The old town of a city or town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are many places throughout the world named old town (and this is sometimes construed as a proper noun and capitalized). Silicon Valley's Old Town Realty originated from Los Gatos, CA and the Old Town area of San Diego, CA. This is a list of some famous old towns:
Casbah of Algiers, in AlgeriaMedieval Cairo, in CairoOld RashidSaint Catherine's Monastery, in SinaiMombasa Old TownOld Meknes in Moroccoold Essaouira, in MoroccoOld Fes, in Moroccoold Marrakech, in MoroccoTétouan in MoroccoEl Jadida in MoroccoStone Town in Zanzibar City (World Heritage site)old Kairouan, in TunisiaMedina of Sousse in TunisiaMedina of Tunis in TunisiaOld Town in DhakaForbidden City and Old Town remnants of BeijingMountain Resort temple town in ChengdeOld Town of DengfengOld Town of KaipingOld Town of LijiangHistoric Centre of MacauWalled old town area of NanjingOld Town of PingyaoOld Town of QufuOld Town of SuzhouHistorical centers of Xidi and HongcunOld Town of YinxuOld Town of ZhouzhuangOld Town and monuments of AgraHistorical center of AlchiHistorical center of AmritsarOld Town of DelhiOld GoaHistorical center of HyderabadHistorical ruined center of ManduHistorical center of MumbaiOld Town and palace of UdaipurHistoric remnants of old KyotoHistoric remnants of old NaraHistoric remnants of old NikkōHistoric centers of Shirakawa-gō and GokayamaOld Town in IpohOld Town in Petaling JayaOld Town in KarachiPhilippines as the former colony of Spain has numerous heritage structures, most notably in:
Old Town remnants of Intramuros in ManilaOld Town of ViganOld Town of MalolosOld Town of San FernandoOld Town of PilaOld Town of BatangasOld Town of BaclayonOld Town of IloiloOld Town of LaoagOld Town of LobocOld Town of CarcarOld Town of SilayOld Town of BaclayonOld Town of DapitanBukchon Hanok Village(Seoul)Insa-dong(Seoul)Nampo-dong(Busan)Hahoe Folk Village(Andong)Yangdong Folk Village(Gyeongju)Old Town and Potala Palace of LhasaTashkentSamarkandBukharaKhivaOld Town of HanoiOld Town of Hội AnOld Town of HuếOld Town in PlovdivOld Town in LovechOld Town in NesseburOld Town of Dubrovnik, UNESCO World Heritage SiteOld Town of Split with Diocletian's Palace, UNESCO World Heritage SiteOld Town of Trogir, UNESCO World Heritage SiteOld Town of VaraždinGradec and Kaptol, twin old towns of ZagrebStaré Město in PragueWalled city of NicosiaWalled city of FamagustaOld town of LimassolDen Gamle By in AarhusOld Town (Vanalinn) of NarvaOld Town (Vanalinn) of Tallinn, UNESCO World Heritage SiteOld Town (Vanalinn) of TartuFinland
Vanhakaupunki in HelsinkiThe equivalent of "Old Town" in French is vieille ville, although the more formal centre historique ("historical center") is usually written on road signs.
