Amazing Old Buildings/Structures Around The World

[Fat boy]

Agra Fort in India was built in the year 1573 under the reign of Akbar – one of the greatest Mughal Emperors. It took more than 4000 workers and eight years of hardship to complete the fort. Knowing the significance of its location, Akbar built the fort to make it the main residence of the Mughals. The fort remained as the main residence of the emperors belonging to the Mughal dynasty until the year 1638. The fort houses numerous impressive structures like the Jahangir Mahal, Khas Mahal, Diwan-i-Khass, Diwan-i-Am, Machchhi Bhawan and Moti Masjid. In 1638, the capital of the Mughal dynasty was moved from Agra to Delhi, causing the Agra Fort to lose its status as the main residence of the Mughal emperors. The fort is separated from its sister monument Taj Mahal by just 2.5 kilometers. Often described as the walled city, Agra Fort is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Today, the fort is a major tourist spot and attracts many tourists from all over the world.

 

[Fat boy]

Red Fort, also called Lal Qalʿah, also spelled Lal Kila or Lal Qila, Mughal fort in Old Delhi, India. It was built by Shah Jahān in the mid-17th century and remains a major tourist attraction. The fort was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007.
The fort’s massive red sandstone walls, which stand 75 feet (23 metres) high, enclose a complex of palaces and entertainment halls, projecting balconies, baths and indoor canals, and geometrical gardens, as well as an ornate mosque. Among the most famous structures of the complex are the Hall of Public Audience (Diwan-i-Am), which has 60 red sandstone pillars supporting a flat roof, and the Hall of Private Audience (Diwan-i-Khas), which is smaller, with a pavilion of white marble.

 

[Fat boy]

Nijo Castle in Kyoto, Japan, was built in 1603 as the Kyoto residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo Period (1603-1867). His grandson Iemitsu completed the castle's palace buildings 23 years later and further expanded the castle by adding a five story castle keep.
After the Tokugawa Shogunate fell in 1867, Nijo Castle was used as an imperial palace for a while before being donated to the city and opened up to the public as a historic site. Its palace buildings are arguably the best surviving examples of castle palace architecture of Japan's feudal era, and the castle was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994.
Nijo Castle can be divided into three areas: the Honmaru (main circle of defense), the Ninomaru (secondary circle of defense) and some gardens that encircle the Honmaru and Ninomaru. The entire castle grounds and the Honmaru are surrounded by stone walls and moats.

 

[Fat boy]

Himeji Castle, also known as White Heron Castle (Shirasagijo) due to its elegant, white appearance, is widely considered as Japan's most spectacular castle for its imposing size and beauty and its well preserved, complex castle grounds. The castle is both a national treasure and a world heritage site. Unlike many other Japanese castles, it was never destroyed by war, earthquake or fire and survives to this day as one of the country's twelve original castles. The castle recently underwent extensive renovation over several years and was fully re-opened to the public in 2015.
Himeji Castle lies at a strategic point along the western approach to the former capital city of Kyoto. The first fortifications built on the site were completed in the 1400s, and were gradually enlarged over the centuries by the various clans who ruled over the region. The castle complex as it survives today is over 400 years old and was completed in 1609. It is made up of over eighty buildings spread across multiple baileys, which are connected by a series of gates and winding paths.

 

[Tania Admin]

The Cairn of Barnenez (also: Barnenez Tumulus, Barnenez Mound; in Breton Karn Barnenez; in French: Cairn de Barnenez or Tumulus de Barnenez) is a Neolithic monument located near Plouezoc'h, on the Kernéléhen peninsula in northern Finistère, Brittany (France). It dates to the early Neolithic, about 4800 BC. Along with the Tumulus of Bougon and Locmariaquer megaliths, also located in Great West France, it is one of the earliest megalithic monuments in Europe and one of the oldest man-made structures in the world. It is also remarkable for the presence of megalithic art.
Located in northern Finistère and partially restored. According to André Malraux it would have been better named 'The Prehistoric Parthenon'. The structure is 72 m (236 ft) long, 25 m (82 ft) wide and over 8 m (26 ft) high.

 

[Fat boy]

Cemberlitas Hamam
Situated next to the Cemberlitas Column, near the Grand Bazaar, the Cemberlitas Hamam was established in 1584. It was built by architect Mimar Sinan (chief Ottoman architect) with the wish of Nurbanu Sultan, mother of Selim II, to provide a source of revenue for the Valide-i Atik Mosque in Uskudar. The dressing room areas are roofed with large domes and the baths have 38 washing basins. The large dome covering the hot section (harare) is supported by high arches on top of columns with baklava-shaped heads. Marble slab walls topped by tulip shapes separate the cubicles from the main area. These dividers have inscriptions carved into each side. This building dates to Sinan’s last period, known to be his most skillful.
Both of its bath chambers have a huge marble sıcaklık (circular marble heat platform) and a gorgeous dome with glass apertures. The camekan (entrance hall) for men is original, but the women's version is new.

 

[Tania Admin]

It is a Neolithic city dated between 7400 and 5200 BC. This city is an important proof of social change, the beginning of agriculture, the urban life and the first home architecture. The city consists of two parts, East Tumulus and West Tumulus. There are 18 settlement layers on the East Tumulus. In these layers, there are original ruins and materials such as first landscape painting, first ornaments, mother goddess sculptures, belief woks, and terracotta kitchen tools symbolizing social organization and transition to settled life. The West Tumulus shows cultural features from the Chalcolithic Period. It has unique features about the residential style without a street, the houses with entrance through the roofs and all houses combined to each other. It was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012. Çumra District, Konya City, Turkey. Çatalhöyük Neolithic City.

