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Ask YC: Intact Medieval Towns?

• furiouslol 18y ago
  transylvania, romania
  • ovi256 18y ago
    Don't forget Transylvania is a region, not a town. Nice medieval towns are: Sighisoara, Sibiu, Brasov. One could try the Medieval villages, even better preserved than towns, with their fortification perimeter walls, fortified churches (oh yes) etc. Really beautiful, out of this world places. Full disclosure: I'm from Arad, right near the historic region of Transylvania, Romania. Quite biased, even after living for years in Spain and France.
• jwilliams 18y ago
  I just visited Krakow in Poland - My impression of Poland before going was very biased - I still locked into a communist era view of Poland. When I arrived I was just stunned at how beautiful the place was. Fits the bill reasonably well. Very prominent in earlier history, but fell out of prominence in 1600. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakow Despite auschwitz being down the road it escaped bombing in WWII - and whilst the communist era didn't help, recent restoration efforts are simply stunning. Amazing amount of fantastic architecture in a very compact town. The town centre, including the castle is UNESCO listed. It's one of the nicer places I've been to in Europe. Also.. It's not quite a prime target on the tourist radar yet - which can be a big plus.
• ra 18y ago
  Some suggestions, Last year we spent some time in Romania. Romania has Sibiu, Timisoara, Brasov, Sighisoara ... all very cool medieval towns. Rasnov and Sighisoara are both hilltop fort villages. Also, you might also be interested in Lviv, Ukraine. Have fun!
  • rgrieselhuber 18y ago
    I second this. Romania was quite beautiful.
• unonium 18y ago
  cesky krumlov, czech republic
  • rgrieselhuber 18y ago
    Noooo! Don't tell people about this town. I don't want it Prague-ified.
    • david927 18y ago
      It already is getting there.
• shawndrost 18y ago
  Central Prague is like that, if somewhat overrun by tourism. I accidentally arrived at predawn and wandered around as the light came in -- highly recommended.
  • wheels 18y ago
    Prague is beautiful, but the architecture there for the most part is a few centuries post-medieval.
    • david927 18y ago
      You're right, but Prague is one of the few cities where you can find great examples of every architectural style from medieval up to modern. Try Ceske Krumlov, a small town to the south, for something more medieval.
  • jwilliams 18y ago
    Yeah it's a real shame - it's a very popular stag party destination for tourists from the UK and Germany. It's actually worth checking out in Winter - It's freezing - but, there are hardly any tourists and the cold and the snow actually compliments the city in a way.
  • deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]
• delano 18y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roermond http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roermond (Netherlands) Julius Caesar called it Villa Optima. It was destroyed in 1213 and rebuilt by 1232. It was occupied by the Romans, France, Austria, Germany, among others over the years. There was also some damage in WWII but despite all that the city is mostly intact. And don't be fooled by the modern convenience of the Outlet Mall (which is beyond the remnants of the old city wall). Most of the shoppers are German (not that there's anything wrong with that) and incidentally there are several short-haul bike routes into Germany. There's a bike shop next to the train station and there are a few cute German towns within 20km.
• raganwald 18y ago
  Bruges, Belgium: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruges http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruges
  • simianstyle 18y ago
    Also check out "In Bruges" - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780536/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780536/ One of my favorite movies :-)
  • randomwalker 18y ago
    I would also suggest Ghent, Belgium. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent "Much of the city's medieval architecture remains intact and is remarkably well preserved and restored. Its center is the largest carfree area in Belgium." I was there last month, it was pretty nifty. Bruges is super-touristy, Ghent slightly less so. You should try to check out a non-touristy town as well, that nevertheless has a significant amount of medieval architecture. Examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechelen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechelen, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuven http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuven
    • wlievens 18y ago
      Add Lier (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lier,_Belgium http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lier,_Belgium) to that. It's a bit like Brughes, but way smaller. (disclosure: I practically live there)
• reitzensteinm 18y ago
  Do you mind posting your short list when you figure it out? I had my first holiday around Europe recently, mainly sticking to the capital cities except for Bavaria, and next time I'd like to explore off the beaten track a lot more. All the places mentioned here are going right into my ideas for next time file.
• sanj 18y ago
  I loved visiting Vinci, Italy. It has a lovely little museum with the works of its most famous son. Montepulciano was amazing as well, but perhaps falls under the Siena category. Cuzco, Peru -- at least the central core -- may be an example as well. As would other Inca settlements.
• netcan 18y ago
  New Book?
