As of 2026-10-12, Knossos tops the list with 7,000 BC.
- #1 Knossos — 7,000 BC
ancient Minoan through Roman administrative center and city
Knossos is an archaeological site and ancient urban centre in Crete, Greece. It is located within the southern periphery of Heraklion, about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of the city's historic centre. The site was occupied from the Neolithic period into the first millennium AD and became the largest and best-known centre of the Minoan civilisation. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #2 Phaistos — 3,001 BC
ancient Greek city in Crete
Phaistos, also transliterated as Phaestos, Festos and Latin Phaestus, is a Bronze Age archaeological site at modern Faistos, a municipality in south central Crete. It is notable for the remains of a Minoan palace and the surrounding town. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #3 Thebes — 2,001 BC
ancient Greek city-state
source Wikidata - #4 Sicyon — 2,001 BC
ancient Greek city state Sicyon situated in the northern Peloponnesus
Sicyon or Sikyon was an ancient Greek city state situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day regional unit of Corinthia. The remains lie just west of the modern village of Sikyona. An ancient monarchy at the times of the Trojan War, the city was ruled by a number of tyrants during the Archaic and Classical period and became a democracy in the 3rd century BC. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #5 Rhodes — 1,601 BC
island in Aegean sea, Greece
Rhodes is the largest of Greece's Dodecanese islands and their historical capital, as well as the ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, Rhodes constitutes a municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the South Aegean administrative region. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is the city of Rhodes, home to 50,636 inhabitants according to the 2011 census. By 2022, the island's population had grown to 125,113 people. Located... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #6 Argos — 1,500 BC
ancient Greek city-state
source Wikidata - #7 Idalion — 1,201 BC
ancient city in Cyprus
Idalion or Idalium was an ancient city-kingdom of Cyprus, in modern Dali, Nicosia District. The city was founded on the copper trade in the 3rd millennium BC. Its name does not appear on the Sargon Stele of 707 BC, but does appear on the later Prism of Esarhaddon and in similar spellings in Ashurbanipal's annal. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #8 Mytilene — 1,101 BC
ancient polis of Lesbos, Greece
source Wikidata - #9 Iulis — 1,100 BC
one of four poleis of ancient Keos
source Wikidata - #10 Halicarnassus — 1,100 BC
ancient Greek city in Caria, present day Bodrum in Turkey
Halicarnassus was an ancient city in Caria, in Anatolia. It was located in southwest Caria, on an advantageous site on the Gulf of Gökova, which is now in Bodrum, Turkey. The city was famous for the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, also known simply as the Tomb of Mausolus, whose name provided the origin of the word "mausoleum". The mausoleum, built from 353 to 350 BC, ranked as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata