off giant cruise liners into Venice, which crowd around the city like overbearing school bullies.

Centuries of history and beauty

Woven into a shimmering lagoon at the brow of the Adriatic, no city on earth can claim to be as unique as Venice. Dubbed La Serenissima (The Serene One), the city is a thing of immeasurable beauty: its myriad waterways, streets and squares mashed together in a vibrant tangle of energy and enigma. Yet Venice is in danger, and not just from the acqua alta (high water) which encroaches higher and higher each year. Many say a sea of tourists is sinking the city, robbing its culture and leaving it a hollow mirror image of the greatness it once achieved.

Inhabited since Roman times, Venice flourished in the 9th century AD, and ruled seas and trade routes from east to west for centuries thanks to its invaluable geography. An epic 13th to 15th century renaissance brought much of the stunning scenery still standing today, but the discovery of alternative trade routes to India, and costly wars with the Ottomans in the 1400s brought the once-mighty Republic of Venice to its knees. Independence was finally pillaged by Napoleon in 1797, before the city became part of the fledgling Kingdom of Italy in 1866 – and has stayed Italian ever since. But a modern foreign legion is wrecking Venice more than ever before, and they’re armed not with swords and guns, but cameras and clipboards.

Poorer for wealth

Venice’s hirsuit mayor Massimo Cacciari, an internationally respected philosopher, frets for his beloved home town’s future. “(Venice) cannot be reduced to a postcard,” he tells National Geographic. Strangely, this is a view echoed by the city’s chief of tourism Augusto Salvadori. “The city is consumed by tourism,” he moans. “What do Venetians get in exchange? Services are strained…the price of living (rises). “

This is an odd view to the outsider – you’d assume the one thing Venice could claw back from its hoards of invading sightseers is piles of cash. Yet Lord Norwich shares Salvadori’s grim view. “Apart from buying some little souvenir and a bottle of hugely priced Coca-Cola, and more and more birdseed for those revoltingly overfed pigeons, they spend very little money” he says, visibly saddened. “And Venice just gets worn away, and gets no compensation virtually at all.”

Yet Venice still has something for the traveller wanting some authenticity from a city which ruled world trade for around 500 years, from the ninth century AD onwards. “You only have to walk five minutes in any direction from Mark’s Square and you’ve got the place practically to yourself,” says Lord Norwich, who insists that in more spritely times he’d never sleep without walking the streets for up to two hours; getting lost in the lagoon’s labyrinthine lanes. But there’s no doubt the city needs help. Any suggestions? Some residents want to see taxes levied on tourists, but this is always an issue wrapped in reams of red tape. Cacciari moots the idea of closing Venice completely – “or perhaps, on reflection…a little fee.”

Video: Lord Norwich talks about Venice

(Transcription of this video.)

Past breaking point?

Is Venice doomed to become nothing more than a shell of glories past? Lord Norwich is skeptical: “In another 20 or 30 years it will actually be the thinking man’s Disneyland, a millionaire’s playground,” he says. “There won’t be any people there: it will just be a museum city.” Rising tides may yet claim Venice, but unless she gets help soon the city as we know her will have long since disappeared.