Five Really Old African Towns still Existing

       Five Really Old African Towns still Existing

  1.Old Lamu Town, Kenya

Lamu oldest town is one of the oldest town in Africa where you can actually be able to see some of the original Swahili architecture and culture first hand and as almost as it existed almost 700 years ago.

Built in coral stone and mangrove timber, the town is characterized by the simplicity of structural forms enriched by such features as inner courtyards, verandas, and elaborately carved wooden doors. Lamu has hosted major Muslim religious festivals since the 19th century, and has become a significant centre for the study of Islamic and Swahili cultures.

2.Alexandria, Egypt

 

Alexandria was founded by the Greek conqueror Alexander the Great, and derives its name from the same man. It became an important center of the Hellenistic civilization and remained the capital of He

llenistic and Roman & Byzantine Egypt for almost 1000 years until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 641, when a new capital was founded at Fu stat. From the late 19th century and even today, Alexandria became a major center of the international shipping industry and one of the most important trading centers in the world, both because it profited from the easy overland connection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.

3. Mogadishu, Somalia

Mogadishu is an ancient city that was a central trading center in the Indian Ocean trade. Its foundation is unclear, but is mostly associated with traders from the Indian Ocean region, like Arabs, Persians etc who settled in the Banadir coast region. The word Banaadir itself comes from the Persian word Bandar which means port, and refers to the port-cities of the Banadir region of Somalia.

Mogadishu was a wealthy city that was a commercial hub in the Indian Ocean trade. The famous Arabian traveller Ibn Battuta visited this city in the 13th century and wrote extensively about it.

In recent times, Mo

gadishu is still the administrative capital of (war ravaged) Somalia and was until 2009 being held by the notorious Alshabaab militants.

4.Sofala, Mozambique

Sofala, at present known as Nova Sofala, used to be the chief seaport of the Monomotapa Kingdom, whose capital was at Mount Fura. It is located on the Sofala Bank in Sofala Province of Mozambique. It was founded by Somali merchants and seafarers from Mogadishu, and thrived for a long time through slave trade until the Portuguese arrived and invaded most coastal towns including Sofala, for their strategic and resources value. Sofala’s harbour was the oldest harbour in southern Africa. It was visited by Arabs beginning in 915 in order to trade the gold from the hinterland. Persian Muslims settled there in 1020, and during the 14th and 15th centuries Sofala was an important southern outpost of the Islāmic sultanate of Kilwa

5.Fayum, Egypt

 

Faiyum is a city in Middle Egypt. Located 100 kilometers (62 miles) southwest of Cairo, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum Governorate. The town occupies part of the ancient site of Crocodilopolis. Founded in around 4000 BC, it is the oldest city in Egypt and one of the oldest cities in Africa.

Fayoum has seen many days and many regimes, from the greeks, to the Turks, and the French and the Romans  and still exists even today.