🇯🇴 Jordan · Ancient city
Petra Siq Treasury Forecourt Cistern
Bronze Age (3000–1200 BCE) · Bronze Age
Petra Siq Treasury Forecourt Cistern in Ma'an, Petra, Jordan is a Bronze Age (3000–1200 BCE) ancient city attributed to Bronze Age.
🇱🇾 Libya · Ancient city
Old Town of Ghadames
Roman to Modern (19 BCE–present; medieval ksar 7th c CE onward) · Garamantine / Berber Ibadi / Arab / Ottoman
UNESCO saharan ksar Ghadames — whitewashed roof-terrace oasis fed by Ain Al Faras.
🇹🇿 Tanzania · Ancient city
Songo Mnara — Swahili Stone Town
Swahili Golden Age (14th–16th c) · Swahili (Shirazi–Bantu-Arab)
Songo Mnara is the 15th-century Swahili stone town on Songo Mnara Island (Lindi) 10 km S of Kilwa Kisiwani, inhabited 14th–16th c then abandoned.
🇹🇿 Tanzania · Ancient city
Stone Town of Zanzibar
Swahili to Omani and British (Swahili settlement 16th c; Omani capital 1832–1964) · Swahili / Omani Arab / Persian / Indian (Bohra) / British colonial
Swahili stone town capital of Omani Zanzibar sultanate (1832–1964), Stone Town preserves coral-stone labyrinth: House of Wonders (Beit al-Ajaib 1883 Persian-slave-built), Old Fort (Portuguese 1710),…
🇲🇱 Mali · Tell
Djenne-Djeno West Mound (Inland Niger Delta)
Djenné-Djeno phase (250 BCE – 1400 CE; West Mound 300–900 CE) · Djenné-Djeno (Inland Niger Delta urbanism)
Western extension of Djenné-Djeno city cluster (2 km from central tell) with 450×400 m mound, floodplain ditch, iron workshops and terracotta of Inland Niger urbanism 800 years pre...
🇹🇿 Tanzania · Ancient city
Kilwa Kisiwani
Swahili Coast Medieval (9th–19th c; Sultanate peak 1100–1500) · Swahili (Bantu-Arab-Persian) / Shirazi dynasty / Portuguese interlude
Swahili stone-town entrepôt (9th–19th c) controlling Indian Ocean gold trade from Sofala and Great Zimbabwe: Gereza fortress (Portuguese 1505), Great Mosque (oldest sub-Saharan mosque 1131–1770…
🇸🇪 Sweden · Ancient city
Visby City Walls and Medieval Defences
High Middle Ages (c.1150–1400 CE) · Gotlandic Hanseatic / Medieval Scandinavian
3.4 km medieval ring wall encircling Hanseatic Visby, best preserved in Scandinavia, built 13th–14th c. limestone with 27 towers, gate towers and caponier.
🇮🇷 Iran · Ancient city
Pasargadae
Achaemenid (559–530 BCE construction; occupied to Seleucid era) · Achaemenid Persian
Earliest Achaemenid capital built by Cyrus the Great (559–530 BCE) on victory site over Medes.
🇲🇱 Mali · Ancient city
Djenné-Djeno
Bio. Iron Age to Medieval (c.250 BCE–1400 CE; peak 400–1200 CE) · Djenné-Djeno culture / Inland Niger Delta Iron Age / Soninke-Bozo
Oldest sub-Saharan city (250 BCE–1400 CE) on Inland Niger Delta: 33 ha tell 8 m high with 69 mounds cluster spanning 4 km, without stone architecture but rich bio-archaeological sequence: slag, rice,…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Ancient City of North-Hamlet
Moche (100–800 CE) · Moche
Ancient City of North-Hamlet in Chiapas, Mexico is a Moche (100–800 CE) ancient city attributed to Moche culture.
🇲🇦 Morocco · Ancient city
Volubilis
Mauretanian to Early Islamic (3rd c BCE Berber settlement; Roman 25 BCE–285 CE; Idrisid 788 CE) · Mauretanian / Roman / Berber / Early Islamic (Idrisid)
Roman Mauretania Tingitana capital with 42 ha walled city, Volubilis preserves 2nd–3rd c town: Decumanus Maximus 400 m, Forum, Capitol, Basilica, Arch of Caracalla (217 CE erected for Caracalla and…
🇸🇪 Sweden · Ancient city
Hovgården on Adelsö – Birka Royal Estate
Vendel Period to Middle Ages (c.600–1279 CE) · Scandinavian Viking Age to Medieval
Royal estate on Adelsö opposite Birka, with thing mound (Skansberget), harbour, cemetery and ruins of Magnus Ladulås' brick palace Alsnö Hus (1279).
