The East · Geography · Maps · Monarchies · Society
Out of the shards of the Ottoman possessions, Catherine planned to fashion a New Byzantine realm for her grandson Constantine, who was to be enthroned in Constantinople. On the map these lands are marked in red. Catherine is believed to have put faith in the Orthodox prophecy of Constantine, the
NB!
Books · Observations · New York · Society · Nature
In New York, Conscientious People Are Outraged at the Cruel Treatment of Horses, an Important Part of the City's Tourist and Entertainment Industry. Incidentally, I am sure this is a common problem for all big cities where horse labour is exploited for amusement: the wretched animals work from
Architecture · Geography · Moscow
Until 1637-40, when Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich had an earthen rampart raised around Moscow, the ring of suburbs encircling the Kremlin, the Bely Gorod and the Kitay-Gorod was known as Skorodom, or Skorodum. Why? In 1588-1592 the villages around Moscow were hastily enclosed with wooden walls, since an
Geography · Society · Nature · Ethnography
European drought exposes so-called hunger stones in riverbeds. The inscription on one of the stones in the Elbe reads: "If you see me, weep." Stones marked with extremely low water levels on the Elbe have surfaced in 2018, in 1918 and in the nineteenth century. The marks
NB! · Cinema · Books · Observations
Since Fantômas is returning, perhaps one of our producers will have the wit to buy the rights to Vil Lipatov's novella and screenplays about the village detective Aniskin? To my mind, against the backdrop of our seven-league strides into the radiant past, it could make quite an
NB! · Cinema · Books · Pop Culture
Fantômas is to return to the screen as the hero of a new series. The new holders of the rights to adapt the novels about the first European superhero assure us that the image of the legendary hooded villain will now be far closer to the original texts of Pierre
Books · Observations · Mores
Found a Russian poem from the early seventeenth century, that is, the end of the Time of Troubles, describing a sister's sinful love for her brother. What is more, the sister does not even fear public censure and is ready to seek her brother's love in
Architecture · Faith · Observations · Rome
Good day to you from the holy Roman martyrs John and Paul, with their palm branches, on the coffered ceiling of the Roman basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio, built in 398 over the house of the saintly brothers. The church was plundered and rebuilt more than once.
NB! · Archive · Education · Society · Paris
NB! · Art
Archaeology · Architecture · Heritage · Science
The cement grout used to fill cracks in the horizontal stones of Stonehenge in the 1960s may lead to its destruction. Sixty years after the restoration, it has emerged that the airtight cement causes moisture to accumulate and the blocks to crumble as it freezes and thaws. In September 2021