Europe's oldest cities - top 10

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Do you know which are the oldest cities in Europe? We love history and visiting ancient sites, and started discussing which are the oldest cities in Europe. Europe's oldest cities. It's a question that's not easy to answer, but here's a list of 10 European cities that have many years ago. Have you visited any of them?

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Europe's oldest cities

Europe is full of history and ancient cities, founded many thousands of years ago. We became curious to find out which are Europe's oldest cities that are still inhabited.

What are Europe's oldest cities ... really?

It is difficult to determine which of Europe's cities are the oldest. Firstly, we don't always have all the historical facts, and secondly, it is difficult to determine what counts as a 'city' or 'still inhabited'.

For these reasons, listings vary, and we have chosen to follow the English-language Wikipedia's list of oldest inhabited cities. According to this, the Spanish city of Cadiz, for example, is number ten, even though it has been described in some cases as the oldest city in Europe. So the exact order can be taken with a pinch of salt, but all of these cities have been long history.

Europe's oldest cities, from 10 to 1

We list Europe's oldest cities still inhabited, from 10 down to number 1, which is the oldest city.

10th Cádiz, Spain

Cádiz is a port city in Andalusia in southern Spain with a population of around 120,000, or around 650,000 if suburbs are included. The city was founded around 1100 BC by Phoenicians, who traded with the city-state of Tartessos. Cadiz later came under Carthage and then Rome, before being conquered by the Moors in 711. In 1262, the city became Spanish.

9. Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon is the capital of Portugal, with around half a million inhabitants in the centre and around 2.8 million in the entire metropolitan area. The city was founded in 1200 BC by Phoenicians and was called Ulissipo. It was later conquered by the Greeks and then the Carthaginians before the Romans took over in 205 BC. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city was ruled by the Moors before Alfonso II took over in 789.

8. Chalkis, Greece

Chalkis is a town on the island of Euboia in Greece with around 75,000 inhabitants. The town has been inhabited since around 1200 BC. In ancient times, trade flourished here, and emigrants from Chalkis also participated in the founding of the city of Naxos in Sicily around 735 BC. In 506 BC, the city was forced to submit to Athens.

7. Trikala, Greece

Trikala is one of the oldest cities in Europe and is located in north-west Thessaly, Greece. The city has around 81,000 inhabitants, or 131,000 if you count the whole region. Trikala has been inhabited since around 1200 BC, but there are also caves in the area that show that people lived in the area much earlier than that. The ancient city was founded as Trikke after the nymph Trikke.

6. Larnaca, Cyprus

Larnaca is today the third largest city on the island. Cyprus with around 77 000 inhabitants, or 144 000 if you count the entire metropolitan area. People have been living here since around 1400 BC, when the area and kingdom was called Kition. The city was an important trading harbour in Roman times, but was sacked by the Arabs in the 6th century.

5. Thebes, Greece

Thebes is located north-west of Athens and is today a small town with just over 23 000 inhabitants. The area has been populated since around 1600 - 1250 BC. During the early Mycenaean period, the city was given a ring wall with seven gates, and the city was therefore called the "seven-gate city". Little else is known except that the city was owned by a landowning aristocracy.

4. Chania in Crete, Greece

Chania is the second largest island on the Greek island of Crete and currently has a population of around 54 000 inhabitants, or 108 000 if you count the entire municipality. Archaeological excavations indicate that this is one of Europe's oldest cities, with a population dating back to 1700 BC. In Minoan times there was a large settlement here, which may have corresponded to the ancient city of Kydonia.

3. Athens, Greece

Athens is the capital of Greece and today has around 753 000 inhabitants, or four million if you count the suburbs. The city has been continuously inhabited for at least 7000 years, dating back to around 6000 - 5000 BC. The first settlements were built on the Acropolis rock. According to Greek mythology, the city was named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom.

2. Argos, Greece

Argos is a small town on the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, with around 22,000 inhabitants. There are traces that indicate that the area has been continuously populated since 6000 - 5000 years before Christ. Argos was a stronghold during the Mycenaean period, around 1500 - 1000 BC.

1st Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Plovdiv is the second largest city in Bulgaria with a population of about 347,000 people, or 675,000 if you count the entire metropolitan area. The city's history spans more than 8,000 years and several empires have left their mark in the city's 12 metre deep layers.

The first signs of settlement date back to 6000 BC, and Nebet Tebe, one of the hills in Plovdiv, has been populated ever since. The city was fortified around 1200 BC and changed its name to Evmolpia, after King Evmolp. Around 342 BC the city was conquered by Phillip II and changed its name to Philippopolis. Today's name Plovdiv is probably a linguistic transformation of this name.

Have you visited one or more of Europe's oldest cities?

Have you visited one or more of Europe's oldest cities? The only one of these old cities that we have visited is Lisbon. We became curious about Larnaca when we recently wrote a post about it. Cyprus. Of course, Greece must also be interesting to travel around if you are interested in history!

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