Is Old Town unchanged from its original condition hundreds of years ago?
The look and feel of the Old Town is essentially the same as it has been over the past several hundred years. This is true specifically in the residential parts of the Old Town that are less influenced by tourism and development. However, a major earthquake in 1996 devastated much of the city, so that most of the buildings in Old Town that are standing today are either new, rebuilt, or heavily refurbished. With development since then has come more advanced electricity and plumbing facilities, which sometimes involves rebuilding certain sections of streets to accommodate new infrastructure.