• dhyasama 18y ago
  Dubrovnik, Croatia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubrovnik http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubrovnik
  • dzorz 18y ago
    +1. This would be the best time to visit Dubrovnik because there won't be as many tourists as in summer.
  • pelle 18y ago
    Split, Croatia is also great it's actually a medieval city built inside a Roman palace: http://flickr.com/photos/pelle/sets/72157604400174148/ http://flickr.com/photos/pelle/sets/72157604400174148/ Close by is the island of Hvar, which is also pretty amazing. It was built by the Venetians as a trading outpost: http://flickr.com/photos/pelle/sets/72157604497939272/ http://flickr.com/photos/pelle/sets/72157604497939272/ A great resource for someone wanting to learn about how these kinds of places help mold our modern business world, I recommend Nick Szabo's blog Unenumerated. See this post about Genoa for example: http://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2006/10/genoa.html http://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2006/10/genoa.html
• dcurtis 18y ago
  Rothenburg, Germany is a really cool place. Might want to check it out.
• mechanical_fish 18y ago
  I went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothenburg_ob_der_Tauber http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothenburg_ob_der_Tauber Not exactly off the beaten path today -- it's been Tourist Central since the 1880s -- but it was off the beaten path for hundreds of years before that, which is the important part. Stay overnight. Many tourists don't, which makes it a good way to avoid some of them. Wandering around the corners of medieval buildings near dusk makes the whole vibe even more fun. I also can't argue with Bruges, Belgium, which has the advantage of having actual non-tourist-industry inhabitants. Plus, Belgian beer! (Not that Bavaria is lacking in the beer department.)
  • alex_c 18y ago
    Another vote here for Rothenburg. It is perhaps even more "medieval" than Siena (though to be fair, I spent two days in Rothenburg, and only an afternoon in Siena). The downside is that it is very tourist-y. It almost seemed like the only things there were hotels, museums, and gift shops. The upside is that it still feels authentic. I picked my hotel pretty much just based on price and availability, and it was charming - you can even see it in random pictures like this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Street_in_Rothenburg.JPG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Street_in_Rothenburg.JPG (I forget the name, but it's the one with the bell sign). My friends stayed at a different hotel, and had the same experience. Walking along the walls at night can be an amazing experience - it had rained earlier, it was foggy, street lights reflected off the cobblestones, and no tourists in sight... it felt like we were transported to a different century. As for taverns, I would recommend Zur Höll (meaning "Hell"), it's supposed to be over 1000 years old - and if you manage to get the table in the basement (which is actually a giant bellows), that claim seems quite believable. http://www.romanticroad.com/hoell/english/dine.htm http://www.romanticroad.com/hoell/english/dine.htm
    • omakase 18y ago
      Rothenburg, Siena, and San Gimignano are all worth visiting. There are many nice hotels outside the walls of Rothenburg. Make sure you visit the museums of criminology (aka torture museums) in these towns/
• bd 18y ago
  Salamanca is like Toledo, just bigger and nicer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamanca http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamanca Also a lot of interesting places at "World Heritage Sites" list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in_Europe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in...
• robg 18y ago
  Krupa and I recently enjoyed traveling through the Abruzzo region of central Italy which has many more hill towns. Wish we had gotten to Siena though! We especially enjoyed Civitella del Tronto: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civitella_del_Tronto http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civitella_del_Tronto and the surrounding area includes pretty sweet hikes including one that visits a cave (Grotte Sant'Angelo) with documented religious uses back to BC times.
• jwilliams 18y ago
  If you do go to Siena, try and go to the Il Palio. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palio_di_Siena http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palio_di_Siena Each district of Siena has a horse in a (quite violent) race around the square. Whilst it's generally a massive attraction for tourists the locals take it very seriously and it's not just a tourist attraction at all. After the race the winning district put out their banners and have a massive party.
• tomh 18y ago
  Regensburg, Germany: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regensburg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regensburg I have friends who live there and they like it a lot. Especially cool during the Christmas festivals, lots of markets with mulled wine and decorations for sale.
• mattmaroon 18y ago
  This is off-topic :)
• lutorm 18y ago
  Visby on Gotland, the big Swedish island in the Baltic, is pretty cool, especially during medieval week.
  • rvirding 18y ago
    Yes, definitely see Visby if you can: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visby http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visby
• herdrick 18y ago
  I think Estonia's old Hanse town, Tallin (Reval) fits. Between 1549 and 1625 its church was the tallest building in the world (and its peak height wouldn't be exceeded until 1884!. Very interesting table here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=294496 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=294496 ). Wikipedia has good historical population numbers for the town: Year . . . . Population 1372 . . . . 3,250 1772 . . . . 6,954 But I've haven't visited yet, so I'm not sure.
