Top 6 oldest cities in the world

1. Jerusalem, Israel

Estimated date of foundation: 2800 BC.

Cost of accommodation: from €50 per night.

If you want to recharge your "inner batteries", Jerusalem is the city where you can be spiritually enriched, get a charge of invisible energy and not get tired at all after long walks.

Literally every building here has its own unusual, centuries-old history. Christianity, Islam, Judaism - each of these religions has left an imprint on the life of the city.

The Old City, divided into four quarters, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Wailing Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Temple Mount, the Church of All Nations, the Garden of Gethsemane - this is just a small part of the attractions of Jerusalem.

Tours in Jerusalem are also not to be missed - here you can discover holy sites with local multilingual guides, learn more about the history of world religions, hike through the main sites of the biblical story, or even hike through the Judean Desert.

2. Jericho, Palestine

Estimated date of foundation: Traces of inhabitation - from the 9th millennium BC.

Cost of accommodation: from €30 per night.

Possibly the oldest city in the world!

It is important to note that this is one of the main tourist spots in Palestine, so it is very safe, there are tourist police, relatively many English-speaking people.

Without exaggeration, everything here is steeped in antiquity! Archaeologists have discovered at least 8 historical layers, which replaced each other.

Tell es-Sultan Hill - here are the oldest city ruins in the world. It existed even before the invention of pottery.

Very many sites in Jericho are directly related to biblical and evangelical stories. A very powerful energetic place is the mountain where, according to legend, Jesus spent 40 days and nights and where he was tempted by the devil.

From Jericho it is easy to get to the Dead Sea resorts or climb into the mountains.

3. Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Estimated date of foundation: around 4000 BC.

Cost of accommodation: from €20 per night.

It seems incredible, but the oldest city in Europe is not Athens or Rome, but the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv. Most of the ancient buildings remain from Roman times, but the city was functioning long before the Roman Empire.

You can book a hotel in Plovdiv with a discount of up to -65% on the website.

Plovdiv will surprise you with a Roman amphitheater, baths, an arena, Thracian buildings, Bachkovo Monastery (near the city), ethnographic and archaeological museum. In total about 200 objects here are declared historical monuments.

A bonus of visiting Plovdiv is that it is located near the border with Greece, Turkey and Macedonia, as well as one of the main Bulgarian resorts - Burgas.

4. Beirut, Lebanon

Estimated date of foundation: 3000 BC.

Cost of accommodation: from €25 per night.

"Middle Eastern Paris" also has an illustrious history. The city has been influenced by many nations and empires, most recently dominated by France, which has left its important mark on Beirut's history and culture.

Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Turks - they have also made their historical and cultural contributions to the development of Beirut. Oriental bazaars, synagogues, Roman baths and French bakeries coexist here.

It is highly recommended to visit the National Museum of Lebanon - it will help to best understand the history of the city and the country as a whole.

By the way, in some months of the year you can swim in the sea and ski in one day!

5. Susa, Iran

Estimated date of foundation: It was inhabited around 5500 BC.

Cost of accommodation: from €45 per night.

The mysterious city of Souza, as well as the whole of Iran, is hardly the most exotic place in the Middle East. Nowadays Souza is a small city by the standards of Iran, although it used to be one of the main centers of Persia. It was here that archaeologists found the famous laws of Hammurabi.

It is known that every king of Persia built his palace here. That is why in Suz you can see many ruins of palaces of different periods and learn how the construction of residences for the rulers of one of the most powerful states of the ancient world evolved.

Close to Susa is the tomb of the prophet Daniel, which was marked by an unusual stone that was not mined in the area.

6. Athens, Greece

Estimated date of foundation: around 1400 BC.

Cost of accommodation: from €24 per night.

The Parthenon profile is Greece's calling card and the most recognizable place for tourists. Ancient Athens is a gastronomic paradise for travelers who can safely compete with the cities of Italy or France. The mild Mediterranean climate is also a big plus for visitors to Athens.

But the main "thing" of the city is still its ancient history, those valuable achievements of the Hellenic civilization, which we still use today.

There are more than 200 museums and galleries in Athens. Acropolis, temples of Zeus and Hephaestus, Dionysus Theater and Hadrian's Library - probably many people have heard about these sights. It's also worth remembering that Athens has hosted more than one Olympic Games. The history of the city is connected with such personalities as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.