The Worlds Oldest Buildings That Are Still in Use
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 พ.ค. 2024
- Explore the world's oldest structures still in use, including the Tower of Hercules, Colosseum, Luxor Temple, Hōryū-ji Temple, and 9,000-year-old Sassi di Matera. Discover the fascinating history, rich cultural significance, and modern-day use of these ancient buildings.
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While the Colosseum is the epitome of Classical Roman spectacles, let's not overlook the Pantheon (also in Rome) which was built roughly a century earlier c.126 AD and is perfectly preserved in its original construction with just a few later accoutrements over the centuries. Moreover it's been a place of worship the ENTIRE time with it originally being a Roman temple but has been a Catholic church called the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs since 604 A.D. Moreover, it's still the largest unreinforced concrete dome with its original Roman bronze outer doors still remaining!Oh, the the entire time it's had a big hole right smack in the middle of the roof called the oculus that has been its main light source.
The Parthenon was built a century later than the Flavian Amphitheatre aka the Colosseum, not earlier. It is an incredible building, as is the Mausoleum of Hadrian aka Castel Sant'Angelo, which was built contemporaneously to the Pantheon.
It's called the Parthenon just for future notice not to be confused with the pantheon of the gods which is not a building but hiarchical structure of the many deities
@@manbehindzecurtain you’re just wrong. The Pantheon is also building in Rome as well as what you said. The Parthenon is another building, in another country, thousands of miles away
@@manbehindzecurtain The Parthenon is in Greece. The Pantheon is in Italy.
@@manbehindzecurtain and since the Pantheon was a Temple for many gods, aka a temple to the Pantheon, it was just called the Pantheon
0:26 the tower of Hercules
2:38 the Colosseum
5:15 the Luxor temple
7:27 Horyu-Ji temple
9:41 Sassi Di Matera
My local church was originally built in around 1000 AD it’s original part has this tiny gargoyle dragon(only gargoyle on the whole church) that was said to have been trapped by some knight and if it’s ever broken the dragon will rise and burn the town the ground
@@timsmith1323 good way to keep delinquents from vandalizing it... Lol
@@norkshit haha it’s a small town in the arse end of Yorkshire only vandalism you get is a bird shitting on your car Lmao
"An old building is like a show. You smell the soul of a building. And the building tells you how to redo it." -- Cameron Mackintosh
Back in 2012 I spent a couple of nights in a cave hotel (yes with electricity and running water!) in Matera. What's remarkable is the hotel even had a cave with a swimming pool! It was not all that wide, maybe 5 meters but it was very long with a kink in the cave such that from one end you couldn't see the other. This hotel was built recently by Matera standards but you can tour some of the ancient caves including one that is completely outfitted as it would have been a few hundred years ago. It is definitely worth a visit!
What's the name of the hotel?
I think the whole city of Matera should have been mentioned. It’s possibly the oldest continuously inhabited place in the world. Remains from the Palaeolithic were found in its caves.
The Arena di Verona was built in 30AD by Tiberius Ceasar. It is about two thirds the size of the Colosseum in Rome but it is fully intact AND is in full use today as a venue for concerts and full scale operas during a major part of the year. It should have been included.
thank you! wanted to leave the same comment.
James Tiberius Kirk
0:30 - Chapter 1 - The tower of hercules
2:45 - Chapter 2 - The colosseum
5:20 - Chapter 3 - The luxor temple
7:30 - Chapter 4 - Horyu ji temple
9:45 - Chapter 5 - Sassi di matera
The field systems of West Cornwall have been in continuous use as farms since the Bronze Age, certainly amongst the oldest man made structures still used for their original purpose.
Indeed. Same with many of the rice fields that are built up the steppes of the mountains in China- they’ve been around for centuries.
I'm sure there's far older farms in use.
@@holyheretic3185 Can you please pass me the evidence.
@@rialobran you know how Google works. Rice paddy fields 10, 000 years old in China. Fertile crescent is 13k years old. And so on. Idk why you think Cornwall in England is the most ancient of places lol.
@@holyheretic3185 Neither the paddy fields of China nor the farms of the fertile crescent contain buildings, the paddy fields in China that are of the age you suggest are no longer used but had to be rediscovered. They are also nothing more than earth banks. There is no evidence that any farm within the fertile crescent has a building more than a few centuries old. If you took the time to read my statement you will see I used the word 'amongst' indicating that they can be classified along with others. If you also use a search engine you will come across this statement " Cornish hedges are older than the Pyramids, older than Stonehenge, and the oldest man- made artefact known to be still in use for their original purpose." Not my quote.
