Somewhere right now, a baker is firing up an oven in a city that was already ancient when Rome was founded. A child is racing down stone steps worn smooth by thousands of years of footsteps. A shopkeeper is haggling over spices in a bazaar that has been trading since long before anyone coined the word ‘tourist’.
From the oasis streets of Jericho, often called the oldest city on Earth, to the sacred riverbanks of Varanasi and the seven hills of Plovdiv, the places in this gallery have been home to people for thousands of years, through empires, invasions, floods, and reinvention.
Scroll through for a look at ten cities where the past isn't behind glass. It's on the street corner, in the kitchen, and on the skyline.
‘Oldest’ is a famously contested title, and the dates you’ll see here are approximate, drawn from archaeology, tradition, and a fair amount of friendly rivalry.