Architecture · Observations · Humour
vs The dacha of the oil magnate Steingel on the southern shore of Crimea, 1912 Incidentally, both structures are considerably smaller in reality than they appear in the photographs
Coming Up · Architecture · Monarchies · Moscow · Museums
The grandiose Model of the Grand Kremlin Palace, which gathered dust for 20 years in the storerooms of the Shchusev Museum of Architecture, is perhaps the most vivid testimony to Catherine II's sweeping idea of remodelling the ensemble of the Kremlin and Red Square. Alas, the plan was
Architecture · Museums · Observations · Heritage · Paris
There is such a photograph of the outlets of the very Louis-Philippe system of central heating and, accordingly, ventilation in the Gallery of Battles at Versailles. Of course, for its time such a system was the optimal solution, but then the palace was not visited by 15,000 people
Architecture · Museums · Heritage · Society · Paris
A scandal where none was expected. For the first time in the history of Versailles, the floors have undergone such sweeping changes: in several rooms the parquet now bears a great many brass ventilation grilles. The administration explains that the old air-conditioning and heating system can no longer cope
Architecture · Cinema · Heritage
The Rostov Kremlin is, beyond doubt, one of the most famous historical architectural complexes in Russia. Every year many millions of people stroll through its chambers, corridors and along its walls, in the company of the heroes of the Soviet comedy "Ivan Vasilievich Changes Profession". It was Rostov,
Architecture · Moscow · Heritage
Would you like to watch another cultural heritage site in the centre of Moscow fall to ruin? Pavel Ogorodnikov has published on Twitter a photo report from one of the most epic buildings in the city: alas, now abandoned and dilapidated, the old Moscow Main Post Office, which in one
Architecture · Faith · Art
Hard to recognise, but this is a pelican, captured on the side panel of one of the wooden pews in Lund Cathedral. A traditional medieval Christian symbol of self-sacrifice, often associated with Jesus, the pelican was frequently depicted tearing open its breast to feed its hungry chicks with its
NB! · Architecture · Heritage · Nature
Architecture · Faith · Art · Heritage
The baroque church of San Moisè, which John Ruskin called the clumsiest building in Venice, has been flooded. One of the chief treasures of the church, a wooden crucifix, among the few works in wood by the Italian sculptor Giuseppe Torretto, is floating in the water, and the pietà by
Aristocracy · Architecture · Faith · Art · Mores
There are various ways of honouring one's parents. Raimondo di Sangro, the seventh Prince of Sansevero, a Neapolitan, commissioned a sculptural portrait of his father disentangling himself from the nets, or snares, of deceit and sin, accompanied by an angelic figure who frees the sinner for the bosom
Architecture · Faith · Heritage · Society
The building of the Choral Synagogue of Mogilev, known as the Zukerman Synagogue, was erected in the late nineteenth century on the ruins of the burnt-out palace of the Catholic bishop Bohusz-Siestrzeńcewicz. Today it houses a sports hall. A memorial plaque on the building tells the history of
Architecture · Heritage · Society · Paris
Meanwhile in Paris, an angry debate is raging over the mayor, Anne Hidalgo, and her contentious decisions on urban improvement. Many are simply shocked by the new city benches, made of roughly hewn logs. Taken together with the installation of ungainly public lavatories, the removal of the railings around trees