MEDIEVAL CITIES

ORIGINS OF MEDIEVAL CITIES

From the 11th century, there were fewer invasions so new villages and cities appeared. They were formed near abbeys, monasteries, castles and extisting villages. These urban centres concentrated trade and exchanges between peasants and artisans, then cities grew fast.

These cities were called burghs and their inhabitants burghers. The location of the cities was very important: some of them were founded at crossroads, others near a river or a port, and some of them on top of mountains. The ones near ports, rivers and crossroads were the most important and the richest.

WHAT DO MEDIEVAL CITIES LOOK LIKE?

Medieval cities were surrounded and protected by walls. The streets were narrow and unpaved without sewer systems, There was a square in the city centre and the main buildings were located there: the market place, the town hall and the cathedral. Monarchs and nobles built their palaces in cities.

The residential areas were located around the city centre. The houses had courtyards. Other buildings were hospitals, schools and inns as well as religious buildings such as churches and convents.