Europe · a story from the atlas

Old towns and harbours

Piazzas, quays, and hilltop streets that have not changed their minds in five hundred years.

81 places

Adare Village

Adare Village

southwest of Limerick, on the Maigue

— — a row of thatched roofs along a slow river.

Annecy Old Town

at the north end of Lake Annecy, in the French Alps

Annecy Old Town

— the colour the river carries from the lake.

Arachova mountain village

on the south-west slope of Mount Parnassos, above Delphi in central Greece

Arachova mountain village

— — a stone village the snow remembers.

Arcos de la Frontera cliff-top town

above the Guadalete, in the Cádiz sierras

Arcos de la Frontera cliff-top town

— — a town that stops where the rock stops.

Bilbao Casco Viejo old town arcades

on the right bank of the Nervión, across from the modern city

Bilbao Casco Viejo old town arcades

— — seven streets and a covered market, still doing the work.

Bonnieux Perched Village

on the north slope of the Luberon, in central Provence

Bonnieux Perched Village

— — stone the colour of late afternoon.

Bormio Old Town

in the upper Valtellina, below the Stelvio Pass

Bormio Old Town

— — warm water under a town of cold stone.

Bormio Old Town Winter

in the upper Valtellina, below the Stelvio Pass

Bormio Old Town Winter

— — the hour the snow turns blue under the bell tower.

Cagliari Old Town

on the hill above Cagliari, in southern Sardinia

Cagliari Old Town

— the high town the light leaves last.

Castletown House

west of Dublin, on the Liffey

Castletown House

— a Palladian face above the river.

Eguisheim Concentric Village

in Alsace, south of Colmar

Eguisheim Concentric Village

— — streets that curl back to where they began.

Eze Perched Village

above the Côte d'Azur, between Nice and Monaco

Eze Perched Village

— — the colour the Mediterranean leaves on stone.

Galaxidi harbor town

across the Gulf of Corinth from Delphi, on a small peninsula in Phocis

Galaxidi harbor town

— — the harbour the captains came home to.

Genoa Harbor

on Italy's Ligurian coast, west of the Cinque Terre

— — the lantern still burning at the harbour mouth.

Girona Old Town colored riverfront

on the Onyar river, in Catalonia north of Barcelona

Girona Old Town colored riverfront

— — a row of houses that gave the river its colour.

Gordes Hilltop Village

in the Luberon, above the lavender abbey

Gordes Hilltop Village

— — honey stone, stacked into the cliff.

Grazalema mountain village

in the Sierra de Grazalema, in the mountains of Cádiz province

Grazalema mountain village

— — a white village under the wettest sky in Spain.

Hondarribia colored harbor houses

on the Basque coast, across the Bidasoa from France

Hondarribia colored harbor houses

— — the row that paints itself before the boats come in.

Ibiza Dalt Vila walled old town

above the harbour on Ibiza's south coast

Ibiza Dalt Vila walled old town

— — the white town the sea light climbs at evening.

Ile Saint-Louis Quayside

in the middle of the Seine, just east of Notre-Dame

Ile Saint-Louis Quayside

— — the light the Seine takes home each evening.

Kalymnos sponge-diver harbor

on the Dodecanese island of Kalymnos, in the southeastern Aegean

Kalymnos sponge-diver harbor

— — a harbor that remembers what the sea cost.

Lourmarin Village

in Provence, at the foot of the Luberon

Lourmarin Village

— — the gold the limestone holds until evening.

Mandraki harbor windmills

on the old harbour of Rhodes town

Mandraki harbor windmills

— — three stone windmills, and the wind that still finds them.

Marbella old town orange-tree square

in Marbella's old town, just inland from the Costa del Sol

Marbella old town orange-tree square

— — a courtyard the orange trees built.

Megeve Alpine Village

in the Haute-Savoie, below Mont Blanc

Megeve Alpine Village

— the bell over a square the snow holds.

Menerbes Ridge Village

high in the Luberon, on a long limestone spur

Menerbes Ridge Village

— — the village the ridge slowly became.

Mijas white village balconies

above the Costa del Sol, in the hills west of Málaga

Mijas white village balconies

— — the white walls the geraniums lean against.

Papingo stone village

in the Zagori region of Epirus, above the Vikos Gorge

Papingo stone village

— — grey stone, slate roofs, mountain at the door.

Piazza del Campidoglio

atop the Capitoline Hill, above the Roman Forum

Piazza del Campidoglio

— the star drawn in stone, laid four centuries late.

