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5 of the Most Ancient Cities in the World You Can Still Visit Today

When traveling, learning about the history of the place you’re visiting is the best part of it. There are a lot of buildings or items that date back in time that help you learn more about a particular place, culture or the humanity itself.

Below we made a list of ancient countries that date thousands years back that you can still go and visit.

Alexandria, Egypt

Before Alexander the Great founded it in 331 BC, Alexandria was already an important port city due to its location on the Egyptian Nile Delta. Alexandria was once a premier center of knowledge in the ancient world. It was home to a vast library of scrolls, one of the largest in ancient times.

Athens, Greece

Athens has played a fundamental role in shaping the Western world into what it is today, playing a critical role in philosophy, drama, literature, and science. By 1400 BC the city was already prominent in the ancient world. It has actually been inhabited for over 7000 years.

Rome, Italy

Visiting a city as beloved as Rome comes with particular hazards: the crowds, the cheesy souvenirs, the young men in full gladiator regalia waiting to pose for selfies with tourists.
The Colosseum — a nearly 2,000-year-old stadium in the middle of a modern city.
In the days of actual gladiators, 50,000 spectators would gather with the emperor for bloody contests to the death.

Damascus, Syria

Damascus is widely believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, with evidence of habitation dating back at least 11,000 years. Its location and persistence have made the city a nexus for civilizations come and gone.

Sidon, Lebanon

Inhabited for at least the last 6,000 years, Sidon was one of the most important Phoenician cities because of its location as a crucial port on the Mediterranean. This locale also led to the city being conquered by a revolving door of the world’s great empires, including the Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Ottomans.

The Story Behind Forbidden City Of Beijing

As the name suggests, it was forbidden to enter this city for over 500 years. The Forbidden City took 14 years to build, from 1406 to 1420, and it took 1,000,000 workers including more than 100,00 craftsmen to finish the entire city. This city was the imperial palace of China for 492 years after it was built. Covering 0.72 sq km (0.28 sq mi), of which 15 hectares (38 acres) are floor area, this city was home to 24 emperors, 14 of the Ming dynasty and 10 of the Qing dynasty.

This incredible settlement has 980 buildings in over 70 palace compounds, with over 8,700 rooms, and it’s surrounded by a 10-meter-high wall, which is 3.4 km (2 miles) long. The whole reason this city was build was because of a scandalous coup d’état plotted by Zhu Di, the fourth son of the Ming dynasty’s founder Zhu Yuanzhang, that made him the Chengzu emperor (his official title) in 1402. In order to solidify his power, the Chengzu emperor moved the capital, as well as his own army, from Nanjing in southeastern China to Beijing and began building a new heart of the empire, the Forbidden City.

 

China practiced isolated after the Seven Voyages of Zheng He because of their Confucian beliefs shunning commerce and because Chinese officials thought that the said voyages wasted resources that could’ve been used in defending against the Northern barbaric nations. They, however, allowed trade in three ports controlled by the government. They did this to prevent foreign influence and to also gain profit through trading. They also believed that China was the center of the universe  thus they were self-sufficient.
This is one of the most important Chinese historical site, and today it hosts 14 million visitors per year, a maximum of 80,000 visitors per day.

A Brief Story About How ‘Black History Month’ Started

As we all know, February is the month where America spends 28 days focused on black history. Black History Month is an opportunity to understand Black histories, going beyond stories of racism and slavery to spotlight Black achievement. Everywhere in schools, media, news, streets people call out for equality between races and try to educate the society over this matter.

Black History Month’s first iteration was Negro History Week, created by Carter G. Woodson in 1926. He aimed to encourage people of all ethnic and social backgrounds to discuss the Black experience. If you dig into the US history lessons, you will find full stories about ordinary people who helped create the nation’s history. There’s a movement afoot to incorporate black history into the regular history school curriculum, to view it as a central part of the American story rather than treating it as a sidebar to the American history lessons typically taught in US schools. But as it seems the system is not there yet. This month must continue to serve as a crucial opportunity to broaden students’ knowledge and help them connect the past with their lives today.

February was chosen as the month to celebrate Black Lives as it coincides with the birthdays of both former US President Abraham Lincoln and social reformer Frederick Douglass, who played a significant role in helping to end slavery.

 

 

A Reflection of Traveling in Ancient Times

When you think of the ancient times, everything seems odd compared to the endless possibilities we have today. We have to scratch our brains to think how people handled life back then, when they had almost nothing. One thing that comes in mind is traveling. We all have heard stories of all kinds how our parents or grandparents used to describe their way to school, or walking from one place to another. Traveling is one of the many things that have gone through a drastic change for so many reasons.  Earlier traveling used to be about exploring new lands and things unseen before, now it’s just something fashionable to do.

A significant improvement it’s the transportation vehicle itself.  If you hate a flying on a cramped plain or train, imagine being cramped into a horse carriage on a bumpy road for hours or even days sometimes, just stopping to spend the night in a tend.

Before traveling with a carriage was only for the wealthy and privileged. Compared to the fact that now people travel alone or with family and friends, in the past they traveled with their servants, and people of the staff who would carry their stuff and set a tend for resting.

Everything was way more difficult, but yet somehow people managed to enjoy the little things. Maybe this is going to be a nice reminder next time we embark on a trip and start complaining about the smallest things that will infuriate us.

 

 

How Eating Habits Have Changed Through the Years

One of the most interesting things about exploring a new culture it’s traditional food they have and their eating habits. Every country varies from one another at this point, and food it’s definitely one good approach on knowing people better.  When we compare our eating habits in a global scale, we can see a huge difference between now and the past. Before most of the people used to grow their fresh fruits and vegetables, or work in a field to sell that fresh food, while today everything comes packed in a plastic bag ready to purchase anytime of the year no matter of the season.

If you’ve ever focused on hearing your grandmothers stories about life earlier, she would tell you about a life routine including a healthy eating schedule morning, lunch, dinner each one of them in a specific time of the day, so your body would know exactly what to expect and when. On the other hand, if you think about it today the way we live our hectic lives there’s no way we can stick to a routine like that.

Most of us skip breakfast rushing to go to work, drink a lot of coffee to keep us functioning during the day, minimize our lunch to 15-20 minutes with some takeaway food or buy something ready made and just heat it in the microwave.

Although as famous celebrities are showing off their healthy lives, people have started to embrace that healthy lifestyle as well, but the more is commercialized, the less able are average people to afford it. Eating clean today it’s becoming more and more expensive, compared to the nutritious food we used to have in the past for way less money.