A friend of mine who was recently in Italy said the tour guide described Rome as a lasagna: layer upon layer of civilization throughout history. I thought that was a perfect metaphor to describe these cities that date back so far, some several thousand years.
We are in the Andalusian region of Spain’s southern coast and visited the nearby city of Cádiz today. It is the arguably oldest city in Western Europe, founded in 1104 by the Phoenicians, known for their maritime prowess and purple dye. Then came the Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths, Moors, and then Catholic monarchs.
We visited recently uncovered ruins of a Roman amphitheater today, which was basically built like yesterday compared to when the Phoenicians were here.
My Corner of the Village 