Ancient Cities & Forgotten Towns

Some cities are interesting. A handful are unreasonably old in a way that quietly rearranges your sense of time. The Matera area shows human occupation dating back to prehistoric times, and the Sassi — its cave districts — went through major state-mandated displacement in the twentieth century before being carefully restored and repopulated in later decades. Mdina has held broadly the same walled plan for centuries, on a hilltop settled since antiquity.

This hub gathers editorial notes on the European places where deep history is the daily backdrop — small enough to walk, old enough to feel like a different century.