UNESCO World Heritage old towns in France:
Albi (Tarn)Avignon (Vaucluse)Bordeaux (Gironde)Carcassonne (Aude)Lyon (Rhône)Provins (Seine-et-Marne)Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin)Other notable/famous old towns include:
Auxerre (Yonne)Besançon (Doubs)Lille (Nord)Nice (Alpes-Maritimes)Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine)Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine)Toulouse (Haute-Garonne)Old Tbilisi (Dzveli Tbilisi) in TbilisiHistorical Center in Mtskheta, UNESCO World Heritage SiteOld Town in KutaisiOld Town in BatumiUNESCO World Heritage old towns in Germany:Bamberg (Franconia)Goslar (Lower Saxony)Lübeck (Schleswig-Holstein)Quedlinburg (Saxony-Anhalt)Regensburg (Bavaria)Stralsund (Western Pomerania)Wismar (Mecklenburg)Other notable/famous old towns include:
Northern Germany:Bad Doberan (Mecklenburg)Binz (Western Pomerania)Celle (Lower Saxony)Eckernförde (Schleswig)Flensburg (Schleswig)Friedrichstadt (Schleswig)Güstrow (Mecklenburg)Hamelin (Lower Saxony)Hann. Münden (Lower Saxony)Heringsdorf (Western Pomerania)Lüneburg (Lower Saxony)Neustrelitz (Mecklenburg)Putbus (Western Pomerania)Ratzeburg (Holstein)Schwerin (Mecklenburg)Stade (Lower Saxony)Waren (Mecklenburg)Wolfenbüttel (Lower Saxony)Eastern Germany:Bautzen (Lusatia)Erfurt (Thuringia)Görlitz (Silesia)Meissen (Saxony)Pirna (Saxony)Stolberg (Saxony-Anhalt)Weimar (Thuringia)Wernigerode (Saxony-Anhalt)Southern Germany:Baden-Baden (Baden)Dinkelsbühl (Bavaria)Freiburg (Baden)Füssen (Bavaria)Heidelberg (Baden)Konstanz (Swabia)Landshut (Bavaria)Lindau (Bavaria)Nuremberg (Franconia)Ravensburg (Swabia)Rothenburg (Bavaria)Schwäbisch Hall (Swabia)Tübingen (Swabia)Western Germany:Bacharach (Rhineland-Palatinate)Beilstein (Rhineland)Bernkastel-Kues (Rhineland)Cochem (Rhineland-Palatinate)Hattingen (North Rhine-Westphalia)Landau (Palatinate)Lemgo (Westphalia)Limburg (Hesse)Linz am Rhein (Rheinland)Marburg (Hesse)Monschau (Rhineland)Montabaur (Rhineland-Palatinate)Rüdesheim (Hesse)Soest (North Rhine-Westphalia)Trier (Rhineland-Palatinate)Wetzlar(Hesse)Xanten (Rhineland)Old Town in Rhodes, UNESCO World Heritage SiteOld Town of Corfu (city), UNESCO World Heritage SiteIreland
An Seanbhaile in County RoscommonUNESCO World Heritage old towns in Italy:Assisi (Umbria)Ferrara (Emilia-Romagna)Florence (Tuscany)Mantua (Lombardy)Modena (Emilia-Romagna)Naples (Campania)Pienza (Tuscany)Pisa (Tuscany)Ravenna (Emilia-Romagna)Rome (Lazio)San Gimignano (Tuscany)Siena (Tuscany)Siracusa (Sicily)Urbino (Marche)Venice (Veneto)Verona (Veneto)Vicenza (Veneto)I Borghi più belli d'Italia is an association of small Italian towns of historical interest.
Other notable old towns include:
Northern ItalyBassano del Grappa (Veneto)Bergamo (Lombardy)Bologna (Emilia-Romagna)Bolzano (Trentino-Alto Adige)Castelfranco Veneto (Veneto)Chioggia (Veneto)Cittadella (Veneto)Genoa (Liguria)Palmanova (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)Parma (Emilia-Romagna)Pavia (Lombardy)Polcenigo (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)Sacile (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)Trento (Trentino-Alto Adige)Treviso (Veneto)Trieste (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)Turin (Piedmont)Udine (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)Vittorio Veneto (Veneto)Central ItalyAncona (Marche)Arezzo (Tuscany)Camerino (Marche)Colle di Val d'Elsa (Tuscany)Gubbio (Umbria)Loreto (Marche)Lucca (Tuscany)Massa Marittima (Tuscany)Montalcino (Tuscany)Montefiascone (Lazio)Monteleone di Spoleto (Umbria)Montepulciano (Tuscany)Orvieto (Umbria)Perugia (Umbria)Tivoli (Lazio)Viterbo (Lazio)Volterra(Tuscany)Southern ItalyBari (Puglia)Catania (Sicily)Lecce (Puglia)Palermo (Sicily)Vecrīga in Riga, UNESCO World Heritage SiteSenamiestis in Vilnius (a part of UNESCO)Senamiestis in KaunasSenamiestis in KlaipėdaSenamiestis in TrakaiOld Town of Kotor, a World Heritage SiteOld Town of BudvaOld Town of Herceg NoviStara Varoš (Podgorica)Stari BarNetherlands
