To those from the Western hemisphere, it’s always fascinating to hear that some homes and businesses from the times of the Greek philosophers still have inhabitants, and then you remember that the Western hemisphere is itself not without its own examples, for example some Mexican villages still have temples from the times of the Mayans.
Both where I’m from and where I live in western Europe are the oldest buildings 14th-century churches.
We have so many Roman Ruins here in Aachen (Germany) cause this used to be a hotspot for Thermal baths back in the day. I don’t think there are full roman buildings still hanging on though, just a few arches and columns.
The oldest church was built around 1200, on the remains of an older church from the 7th century and you can go below ground to view those. We also have some Roman ruins from a castellum build around the year 47 you can also go and view.
Edit: The castellum is gone, but there are just some walls and stones.
We have Neolithic attracts and Roman ruins, as well as a castle from somewhere around 1066, also now ruins.
The oldest recorded standing and still used building is from around 1290.
1904, maybe? It’s the only one I know the age of. Maybe the court house is technically older, probably is, but it’s been overhauled a lot.
I’m sure there are older ones, but this one looks like someone left a few weeks ago even though it’s from the 1890’s. You can walk into it after a medium hike. There’s still soot in the fireplace.
https://californiathroughmylens.com/eagle-cliff-mine/
The really old stuff from the native Americans might be around but I’m not familiar with it.
Here in Curitiba it’s this church:
It’s constantly maintained and renovated, but the building is 287 years old, built in 1737. (For reference the city itself is 331yo.)
It’s kind of funny that people here don’t typically remember the name of that church, Igreja da Ordem (Church of the Order; the “order” in question are the Franciscans). Instead they remember the name of the square that the church faces, named after the church - o Largo da Ordem (lit. “Order Plaza”, but more like “the plaza of the church of the Order”).
The oldest intact building in my city is from 1320 - so 700 years old. Baguely Hall, which is an old landowners hall.
The city itself - Manchester - dates back to the roman era and we have the remnants of an old castrum/fort in the city centre dating back to 79 AD - so 1945 years old. Surprisingly there were more complete ruins at the site but much of it was levelled during the industrial revolution.
It’s hard to say for the village I live in. There really are not many officials records but apparently one of the roof tiles had 16xx marked on it. Which makes this totally unassuming house somewhere around 400 years old.
Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem, a pub which claims to be from 1189.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Olde_Trip_to_Jerusalem?wprov=sfti1#
In my village? My gradma’s house which is over 300 years old.
Am Aussie so we don’t really have old buildings, but this is nearly 200
Couldn’t tell you what the oldest building in my city is, but I assume it’s either an old house in what I assume is the historic district. That, or the clocktower in the downtown park that was once part of a transcontinental railway station.
On a couple side notes, I know I did a class field trip in elementary school to one of the old buildings (don’t remember much about it besides a service elevator that if I recall was just held by rope and wasn’t electric), which compared to other places in America is nothing considering I found out my city was founded around 1881. Can’t say I approve of the part where they fought the natives for the land, but history is full of horrid things so there’s no use dwelling on something you can’t change.
Over 700 years. A tower originally built in 1310. The island it’s on is an exclave that is technically part of Hamburg.
Here, there is a 450 year old house that is now owned by a group of citizens who use it to arrange local events.