Cornwall is a Duchy and not constitutionally 'in' England.
I'm literally from A Coruña and didn't stop to think about the Tower of Hercules when clicking the video. It has a nice park surrounding it, good for walks
Also the Pula Arena in Croatia is pretty cool, in better shape than the roman colosseum. I'd recommend a visit if you find yourself in Croatia. I enjoyed it.
Tower of Lupus does sound pretty cool. Lupus means wolf in Latin. The Romans believed that a she-wolf nursed Romulus and Remus as infants.
Not only that, but I would think having it named after the very real architect that designed it would be cool. I'm willing to bet my name won't be around in 2000 years!
@@jamisonr Maybe if TH-cam lasts that long.
"My home dates back to Elizabethan times"
Resident of Sassi: "Hold my whitewash bucket".
Speaking of Hercules, the demigod has a curious link to Rome's origin. Before the founding of the city, the inhabitants of the Aventine Hill were constantly terrorized by a horrible fire-breathing monster called Cacus. Just when they were planning to abandon the settlement, Hercules (who visited Italy during his travels) appeared and, after finding the monster in his cave, killed him. As thanks for saving them, the people of the Hill dedicated an altar to Hercules, who became the first God revered in the Seven Hills.The Steven Saylor's novel "Roma" recounts this event, if you are interested
Caesar si viveret, remix alligatus esses.
Hercules is actually his Roman name. In Greek he was named Heracles, translating to Champion of Hera. The name was Zeus' attempt to placate Hera after he cheated on her.
Remus and Romulus
Legit cool story bro!
The gods were planets surrounded by plasma from ancient celestial orbital configurations. Mars was the pupil.
Look up SQUATTER MAN. Its used as a symbol all over the world
I was hoping Newgrange in Ireland would get an honerable mention, though not as impressive a structure and having had a face-lift in the 1950's, it is 5200 years old and still marks the winter solstice reliably every year
I got curious about how it could still be accurate after 5000 years and some precession of the Earth's axes of rotation and changes in axial tilt. What I found was that there is a five minute delay between sunrise and the sun shining down the passage due to precession and the beam of light does not reach the back wall as it would have done when the Earth's axial tilt was greater.
@@chrisvickers7928 I admire your vigilance, that is very interesting! - I'd love to see it, but space is very limited and the waiting list is very long
@@chrisvickers7928 That is some in depth research! You should be an archeologist!
Exactly how do you mean Newgrange is still in use? Also would it really be defined as a building? According to Britannica's definition of a building it isn't.
@@puppetguy8726 It's a structure with a roof and it's older than the pyramids or stonehenge and it still marks the winter solstice. According to Google it's among the oldest buildings in the world.
The Nimes arena, although not as impressive or famous as the Colosseum, has actually been in use for almost 2 thousand years. It still hosts art and sport events every now and then.
Also the one in arles
And Verona, thats still an active Opera, theater etc stage.
There are a lot of romans theaters and amphitheaters still in use today, yet they choose the one which is not usable.
@@Gorthan Yup, that's the way the Whistlerverse works
Best Rammstein concert ever, IMO, was held there. Perfect setting for the concert.
I've been to the Sassi and it's unforgettable. It's mindblowing. People in Italy were still living in cave dwellings into the 50s. Obviously, only very few, but it's a direct link to a totally different epoch in human history.
The book 'Christ Stopped at Eboli' by Carlo Levi documents a writer's time in Matera where he was internally exiled during the Second World War. A good and evocative book which was made into a rather dull film in the 70s.
Not to mention, staying in one of the houses was really cool
Imagine using a cubbyhole that was used to store flint tools 9,000 years ago.
The Roman amphitheater in Verona still gets used regularly as an opera theater.
I think the caves still count. They may have been closed for a bit, but they were not abandoned. Sounds like renovations started immediately.
There was always someone living/squatting in there in some part or another.
Another great video, guys!
"That distinction is entirely dependent on how we choose to use the word..." DELETED at 7:26. C'mon, man!
Use?
Or "active"? That Italian cave village was evacuated for 30 years to be upgraded, or it would be the undisputed record holder for continued use.
My Italian grandmother was born, raised, and died in the Atruscan building next to the arches in Perugia, Italy. Spent time there as a child and visiting area this late spring.
