Curated category
Former national capitals
- Cebu CityThe word sugbú in Cebuano means to dive into water. This definition appears in Mateo Sanchéz's entry, which defines sugbu or sibu as to put or place…
- ColchesterIn the year 43, Roman legions established a fortress on a gravel hill that would become Camulodunum. This site marked Britain's first major city and its…
- Nizhny NovgorodOn the 4th of February 1221, Prince George II of Vladimir established a small wooden hillfort at the confluence of the Oka and Volga rivers.
- TurinIn 218 BC, the Taurini people faced a three-day siege by Hannibal's forces near the upper valley of the River Po. The ancient Celto-Ligurian community…
- AlmatyOn the 4th of February 1854, Russian engineers began constructing a wooden palisade called Fort Zailiyskoe between the Bolshaya and Malenkaya Almatinka…
- YangonThe name Yangon translates to 'End of Strife' in Burmese, yet the land it occupies has witnessed centuries of conflict. This city began as Dagon in the early…
- BonnIn 12 BCE, Roman soldiers built a fortified camp on the banks of the Rhine river. This Legionary Fortress Bonn became the nucleus for what is now Germany's…
- MdinaThe plateau on which Mdina is built has been inhabited since prehistory. By the Bronze Age, this natural redoubt served as a place of refuge because it was…
- LagosIn the 15th century, a group of Awori people settled on a farmstead along the coastal line of what is now southwestern Nigeria.
- WuhanThe Yangtze River meets the Han River in east-central Hubei, creating a unique geographic intersection that defines Wuhan.
- AarauThe town of Aarau sits on a rocky outcrop at the southern foot of the Jura Mountains. It rests on the right bank of the Aare river, where the valley narrows…
- MelbourneFor over 40,000 years, the land now known as Melbourne was home to Aboriginal Victorians. The Kulin nation comprised five distinct peoples who shared this…
- ValenciaIn 138 BC, Roman soldiers settled on the banks of the Turia River to establish a colony named Valentia Edetanorum. The Latin name meant strength or valour…
- SamarkandHuman activity in the region of Samarkand dates back to the late Paleolithic Era. Archaeological excavations conducted within the city limits and suburban…
- Saint PetersburgTsar Peter the Great laid the cornerstone of the Peter and Paul Fortress on the 27th of May 1703. He chose Zayachy Island at the mouth of the Neva River to…
- CamulodunumThe Brythonic-Celtic fortress of Camulodunon rose from the marshes between West Bergholt and Great Horkesley during the 1st century BC.
- NicomediaIn 712 BC, a group of settlers from Megara established a colony on the coast of northwestern Asia Minor. They named their new settlement Astacus, which means…
- RoskildeHarald Bluetooth founded Roskilde in the 980s on high ground above the harbor. He built a wooden church consecrated to the Holy Trinity and a royal residence…