 

[Goodstuff36 Bon truc in french]

It is a Neolithic city dated between 7400 and 5200 BC. This city is an important proof of social change, the beginning of agriculture, the urban life and the first home architecture. The city consists of two parts, East Tumulus and West Tumulus. There are 18 settlement layers on the East Tumulus. In these layers, there are original ruins and materials such as first landscape painting, first ornaments, mother goddess sculptures, belief woks, and terracotta kitchen tools symbolizing social organization and transition to settled life. The West Tumulus shows cultural features from the Chalcolithic Period. It has unique features about the residential style without a street, the houses with entrance through the roofs and all houses combined to each other. It was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012. Çumra District, Konya City, Turkey. Çatalhöyük Neolithic City.

View attachment 96894

The truth is they just don't make houses like they used to.

 

[Tania Admin]

The Leshan Giant Buddha in the province of Sichuan, China.
71 m (233 ft) tall
Carved between 713 and 803 AD

 

[Tania Admin]

700-year old house in Iran.

 

[Tania Admin]

#DidYouKnow

Windsor Castle has been used as one of the permanent residences of the British royal family since the 11th century.

 

[Tania Admin]

Now this one isn't as old as the others on here but it's still old. And oh so beautiful ❤

Victorian Terrace 'Waterloo' in Melbourne, Australia, built in 1890.

 

[Tania Admin]

THE OLDEST PRIVATE HOME IN ENGLAND

This is Saltford Manor in Somerset, England.
It’s thought to be the oldest occupied private home in England. It’s been dated back to 1150 which makes the house over 800 years old.

Saltford Manor is a Grade II listed building, and records show that it was originally owned by the Bishop of Coutances.

The Duke of Chandos owned the home until the late 1700’s and then it was owned by the Flower family until the end of the 1800’s until farmers purchased the manor.

The manor fell into disrepair until the 1940s, until it became a headquarters for the Saltford Boy Scouts. The new owners purchased the home in 1997 and restored the home!

 

[Tania Admin]

This Place Is Older Than Modern Civilization.

 

[Tania Admin]

Herodium or Herodion was King "Herod the Great's" palace/fortress with a small town included as his residence and final resting place out in the middle of the Judeaen Desert. 37-4 BCE. It sits 758 meters (1730 ft) above sea level, the highest point in the desert, giving clear 360 degree lines of sight and acts as both a palace and imposing fortress.
H/t History Leak.

 

[Tania Admin]

Any of our members been here?

Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. A Buddhist temple constructed in the 8th and 9th centuries CE, it is the oldest temple in Indonesia.

 

[Tori Lion]

I have a huge interest in Old/Ancient buildings and history and thought it would be cool to have a thread where we can all share Old/Ancient buildings/structures that perk our interest.

I am starting with one that isn't commonly talked about.


Citadel of Erbil-Kurdistan - World Heritage List
The site of the citadel may have been occupied as early as the Neolithic period, as pottery fragments dating to that period have been found on the slopes of the mound. Clear evidence for occupation comes from the Chalcolithic period, with sherds resembling pottery of the Ubaid and Uruk periods in the Jazira and southeastern Turkey, respectively. Given this evidence for early occupation, the citadel has been called the oldest continuously occupied site in the world.
Human settlement at Erbil can be dated back to the 5th millennium BC, and it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited areas in the world. The earliest historical reference to the region dates to the Third Dynasty of Ur of Sumer, when King Shulgi mentioned the city of Urbilum. The city was later conquered by the Assyrians

View attachment 82899

Wow that's really cool

 

[Tori Lion]

The oldest house in Aveyron, France; built in the 13th Century.
View attachment 84492

Would loveto see the inside

 

[Lia Luca]

Beautiful wow

 

[Tania Admin]

Tower at Meenakshi temple, Madurai,lndia.

 

[Tania Admin]

Chichen Itza in 1892 and currently. Mexico

 

[Tania Admin]

Huayna Picchu, Peru sits just above Machu Picchu and has stairways not for the faint of heart.

 

[Tania Admin]

A floating Palace.
Jal Mahal Palace, Jaipur.

 

[Tania Admin]

Utroba Cave ~
in the Rhodope mountains, Bulgaria. Carved by hand more than 3000 years ago, it was rediscovered in 2001.

Archeologists hypothesize that an altar built at the end of the cave, which is about 22 m deep, represents either the cervix or the uterus.

At midday, light seeps into the temple through an opening in the ceiling, projecting an image of a phallus on to the floor.

When the sun is at the right angle, in late February or early March, the phallus grows longer and reaches the alter, symbolically fertilizing the womb before the sowing of the spring crops.

 

[Tania Admin]

Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavarian Alps . The Castle at Disney Land was modeled after this.

 

[TantraShiva]

Wonder where the idea for frozen came from

 

[Tania Admin]

Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine. It was the largest building in the Forum in Rome. Opened in 312 CE.

 

[Tania Admin]

I know this isn't a building but it is absolutely amazing architecture!

I wonder if anyone awkwardly had sex on these stairs?

This incredible spiral staircase was carved from a single tree in 1851 and is located in the Lednice Castle in the Czech Republic.

 

[TantraShiva]

Ooh thats specky!

 

[Tania Admin]

The Paris Opera House