5:00 fun fact, live concerts do take place in the Verona and Pula arenas, in North Italy and Croatia.
If I’m not mistaken & remember correctly, I believe I heard recently some scientists have figured out the Roman’s original concrete mixture ingredients!
Yep, Roman concrete consisted of a mixture of white powder known as slaked lime, small particles and rock fragments known as tephra ejected from volcanic eruptions, and water.
Yup, and it was not the Romans who invented it. It was Carthage.
Thank you I needed your video today! Had a rough day.
So amazing. Thank you.
I love learning about history.
Might have to check out Horyu-ji when we are in the neighborhood 🤔
Thanks for the info Simon & Team!
The Dolmens of Antequera Spain were built about the time of Stonehenge, yes a tourist trap, but impressive none-the-less.
The caves of Nejra Spain have pictographs that date back 40,000 years.
Great show as usual.
_"Fortunately the United States had a policy not to bomb important cultural sites"_
Monte Cassino abbey's charred rubble: _"I beg to differ"_
I hope there's a part 2 in which you also highlight the Citadel in Erbil! It's located in Northern Iraq, not all that far from Gobekli Tepe. I actually got to visit, it is really amazing.
400 miles away
Gobekli Tepe is awesome.
I was going to comment the same thing, what an awesome site to see
Speaking of Roman mega projects, in terms of capacity, the largest stadium in history (AFAIK) is no modern stadium, but the Roman Circus Maximus, which held 200,000 people
This is an extremely interesting topic!
Simon, you're hands down the busiest guy on TH-cam. You always make me smile, and I love your oh so British casual snark. ❤ from the Olympic Penninsula.
Loved this episode ❤
Our Colosseum tour guide/ archeologist lady said the Colosseum probably wasn’t flooded for sport bc it wouldn’t allow the under floors to work and bc there was already a naval arena built just down the road for that purpose.
Yo, Simon: you smashed it!
Thanks!
🕵😎..what Amazes me is how Knowledgeable Many Commentors are on Topics like This and Geography...🙏..Much.Respect to All.of You.💞💞💞
I've always thought about this, you guys are very good at thinking like the viewer.... next level
awesome
I've been to all but the first and last of these. Know what I'll be adding to my bucket list now.
What a great idea for a video!
Simon you gotta do a Mega Projects on the Eddystone Light or the Lighthouse of Cordouan some day.
Being American, I find it so cool to live with such ancient structures. Stuff here is considered old at about 200 -300 years.
200-300 years is still old. America was a completely different place back then, so they tell stories of far away times just as much as a 2000yo building. I get how that doesn't seem that interesting though.
Most of my hometown's historic core (Erlangen, Germany) was built in the 1700s, and a lot again in late 18 till early 1900s, so it's not that much older. Walking through these baroque streets or looking at the statuary from the time of the Kaiserreich still feels different. Imo a building doesn't have to be several thousand years old to be a connection to times when the World was completely different.
@@muscledavis5434 I love history and historical sites so that’s probably why I’m interested.
@@go4brookle761 do you know about these native american cities in north america? They're the only truly old buildings one can see in the US and some of them look pretty cool. But i know that's not exactly what you've meant.
@@muscledavis5434 it’s not what I meant but those are important and old but Aunfortunately because native Americans have been designated such small portions of the US a lot of that has been lost. I have close family that are Apache. They unfortunately have no interest in their heritage. I don’t understand it.
Probably because you're only taught the history of the last 200 - 300 years - after you kicked the British out. You have stuff that's far older. I've been in a terrace house in NYC that was built by the Dutch. Your First Nations people built structures that are still standing. There is evidence of Viking visits (although that could be in Canada).
Now THIS, is an interesting topic!
Shout out to the pantheon
I’ve been looking mud-based architecture and read some about Hasan Fathy. so I’m really excited about seeing something old
The newest James Bond movie was shot in Matera and this December they were shooting there a movie staring the Lupine actor Omar Sy.
Spot on AGAIN/goodstuffs!
Starting out with 2000 years old Roman architecture (I love it!) I was afraid you wouldn't get to Houryuuji (or anything else in Japan). While nowhere near as old as the Roman buildings, there are a *lot* of old temples In Japan. Many of them have been rebuild after fires, so the buildings are often only many centuries old, in some cases not even that, even if there's been a temple there for more than a thousand.
