Why are ancient buildings still standing 1500+ years later, but some buildings built like 30 years ago are falling apart?
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To add to other responses, there are very few buildings built 1500 years ago that are still standing, intact, without significant conservation efforts or having deteriorated significantly.
Probably the most famous “old” buildings are the three big pyramids at Giza. But if you [look at pictures of them](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Kheops-Pyramid.jpg) you can see they are falling apart, [the stones are chipped and worn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cheops_pyramid_02.jpg), and [bits have fallen off](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:[email protected]). And that’s the obvious damage. If you take the pyramid of Khafre (the second biggest) [you can see how the top layer of the construction is almost all gone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Egypt.Giza.Sphinx.02.jpg) (and the same is true for the other pyramid, it has just *all* worn away, not just most of it).
Another famous ancient monument is [Stonehenge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stonehenge2007_07_30.jpg), in southern England (parts of which predate the Giza complex). But Stonehenge has gone through various restorations; compare [this photo from 1877](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stonehenge_1877.JPG) and [this one from 2008](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stonehenge_on_27.01.08.jpg) from a similar angle.
Often older buildings are still standing because people have decided they are important enough to protect, preserve, and restore.
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