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Oldest Cities in the World

January 2nd 2010 05:14

World's Oldest Still-Inhabited Cities

There are very few ancient cities that have survived the test of time. Factors like migration, war and even climate change led to most being abandoned and forgotten. However there are some cities around the world which despite being thousands of years old, still continue to thrive. Thanks to the WebUrbanist, here are some senior city-zens. Read the full article here.

Jerusalem

Holy to a number of the world’s leading religions, 5,000-year-old Jerusalem was already settled centuries before any of them had their tenets put to paper, papyrus or pre-fired clay. According to the entry on Jerusalem in Wikipedia, “In the course of its history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.” Sadly, these figures will probably continue to grow with time.

Athens

The capital of Greece is home to over 4 million today and is the 5th-most populous capital city in the EU. With its soaring Acropolis and majestic Parthenon symbolizing the golden age of Classical Greece and the foundation of Western civilization, Athens has been lived in for approximately 3,400 years.

Varanasi, India

The city of Varanasi, formerly known to English-speakers as Benares, has been a religious and cultural center for at least 3,000 years. Over one million pilgrims from across the Hindu world visit Varanasi each year to participate in ceremonies and swim in the sacred Ganges river.
Varanasi is as close to being a true “living city” as one could imagine. Every bit of space is utilized, every disused building is re-worked into a new purpose and over centuries of conflict and conquest, the city heals itself through the power of human conviction and devotion to a greater glory.

Jericho, West Bank

The ancient city of Jericho is the world’s oldest walled city, with evidence of stone fortifications dating back nearly 9,000 years; long before the “walls came tumblin’ down” events depicted in the Bible. Archaeological digs have turned up traces of habitation that are even older: up to 11,000 years ago!

Damascus, Syria

Damascus, the current capital of Syria, has a long and colourful history that stretches back nearly 12,000 years. Located in a fertile region well-watered by the Barada river, Damascus was a prime target of numerous kings and conquerors – and often wound up on the losing side.
Over 4 million people live in metropolitan Damascus today and, partly due to a skilfully constructed network of canals built nearly 3,500 years ago, boasts a multitude of parks and green spaces. Since 1979 Damascus has been UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Early 20th-Century London

August 31st 2009 02:19

The Getty Images Gallery has a new exhibition focussing on London and its inhabitants during the early 1900s. This information sourced from the Daily Telegraph. See more black and white pictures here.

October 11, 1912

English suffragette Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960) stands on a platform to paint the front of the Women's Social Defence League premises in Bow Road, East London.

1914

A recruitment drive during the First World War at Trafalgar Square.

1930

A huge crowd in Mare Street, Hackney, watch firemen putting out a blaze at the premises of Messrs Polikoff Ltd.

January 27, 1934

An example of the wire cage which East Poplar borough council in London proposed to fix to the outside of their tenement windows, so that babies could benefit from fresh air and sunshine.

February 18, 1947

Housewives with their prams ready to take away the week's coal supply at the Nine Elms depot of the Gas Light and Coke Company. People had to queue all day for their coal due to a fuel shortage.

The free exhibition Londoners Through a Lens will be running from August 15 until September 5 at the Getty Images Gallery (Mon-Fri 10am-6.30pm, Sat 12noon-6pm; 46 Eastcastle St, London, W1W 8DX; 020 72915380;

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New York Skyline Over the Years

August 21st 2009 11:26

New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment. As host of the United Nations headquarters, it is also an important center for international affairs. See the evolution of New York City's skyline below:

The New York City skyline in 1911

Aerial shot of Lower Manhattan, circa 1931

The USS Saratoga in front of the New York skyline, dated between 1956 and 1959

Lower Manhattan in 1978

Skyline taken in 2000 from the Staten Island ferry

Manhattan skyline now, photographed on September 6, 2008

*Images sourced from Environmental Graffiti Here.

**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article for New York City.

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Abandoned Cities

August 17th 2009 10:19

Nothing attracts tourists like a ghost town, especially those which retain some interesting architecture, stories and folklore. Today let's look at a number of better known abandoned cities and towns from around the world. This information and images sourced from WebUrbanist. Read more here.

