DISCUSS: Most Historic City

[Marathoner]

Originally Posted by Skyscraperkid2K4

The most historic city is one that has made the biggest mark on the world through out history, as in culture, democracy, landmarks, famous people and landmarks... its not easy to think of one city in the world in my view, impossible.

And yes people may opt to pick western cities but is it their fault in history those cities have 'marked' the world greater than an eastern city?

Athens, Rome and London are the three most historical cities i can think of.
Due to:

Landmarks
Captial of Empires
Famous people
Democracy
Culture
Disasters

I just don't think cities like Beijng and Istanbul reach the mark

Beijing is not the most historical city in China, Xian is more historical, more than 3200 years old.

[shayan]

Shiraz, Iran
Istanbul Turkey
Jeruzalem Israel
Isfahan Iran
Athens Greece
Farah Afganistan
S. Petersburg Russia
Rome Italy
Yazd Iran
Macon France

ancient cities

Babylon, Persepolis and Ray

[persian]

persepolis (persia)
samarkhand (persia)
bukhara (persia)
isfahan (persia)
athens (greek)
rome (roman)
cairo (egypt)
jerusalem (israel)

[mohamed2]

shiraz,isfahan(iran)
delhi,patna(patliputra),madurai(india)
cairo,alexandria(egypt)
xian,beijing(china)
mosul,baghdad(babylon) -(iraq)
jericho,jerusalem(palestine/isreal)
mecca,madina(saudi arabia)
herat(afganistan)
istanbul,izmir(turkey)
damascus(syria)
byblus,tyre(lebanon)
lahore,multan(pakistan)
kazan(russia)

[Galatia]

Well, i think people get this wrong, most historic city doesn't mean to be the oldest. If it is, then simply it's Çatalhöyük in Turkey, it's more than 11.000 years old. You can find information about it at the link below;

http://www.smm.org/catal/

So here's my list;

Istanbul, Izmir - Turkey
Isfahan - Iran
Semerkand - Uzbekistan
Xian - China
Jerusalem - Israel
Athens - Greece
Cairo - Egypt
Rome - Italy
Mekke, Medine - Saudi Arabia

sorry if i did forgot one of them

[Gilgamesh]

Originally Posted by persian

samarkhand (persia)
bukhara (persia)

I think both Samarkand and Bukhara are Uzbekistan.

[eddyk]

Beijing
Cairo
Paris
London
Athens
New York
Moscow

erm, I'm lost now.

[persian]

Originally Posted by freedom

I think both Samarkand and Bukhara are Uzbekistan.

i am talking about the empires as this is history.

[Gilgamesh]

Originally Posted by persian

i am talking about the empires as this is history.

Oh, yeah that makes sense. Sorry.

[ch1le]

Paris, Rome and Athens

[sihi]

KRAKOW

[Audiomuse]

London, Rome, Paris, Beijing, some place in India, Mexico City(old aztec capital)
In the U.S.-- (according to our short history) Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Charleston, Savannah, Saint Augustine,Florida.

[Audiomuse]

I must add Seoul, South Korea

[Jules]

New York. Cities like London, Paris, Moscow and what have you have much more history, but the growth of New York fascinates me.

[DrasQue]

1.Rome
2. Constantinople>>>Bizansium>>>**IsTaNbUL**<<<
3.Beijng

[wajz]

I think that the most historic city does not necessarily have to be the OLDEST city. I think a historic city is a city that has been shaped and marked by history, in a visual sense.
Many cities people list here have their origins thousands of years in the past. But they have very little, if anything at all, to show for it. Disasters, wars, planologists have all wreaked havoc on many cities. Damascus for instance is widely regarded as one of the longest inhabited places on earth, but the oldest buildings on view date from the Omajjad period (7th century) and the general outlook of the city is decidely modern. The same goes for Patna, which used to be Pataliputra, and which has nothing to show for its 4000 years of history.
And to mention Catalhuyuk is just ridiculous. It's an uninhabited ruin, not a city anymore. Interesting, important, sure. But not a living city.

So in my opinion, the title should go to the city where the past is the most tangible, especially when that past stretches for several epochs. As beautiful as Amsterdam is, almost everything you see there dates from a period that lasted roughly 300 years. Nice but not enough to win the title!

ROME, however has tangible and very impressive architecture that spans over two thousand years! From the early Roman architecture to the early mediaeval (Santa Prassede church!), to the high mediaeval, to Renaissance, to Baroque... even in the 1960's Pier Luigi Nervi gave Rome a new monument with the Palazzo del Sport!
Another city worthy of the title has got to be ISTANBUL, where layer upon layer of a rich and complex past has been preserved beautifully.
The third city I would like to nominate is BERLIN, which isn't nearly as old as Rome or Istanbul, but which has preserved such poignant remains of painful epochs in our history. I cannot think of any city that has been through a greater ordeal than Berlin did in the 20th century: ravaged by two wars and cut in half by the Berlin Wall... and it survived all that! It is the greatest testimonial to the human ability to overcome all adversity, and that is why I want to honour the city of Berlin in this list. History isn't just about mankind's great moments, but also about its darkest ones.

[Liwwadden]

Rome, Athens, Amsterdam, Cairo, Beijing, Istanbul, Jeruzalem, Damascus, London, Paris, ancient latin american/chinese/indian cities i don't know the name of, and many more that didn't came up in my mind.

conclusion: to many!

Historic things have happend in cities in different times, under different circumstances and at different places. You cannot really compare at that, and make a conclusion i think

[UD2]

Originally Posted by Skyscraperkid2K4

The most historic city is one that has made the biggest mark on the world through out history, as in culture, democracy, landmarks, famous people and landmarks... its not easy to think of one city in the world in my view, impossible.

And yes people may opt to pick western cities but is it their fault in history those cities have 'marked' the world greater than an eastern city?

Athens, Rome and London are the three most historical cities i can think of.
Due to:

Landmarks
Captial of Empires
Famous people
Democracy
Culture
Disasters

I just don't think cities like Beijng and Istanbul reach the mark

I know it is alittle late to say this. but you will forgive me if I, someone who was born in the east, finds ethnocentric comments such as this extremely offensive.

I would like to ask the poster above wither he realize that cities like Xian and Beijing were metropolis with populations reaching a million when London was still bound by its original wall built by the Romans, which was being burned to the ground by the Danes?

People like you pick western cities no because the cities had a greater impact on the world, but because they have no knowladge of the rich history, culture and drama that occured in a Eastern city over the course of its history.

Cities such as London and Paris only became a blip on the hitorical timeline at the beginning of the industrial age when the technologies and influence of the West finally over took that of the East. But believe when I say that the history of man kind did NOT start in the year 1867.

China, India and Arabia ruled the world before that. And the great cities of those ancient empires and cultures shaped the city you call London today.

Do not ever judge what you do not know again.



On another note, this is my first post... great to be here, hope to have a great time.

[Harkeb]

this is a highly debatable topic. I dont believe theres one right one.

[SkyLerm]

London one of the most historic cities? Well I think you've to be out of your minds for to say that, it makes me laugh . There are hundreds of Europeans and Asians cities more historic than London, for instance Rome, Istanbul, Cartagena, Athens, Siria, Cádiz, Baghdad, Siracusa...