Let’s discover the three oldest cities in the world that could still be inhabited, taking a journey with the imagination to go back to the times of their origin.
The three OLDEST CITIES in the WORLD with still RESIDENTS
# Matera with its ancient stones is more than 10,000 years old
To start our journey we will fly to the south of the Italian Peninsula. What did you think were the oldest cities in Italy? When someone think of history most probably imagine the Rome’s imperial past, but the capital is surprisingly young compared to the third oldest city in the world: Matera.
Rome, according to the myth, was founded by Romulus in 753 BC: it’s 2,773 years old and it doesn’t look it but… the “City of Stones” has many more. In fact, it ranks third in the world classification with its 10,000 years that can be breathed while walking among the stones that characterize it. Settlements in the area began to become permanent in the Neolithic and traces left by groups of hunters were found by archaeologists in some caves.
And do you want to hear something so surprising? Many of the houses have been lived – continuously – since the Bronze Age up to the forced displacement of the 1950s: we are talking about an extraordinary continuity of habitation that originated 10,000 years ago and has reached the present day.
# The second oldest city with its 12.000 years can also boasts another world record
Let’s continue the journey landing in Cisjordan.
What’s the second oldest city in the world? I already gave you the first suggestion and it is the location. We are located in the West Bank, precisely in Jericho. This ancient biblical city is not only the second settlement in terms of age – with its 12,000 years – but also holds another record: it’s the lowest altitude city in the entire planet, situated about 250 meters below sea level.
Now, it remains for us to discover the oldest city in the world, still inhabited. To find it we must continue in the same direction.
# The oldest is 13,000 years old
The first classified is located in northern Syria and is more than 13,000 years old. Did you understand which city it is? It is not Damascus, although it has very ancient origins too. It’s Aleppo. The city has been continuously inhabited since the third millennium BC. and its citadel was included in 1986 among the World Heritage Sites. Like Matera, Aleppo was named Capital of Culture in 2006: not of Europe, but of the Islamic world.
From Italy we traveled to the West Bank to arrive in Syria, at the origins of our sedentariness, that characterizes almost all the societies of the globe. We could take the opportunity to reconstruct a common human profile, understanding what are the aspects that unite us and that transcend time and space.
ROSITA GIULIANO
