The oldest residential building in the world. The oldest building in Russia. Civik Tomb, Sweden

Hello 🙂

Every day, walking around the center of St. Petersburg, I pay attention to the sights of our city, which, of course, are familiar to everyone:

Saint Isaac's Cathedral,
Alexandria Pillar,
marble castle,
Engineering lock.

All of them were built a very long time ago, they cannot yet be classified as the oldest buildings, but a lot of time has passed, but they have not lost their attractiveness and beauty.

At the same time, if you just go deeper into the city, you can see buildings that can be called the most ancient buildings in appearance, although they were built several decades ago.

You can even not go far, every day, almost everywhere you can hear about dilapidated housing. It happens even when buying an apartment in a new house, the very next year flaws appear, because of which it is simply dangerous for life to be in these apartments.

I was wondering what the oldest buildings in the world?

The oldest buildings in the world

First of all, I want to express my gratitude to Alexander (his blog), the reader of my "".

It was discovered in 1975; bronze bracelets and ceramic buttons were found in it.

Currently, it has been completely restored and is open to the public. This is one of the symbols and main attractions of the city of Menorca.

The most ancient buildings - 8th place!

Treasury of Atreus or Tomb of Agamemnon, built in ancient city Mycenae (Greece) during bronze age about 1250 years BC, which is more than 3250 years ago and takes the 8th place in the ranking of the most ancient buildings in the world.

The Treasury of Atreus, due to its grandeur and monumental form, is one of the most impressive monuments preserved from Mycenaean Greece. For example, the lintels over the aisles weigh more than 120 tons!!!

The most ancient buildings - 7th place!

The city of Coral was inhabited approximately between 2600 BC. and 2000 BC. is more than 4600 years ago. And on its territory of 60 hectares there are 19 pyramids.

The most interesting thing is that during the archaeological excavations were found - necklace beads, musical instruments and much more, but there were absolutely no weapons. This means that this one of the most ancient cities was peaceful and most likely its inhabitants were engaged in trade.

The most ancient buildings - 6th place!

The Pyramid of Djoser in Egypt is the oldest stone building in the world.

It was erected before 3000 BC. - this is more than 4700 years ago and consisted of six steps located on top of each other. Overall Height the pyramid of Djoser is 62 meters.

The most ancient buildings - 5th place!

And again the mound. On line 5 of the top 10 ancient buildings in the world, I placed the Hulbjerg barrow, located on the southern tip of Langeland Island.

The most interesting thing is that Hulbjerg Tomb was built 5000 years ago. At the same time, it is completely assembled from 13 stone blocks precisely fitted to each other.

The most ancient buildings - 4th place!

Newgrange is a prehistoric monument under the protection of UNESCO and is located in County Meath, in the eastern part of Ireland, about one kilometer north of the River Boyne.

It was built around 3200 BC - that's over 5,100 years ago.

Today, Newgrange is a popular tourist attraction.

The walls of the passages are made up of large stone slabs, twenty-two of which are on the western side and twenty-one on the east. The height of the stone sides is on average about 1.5 meters in height; decorates many blocks.

The most ancient buildings - 3rd place!

With each line we are getting closer and closer to the first place. And we go deeper and deeper into history.

Monte d'Accoddi was built in the north of Sardinia, between Sassari and Porto Torres around 2700 - 2000 BC - that's about 5,200 years old.

The oldest buildings - 2nd place!

Knap of Howar - on the island of Papa Westray in Orkney (Scotland) approximately 5500 years ago in the period from 3700-2800 years. BC. a manor was built - This is the oldest stone house in Northern Europe.

The walls of the Knap of Howar are still standing and support a 1.6 m high cornice, and the stone furniture has also been preserved, which gives a vivid picture of life in this house. Fireplaces, beds, shelving were found almost intact. Just imagine - more than 5000 years have passed, and they are intact!

The most ancient buildings - 1st place!

Here, in fact, we got to the very ancient building our rating.

