Old town

For other uses, see Old Town (disambiguation).

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

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:

Africa[edit]

Algeria[edit]

Egypt[edit]

Kenya[edit]

Morocco[edit]

Niger[edit]

Tanzania/Zanzibar[edit]

Tunisia[edit]

Asia and the Pacific[edit]

Bangladesh[edit]

Rose Garden Palace, a historic building in Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

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]

Malaysia[edit]

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

Syria[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
Old town of Innsbruck

UNESCO World Heritage old towns in Austria:

Other notable/famous old towns include:

Armenia[edit]

Belgium[edit]

Bosnia and Herzegovina[edit]

Bulgaria[edit]

Croatia[edit]

Czech Republic[edit]

Cyprus[edit]

Denmark[edit]

Estonia[edit]

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]

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:

Latvia[edit]

Lithuania[edit]

Montenegro[edit]

Netherlands[edit]

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.

Norway[edit]

Poland[edit]

Poznań Old Town

Portugal[edit]

Romania[edit]

Serbia[edit]

Slovakia[edit]

Spain[edit]

Other notable/famous old towns include:

Sweden[edit]

Switzerland[edit]

Turkey[edit]

Ukraine[edit]

United Kingdom[edit]

England[edit]

Scotland[edit]

Overseas territories[edit]

Middle East[edit]

Israel and Palestine[edit]

Old City of Jerusalem

Lebanon[edit]

Saudi Arabia[edit]

Syria[edit]

Yemen[edit]

North America[edit]

Canada[edit]

Cuba[edit]

Dominican Republic[edit]

Mexico[edit]

Panama[edit]

Puerto Rico[edit]

United States[edit]

See also: Old Town Historic District (disambiguation) and Oldtown (disambiguation)

California[edit]

See also: Old Town, California (disambiguation)

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.

External links[edit]

Look up old town or Oldtown (disambiguation) in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • Media related to Old towns at Wikimedia Commons
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