Oude Stad in NijmegenOude Stad (Tilburg)Poland
Kraków Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage SiteWarsaw Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage SiteOld City of Zamość, UNESCO World Heritage SiteMedieval Town of Toruń, UNESCO World Heritage SitePoznań Old TownOld town of ChełmnoOld town of SandomierzOld town in GdańskOld town in LublinOld town in PrzemyślOld town of SzczecinOld town of Stargard SzczecińskiOld town of TrzebiatówOld town of WrocławPolice Old TownOld town of Nowe WarpnoOld town in Póvoa de Varzim, named "old town" (Vila Velha) since 1343.Tešnjar, Valjevo - Cultural Heritage of Extraordinary importanceStari Grad, Sremski Karlovci - Cultural Heritage of Extraordinary importanceStara čaršija, Grocka, Belgrade - Two quarters of Old City are a Cultural Heritage of Extraordinary importanceStara čaršija, Novi Pazar - Cultural Heritage of Extraordinary importanceStari Grad, a municipality in BelgradeStari Grad, a neighborhood in Novi SadStari Grad, a municipality in KragujevacStari Grad, the remains of a fort in UžiceStaré Mesto in BratislavaStaré Mesto in KošiceUNESCO World Heritage old towns in Spain:Alcalá de Henares (Madrid)Ávila (Castile and León)Baeza (Andalusia)Cáceres (Extremadura)Córdoba (Andalusia)Cuenca (Castile-La Mancha)Salamanca (Castile and León)San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Canary Islands)Santiago de Compostela (Galicia)Segovia (Castile and León)Toledo (Castile-La Mancha)Úbeda (Andalusia)Other notable/famous old towns include:
Albarracín (Aragón)Andújar (Andalusia)Avilés (Asturias)Arévalo (Castile and León)Besalú (Catalonia)Bilbao (Basque Country)Burgos (Castile and León)Cádiz (Andalusia)Carratraca (Andalusia)Castro Urdiales (Cantabria)Covarrubias (Castile and León)Culla (Valencian Community)Elorrio (Basque Country)Ferrol (Galicia)Fregenal de la Sierra (Extremadura)Getaria (Basque Country)Girona (Catalonia)Granada (Andalusia)Hondarribia (Basque Country)Ibiza (Balearic Islands)Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)León (Castile and León)Lorca (Murcia)Lugo (Galicia)Orihuela (Valencian Community)Oviedo (Asturias)Palma de Mallorca (Balearic Islands)Pals (Catalonia)Pamplona (Navarre)Pedraza (Castile and León)Peniscola (Valencian Community)Plasencia (Extremadura)San Sebastián (Basque Country)San Roque (Andalusia)Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Andalusia)Santillana del Mar (Cantabria)Sepulveda (Castile and León)Seville (Andalusia)Tarragona (Catalonia)Teruel (Aragón)Trujillo (Extremadura)Vélez-Málaga (Andalusia)Vic (Catalonia)Villena (Valencian Community)Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country)Zamora (Castile and León)Gamla staden, MalmöGamla stan, StockholmGamlestaden, GothenburgGammelstaden, Luleå MunicipalityIstanbul, Historic Penisula (Fatih district)Ankara, Historic city center (Altındağ district)Amasya, Historic city centerStare Misto in LvivOld KyivEngland
UNESCO World Heritage old towns in England:City of BathMaritime GreenwichLiverpool Maritime Mercantile CityOld Town, BarnsleyOld Town, ChardOld Town, CroydonOld Town, CumbriaOld Town, EastbourneOld Town, HastingsOld Town, Isles of ScillyOld Town, NorthumberlandOld Town, Southampton, a district of the city of SouthamptonOld Town, SwindonOld Town, West YorkshireScotland
