A basic criterion which is used in estimating age of a building is on the basis of the condition of the structure. Below is provided a short list of buildings that due to their conditions and archeological value has been termed as the oldest buildings of the times.
- Shibam: It is a city in Yemen with about 7,000 habitants and dates back to 3rd century AD. In ancient time it was the capital of the Hadramawt Kingdom. The city is known for its distinguished architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The entire houses in Shibam are made of mud brick but about 500 of those houses are tower houses that rise as high as to 5 to 11 stories building. It is also referred as many a times as the “the oldest skyscraper city in the world” or “the Manhattan of the desert”, and is one of the oldest and best examples of urban planning based upon the vertical construction.
- Giza Pyramids: The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain to in its original shape from the past. It is assumed that pyramid were made as a tomb by forth dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu and was constructed over a 20 year period concluding around 2560 BC.
- Ggantija: It is a Neolithic, megalithic temple complex on the Mediterranean island of Gozo. The ?gantija temples are the earliest of a series of megalithic temples in Malta. They are suspected to be constructed around 3600 to 2500 BC that has made these temples to be 5500 years old and one of the oldest manmade religious structures. Along with similar structures like Megalithic Temples of Malta it is been put into the UNESCO World Heritage Site. In folklore these temples are believed to make by giants and being used as places of worship.
- Panthenon: The Pantheon is a building in Rome that is commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and reconstructed by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD. The entire building is circular with a portico of three ranks of huge granite Corinthian columns under a pediment opening into the rotunda, under a coffered, concrete dome with a central opening having towards the sky. Despite being after nearly two thousand years after its construction the dome is world’s largest unreinfroced concrete dome.
- Newgrange: It is a prehistoric monument situated in County Meath, on the eastern side of Ireland that is located one kilometre north of the River Boyne. It is an example of a megalithic passage tomb mound. The monument was constructed around circa 3100 and 2900 BC, during the Neolithic period, to keep the remains of the dead over there. It is suggested that Newgrange is as similar and common to the famous Maeshowe tomb in Orkney, Scotland and Bryn Celli Ddu site in Wales. It is too part of the Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage Site.