But even better, is buying your souvenirs in some local shop that's been around since the 1600s or similar, and still making and selling the same stuff they did when Europe was reeling from the aftereffects of the Reformation. Living in Denmark, I have a few old businesses around, but they seem to max out short of two centuries old. It feels so... recent!
a few homes around Hebron are for sure inhabited for at least as long as Sassi di Matera, as are also, a few places in the desert east of Jerusalem (though there the habitation appears to be by migratory Bedouins and therefore impermanent)
it is always interesting when human creations have the chance to be morphed by geological phenomena and weathered by wind... a special feeling to that!
Living with livestock is difficult at times, but it depends on the livestock! Yep, that's what I got from the video. Thanks Simon, 😊 always learning with "Factboy" ❤️ 😍
At least they bring warmth when it gets cold. If I had to choose between sleeping in near freezing temperatures, or having several goats around, I'd choose the latter.
Simon please tell the name of the theme played before chap. 3! Please please it's killing me to know!!
Please do a video on Karahan Tepe....."recently" discovered and I have seen LOADS of sources that say it is a few thousand years older than Gobleki Tepi.....
Gobleki is widely and unabashedly described as the oldest human building/gathering spot in history, with the building being suited for that purpose....but Karahan Tepe was discovered..... well, I have seen sources that say its older by a couple thousands years.....you have a good team and do quality videos...I would LOVE to hear your take on it.
I read that they recently discovered remanants of previous building under Gobleki Tepi. It will be interesting to see if they find anything interesting.
What song is that used in the Horyu-Ji Temple segment?
Every time I think I'm subscribed to all of Simon's channels, I find another
in that sense, all ancient buildings are still in use, as tourist attraction.. The buildings that still serve the purpose they were built for are: Haram al Sharif of Mecca, Al Aqsa Mosque, and The Dome of the Rock
Visited Egypt in the 1990s and saw Luxor. It was fabulous! But then, all of Egypt was beyond wonderful. I would love to go back. The people were lovely too. Very kind and friendly.
8:30 I heard somewhere that those temples were built without the use of nails. They were constructed using dovetails and other cuts to the wood that allow the boards to be joined without the need for any metal bolts, nails, pins, etc.
Wow! I already visited 3 out of 5. :D
You should do an episode or segment on the Swee Dagon Pagoda in Rangoon / Yangon, Burma / Myanmar. I’ve been there and it’s an incredible place.
It was fantastic.
Matera is amazing. Only someone who hasn't seen it for themselves would dismiss it so slightly.
They are absolutely incredible.
As opposed to seeing it for yourself and falsely propping it up to increase your social media standing?
The word....was bird.
Thank you for this unexpected reminder of my dad, random internet stranger... you made me smile.
I dunno… “Rejoicing servant wolf tower” is pretty much as good as “Hercules’ tower “
(I know that translation’s fae s*ite)
Wow...
side projects is exactly a place I would expect to find you simon have the dictionaries not contacted you yet about putting your picture on side projects
The Roman Colosseum may be big and impressive, yes, but has it ever had Ric flair wrestle Wahoo McDaniel for a championship belt?
I think not.
9,000 years of continual habitation?! That is remarkable! If those walls could speak...
Aaah, but could we inderstand those words? Actually, who cares, would be awesome!
And up to 30 Thousand residents, that’s more than the city I live in!
It's hard to know whether any settlement that's existed for thousands of years was ever temporarily abandoned
I think it happened in the Americas. I believe Tinochtitlan or whatever it was originally called was abandoned by the Mayans and then resettled by who would become the Mexica.
@@only_fair23 yes, sometimes archeological evidence makes it clear that abandonment happened. But if a settlement was only abandoned for a few years, thousands of years ago, that wouldnt show up in the archeological record
Falak-ol-Aflak castle in Khorrmabad in Iran has been in continuous use from the 6th century AD. This should be up there.
I believe you missed the Amphitheter in Pula (Croatia) which is older than the Roman Colosseum but smaller, they have events like concerts in it.
Being in use helps preserve buildings better than abandoning them. My hometown's historic center has it as a policy.
Fun fact about gladiators. Them fighting to the death was actually quite rare. Gladiators were expensive and time consuming to train so one of them dying was just plain bad for business. Fights to the death certainly did happen, but that was generally reserved for special occasions such as a visit from the emperor. Gladiator fights were usually to first blood or something similar. Death matches were usually prisoners condemned to death. Famously, Christians were often pitted against lions or bears prior to the rein of emperor Constantine when he made Christianity legal to practice.
