Gotham City

Gotham City is a fictional city appearing in DC Comics, and is best known as the home of Batman. Batman's place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in Batman #4 (Winter 1940). In Swamp Thing #53, Alan Moore wrote a fictional history for Gotham City that other writers have generally followed. According to Moore's tale, a Norwegian mercenary founded Gotham City in 1635 and the British later took it over -- a story that parallels the founding of New York by the Dutch (as New Amsterdam) and later takeover by the British. During the American Revolutionary War, Gotham City was the site of a major battle and rumors held it to be the site of various occult rites. Gotham city. Shadowpact #5 by Bill Willingham expanded upon Gotham's occult heritage by depicting a being who has slept for 40,000 years beneath the land upon which Gotham City was built. Strega, the being's servant, says that the "dark and often cursed character" of the city was influenced by the being who now uses... full article at wikipedia