Archaeology · Architecture · Faith · Rome

Tarquinius Priscus, the Temple of Jupiter and the legend of how the Capitol got its name

According to legend, during the war with the Sabines the Roman king Tarquinius Priscus vowed to build in Rome a temple in honour of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva: by ancient Etruscan tradition, the sanctuary of the principal divine triad was raised on the dominant height of the city. Of course,

Aristocracy · Architecture · Cinema · Books

The interiors of Highclere Castle in Hampshire, ancestral seat of the Earls of Carnarvon, built in the early seventeenth century and rebuilt in 1838–1878, may be seen not only in the series "Downton Abbey", which made the castle famous, but also in the co

The interiors of Highclere Castle in Hampshire, ancestral seat of the Earls of Carnarvon, built in the early seventeenth century and rebuilt in 1838–1878, may be seen not only in the series "Downton Abbey", which made the castle famous, but also in the comedy film "King

Architecture · Monarchies · Museums · Heritage · Paris

The Petit Trianon, built by Louis XV, blossomed under Louis XVI, when the palace passed into the ownership of Marie Antoinette, who made its interiors, poised between rococo and neoclassicism, her private retreat, where one could come only by her invitati

The Petit Trianon, built by Louis XV, blossomed under Louis XVI, when the palace passed into the ownership of Marie Antoinette, who made its interiors, poised in style between rococo and neoclassicism, her private retreat, where one could come only by her invitation. After the Revolution the palace was abandoned

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Heritage · Paris

The Vendôme Column before and after its destruction

Architecture · Observations

Model of the Black House with an Exoskeleton by Alexander Konstantinov

A model of that very black house with an exoskeleton by Alexander Konstantinov, whose photographs once went the rounds of every architectural magazine. Quite possibly the most extraordinary dacha I have ever seen. One of these days I shall show a photograph of the house in the flesh; it really

Architecture · Art · Observations · Society · Paris

Studying the bas-relief of the Palais de la Porte Dorée, one notices a peculiarity shared by all the colonial figures: like the images of ancient Egypt, they face the viewer in profile, and only the allegorical figure of France, on the central axis of the

Studying the bas-relief of the Palais de la Porte Dorée, one notices a peculiarity shared by all the colonial figures: like the images of ancient Egypt, they face the viewer in profile, and only the allegorical figure of France, on the central axis of the composition above the doorway,

Architecture · Art · Observations · Paris

Whenever I recall the delightful façade of the Palais de la Porte Dorée on the edge of the Bois de Vincennes, I wonder whether mankind will ever invent anything so aesthetically flawless and inspired as the Art Deco tradition.

The building, which now houses a tropical aquarium and a museum of the history of immigration, was originally created as an exhibition space for the six-month Colonial Exhibition held in Paris in 1931. The entire façade of the Palace of the Golden Gate is covered with bas-reliefs depicting

Architecture · Monarchies · Mores · People

Diane de Poitiers and her daily bathing in the river at Château de Chenonceau

Perhaps the secret of the beauty of Diane de Poitiers, who managed to seduce and win the heart of Henry II, nineteen years her junior, lay in the fact that she washed every day. Moreover, she washed in the river: in one of the arches of the Château de Chenonceau

Architecture · Moscow · Observations

Caryatids of the house at 3 Znamenka, built in 2002, and the Erechtheion canon

To all who categorically despise the so-called Luzhkov architecture, I want to show this house at 3 Znamenka, built in 2002. There was a separate story there, about how a certain artist, A. Shilov, was granted two plots at once in the very heart of the city, and two

Architecture · Faith · Art · Observations

Luke Jerram's Museum of the Moon art project installed in Rochester Cathedral in England

These are not stills from a science-fiction film or a dystopia. Rochester Cathedral is simply inviting visitors to the Museum of the Moon beneath its vaults. The art project of the British artist Luke Jerram, who travels the world with a giant inflatable model of the moon, its surface

Architecture · Books · Observations

Libreria Acqua Alta bookshop in Venice keeps its books in boats and bathtubs

How about a gondola full of books? Just such a gondola may be seen in one of the most unusual bookshops in the world, Libreria Acqua Alta in Venice. Here the books await their buyers not only inside gondolas but in other kinds of boats too, even canoes. The shop

Architecture · Observations · Heritage · Paris

The aesthetics of paving every habitable corner of the earth in granite has reached Paris too

The aesthetics of paving every habitable corner of the earth in granite has reached Paris too. The Pavillon de l'Arsenal in Paris is showing a project to reconstruct the Champs-Élysées by the architect Philippe Chiambaretta and his agency, painfully reminiscent of Moscow's Muzeon park and