Top 20 Countries with the Oldest Tourism History

These cities and town experienced a lot during their long history: both  raids and wars,  a high rise and deep decline. Now some of them  just  vanished and some are almost not visible when having a glance at the  map, while others are still  considered to be among the most influential world capitals. Our list will greatly surprise you with its information about the oldest cities of the world.

20. Varanasi, India

Located on the west bank of the Ganges Varanasi – Holy city of Hindus and Buddhists. According to legend, it was founded the  by Deity Shiva 5000 years ago, although modern scholars believe that since the time when people have settled in these places, passed only 3000 years.

19. Cadiz, Spain

Cadiz was founded by the Phoenicians as a small trading port, which then fell on the raid of the Carthaginians around 500 BC. After it was under the Roman and Moorish domination, and in the XVIII century, this city became home to the Spanish Navy.

18. Thebes, Greece

In ancient times, it was a small village in the main rival of Athens. This round shaped city was surrounded by a huge wall with seven gates, a major obstacle to the enemy. Thebes gradually lost its power and about 150-s BC  it was conquered by the Romans.

17. Larnaca, Cyprus

Based on the southeastern coast of the Phoenicians Kitium, it is now known as Larnaca – the oldest city in Cyprus. The heyday of this town took place in the XIII century BC, when living in these places Mycenaean Greeks launched a trade in copper. Today, visitors to Larnaca are being attraced not only with the archaeological and architectural antiquity, but also the beautiful beaches.

16. Athens, Greece

The cradle of western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, the capital of Greece, Athens is still one of the most influential cities in the world. Due to the surviving monuments of Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman cultures is also one of the most popular tourist destinations .

15. Balkh, Afghanistan

The Greeks knew this city as Bactria, the Arabs call it the “mother of cities”. Balkh heyday came in the period between 2500 and 1900 BC and lasted until the emergence of the Persian Empire. Modern Balkh is primarily known as a center of cotton industry in the region.

14. Kirkuk, Iraq

Located north of Baghdad, the city stands on the site of the ancient Assyrian capital Arrafa, occupies an important strategic position. In Kirkuk, the ruins of 5000-year-old citadel are stil stood high. Nowadays the city is one of  the headquarters of the Iraqi oil industry.

13. Erbil, Iraq

To the north of Kirkuk, Irbil lies, which was  owned the Assyrians, Persians, Arabs and Turks in various times. But it did stop the merchants coming on the Silk Road. Still approaching the city, we can find it  the old 26-meter citadel suddenly appearing on the horizon.

12. Tyr, Lebanon

Legendary birthplace of the beauty in Europe, Tyr, according to Herodotus, was founded in 2750 BC. In the IV century BC it was conquered by Alexander the Great and later became a Roman province. Today the main source of income Tyr became tourism. Roman hippodrome Tyr is listed in the UNESCO list of World Heritage by UNESCO.

11. Jerusalem, Israel / Palestinian territories

The Holy city for Christians and Muslims, the spiritual center of the Jewish people, this city was redigned 23 times, it was  taken over 44 times and only  twice it was  destroyed. Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Dome of the Rock, Wailing Wall – the religious objects that have for centuries attracted pilgrims and tourists from all over the world.

10. Beirut, Lebanon

The capital of Lebanon even now remains a major cultural, administrative and economic center. Thanks to the excavations carried out today in the city you can see the monuments of the Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Arab and Ottoman eras. After the civil war in Lebanon, the city became accessible to tourists.

9. Gaziantep, Turkey

In the southern part of Turkey in Anatolia near the border with Syria is a city whose history began in ancient times. Among the main attractions can be recalled  the Byzantines citadel Rawanduz and Roman mosaics restored in the VI century.

8. Plovdiv, Bulgaria

The second largest Bulgarian city was originally a Phoenician settlement  later became a major city of the Roman Empire. Soon it became a part of the Byzantine Empire, and then – Ottoman. Travelers usually inspect the Roman amphitheater, an aqueduct, Ottoman baths. In Russia, Plovdiv is also famous thanks to the huge statue of the “Alyosha” – memorial to Soviet soldiers, assigned to one of the hills above the city.

7. Saida, Lebanon

Approximately 25 kilometers south of Beirut is one of the most important and perhaps the oldest Phoenician city. He was a kind of base from which the Phoenicians began to reign in the Mediterranean. In 333 BC Alexander of Macedon conquered the city.

6. Fayyum, Egypt

Surrounded on all sides of the Libyan desert, Fayyum is  located to the south-west of Cairo. Once he was part of Crocodilopolis – the ancient Egyptian city, whose inhabitants worship the sacred crocodile. In the Fayum oasis were found unique funerary portraits, replacing the traditional mask that covers his face with a mummy. 23 of them can be seen in the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin in Moscow.

5. Susa, Iran

In ancient times, Susa was known as the capital of the state of Elam. It is mentioned in ancient Sumerian texts, and the Old Testament. This city was the seat of the Elamite first, and then the Persian kings. Since then, Susa passed from hand to hand, and today has become a small village with a population 65 thousand people.

4. Damascus, Syria

According to some sources, Damascus, perhaps, is the oldest city on earth where people lived another 10 thousand years BC Important settlement of the land he was after there came aram built a network of channels, is still the backbone of modern water supply system.

3. Aleppo, Syria

Today it is the most populized city of Syria: it is home to about 4.4 million people. At different times, the city was owned by the Hittites, Assyrians, Greeks, Persians. It was later occupied by Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, besieged by the Crusaders, and then surrendered to the Mongols and the Turks.

2. Jbeil, Lebanon

Founded by the Phoenicians as Hebe, Byblos takes its name from the Greeks. This is associated with the books  name which was given from the Greeks  papyri. In Byblos, the Phoenician temples , the city and the castle built in the XII century by the Crusaders Church of St. John the Baptistare worth seeing.

1. Jericho, Palestinian Territory

Jericho – the oldest city in the world that people do not ever leave. It is on the West Bank of the Jordan River in the north of the Judean Desert. Archaeologists have discovered that at this point there were 20 successive settlements, the oldest of which 11 thousand years.