Shrines, castles, temples, and cathedrals are built to last, so it's no wonder that they make up most of the oldest standing buildings in the world. Many of them were commissioned by emperors and kings and rank among the most beautiful architectural structures ever created. But what about the little people? How many of their homes stand the test of time?
Of course, the oldest houses in the world are caves - places where Stone Age humans carved out shelter from the elements. In Italy's Sassi di Matera districts and Iran's Meymand, caves like these were more or less continually inhabited for thousands of years - even up to the present day. There are also more modern types of homes that date back centuries. Both England and the Faroe Islands lay claim to some of the oldest inhabited houses in the world.
Located in Italy's Basilicata region, the caves in Sassi di Matera show evidence of human habitation since the Paleolithic, or "Old Stone Age," which ended about 12,000 years ago. UNESCO calls the site the "most outstanding, intact example of a troglodyte settlement in the Mediterranean region," and some caverns have been converted into modern hotels.
Constructed sometime during the Early Neolithic period, the Knap of Howar was discovered in the late 1920s when the structure was exposed by winter storms. Historic Environment Scotland has deemed it "the best preserved and most complete example of an Early Neolithic stone house known in Scotland (and possibly in north-west Europe)."
The area now known as Meymand was originally settled during the Stone Age. Relatively speaking, its 300 cave dwellings are fairly young; they've only been inhabited for the last three or four millennia.
Located at Dover Castle in Kent, England, this lighthouse (or "pharos") is one of only three to survive the fall of the Roman Empire. It's also "the most complete standing Roman building in England," according to Google Arts & Culture.