  • rms 18y ago
    Thanks for the link, that's a great Wikipedia article
    • herdrick 18y ago
      Agreed - in fact I just submitted it as a new HN story.
  • asmosoinio 18y ago
    Tallinn Old Town is definitely a good place. Lot's of restaurants and tourists, but the buildings and the atmosphere is really medieval. Another somewhat similar place close by is old town in Stockholm, aka "Gamla Stan" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamla_Stan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamla_Stan). The feeling there is a bit less medieval though, could be that some of the buildings are a bit newer or maybe just look that way. I have visited both places many times. And while you're at it, go check out Turku in Finland. Some nice old buildings and my home town. :) Castle is from 1280s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turku_Castle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turku_Castle
  • herdrick 18y ago
    A good algorithim would be to take a list of Hanse towns and subtract the ones you've heard of. The rest are backwaters that were previously important.
    • mtts 18y ago
      Good suggestion. However, research the ones that are left before you spend a day travelling to one of them, as chances are it'll be pretty but very, very small (thinking of Doesburg and Bronkhorst, for example).
• 3KWA 18y ago
  Entrevaux, France - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrevaux http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrevaux for something different. Old Vauban fortress in a small village in the southern alps of France.
• keninglis 18y ago
  Lucca, Tuscany - starting to get a bit touristy but a nice mixture of Roman, mediaeval with intact city walls that you can walk round.
• davidw 18y ago
  Italy is littered with them, as I suspect you may already know. What size towns are you looking for? The weather i n Italy in September/October is often still pretty nice, too, compared with the more northerly portions of Europe. - Lucca is a good one, as someone mentioned below. - Verona has a great mix of stuff, from the Roman Arena (which is very impressive) to the Scaligeri castle, to other things dating from the Venetian era. - In the Veneto, Monselice and Montagnana are smaller towns that are worth about half a day each. You could combine those with some touring around the Colli Euganei. Arqua Petrarca is a cute little town famous for being the final resting place of Petrarch, and a pleasant place in its own right. In terms of history, Monselice had its high point when it was the local center of power for the Lombards - Padova fell along with the Roman empire. Montagnana, along with Cittadella to the north of Padova, was an outpost against neighboring city states. To this day, the province of Padova includes Montagnana and Cittadella, whereas Treviso's own outpost, Castelfranco, delimits the edge of that province. http://www.welton.it/photos/monselice/ http://www.welton.it/photos/monselice/ http://www.welton.it/photos/colli_euganei/ http://www.welton.it/photos/colli_euganei/ - Central Italy is filling up with tourists: Umbria and Le Marche are a bit more off the beaten path. Perugia is a wonderful town where I have good memories, Urbino is good too, although it's kind of small. San Marino is someplace I've never visited, but it has been pretty much by definition left alone over the years (thus its independence). The whole area has been 'passed over', s you're quite likely to discover your own favorite, off the beaten places by renting a car and exploring, if that's your idea of a good time. - I don't know southern Italy quite so well, but I had a great time visiting my friend Salvatore in Ragusa - the old part of that city is impressive. http://www.welton.it/photos/ragusa/ http://www.welton.it/photos/ragusa/ Let's see... I don't know so much about Austria, but Innsbruck is ok for a day (much more if you like outdoor sports like hiking), and Salzburg has a lot to see and is relatively well preserved. Hall in Tirol is worth an afternoon, and in the middle ages was more important than Innsbruck. They minted coins from the nearby silver mine there until the whole enterprise collapsed as 'cheap' silver from the new world put them and the mine out of business. I could probably write a book about Italy, email me know if you have any more questions. Depending on my availability, I'd be happy to show you, or anyone else from this site, around the Padova area, where my wife's family is from, or at the very least put you in contact with friends down there. Of course, should anyone stop by Innsbruck, I'm always happy to meet hacker/startup types... I'm pretty lonely here from that point of view. Edit: Damn... now I miss Italy...
• edu 18y ago
  Hi, I recommend that you visit Montblanc, in Tarragona (Spain), near Barcelona: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montblanc,_Tarragona http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montblanc,_Tarragona More to the north, near the Coast (if you also want some beach) there is Pals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pals http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pals Also, in France but also pretty near to Barcelona you can visit Carcassonne http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcassonne http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcassonne Finally, but not completely intact, the Barri Gòtic in Barcelona may interest you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barri_Gòtic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barri_Gòtic If you ever com here, and need anything don't hesitate to drop a mail.
