Curated category
Capitals in Europe
- BernIn 1191, Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen, established a fortified settlement on the Aare river peninsula. This site became the medieval city proper after…
- BelgradeThe Sava River meets the Danube at a sharp angle, creating a natural fortress on the high ground above. This confluence has defined Belgrade since before…
- ReykjavíkThe year 874 marks the arrival of Ingólfur Arnarson on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. He cast his high seat pillars overboard and promised to settle…
- LisbonArchaeological excavations near the Castle of São Jorge reveal a Phoenician trading post existed on the southern slope of the castle hill as early as 1000 BC.
- ViennaIn the 1st century, Roman soldiers established a military camp called Vindobona on the site of today's Vienna city centre.
- VilniusIn the sacred forest near Šventaragis' Valley, Grand Duke Gediminas hunted a wisent that lasted longer than expected. He decided to spend the night in the…
- BucharestThe name Bucharest first appeared in a 1459 document issued by Vlad the Impaler, though its true origin remains unverified.
- WarsawIn 1300, a small fishing settlement named Warszawa emerged on the banks of the Vistula River. Prince Bolesław II of Masovia established this fortified town…
- AthensThe Cave of Schist holds the oldest known human presence in Athens, dated to between the 11th and 7th millennia BC. This deep cave site marks a beginning for…
- LondonIn 1993, archaeologists uncovered the remains of a Bronze Age bridge on the south River Thames foreshore, upstream from Vauxhall Bridge.
- MoscowThe year 1147 marks the first written mention of Moscow in chronicles, describing a meeting between Yuri Dolgorukiy and Sviatoslav Olgovich.
- ParisJulius Caesar first mentioned the ancient oppidum that corresponds to modern Paris in the mid-1st century BC as Lutetia Parisiorum.
- RomeArchaeological evidence places human presence in the Rome area approximately 14,000 years ago. Stone tools and pottery fragments found at the site attest to…
- StockholmIn the summer of 1187, a group of Karelians pillaged Sigtuna on Lake Mälaren. This violent event set off a chain reaction that led to the founding of…
- PragueThe name Prague emerges from the Czech word pražiti, meaning to roast or burn. A 19th-century mathematician named Bernard Bolzano counted over 500 spires in…
- MadridIn the second half of the 9th century, Umayyad Emir Muhammad I built a fortress on a headland near the river Manzanares.
- AmsterdamIn 1275, a document granted road tolls to residents living at the dam in the Amstel. This small fishing village sat where farmers had settled three millennia…
- KyivThe name Kyiv comes from a legendary figure named Kyi, one of four brothers who supposedly founded the city. The Primary Chronicle tells this story…