And rightfully occupied by the Megalithic Temples of Malta is a series of prehistoric monuments in Malta, seven of which are on the list. world heritage UNESCO.
Surprisingly, they were built (just think about it!!) more than 5.5 thousand years ago.

Archaeologists believe that these megalithic complexes are the result of local innovations in the process of cultural evolution. The temples were erected between 3600-3000 BC. BC, which were fully operational and in use until 2500 BC.

Victor Rodriguez, an architect from Portugal, also made his house from real stones in 1973, and a huge number of tourists come to see it. True, his stone house was not included in our rating for obvious reasons. You can look at his creation in the article: ""

But that's not all! The world is big and there are still many interesting things ahead, if you don’t want to miss them, then I advise you

Perhaps you can suggest your options in the comments?

A journey through the most ancient cities on the planet will help you touch the origins of civilization. Visiting during summer vacation some of them, you can not only have a good rest, but also learn a lot of interesting information.

1. Maltese megalithic temples, Malta

Maltese temples are the oldest man-made structures on the ground. Scientific research has proven that temples were built a thousand years before construction Egyptian pyramids. Scientists cannot understand how people at that time could build such structures without the use of special equipment. After all, many monolithic stone slabs from which temples were built weigh more than fifty tons. There is indirect evidence that giant people lived in Malta at that time, and it was not difficult for them to move multi-ton monoliths. There is no answer to the question what kind of civilization existed in this territory, and where did the builders of stone temples go. After all, nowhere else on Earth were found similar structures. Unfortunately, numerous wars and civil strife that took place on the Maltese territory destroyed the ancient buildings to a greater or lesser extent, but many of them survived and are available for tourists to visit. UNESCO took prehistoric temples under its protection and put them on the World Heritage List. Today they are open to tourists.

2. Sardinian ziggurat, Sardinia

The Sardinian ziggurat was built over five and a half thousand years ago and was an important religious center. During the Second World War, the ziggurat was thoroughly destroyed, as a line of defense passed through this place. But starting in 1954, the Sardinian ziggurat began to be restored and restored. Currently, the prehistoric complex hosts numerous groups of tourists from all over the world.

3. Newgrange, Ireland

Newgrange is one of Ireland's landmarks. The oldest building was erected between 3100 and 2900 BC. Newgrange is a megalithic structure, multi-ton stone slabs were used as building material. The plates were interconnected without the use of a special solution. The structure is thirteen meters high and eighty-five meters in diameter. Scientists suggest that it was used as a calendar, since the structure is strictly oriented to the cardinal points. Perhaps, with the help of this structure, the time of sowing and harvesting was determined. Newgrange is located near the Boyne River.

4Hulbjerg Jættestue, Denmark

The building was built over five thousand years ago and was used as a tomb. Scientists archaeologists found the remains of four hundred people in the tomb. The teeth of one of the buried people had traces of healing. The level of ancient dentistry amazed scientists. Without metal instruments, the doctor managed to put a dental filling of a sufficiently high quality.

5. Pyramid of Djoser, Egypt

The oldest in Egypt was built in 2650 BC. The author of the pyramid, Imhotep, erected it for Pharaoh Djoser as a tomb. The pyramid has a stepped shape, for this reason in the circles of scientific archaeologists it is also called the Step Pyramid. The pyramid is very popular among tourists because of its venerable age and unusual shape.

6. Caral, Peru

Karal is a city that existed more than five thousand years ago, it is considered the oldest urban settlement in the American continent. The city arose approximately at the same time as other first world civilizations. Scientists hope to find answers to questions about the emergence of the first civilizations in the city. Currently, seventeen pyramids have been cleared of sand and are available for tourists to visit. The reasons for the disappearance of Caral have not yet been established, it is assumed that people left the city in 1600 BC and moved to other more favorable areas of Peru.