Abandoned Medieval Town of Balestrino, Italy

The origins and much of the history of this slow-built settlement in Tuscany remain unknown, constructed in pieces over many centuries. In the 1100s it was owned by the Benedictine abbey of San Pietro dei Monti. Today the beautiful small town-on-the-bluffs features a castle at the top and partially walled city sprawled on the olive-treed hillside around - but all are completely abandoned. Due to seismic instability the residents were moved out decades ago, leaving behind a perfectly preserved but piecemeal museum of modern and medieval history. Still, visit it soon: the next earthquake in the area may be the last this old town ever sees.

Abandoned Island City of Hashima, Japan

Hashima is one of the most remarkable of a series of hundreds of deserted Japanese islands. Once a thriving coal-mining city its population density grew to be the highest on the planet, with workers crammed vertically in ever-growing buildings and walked daily through ever-narrowing streets. Following a drop in coal production the entirely island amazingly shut down though most of its structures still stand. Currently the island is being renovated to create safe tourist paths through the rubble and tilting buildings but for now daring (and illegal) exploration is possible only by hiring a willing private boat driver to take a look.

Abandoned City & Commune of Oradour, France

During the heat of conflict in World War II, a few informants told German troops that one of their own officers was being held in a nearby French town. What ensued was a terrible massacre that only spared a handful of men and women who managed to escape. Children and women were rounded up into a church and burned alive, men were shot in the legs to die slowly in a barn. Today, the remains of the old city still stand as a memorial to the events of that terrible day and the new commune of Oradour has been relocated to a nearby area.

Abandoned Town of Centralia, Pennsylvania

No list of abandoned cities and deserted towns can be complete without some discussion of one of the strangest and most infamous example: Centralia. This once-thriving town had a mine (coal seam) fire decades ago … but it never went out. Warning signs that something was still wrong included: smoking highways, heated underwater gas tanks and person-swallowing sinkholes. Over time most of the town’s residents have moved on though a few insist on staying despite the slowly-spreading and still-burning fire that creeps below.

Wild West Ghost Town of Bodie, California

Bodie was a quintessential frontier town of the Old West, complete with dozens of saloons, a red light district and a Chinatown. Stories of its history include tales of barroom brawls, stagecoach robberies and other Wild West debauchery. Founded during the Gold Rush the town thrived through the early 20th Century but was subsequently deserted and now is preserved and partially restored to its original state.

Abandoned Resort Town of Yashima, Japan

Yashima is a high and open plateau on one of the main islands of Japan. During peak economic years in the 1980s investors decided to create a resort village complete with a half-dozen hotels, curio shops and a rail line to the top of the peak of the city. When the economy fell on harder times and they could not bring in the tourist dollars the entire village was shut down, leaving many shops with eerie remnant collections of collectible tourist goodies and leaving furniture and other relics in the hotels and other support buildings.

Deserted Walled City of Kowloon, Hong Kong

Kowloon Walled City was a loophole, a glitch never meant to exist. It grew organically devoid of building codes and largely absent of legal oversight, a kind of organic tent city times one thousand. As it grew without rules some areas were cut off entirely from natural light and air, crime ebbed and flowed and everything grew densely packed until the government finally intervened - evacuating the city and demolishing what remained.

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Lost Cities of The World

August 14th 2009 08:20

Popular in children's stories, fables, history lessons and as tourist attractions. There's something about rediscovered lost worlds that captures our imagination.
Here is a selection of lost cities from ancient civilisations that you can visit today. This information and pictures were sourced from the Daily Telegraph.

Angkor

Crumbling and weighed-down by the Cambodian jungle, the enormous complex at Angkor, the one-time capital of the Khmer empire, was stumbled upon by French explorer Henri Mouhot over 140 years ago. It contains scores of temples built between the 9th and 14th centuries and is a delight to explore. One theory regarding the demise of the city's inhabitants is that expansion of the complex, thought to have covered 1,150 sq miles, could have disrupted the local environment in the surrounding forests.

Tikal

Once the capital of the Mayan civilisation and the seat of rulers such as Stormy Sky and Great Jaguar Paw, Tikal was mysteriously abandoned in about AD 900 and for more than a thousand years was swallowed up by dense vegetation.
Guatemalan locals knew about the city, once containing 4,000 buildings and 90,000 inhabitants, but European explorers only discovered it in the 19th century.

