Architecture · Faith · Moscow · Observations · Heritage

Swiss artists raised the Cathedral of St Gall into the air for its anniversary

I tried to imagine what it would look like if one of Russia's chief churches, St Basil's Cathedral, were made into a hot-air balloon. Swiss artists once raised one of their country's symbols into the air in just this manner: the Abbey Cathedral

NB! · Architecture · Faith · Heritage · Society

The sorry state of the medieval and Renaissance stained glass in one of the oldest churches of France, the church of Saint-Pierre in Chartres, dating from the thirteenth century, is a sad testimony to the French Republic's authorities drifting ever furthe

Hand-coloured engraving of French drummers and horsemen entering the fortress gate of Moscow, with flames rising above the walls and towers.

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Art · Moscow · Observations

Anonymous French engraving of the French entry into Moscow in 1812

Note the appearance of Moscow's fortress walls, more reminiscent of the Western European Middle Ages, in the anonymous French engraving "The French Entering Moscow". I am especially fond of the drawbridge beside the Kremlin

NB! · Architecture · Moscow · Heritage

The House with the Unicorn in Nashchokinsky Lane was built by the architect Shchekotov in 1897 with Gothic motifs, but the unicorn appeared considerably later, as did the gargoyles: these decorative elements arrived on the façade after the building's reno

Archaeology · Architecture · The East · Heritage

Colossi of Memnon at Thebes and the sound of the northern statue split by the AD 19 earthquake

The 18-metre Colossi of Memnon, guarding the entrance to the Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep and depicting the pharaoh Amenhotep III, face east. Built of sandstone in 1350 BC in the necropolis of the city of Thebes. During an earthquake in the year 19 the northern colossus cracked, and from

Architecture · Heritage · Humour

The 80-metre Leaning Tower of Zaragoza, built in 1504 and dismantled in 1892

The Leaning Tower of Zaragoza was almost 30 metres taller than Pisa's. Its height was 80 metres. True, it was built 330 years after the Pisan one, in 1504, and almost at once it began to lean. For hundreds of years, however, there was no threat of collapse.

NB! · Architecture · Observations · Heritage

Those who have never seen the Bastille (and most of my subscribers have not, since the fortress was demolished during the French Revolution), I advise to look at the Château de Tarascon, built between 1400 and 1435 and completely…

NB! · Architecture · Monarchies · Observations · Heritage · Paris

The restored furnishings of Louis XVIII's throne room in the Louvre raise one question: why do the proportions and appearance of the canopy differ so greatly from the dome above the throne under Louis-Philippe and Napoleon III?

NB! · Architecture · Faith · Moscow · Heritage

Novodevichy Convent after restoration

Architecture · Faith · Art · Heritage · Paris

Stained Glass of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris and the Relics of the Royal Palace on the Île de la Cité

The Sainte-Chapelle, a small Gothic chapel on the Île de la Cité in Paris, within the grounds of the former Royal Palace, is famous precisely for its outstanding stained glass. The magnificent decoration of the chapel had to match the grandeur of the sacred relics kept in its treasury,

NB! · Architecture · Moscow · Observations

The decision to mount construction cranes right on the towers of the skyscraper on Kudrinskaya Square looks very handsome indeed

A city street with the white Gothic facade of the TsUM building, partly covered by scaffolding, and pedestrians on the pavement.

NB! · Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Heritage · Humour

The TsUM building regains its historic eggshell colour

The façade of TsUM is being restored to its historic eggshell colour. Our Gothic castle no longer looks like Minas Morgul and is coming to resemble the stronghold of Minas Tirith. Farewell, soot of the Boulevard Ring