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Old town

From Wikipedia - Reading time: 22 min
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

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Algeria

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Côte d'Ivoire

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Egypt

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Ethiopia

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  • Old Town of Harar, UNESCO World Heritage Site

Kenya

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Libya

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Mali

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Morocco

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Niger

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Tanzania/Zanzibar

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Tunisia

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Asia and the Pacific

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Australia

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Bangladesh

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Old Town of Lijiang

China

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UNESCO World Heritage Sites

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East China

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Old Town of Qibao
Street in the Dali Ancient City

Southwestern China

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Street in the Old Town of Kashgar

Northwestern China

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South Central China

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Fenghuang Ancient Town

Northeast China

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Fiji

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India

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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

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Japan

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See also: Groups of Traditional Buildings
Old Kyoto

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

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Chūbu

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Chūgoku

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Kansai

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Post town of Narai

Kantō

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Kyushu

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Shikoku

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

Tōhoku

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Malaysia

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Old Town of Ipoh

New Zealand

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Oamaru historic district

Pakistan

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Philippines

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

South Korea

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Old town (Bukchon Hanok Village) in Seoul

Taiwan

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Thailand

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

Uzbekistan

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Vietnam

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Europe

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Austria

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Main article: Altstadt
Old Town Salzburg across the Salzach river

UNESCO World Heritage old towns in Austria:

Other notable/famous old towns include:

Armenia

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Abovyan street in the Old Town of Gyumri

Albania

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A view of Gjirokaster

Azerbaijan

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Old houses in the Inner city of Baku

Belgium

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Bulgaria

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Croatia

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Czech Republic

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Cyprus

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Denmark

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Estonia

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Town Hall square in the Old Town of Tallinn

Finland

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France

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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

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Germany

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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

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A street in the Old Town of Corfu

Crete

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Attica

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Macedonia

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Thessaly

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A street in Plaka, Athens

Thrace

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Epirus

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Peloponnese

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A view of Monemvasia from above

Ionian Islands

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Aegan Islands

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Street in Mykonos

Central Greece

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Italy

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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

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Latvia

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Vecrīga

Lithuania

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Montenegro

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Netherlands

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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

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Norway

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Poland

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Poznań Old Town

Portugal

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Romania

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Russia

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

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

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Central Federal District
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Overview of the Old Town of Rostov
Volga Federal District
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Street in the Old Town of Kazan
Northwestern Federal District
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Ensemble of Pskov Kremlin
Southern Federal District
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Astrakhan Kremlin
North Caucasian Federal District
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Street in Vladikavkaz
Ural Federal District
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Tobolsk Kremlin
Siberian Federal District
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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
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A street in Old Vladivostok

Serbia

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Slovakia

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Spain

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Other notable/famous old towns include:

Sweden

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Switzerland

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Turkey

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Old Town of Safranbolu, UNESCO World Heritage site

UNESCO

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  • 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

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Black Sea Region

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Old Şirince

Central Anatolia Region

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Eastern Anatolia Region

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Old Houses in Ankara

Marmara Region

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Mediterranean Region

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An overview of the Old Town of Mardin

Southeastern Anatolia Region

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Ukraine

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United Kingdom

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England

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Scotland

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Wales

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

Overseas territories

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Middle East

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Israel and Palestine

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Old City of Jerusalem

Lebanon

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Saudi Arabia

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Historic houses of Jeddah

Syria

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Yemen

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Old Town of Sana'a

Iran

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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

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North America

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Canada

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Cuba

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Dominican Republic

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Mexico

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Panama

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Puerto Rico

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United States

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California

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Painted Ladies in San Francisco

Florida

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Northeastern USA

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North Carolina

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Tennessee

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Virginia

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Other US states

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South America

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Argentina

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Brazil

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Northeast

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Historic center of Salvador

Center-West

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Southeast

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

South

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Colombia

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Ecuador

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Uruguay

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Other uses

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See also

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Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Old towns.

References

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  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.
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Look up old town or Oldtown (disambiguation) in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • Media related to Old towns at Wikimedia Commons
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_town
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