Petra

Tourists can discover just how hidden this rose-hued city once was for themselves, by approaching the magnificent treasury via the narrow Siq - a near mile-long hidden gorge in the sandstone mountains. There are around 1,000 more tombs, a sacrificial alter and a monastery to explore. Previously known only to Bedouin, it was rediscovered by Swiss traveller Johann Burckhardt in 1812. Hearing talk of a lost city, he disguised himself as an Arab and persuaded guides to take him there on the pretext of making a sacrifice at the tomb of Moses' brother Aaron. The presence of several springs initially persuaded the nomadic Nabataeans to settle at Petra.

Machu Picchu

The lost city of the Incas was initially thought to have been brought to the attention of the modern world by an American explorer, Hiram Bingham, in 1911, after laying undiscovered since the fall of the Incan Empire in the 1530s. However, a research team recently suggested it was looted more than 40 years previously by a German adventurer with the help of the Peruvian government. The spectacular terraces at the site are now a hugely popular tourist attraction but it remains unclear exactly why the city was built in such a location. The most popular of the current theories concern sacrificial virgins and astronomical alignment.

Troy

Remains of the fabled city from the pages of Homer were discovered in the 19th century in Anatolia in Turkey. Legend has it that, following a siege, the Greeks plundered and then burnt the settlement to the ground. At an ancient mound at Hisarlik, archeologists have found 20ft walls and evidence of nine cities at the site, one of which could be the sacked city.

Babylon

Nebuchadnezzar built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, once one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, to dazzle the gods and as a testament to his own greatness. Herodotus chronicled its magnificence, despite probably never having seen it, but now, not so much as a hanging basket can be found. The mud-brick walls of the city were discovered in the 19th century, however, along with ruins of the northern palace. The site was controversially re-built under Saddam Hussein. Large chunks of the city's Ishtar Gate can be seen at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

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Earth Hour 2009

April 24th 2009 06:20

Earth Hour is a global event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. Earth hour was conceived by WWF and the Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all non-essential lights. Following Sydney's lead, many other cities around the world have adopted the event.

The images below are from a stunning collection at Boston.com which you can view here.
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Las Vegas - Then & Now

March 20th 2009 06:13

Las Vegas Strip in 1954

Las Vegas started as a stopover on the pioneer trails to the west, and became a popular railroad town in the early 1900s. It was a staging point for all the mines in the surrounding area, especially those around the town of Bullfrog, that shipped their goods out to the rest of the country. With the proliferation of the railroads, Las Vegas became less important, but the completion of the nearby Hoover Dam in 1935 resulted in the growth of residents and tourism. The legalization of gambling in 1931 led to the advent of the casino-hotels, for which Las Vegas is famous.

Las Vegas Strip Today

The success of the city's initial casino businesses was owed to American organized crime. Most of the original large casinos were managed or at least funded under mob figures Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, Meyer Lansky or other mob figures at this time. With the arrival of billionaire Howard Hughes in the late 1960s, who purchased many casino-hotels and television stations in the city, legitimate corporations began to purchase casino-hotels as well, and the mob was run out by the federal government over the next several years. The constant stream of tourist dollars from the hotels and casinos were also augmented by a new source of federal money. This money came from the establishment of what is now Nellis Air Force Base. The influx of military personnel and casino job-hunters helped start a land building boom which still goes on today

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Manhattan, Untouched By Humans

February 11th 2009 11:41

What would the island of Manhattan look like if it had not being colonised as part of the new world? As one of the most urbanised and used pieces of land on the planet, it would be quite different!

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Perth

February 9th 2009 13:33

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Perth

February 9th 2009 06:31

Perth is the capital and largest city of Western Australia. With a population of 1.5 million, Perth ranks fourth amongst the nation's cities, with a growth rate consistently above the natio£(þßéØM
EÀX½@@ Ø\¼ÆP‰Ùj˜ õ*ù€Ð ”="h»'»in James Stirling as the political centre of the free settler Swan River Colony. It has continued to serve as the seat of Government for Western Australia to the present day

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Perth

February 9th 2009 06:31

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Perth

February 9th 2009 06:31

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Chicago 2055

January 28th 2009 01:57

One possibility of what the city of Chicago could look like in the year 2055.

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Melbourne at Night

December 15th 2008 10:31

The city of Melbourne was founded on the Yarra River near Port Phillip Bay. The lower reaches of the river have been greatly influenced by the city as it grew.
Melbourne's CBD sits just north of the Yarra, tourists and local alike enjoy walking by or taking a cruise on the river. The view of the Yarra at night is spectacular from Southbank, where the panoramic picture below was taken. Open it up and soak in the atmosphere!

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