1,377 articles
Villefranche-sur-Mer
Villefranche-sur-Mer (INSEE 06159) is a French Riviera commune in the Alpes-Maritimes near Nice, founded in 1295 by Charles II of Anjou, with a deep Mediterranean rade, the 1557 Citadelle Saint-Elme, and the Cocteau-decorated Chapelle Saint-Pierre; population 5,008 (2023).
Villers-sous-Ailly
Villers-sous-Ailly, a commune in the Somme (Hauts-de-France), France, INSEE code 80804; 167 inhabitants (2023); canton of Rue, arrondissement of Abbeville; known for a geometric Gallo-Roman villa found by aerial archaeology.
Villeurbanne
Villeurbanne, commune (INSEE 69266) in the Rhône, Métropole de Lyon, France; 163,684 inhabitants in 2023 on 14.5 km². Former Dauphiné town turned industrial suburb, known for the 1930s Gratte-Ciel district, the TNP theater, and ASVEL basketball.
Visby
Visby, on Gotland island in the Baltic Sea, was the main Hanseatic League center in the Baltic from the 12th to 14th century; its 3.4 km medieval wall, 200+ warehouses, and church ruins earned UNESCO World Heritage listing in 1995.
Viseu, Viseu
Viseu, Viseu: Portuguese city and municipality, capital of Viseu District in central Portugal; 109,166 residents (2025), 507 km², 25 parishes; PS mayor João Azevedo since 2025; Dão wine center; distinct from Viseu, Pará, Brazil.
Vitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria-Gasteiz, capital of Spain's Basque Country and Álava province (about 260,700 people), European Green Capital 2012 and Global Green City Award 2019, known for its 731-hectare, 35-km Green Belt and compact medieval old town founded in 1181.
Vlaardingen
Vlaardingen is a South Holland municipality west of Rotterdam with 77,480 inhabitants, known for the prehistoric Vlaardingencultuur, the 1018 Battle of Flardinga, its herring port heritage, and current urban renewal programs.
Volos
Volos (Βόλος), Greek port city in Thessaly at the head of the Pagasetic Gulf below Mount Pelion; capital of Magnesia, ancient Iolcus of the Argonaut myth, Greece's third largest commercial port, hit by the 2023 Daniel and Elias floods.
Volterra
Volterra (Etruscan Velathri, Roman Volaterrae) is a 545 m hill town in Pisa province, Tuscany: an Etruscan dodecapolis city, Roman municipium, medieval commune, annexed by Florence in 1472, known for Etruscan walls, Roman theatre, Guarnacci Museum, and alabaster carving.
Wachtberg-Berkum
Wachtberg-Berkum (Berkum), district and administrative seat of Wachtberg in Rhein-Sieg-Kreis, Germany; documented by 856, with Roman quarries on the 263 m Hohenberg whose trachyte built Cologne Cathedral.
Waghäusel
Waghäusel, a Große Kreisstadt in Landkreis Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, formed 1975 from Kirrlach, Waghäusel, and Wiesental; known for the Eremitage palace, the Roman Wagbachkastell, and its 1837–1995 sugar factory.
Wakefield
Wakefield: cathedral city in West Yorkshire on the River Calder, a medieval 'Merrie City' and inland port for coal, corn, and wool; birthplace of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.
Wallasey
Wallasey is a town on the Wirral, Merseyside, opposite Liverpool; recorded in Domesday 1086, a dormitory town grown around the Seacombe, Egremont and New Brighton Mersey ferries and New Brighton resort.
Walldorf
Walldorf, Baden-Württemberg town in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis near Heidelberg; first mentioned 770, town rights 1901, birthplace of Johann Jakob Astor, and worldwide headquarters of SAP SE; distinct from Mörfelden-Walldorf and Walldürn.
Walldürn
Walldürn, a town in Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on the UNESCO-listed Upper German-Raetian Limes; site of Kastell Walldürn (ORL 33), a mid-2nd-century Roman fort of about 160 men, a row-type Roman bath, and a 2.2 km Limes trail.
Wallsend
Wallsend, a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, on the River Tyne's north bank. Named for the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall at Segedunum Roman fort; later a coal mining and shipbuilding center undergoing town centre regeneration.
Walsall
Walsall, a West Midlands market town in the Black Country, England, famed for saddlery and leather goods; also called the home of The Saddlers. Known for its leather museum, medieval market, and Sister Dora statue.
Warrington
Warrington is a market town and unitary borough in Cheshire, England, on the River Mersey between Liverpool and Manchester. Known for Roman Wilderspool, its medieval market, the wire industry ('The Wire'), New Town status, and 215,425 residents (2025 estimate).
Warwick
Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, on the River Avon. Founded as a Saxon burh in 914 by Ethelfleda, it is distinguished from Warwick Castle (built 1068) and from Warwick, Bermuda.
Washington, Tyne and Wear
Washington, Tyne, and Wear: a New Town in the City of Sunderland designated 24 July 1964, built around mining villages, home to Washington Old Hall of George Washington's family and Nissan's Sunderland plant; Metro extension planned by 2033.
Waterloo, Belgium
Waterloo, Belgium, is a Walloon municipality about 16 km south of Brussels, best known as the site of Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
Waterlooville
Waterlooville, Hampshire town in Havant borough, founded 1815 around the Heroes of Waterloo inn on the Portsmouth–Petersfield turnpike; grew fastest in Britain 1958–1973, no rail access, about 31,000 people.
Watford
Watford: town and non-metropolitan district (E07000103) in South West Hertfordshire, north of London. Population ~102,200 (2021), +13.2% since 2011; 12th-century market charter, railway since 1837, elected-mayor borough to merge in 2028.
Weimar
Weimar, Thuringian city of about 65,500 residents, home of Weimar Classicism (Goethe, Schiller), the Bauhaus founded 1919, and the Weimar Republic; two UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Weissenfels
Weißenfels (Weissenfels), Saxony-Anhalt town on the Saale, founded about 1185 by Otto the Rich of Meissen; residence of the dukes of Saxe-Weissenfels 1656–1746 with the Augustusburg palace and princely crypt.
Wellington, Somerset
Wellington, Somerset: a market town in the Tone vale, chartered in 1215 by the Bishops of Wells, tied to the Duke of Wellington's estates and the Fox Brothers Tonedale Mills and Grade II Tone Works textile sites.
Wells, Somerset
Wells, Somerset: England's smallest city, a cathedral city on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills with a 2021 parish population of 11,145, named for the springs in the Bishop's Palace grounds, chartered by King John in 1201.
Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, is the world's second Garden City, founded 1920 by Ebenezer Howard, masterplanned by Louis de Soissons, designated a New Town in 1948, known for its Parkway and neo-Georgian architecture.
Welzheim
Welzheim, a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, hosts a major Roman Limes site: the 4.3-hectare Westkastell (Ala I Scubulorum), the Ostkastell (Numerus Britonum), and Kleinkastell Rötelsee, founded around 160/165 AD, with a vicus lasting to about 254/260.
Wendens Ambo
Wendens Ambo is a village of about 400 people in Uttlesford, Essex, formed on 23 March 1662 by uniting the Domesday parishes of Great and Little Wenden; the name means "both Wendens".