A historic district is a part of the city where there are still a good number of old buildings and where you can get a feel for what the area looked like in the past.

Historic districts tend to be at, or close to the city or town centre because these places are likely to be the oldest and to be places where the best quality buildings were put up. This means they are more likely to survive through the ages.

Historic districts often have a maze of narrow streets, telling of a time when people got about on foot or using hand carts. Other kinds of historic district are planned areas with great open squares and monuments.

Old churches and cathedrals are often the place to look for historic districts.


The video below shows you the historic district of Bernkastel, a famous ancient wine town on the Mosel River, Germany. Here you will mostly see buildings dating back to Medieval to 17th century times. They are the ones with the wooden frames. Those with the decorated plasterwork are 18th century, and are known as Baroque.