15 Major Cities That Have Been Captured Often by Invaders – Darlinez News.

Capturing a capital city or a nation’s largest urban center is the ultimate trophy attained in war. Some cities have had to suffer that indignity more than once. (Here are 26 cities that have been destroyed by war in the last 200 years.)

To compile a list of major cities around the world that have been frequently invaded, 24/7 Tempo consulted numerous historical and general interest websites, including History, Britannica, Smithsonian, ThoughtCo, National Geographicand Library Ireland. The list of each city’s invaders is representative, recording some of the most significant invasions, but is not complete. For instance, it is estimated that Jerusalem has been invaded 44 times throughout its history, and the Sicilian city of Palermo proudly calls itself “the most conquered city in the world.”

Armies aspire to conquer major cities for many reasons.

A major city can have strategic importance, such as Constantinople, located at the narrowest point of the Bosphorus Strait, or Singapore, at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Another example is Palermo, Sicily, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

Other cities can hold a religious significance, like Jerusalem – important to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – which has been fought over for more than 3,000 years. Baghdad, a key city along trading routes, is another urban center that has been vanquished many times in its history. Tenochtitlán, which evolved into Mexico City, succumbed to Hernan Cortes and the Spanish conquistadors seeking gold in the Western Hemisphere. (These were the mega-cities of the ancient world.)

Click here to learn about 15 major cities that have been captured often by invaders

Cities such as Rome, Paris, and London are steeped in history and carry a mystique that has little or nothing to do with their strategic or religious significance. While both Rome and Paris were occupied by the Germans during World War II, London has remained untouched by foreign incursions since William the Conqueror succeeded in 1066.