Ottoman Era

1299 CE – 1922 CE · 3 sites

All sites in this period

Fortress walls on the summit of Acrocorinth above Corinth

World Record

Oldest Fortress in the World

Acrocorinth

1600 BCE – 1830 CE

The sheer citadel hill towering 575 metres above ancient Corinth, fortified continuously from the Bronze Age through Venetian and Ottoman times. Whoever held Acrocorinth controlled the Isthmus of Corinth and, with it, overland traffic between southern Greece and the rest of the mainland.

Bronze AgeClassicalHellenistic

Venetian castle and Bourtzi tower at Methoni harbour

Featured

Country Record

Oldest Fortress in Greece

Methoni

700 BCE – 1830 CE

A fortified harbour town on the southwestern tip of the Peloponnese, crowned by a Venetian castle whose sea gate opens onto the Ionian. Methoni guarded routes to Italy and the Crusader East; its walls and Bourtzi tower still frame the channel where Bronze Age traders and modern film crews alike seek the open sea.

ClassicalHellenisticRoman

Mud-brick ksar of Aït Ben Haddou climbing a hillside in Morocco

Featured

Continent Record

Oldest Settlement in Africa

Aït Ben Haddou

1600 CE – 1950 CE

A fortified earthen ksar on the old caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakesh, its stacked pisé towers climbing a hillside above the Ounila River. UNESCO listed the ensemble in 1987; filmmakers from Gladiator to recent Trojan epics have used its ridge as a stand-in for ancient walled cities when cameras need sun, dust, and mud-brick authenticity.

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Early ModernOttoman