7. Treasury of Atreus, Greece

The tomb is located in Mycenae, its estimated age is three thousand two hundred years. The famous archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann made a great contribution to the scientific research of the tomb. During the excavations, it was found that all the domed tombs, and there were nine of them, were completely looted, but the earlier tombs, erected in the sixteenth century BC, remained intact. Archaeologists discovered the richest burials, the faces of all the people buried in the tomb were covered with masks made of gold. The robes of the buried were also decorated with gold. Scientists have come to the conclusion that the bodies of once-reigning dynasties rest in these tombs.

We fly into space, race to build skyscrapers, clone living organisms and do a lot of things that until recently seemed impossible. And at the same time, they are still unable to unravel the mysteries of the builders and thinkers who lived millennia ago. An ancient cobblestone weighing a hundred tons surprises us more than a computer the size of half a palm.

Goseck Circle, Germany, Goseck

A ring system of concentric ditches and wooden fences was created between 5000 and 4800 BC. Now the complex is reconstructed. Presumably, it was used as a solar calendar.

Statues of "reptilians", French polynesia, Nuku Hiva island

Statues in a place called Temehea-Tohua in the Marquesas Islands depict strange creatures, the appearance of which in the mass consciousness is associated with aliens. They are different: there are large large-mouthed "reptilians", and there are others: with small bodies and disproportionately large elongated helmet-heads with huge eyes. They have one thing in common - an evil expression on their faces. Whether they were aliens from other worlds or just masked priests is unknown. The statues date from around the beginning of the 2nd millennium.

Stonehenge, UK, Salisbury

Altar, observatory, tomb, calendar? Scientists have not come to a consensus. Five thousand years ago, a ring ditch and ramparts around it with a diameter of 115 m appeared. A few centuries later, ancient builders brought here 80 four-ton stones, and a couple of centuries later - 30 megaliths weighing 25 tons. The stones were set in a circle and in the form of a horseshoe. The form in which Stonehenge has survived to this day is largely the result of human activity in recent centuries. People continued to work on the stones: the peasants chipped off pieces of amulets from them, the tourists marked the territory with inscriptions, and the restorers figured out for the ancients how they had it right.

Pyramid of Kukulkan, Mexico, Chichen Itza

Every year, on the days of the spring and autumn equinoxes, thousands of tourists gather at the foot of the sanctuary of the supreme Mayan deity - the Feathered Serpent. They observe the miracle of the "appearance" of Kukulkan: the Serpent moves down along the balustrade of the main staircase. The illusion is created by the play of triangular shadows cast by the nine platforms of the pyramid at the moment when the setting sun illuminates its northwestern corner for 10 minutes. If the sanctuary had been displaced even by a degree, none of this would have happened.

Karnak stones, France, Brittany, Karnak

In total, about 4,000 megaliths up to four meters high are arranged in slender alleys near the city of Karnak. The rows run parallel to each other or diverge like a fan, in some places they form circles. The complex dates back to the 5th-4th millennium BC. There were legends in Brittany that it was the wizard Merlin who made the ranks of Roman legionnaires turn to stone.

Stone balls, Costa Rica

Pre-Columbian artifacts scattered close up pacific coast Costa Rica, were discovered in the 1930s by banana plantation workers. Hoping to find gold inside, the vandals destroyed many balls. Now most of the rest are kept in museums. The diameter of some stones reaches 2.5 meters, weight - 15 tons. Their purpose is unknown.

Georgia Guidestones, USA, Georgia, Elbert

In 1979, someone under the pseudonym R.C. Christian ordered a construction company to manufacture and install a monument - a structure of six granite monoliths with a total weight of more than 100 tons. On the four side plates are engraved ten commandments to descendants in eight languages, including Russian. The last paragraph reads: "Do not be a cancer for the Earth, leave a place for nature too!"

Nuraghi Sardinia, Italy, Sardinia

Semi-conical structures resembling huge beehives (up to 20 m high) appeared in Sardinia at the end of the 2nd millennium BC, before the arrival of the Romans. The towers were built without a foundation, from stone blocks superimposed on each other, not fastened with any mortar and held only by their own weight. The purpose of the nuraghe is unclear. It is characteristic that archaeologists have repeatedly discovered miniature models of these towers made of bronze during excavations.

