Architecture Faith Monarchies Heritage Paris

Model of the Basilica of Saint-Denis with the north tower dismantled in 1869

Model of the Basilica of Saint-Denis, built in 1144 on the site of an older building dating back to the mid-fifth century. The construction of this church marks the birth of Gothic architecture. The model shows Saint-Denis with its reconstructed north tower, which was taken down for structural reasons in 1869. Twenty-five kings of France (nearly all of them), queens, and many princes and princesses are buried in this basilica. In 1793 Saint-Denis was barbarously plundered and its necropolis destroyed

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Alexander I as King of Poland and the Incorporation of the Duchy of Warsaw into the Russian Empire in 1815

Alexander I, King of Poland, Tsar and Autocrat of All the Russias Just a reminder of Russia's borders before 1918: in 1815 the greater part of the Duchy of Warsaw became part of the Russian Empire as the Kingdom of Poland, or the Vistula Land, until everything fell

A 1930 photograph showing the eviction of a kulak and his family during dekulakisation.

How Many Suffered in Dekulakisation: Estimates by Zemskov, Ivnitsky and Conquest

A photograph of 1930 showing the deportation of a kulak and his family The number of victims of dekulakisation has still not been established and can hardly be stated unambiguously, since the figure includes both those directly repressed (stripped of their property, evicted, exiled, arrested) and, on occasion, the victims

Félix Bonfils, photographs of a dragoman and guide for travellers in Syria

From a guidebook to Syria. Photographs by Félix Bonfils (1831-1885)

The Fire at the Miller Mansion in Saint Petersburg, and Building Bans After Fires in the Laws of Different Countries

On the evening of 1 October the Miller mansion at 3 Isaakievskaya Square in Saint Petersburg burned down. The house dates from the second half of the 18th century; in 1879-1880 it was rebuilt in eclectic forms by the architect Ferdinand Miller, and in 2021 it received the status

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Alexander I as King of Poland and the Incorporation of the Duchy of Warsaw into the Russian Empire in 1815

How Many Suffered in Dekulakisation: Estimates by Zemskov, Ivnitsky and Conquest

Félix Bonfils, photographs of a dragoman and guide for travellers in Syria

The Fire at the Miller Mansion in Saint Petersburg, and Building Bans After Fires in the Laws of Different Countries