Piazza del Campo

in old Siena, where three hills meet

Piazza del Campo

— a shell of warm brick, tilted toward the tower.

Piazza del Popolo

just inside Rome's old north gate, below the Pincio

Piazza del Popolo

— where the road from the north first becomes Rome.

Piazza della Signoria

in the old centre of Florence, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio

Piazza della Signoria

— the colour bronze gets when it stays outside.

Piazza Grande Arezzo

Arezzo's sloping square, in eastern Tuscany

Piazza Grande Arezzo

— — the square that leans into the late light.

Piazza Navona

in Rome's centro storico, just west of the Pantheon

— — the fountains running where the runners ran.

Piazza Venezia

at the centre of Rome, below the Capitoline Hill

— the white marble the evening turns to gold.

Piazzale Michelangelo

above the Arno, looking back at the duomo

Piazzale Michelangelo

— the hour Florence turns the colour of its rooftops.

Pontevedra Old Town arcaded plaza

in Galicia, in the old town above the Ría de Pontevedra

Pontevedra Old Town arcaded plaza

— — a granite arcade kept for footsteps.

Portaria mountain town

high on Mount Pelion, above the Pagasetic Gulf

Portaria mountain town

— — the plane-tree square that holds the cold spring.

Roussillon Ochre Village

on a ridge in the Luberon, east of Avignon

Roussillon Ochre Village

— — the sunset already in the cliff.

Saint-Tropez Harbour

on the Côte d'Azur, between Marseille and Cannes

Saint-Tropez Harbour

— the light that pulled the painters south.

Strokestown Park

in County Roscommon, west of the Shannon

Strokestown Park

— a long avenue and a longer memory.

Tossa de Mar walled medieval village

on the Costa Brava, an hour up the coast from Barcelona

Tossa de Mar walled medieval village

— — the only fortified town left standing on the Catalan coast.

Vejer de la Frontera white village

on a hilltop in inland Cádiz, above the Atlantic

Vejer de la Frontera white village

— a white town the wind keeps clean.

Vieux Nice Old Town

on the Côte d'Azur, between Castle Hill and the sea

Vieux Nice Old Town

— — ochre walls, and the sea just past them.

Villefranche-sur-Mer Harbour

between Nice and Cap Ferrat, on the Côte d'Azur

Villefranche-sur-Mer Harbour

— the deepwater blue the village climbs above.

Westport Quay

at the head of Clew Bay

— the bay the town walks down to.

Albarracin Red Sandstone Village

Albarracin Red Sandstone Village

Ano Poli Upper Town

Ano Poli Upper Town

Assos Village

Caceres Medieval Old Town

Caceres Medieval Old Town

Cadaques Whitewashed Village

Cadaques Whitewashed Village

Cadiz Old Town Atlantic Seafront

Cadiz Old Town Atlantic Seafront

Cartagena Roman Theatre Harbor

Cartagena Roman Theatre Harbor

Castro Urdiales Harbor Church

Castro Urdiales Harbor Church

Chania Old Town

Chania Old Town

Chania Venetian Harbor

Chania Venetian Harbor

Heraklion Venetian Harbor

Heraklion Venetian Harbor

Ikaria Mountain Village

Ikaria Mountain Village

Kastro Village

Lefkes Village

Limeni Harbor

Lorca Castle Old Town

Lorca Castle Old Town

Mahon Harbor Old Town

Mahon Harbor Old Town

Makrinitsa Stone Village

Makrinitsa Stone Village

Malaga Cathedral Old Town

Malaga Cathedral Old Town

Montjuic Castle Overlooking the Harbor

Montjuic Castle Overlooking the Harbor

Nafplio Old Town

Nafplio Old Town

Naoussa Harbor

Olympos Village

Olympos Village

Pamplona Old Town City Walls

Pamplona Old Town City Walls

Peniscola Castle Old Town on the Sea

Peniscola Castle Old Town on the Sea

Plaka Village

Pyrgi Mastic Village

Pyrgi Mastic Village

Pyrgos Marble Village

Pyrgos Marble Village

Pyrgos Village

Pythagoreion Harbor

Pythagoreion Harbor

Rethymno Old Town

Rethymno Old Town

Rhodes Old Town

Rhodes Old Town

San Sebastian Parte Vieja Old Town

San Sebastian Parte Vieja Old Town

Symi Harbor

Vathia Tower Village

Vathia Tower Village

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