Saxahuaman, Peru, Cusco

The archaeological park at an altitude of 3700 meters and an area of ​​3000 hectares is located north of the capital of the Inca Empire. The defensive and at the same time temple complex was built at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries. Zigzag crenellated walls, reaching 400 meters in length and six in height, are made of multi-ton stone blocks, including 200-ton ones. How the Incas installed these blocks, how they adjusted them one under the other, is unknown. From above, Saxahuaman looks like the toothy head of the puma Cuzco (the city was founded in the form of a sacred animal of the Incas).

Arkaim, Russia, Chelyabinsk region

The settlement of the Bronze Age (III-II millennium BC) is located on the same latitude as Stonehenge. Coincidence? Scientists don't know. Two rows of circular walls (the diameter of the far one is 170 m), a drainage system and a sewerage system, a well in every house are evidence of a highly developed culture. The monument was discovered by students and schoolchildren from an archaeological expedition in 1987. (In the photo - a model-reconstruction.)

Newgrange, Ireland, Dublin

The Celts called it Fairy Mound and considered it the home of one of their chief gods. A round structure made of stone, earth and rubble with a diameter of 85 meters was erected more than 5000 years ago. A corridor leads inside the mound, ending with a ritual chamber. On the days of the winter solstice, this chamber is brightly illuminated for 15–20 minutes by a ray of sun that enters the window above the tunnel entrance.

Coral Castle, USA, Florida, Homestead

The whimsical structure was single-handedly built in 28 years (1923-1951) by the Latvian immigrant Edward Lindskalnin in honor of lost love. How a man of modest height and build moved huge blocks in space remains a mystery.

Yonaguni pyramids, Japan, Ryukyu archipelago

Monuments of huge stone platforms and pillars located under water at a depth of 5 to 40 meters were discovered in 1986. The main of these structures has the form of a pyramid. Not far from it is a large platform with steps, similar to a stadium with spectator stands. One of the objects resembles a huge head, like the moai statues on Easter Island. IN scientific community there are disputes: many believe that the formations lying on the bottom of the ocean have exclusively natural origin. But loners like Masaaki Kimura, a professor at Ryukyu University who has repeatedly dived to the ruins, insist that a person was involved.

Greater Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe, Masvingo

One of the largest and oldest stone structures South Africa was built from the XI century, and in the XV, for some unknown reason, it was abandoned. All structures (up to 11 meters in height and 250 in length) were built using the dry masonry method. Presumably, up to 18,000 people lived in the settlement.

Delhi Column, India, New Delhi

Iron column over 7 meters high and weighing over 6 tons - part architectural complex Qutub Minar. It was cast in honor of King Chandragupta II in 415. For unclear reasons, the column, which is almost 100% iron, is virtually indestructible. Scientists are trying to explain this fact by various reasons: the special skill and technology of ancient Indian blacksmiths, dry air and specific climatic conditions in the Delhi region, the formation of a protective shell - in particular, as a result of the fact that the Hindus anointed the sacred monument with oils and incense. Ufologists, as usual, see in the column another proof of the intervention of extraterrestrial intelligence. But the secret of "stainless steel" has not yet been unraveled.

Nazca Lines, Peru, Nazca Plateau

A 47-meter spider, a 93-meter hummingbird, a 134-meter eagle, a lizard, an alligator, a snake, other zoomorphic and humanoid creatures ... Giant bird's-eye images seem to be scratched into the devoid of vegetation rock, and as if with one hand, in the same style. In fact, these are furrows up to 50 cm deep and up to 135 cm wide, made in different time in the 5th-7th centuries.

Nabta Observatory, Nubia, Sahara

In the sands next to dry lake is the oldest archaeoastronomical monument on the planet, 1000 years older than Stonehenge. The location of the megaliths allows you to determine the day of the summer solstice. Archaeologists believe that people lived here seasonally, when there was water in the lake, so they needed a calendar.

