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Architecture · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Heritage
The Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val Ceases to Organise Exhibitions
Following a recent expert appraisal, the condition of the building has been judged unsatisfactory. The museum's director, Yelena Pronicheva, expressed the hope of beginning work on a renovation project for the New Tretyakov Gallery next year. What on earth? It's a perfectly good building, Soviet quality
NB! · Aristocracy · Architecture · Moscow · Mores
A Salon at the Arkhangelskoye Estate in the 1890s
NB! · Archaeology · Architecture · Art · Science
Lions of the Mycenae Citadel's Main Gate, 13th Century BC, Looked Backward and Had Heads of Another Material
It turns out that the famous lions over the main gate of the Mycenaean citadel, dated to the mid-13th century BC, were in fact looking backwards, not at one another. It is also thought that the lions' heads, which have not survived, were made of a different material,
Architecture · Art · Observations
Real photographs by the artist known as Space Cowboy, not AI-generated images
All these works are real photographs, taken by an artist under the pseudonym Space Cowboy on planet Earth in our own day. Not AI generations, not drawings, but real photographs. I understand that most people are obliged to live cut off from beauty, but a single glance at these frames
NB! · Architecture · Monarchies · Observations · Paris
A Reminder That the Most Beautiful Bridge in the World Bears the Name of Emperor Alexander III
Aristocracy · Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Mores
Dmitry Sheremetev's guardians refused to rent the House of Solitude at Kuskovo to actress Sandunova
With the death of Count Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev, Dmitry Nikolayevich, his seven-year-old son by the former serf actress Praskovya Gorbunova-Zhemchugova, who died soon after the birth, was left a complete orphan. The boy's upbringing was taken on by the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, while as
NB! · Archive · Architecture · Observations · Paris
The grounds around the Eiffel Tower at the 1889 World's Fair and the pavilions demolished afterwards
The grounds around the Eiffel Tower during the 1889 Exposition Universelle. It is strange to reflect that all these buildings were temporary pavilions, and were simply pulled down once the exhibition was over
Architecture · Faith · Art · Heritage · Rome
The church of Santa Bibiana by Rome's Termini station and its Bernini sculpture
The very ancient church of Santa Bibiana is now almost built into the Roma Termini railway station, and in fact is barely visible behind the station's buildings. Inside the church, in the main altar, lie the relics of the saint. Besides such holy objects as the column at
Architecture · Observations · Society · Paris
Outgoing mayor's narcissism and elite greed as causes of a distorted capital cityscape
The Triangular Tower in Paris: Expectation and Reality. Though both are equally ill-suited to the balance of the capital's panorama and to the elegance of the silhouette of the most beautiful city in the world. Most curious of all, the chief reasons for the existence of this
Architecture · Monarchies · Museums · Heritage · Saint Petersburg
First full scientific restoration of Monplaisir in Peterhof under way since December 2023
The Palace of Monplaisir was built to designs by Peter the Great. Whenever the Emperor came to Peterhof, he would usually stay here, in one of his favourite palaces. The interiors were adorned with Dutch tiles, wood carving, lacquer panels, stucco and painted ceilings. The floors of the galleries and
Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Heritage · Society
Most of the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve now looks like this
Most of the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve now looks like this. A continuous fence with pinpoint access to the architectural ensemble, while the protected park itself has been effectively sealed off and dug up. I did not go to the trouble of finding out why the work is being done, or