Shout out to the Citadel of Erbil, which has been in continuous use since roughly 3000 BC.
I can see that the running joke of "The British Museum" is alive and well here on this channel.😂😂😂
My understanding of british history is that there was a lot of government sanctioned thievery. Lol
@@goosenotmaverick1156 No different in the US, funny how Americans like to highlight the British Museum, yet ignore their own thievery
@@owenshebbeare2999 I don't disagree. The acts committed by the US in the interest of gaining territory, wiping out history of, and people groups themselves, relocating them for the interest of the government, etc, are all agregious. But that's not what we were talking about here. I simply agreed with the original comment. No need to pretend like we were ignoring it. I also simply put that my entire understanding of British history could be summed up fairly completely by my statement. It wasn't to disclude any other countries acts of similar nature, it just simply wasn't part of the subject matter. But if you want to discuss the trail of tears, all our reservations for the native americans that were here long before European settlers, and the BRITISH, decided to colonize, I'm here for it.
So technically I guess you could say, a lot of our history is British history, past a certain point in history, if you want to get technical. So if it wasn't for the Brits, realistically American history would be a different story than it is. So the influence of the subject matter we were talking about, technically encompasses a chunk of what you brought up...
Hi just wondering is there any experiments where a rocket engine tht NASA use for space programs.. Where they put the engine on the ground blast it on certain amount of time.. And the earth respond with earthquake...cause I remember seeing this documentary somewhere but I just cnt find it anymore.. Thnk u.
I'm from the USA. When I lived in Europe for two years, I was amazed that they have buildings there more than 30 years old!
Travel the US more. 😂
@@TheBasher-_- I have lived in six different states, in the Midwest and on both coasts. I have traveled through most of the USA. Learn to recognize jokes more.
Oi. I call shenanigans on a pint or two. Point or two. That's a Freudian slip. 🥂 I'll write a small list though even if it doesn't matter. Love the content.
How built doth building dost needeth be built to be branded buildings?
Technicalities.
The Huryuji Temple was exclusively constructed of timber from the last stand of trees to be cut in the great Sahara forest.
I come from Coruña and when I saw the title of the video I thought to myself, if the Tower of Hercules isn’t in the video I will have to rant. Luckily, 28 seconds into the video the rant was prevented 😂
Sassi di Matera should count as continuously inhabited. By percentage, my house was vacant longer when my mate Jeff farted so bad we all had to go to the garden for 15 minutes.
I really love this topic ....while my Girlfriend thinks it is so boring I can listen to historical topics like this all day long,its fascinated
The Colosseum is so famous, that its name has been used by many modern entertainment venues, worldwide.
I wonder how many people know they are attending something named after a statue - the Colossus of Nero which was near the site when the Colosseum was built.
@@891Henry exactly, the amphitheatre is actually called the Flavian Amphitheatre.
Challenge your very last statement - Sassi DOES hold the record for the longest continuous use - it just ended in 1950, although I’m not sure 30 years qualifies anyway. Maybe not the “still in use today” bit though. How long was Hercules’ Tower out of commission to be made taller? Was that a break too?
Starting to wonder if Newgrange is ever going to be in one of your videos
flooding the structure, presumably just to flex their victories, for the sake of entertainment..is one hell of a flex, if you ask me.
Well Dang the Anastazi buildings are only like 3200 years (about 1500 BCE) thats dang old
How many channels do you have
The Hagia Sophia has been in constant use as a house of worship since it was built in AD 360. It changed hands from the Christians to the Muslims but it's still in use for its original purpose.
9000!? There's no way that can be right!!!
Roman concrete is insanely durable even surviving an earthquake.
Why have I never heard of that light house before?
Cramers House in Visby is the oldest continuously occupied house in Sweden. The oldest parts are from 1230. (Sweden).
Sassi reminds a lot of that James Bond movie.
I can’t believe how much it was glossed over that they FLOODED THE ARENA TO REENACT NAVAL BATTLES.
Simon, 7,000 BC is in the Neolithic period, not the Paleolithic! Depending on who you ask, the Paleolithic ended about 9,000 or 10,000 BC.
UFC gotta organise an event in the Colosseum someday, in order to pay the tribute to the gladiators slain there.
1. "It was built in the 1st century and renovated in 1791." [Wiki] The present structure certainly looks as if it owes a lot to that renovation. So it's not an old building, just a building on the site of an old one.
Since we figured out the romans secret for building materials, we should rebuild the coluseum.