Antikythera mechanism, Greece, Antikythera

A mechanical device with dials, hands and gears at the beginning of the 20th century was found on a sunken ship sailing from Rhodes (100 BC). After lengthy research and reconstruction, scientists found that the device served astronomical purposes - it made it possible to monitor the movement of celestial bodies and make very complex calculations.

Baalbek Plates, Lebanon

Rimsky temple complex belong to the I-II century AD. But the Romans did not build sanctuaries in an empty place. At the base of the temple of Jupiter lie more ancient slabs weighing 300 tons. The western retaining wall is made up of a series of "trilithons" - three limestone blocks, each more than 19 m long, 4 m high and weighing about 800 tons. Roman technology was not able to lift such a weight. By the way, not far from the complex for more than one thousand years there is another block - under 1000 tons.

Göbekli Tepe, Turkey

The complex on the Armenian Highlands is considered the oldest of the largest megalithic structures(approximately X-IX millennium BC). At that time, people were still engaged in hunting and gathering, but someone was able to erect circles from huge steles with images of animals.

How many years can a house last? History gives very unexpected answers to this question - there are cases when people live in separate houses for centuries and even millennia! It all depends on the material environment and attention of a person to his home.

So, let's try to determine the oldest residential building in the world.

wooden house

The oldest of the wooden residential buildings, which has not only survived to this day, but continues to serve faithfully for its intended purpose, is the so-called "King's Farm" on Faroe Islands(included on the rights of autonomy in Denmark). It was supposedly built in the 11th century.

At first, the residence of the local bishop and the seminary were located in this house. But after in 1538 all real estate catholic church in the Faroe Islands became the property of the King of Denmark, the "mansion" got its classic name. The ancient Danish family of Patersson, who has been living here since the middle of the 16th century, only rents land and housing from the Danish crown.

stone house

Perhaps this very original house of either three or four floors, located in the French Aveyron, can be called the oldest of the stone residential buildings still inhabited. Its history dates back to the 13th century.

Such an unusual design, expanding upward, speaks of the frugality of its former owners. The point is that in medieval France All residential buildings were taxed on the number of square meters, and only the first floor was taken into account.

If hotels can be attributed to residential buildings, then the “champion” in this category is undoubtedly the Hyoshi Hotel. Built in the suburbs Japanese city Komatsu, he received his first guests back in 717.

Almost 50 generations of owners have changed since that memorable year, but the hotel still hospitably opens its doors to guests who are ready to pay 300 euros per day for comfort, modern amenities and SPA treatments in healing springs, but most importantly - for the unique aroma of antiquity .

They can argue!

Other objects in which people live to this day could well intervene in the dispute about who and what is ancient, if not for one “but” - with all the conventions it is difficult to name traditional house... a cave. But still.

About 170 families live in the village of Kandovan (Iran) today. They organized their life in bizarre grottoes that arose in volcanic rocks. People have settled here for over 800 years.

According to experts, architecture structures appeared long before our era. The ancient structures preserved on our planet are amazing, they amaze the imagination. We will find out which buildings are the oldest in the world. Buildings that have come down to us ancient world completely different from the structures of modern architecture.

Legendary buildings of the ancient world

Temple of Queen Hatshepsut (Egypt)

Mamertine Dungeon (Rome)

Pyramid of Djoser in Sakar

Greater Zimbabwe

The height of the ancient ruins reaches eleven meters. All structures were erected using the dry masonry method - granite slabs are laid in rows. This is surprising, since the standard material of Africa of that period was wood and clay.

Skara Brae Settlement

The oldest buildings in Russia

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral (Pereyaslavl-Zalessky)

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery (Pskov)

Dormition Knyaginin Monastery

Church of Boris and Gleb (Kideksha village)

The oldest surviving building in the world

The necropolis consists of five megalithic burial mounds dating back to the Neolithic era. As a result of the excavations, it turned out that the oldest building of this complex was built in 4800 BC. e.

And the most Old city in Russia it is Derbent. The website site has a detailed and their history.
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