Byzantine Timeline

7000 BCE – 2000 CE · 45 sites

Byzantium is the Roman state continuing from Constantinople: churches, walls, and refortified older cities from the Balkans to Anatolia. Many Atlas “Roman” sites have a second, medieval chapter under this civilization tag.

All sites in this period

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World Record

Most-Visited Ancient Site in the World

Troy

3000 BCE – 500 CE

Nine settlement layers at Hisarlık in northwestern Türkiye, where Heinrich Schliemann dug for Homer's Troy and archaeologists still debate which level matches a historical war. UNESCO listed the site in 1998; renewed interest from epic film adaptations keeps new visitors comparing poetry with stone.

312

Iron AgeClassicalRoman

93

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Country Record

Oldest City in Jordan

Petra

300 BCE – 700 CE

Petra, the Nabataean capital from ~300 BCE to 700 CE, is famed for its rock-cut tombs and sophisticated water system, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders.

322

HellenisticRomanLate Antique

91

Country Record

Longest Continuously Occupied Site in Croatia

Dubrovnik Old Town

600 CE – 1808 CE

The walled marble city on the Adriatic — capital of the maritime Republic of Ragusa for centuries — whose intact ramparts, Stradun, and Renaissance palaces make it one of Europe's most visited historic cities and a UNESCO masterpiece of late-medieval urban design.

21

MedievalEarly Modern

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Continent Record

Most-Visited Ancient Site in Africa

Carthage

814 BCE – 700 CE

Ancient Phoenician city-state that became Rome's greatest rival, later reborn as a Roman metropolis, embodying over a millennium of Mediterranean history.

422

Iron AgeClassicalHellenistic

83

Ephesus

1000 BCE – 700 CE

Major Ionian city near modern Selçuk, once home to the Temple of Artemis and later a Roman metropolis of marble streets, terrace houses, and the Library of Celsus. Paul's epistles and pilgrimage routes kept Ephesus famous after the ancient harbour silted away.

312

RomanClassicalHellenistic

81

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Country Record

Known by the Most Names in Israel

Old City of Jerusalem

1000 BCE – 1900 CE

The walled heart of Jerusalem — roughly one square kilometre sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — where the Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and Dome of the Rock stand within Ottoman-era ramparts and layers of Iron Age, Roman, Byzantine, and medieval archaeology.

211

Iron AgeClassicalHellenistic

79

Meteora

1100 CE – 1900 CE

A forest of sandstone pinnacles in Thessaly, Greece — crowned by Byzantine and post-Byzantine monasteries reached by stairs and bridges — among the most dramatic religious landscapes in Europe and a UNESCO site drawing millions of visitors and pilgrims.

21

MedievalEarly Modern

77

Derinkuyu

800 BCE – 1923 CE

The deepest known underground city in the world, extending 85 meters below the surface with 18 levels. It could shelter approximately 20,000 people along with livestock and food stores.

312

Iron AgeClassicalByzantine

76

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Ani

500 CE – 1400 CE

A medieval Armenian capital on the Turkish-Armenian border, once home to over 100,000 people. Its ruins include magnificent churches, mosques, and fortifications spanning centuries of multicultural history.

312

ByzantineMedieval

72

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Antioch (Antakya)

300 BCE – 1268 CE

One of the four great cities of the ancient world and a cradle of early Christianity. Antioch's extraordinary mosaics rival those of Pompeii, and its layered history spans Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic civilizations.

312

ClassicalHellenisticRoman

71

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Country Record

Oldest City in Libya

Leptis Magna

700 BCE – 650 CE

Leptis Magna, a UNESCO World Heritage site on Libya's coast, was a major Phoenician then Roman city, reaching its zenith under Emperor Septimius Severus (r. 193–211 CE).

322

Iron AgeClassicalHellenistic

68

Featured

Hierapolis

190 BCE – 1354 CE

A Greco-Roman spa city perched above the famous white travertine terraces of Pamukkale. One of the best-preserved ancient cities in Turkey, with a vast necropolis, theatre, and the Plutonium — a gate to the underworld.

211

HellenisticRomanByzantine

67

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