🇮🇷 Iran · Ancient city
Susa
Neolithic to Medieval (c.4200 BCE–1218 CE; Elamite capital c.2700–646 BCE; Achaemenid palace 522–331 BCE) · Elamite / Persian Achaemenid / Seleucid / Parthian / Sassanian
Elamite capital then Achaemenid administrative capital (Darius I, 522 BCE), Susa preserves mound sequence from 4200 BCE: Apadana of Darius (36 limestone columns, glazed brick friezes of Immortals and…
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Didyma Eastern Temenos — Apollo Temple Sacred Precinct
Archaic to Roman (600 BCE – 250 CE) · Milesian Greek to Hellenistic Seleucid to Roman
Eastern hypaethral adyton with sacred spring and stadium of Branchidae oracle.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Tell
Gordion
EB to Medieval (c.3000 BCE–1200 CE; peak Phrygia 900–600 BCE) · Hittite → Phrygian (Midas) → Persian → Galatian → Roman
Gordion is the Phrygian capital (Yassıhöyük) — Midas's city (Midas Mound tumulus 53 m), terraced citadel with Phrygian Gate (Ashlar), and 100-tumulus necropolis...
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka · Ancient city
Ancient City of Polonnaruwa
Polonnaruwa Period 1070–1232 CE (Chola 993–1070 preceding) · Sinhalese / Chola Tamil Buddhist and Hindu
Second Sinhalese capital (1070–1232 CE) after Anuradhapura's sack, 12th c metropolis of Parakramabahu I with 3,400-ha Parakrama Samudra reservoir, Atadage Dalada Maligawa tooth relic temple, and Gal…
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park
Early Hindu 8th–11th c + Gujarat Sultanate 1484–1535 CE · Rajput / Chalukya Hindu + Gujarat Sultanate Islamic
Concentrated ensemble of 8th–16th c heritage within 1,329 ha: Chalukya hill fort and Lakulisa temples on Pavagadh (737 m cone), and Sultanate Champaner – pre-Mughal Islamic city (1484–1535) of Mahmud…
🇹🇭 Thailand · Temple complex
Sukhothai Historical Park
Sukhothai Kingdom 1238–1438 · Thai (Sukhothai)
First capital of Siam (1238–1438) with moated royal city, Wat Mahathat and 193 ruins merging Khmer and Sri Lankan styles, birthplace of Thai alphabet.
🇸🇻 El Salvador · Ancient city
Tazumal & Joya de Cerén (paired)
Preclassic to Classic · Maya
Tazumal & Joya de Cerén (paired) in Santa Ana Department, El Salvador is a Preclassic to Classic ancient city attributed to Maya culture. Inscribed UNESCO World Heritage Site (ID 675).
🇬🇷 Greece · Ancient city
Delos (Island of the Gods)
Cycladic to Hellenistic · Cycladic/Greek
Delos (Island of the Gods) in Cyclades, Greece is a Cycladic to Hellenistic ancient city attributed to Cycladic/Greek culture. Inscribed UNESCO World Heritage Site (ID 530).
🇮🇹 Italy · Buried city
Herculaneum
Roman · Roman
Roman seaside town buried under 20 m pyroclastic flow from Vesuvius 79 CE, preserving wooden furniture, upper storeys, frescoes and unique carbonized papyri scrolls (Villa of the Papyri, now being…
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Caral-Supe Pyramids
Late Archaic / Norte Chico · Caral-Supe / Norte Chico
Oldest city in Americas and largest Late Archaic New World pyramids (c.2600 BCE) – six truncated earthen pyramids with sunken plazas, residential sectors and early quipu and flutes in Supe Valley,…
🇩🇿 Algeria · Ancient city
Tipasa of Mauretania – Coastal Basilicas
Punic (6th c BCE) – Roman – Christian (5th c CE) · Punic / Mauretanian / Roman
Coastal UNESCO port with Punic necropolis (6th c BCE tophet), Roman forum, theatre, and two Christian basilicas (Salsa martyr shrine) on promontory with offshore islet. Numidian–Ma...
🇮🇹 Italy · Buried city
Pompeii
Roman (foundation Oscan 6th c BCE, Roman from 80 BCE) · Roman
Roman city of 12,000 buried by Vesuvius eruption 24 August 79 CE under 4–6 m pumice and ash, preserving streets, villas, Forum, amphitheatre, baths and plaster casts of victims.