Old Town, Edinburgh, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the New Town, EdinburghHistoric Town of St George, Bermuda, a UNESCO World Heritage SiteOld City of AcreOld City of BeershebaOld City of HaifaOld JaffaOld City of Jerusalem in IsraelOld City of NazarethOld City of RamleOld City of TiberiasOld City of SafedOld City of LyddaNeve Tzedek in Tel AvivSakhninPeki'in (also includes native Jewish community alongside Druze, Christians and MuslimsShefa-'AmrAfulaCarmel City (the historic centers of Daliyat al-Karmil and Isfiya)Old ByblosOld SidonOld TripoliOld TyreBeirut Central DistrictOld BatrounDeir el QamarRachayaOld City (Jerusalem) in PalestineOld NablusOld BethlehemOld HebronDiriyah in RiyadhAncient City of Aleppo, in SyriaAncient City of Bosra, in SyriaAncient City of Damascus in SyriaOld City of Sana'a in YemenOld Walled City of Shibam in YemenZabīd in YemenOld Town, Toronto, OntarioOld Town Eureka, California an original 19th Century Victorian commercial district in Eureka, CaliforniaOld Town, Kern County, CaliforniaOld Town, Marin County, CaliforniaOld Town, Santa Barbara County, CaliforniaOld Town, Ventura County, CaliforniaOld Town, California, former name of Pine Town, California, in Lassen CountyOld Town Pasadena, CaliforniaOld Sacramento State Historic Park, Sacramento, CaliforniaOld Town San Diego State Historic Park, San Diego, CaliforniaOld Town, San Diego, a neighborhood of San DiegoOld Town, Florida, a town in Dixie County, not to be confused with the one in OrlandoOld Town Fernandina, Fernandina Beach, Florida; the last town in the Western Hemisphere to be platted according to the Spanish "Law of the Indies" in 1811; named for King Ferdinand VIIOld Town, Key West, the historic section of the city of Key West, FloridaOld Town, an amusement park/shopping center in Kissimmee, FloridaOld Town, Brunswick County, North CarolinaOld Town, Forsyth County, North CarolinaOld Town Township, Forsyth County, North CarolinaOld Town (Franklin, Tennessee) a location along the Natchez Trace named for the Mississippian mound complex thereOld Town (Mississippian culture mound complex), Franklin, TennesseeThomas Brown House (Franklin, Tennessee), also known as Old Town, NRHP-listedOld Town Scottsdale, ArizonaOld Town, Augusta, GeorgiaOld Town, Chicago, IllinoisOld Town, IndianaOld Town, Wichita, KansasOld Town, Maine, a cityOlde Towne Gaithersburg, MarylandOld Town Lansing, MichiganOld Town Albuquerque, New MexicoOld Town, Staten Island, New YorkOld Town Chinatown, Portland, OregonOld Town Fairfax, VirginiaOld Town Alexandria, VirginiaOld Town Manassas, VirginiaOlde Towne Portsmouth, VirginiaSan Telmo and La Boca in Buenos AiresLa Candelaria, a historic neighborhood in downtown BogotáCiudad Colonial in Santo Domingo, oldest European city in America, UNESCO World Heritage SiteQuito´s Historic Center has one of the largest, least-altered and best-preserved historic centers in the Americas. This center was, together with the historic centre of Kraków in Poland, the first to be declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO on 18 September 1978. The Historic Centre of Quito is located in the center south of the capital on an area of 320 hectares (790 acres), and is considered one of the most important historic areas in Latin America.There are about 130 monumental buildings (which hosts a variety of pictorial art and sculpture, mostly of religious inspired in a multi-faceted range of schools and styles) and 5,000 properties registered in the municipal inventory of heritage properties.Ciudad Vieja in Montevideo, "Old City" is the name of the oldest part of the cityThe Girls of Old Town, a group of prostitutes in the comic series Sin CityOld Town (song), a song by Phil Lynott, later covered by the Corrs