The East · Archaeology · Faith · Observations · Ethnography
The petroglyph from Misida (2) in northern Sudan, near the Third Cataract of the Nile, consists of a male figure about two and a half metres tall and two goats. The figure is thought to depict a ruler of Kush, the ancient kingdom in Nubia, in present-day Sudan, whose
Faith · People · Rome
Faith · Observations · Society · Paris · Humour
On 18 September the Vatican declined several protocol proposals from the Élysée Palace, including the Legion of Honour and a visit to Notre-Dame. On 25 September Leo XIV publicly reprimanded Macron: war, euthanasia, the abandonment of the Church. Macron took offence and began boycotting Masses. But on 27 September,
Architecture · Faith · Observations · Heritage
Palekh has a remarkable Church of the Exaltation of the Cross with an interesting tent-roofed bell tower. The people of Palekh built it all together, from 1762 to 1774. In Saint Petersburg at that time Rastrelli was giving way to Vallin de la Mothe, while in the Vladimir lands
Faith · Society
On the evening of 26 September Pope Leo XIV flew by helicopter to Lourdes as part of his apostolic visit to France. At the Massabielle Grotto the Pope led a prayer service attended by numerous pilgrims. Before the statue of the Mother of God, Leo XIV touched the rock of
The Golden Age · NB! · Archive · Faith · Mores
Faith · Architecture · The East · Heritage
Restoration of a tenth-century church has been completed in the Georgian village of Didi Kldeisi in Tetritskaro Municipality. Tetritskaro Municipality lies in the Kvemo Kartli region in the south of Georgia. After its restoration, the church was consecrated in honour of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of
Cinema · Faith · Books · Society · Pop Culture
Greta Gerwig's film "Narnia: The Magician's Nephew" is due to reach cinemas in February 2027. Clive Staples Lewis wrote seven books in the "Chronicles of Narnia" cycle, and since 1950 readers have bought more than 100 million copies of them. The talking
Architecture · Moscow · Faith · Heritage · Society
The bell tower of the Strastnoy Monastery, demolished in 1937, was used in the Soviet years for anti-religious propaganda and for advertising Communist ideas: the monastery had been closed since 1919 and housed the Central Anti-Religious Museum. The monastery's first gate church was built by order
NB! · Archive · Architecture · Faith · Moscow · Heritage
The “Annushka” tram on Malaya Dmitrovka in 1896. Straight ahead is the Cathedral of the Passion Icon of the Mother of God, part of the Strastnoy Monastery, demolished in 1937. On the left is the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in Putinki, built in 1652 and surviving to
Archaeology · Faith · Science
A pendant of copper alloy, dated to the eleventh century, has been found in Staraya Russa. One side shows a warrior with a spear and shield, presumably a Christian saint; the other, a head with snakes, reminiscent of Medusa. Such objects are known as zmeeviki ("serpent amulets"). Four
NB! · Architecture · Faith · Moscow · Heritage
Restoration of the Great Cathedral of the Don Icon of the Mother of God, dating from the late seventeenth century, in the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow is in full swing. The entire interior of the cathedral is under scaffolding, including the unique seven-tier carved iconostasis of the time of