"The most heterogeneous temporal elements thus coexist in the city"

"Whoever sets foot in a city feels caught up as in a web of dreams, where the most remote past is linked to the events of today. One house allies with another, no matter what period they come from, and a street is born. … The climactic points of the city are its squares: here, from every direction, converge not only numerous streets but all the streams of their history."

-----Ferdinand Lion, Geschichte biologisch gesehen