  • adnam 18y ago
    Carcasonne has a strange fortified city which looks medieval but was actually built in the mid 1800s. If you drive from there towards Andorra you come accross lots of old medieval villages with castles, such as this one in Foix: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Foix http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Foix Aachen in Germany should probably be on the list - it was once the centre of Charlemagne's empire, but today it has been eclipsed by nearby Cologne and Bonn. It was bombed pretty badly during the war but the town hall and cathedral survived intact. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aachen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aachen
    • baha_man 18y ago
      Carcassonne was restored in the second half of the 19th century, see the wikipedia article above.
• deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
• mtts 18y ago
  Tournai, Belgium. The inner town is almost entirely medieval (and on the Unesco list). Somewhat less spectacular but still fine is nearby Kortrijk.
• antirez 18y ago
  You may want to try "Volterra" (Toscana) and "Erice" (Sicilia).
• bnolan 18y ago
  I've tagged a bunch of the ones mentioned on weheartplaces: http://www.weheartplaces.com/tags/medieval http://www.weheartplaces.com/tags/medieval
• jon_dahl 18y ago
  If you're in the area, there are some great exhibits at the German History Museum in Berlin, including exact (scaled down) replicas of medieval cities, with information about different areas of town. Very different than walking around town, but it is interesting to see what a medieval city looked like from the top. Otherwise, I can vouch for Bruges, Siena, and Regensburg.
• mishmax 18y ago
  Fez, Morocco -- I believe the UN marked it as the oldest intact and thriving medieval city in the world.
• jsmcgd 18y ago
  Every time I go to the south of France on holiday (I'm British) I'm always struck how many little intact medieval towns and villages there are. I'd recommend just hiring a car and start roaming about (or Train, the French do trains really well). You'll be tripping over them.
  • pg 18y ago
    That's exactly what I'm planning to do, but I'm hoping to make the process less random.
    • davidw 18y ago
      Maybe hire a guide? This guy, a tour guide in Tuscany, wrote some books make for light but entertaining reading: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?_encoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Dario%20Castagno http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?_encodin... I think there's something to be said for simply wandering though (perhaps armed with some good books), especially seeing as how there is way more history and stuff to see in a place like Italy or France than you could possibly hope to absorb over a few weeks. It's "fractal", too: you can look at the big ticket items, like wars, conquests of this or that country, but you can also get into the local goings on, which are often quite interesting in their own right. For instance, one of my favorite things in Padova is the University Tour, where they have a lectern that Galileo's students built for him. It's awful looking, because they were wealthy kids, not the sons of craftsmen, so they mangled it pretty thoroughly. They wanted to make it themselves though, rather than commission it, as a sign of dedication.
    • jsmcgd 18y ago
      Hmmm why not pick some historical person and follow in their footsteps? I suppose even then people managed to get about quite a bit so you would have to pick someone quite sedentary or else you'd be in for a beast of a trek. An exchange student suggested I go on this pilgrimage with her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Compostela#History_of_the__Way_of_St._James_Pilgrimage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Compostela#History_... I'm not a religious person but I don't think that that is really important. It seemed to be more of a summer break thing with the added bonus of possible redemption. I suppose you could even take a car and just follow the route. Actually this might be a bit sacrilegious.
• skalpelis 18y ago
  Orvieto, Italy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orvieto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orvieto
• musiciangames 18y ago
  If you get to the South of France, look at Aigues Mortes http://www.ot-aiguesmortes.fr/UK/History.htm http://www.ot-aiguesmortes.fr/UK/History.htm Centrally, Tours and Troyes are gorgeous, as is Orleans. Besancon in the East is very attractive, but more recent battlements. In the North, you get a panorama over all of the Flanders plain from the battlements of Cassel, just as the generals did in the Great War. The great thing with France is that nearly every town has an unspoilt centre; the development has been kept to the environs. Enjoy your visit.
  • musiciangames 18y ago
    Also, the tapestry of the apocalypse in Angers castle is staggering. And when visiting French towns, they all have a 'petit train' which takes you around the sights for a small cost; I like to do that before deciding where to explore on foot.
• abstractwater 18y ago
  I highly recommend Gubbio in Umbria (Italy). Gubbio was very important between 1000-1300 when it was independent. After that its decline started, and that's probably what kept the town small and contained. I still remember walking inside Gubbio and how it felt so... medieval and different from other Italian towns. I grew up in a small Italian medieval town but Gubbio is quite unique. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gubbio http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gubbio