Aristocracy · Archive · Faith · People
Photograph from the Byron family vault in the Church of St Mary Magdalene at Hucknall. The poet's remains lie in a coffin bearing a small coronet. Beneath it stands the coffin of the previous lord, the Wicked or Sinful Byron, his great-uncle, which in turn rests on
Aristocracy · Science · People
The first programmer in history is held to be Countess Ada Lovelace, the only legitimate child of George Gordon Byron, whom she did, in fact, see precisely once in her life, when she was a month old. Brought up by the leading scholars of her day, Ada showed a gift
Coming Up · Moscow · Observations · Society
Among the forthcoming cultural events, I have noted the musical production by Evgenia Berkovich, "Esther's Black Book", which the Brusnikin troupe will perform at the Boyar Chambers on 9 and 11 December. The staging is devoted to the theme of xenophobia; the action unfolds outside time
NB!
Mores · Society · Nature
Until the 16th century, black henbane was added to beer in Germany, which induces hallucinations and euphoria and, should the dose be increased, death. In 1516, on account of the large number of fatal intoxications, the Purity Law was adopted, which strictly regulated the recipe for beer and forbade the
Architecture · Observations · Heritage · Society
A standpipe of 1902 in the centre of old Kolomna still works; its decorative panels record that this vital item of civic improvement is a gift from the hereditary honorary citizen Shevlyagina. In every age there has been no better way of leaving a good memory of oneself than to
Moscow · Observations · Heritage · Society · Nature
The remarkable Moscow scholar Maria Survillo has drawn attention to the destruction of trees on the grounds of the Donskoy Monastery. Dreadful, tragic, irreparable. How cynically and methodically the image of old Moscow and the evidence of its former beauty are being destroyed 😣 P.S. To the champions of the
NB! · Art · Mores · People
Observations · Society
I simply do not understand when this war will finally end and Russia return to a plain, peaceful life. When shall we at last be able to rejoice in that very peaceful sky, that prosperity and well-being, for which millions of our compatriots died? Why is it that, of
Faith · Observations
The episcopal cappa magna is held to depict the blood-soaked path of Holy Mother Church. The moiré cloak cascading from the shoulders allegorically conveys the streams of blood that, as it were, stand behind the history of the church hierarchs. The need to have the cappa held up symbolises
Faith · Art · Observations · Society
It is hard to call today's conditions the greatest calamity in the history of a mankind that has seen real grief, poverty and hunger in its recent past. So the attacks on the outward manifestations of church tradition are rather an aesthetic dispute, of the kind that took
Faith · Observations · Heritage · Society
Is it right to connect the passage from the Gospel of Mark, in which Jesus speaks of the scribes in long robes and of the poor widow giving the temple her last mite, with the argument about the wealth of the Church against the backdrop of a world economic crisis?