Faith · Books · Mores · Ethnography

Elena Molokhovets's Cookbook and Its Editions Since 1861

Traditional Kulich Recipes from Elena Molokhovets's 1866 Cookbook. The book "A Gift to Young Housewives, or A Means of Reducing Household Expenses" by Elena Ivanovna Molokhovets was the most famous and influential cookery book in nineteenth-century Russia. After its first edition in 1861 it went

Architecture · Faith · Heritage · Rome

San Saba church in Rome, founded in the 6th century for Greek monks who fled Palestine

One of the Most Extraordinary Churches in Rome: the Basilica of San Saba on the Lesser Crest of the Aventine Hill. Mere walls of old plaster and a mere floor, one would think; yet in the Roman church of San Saba they form a veritable chronicle of styles. The church

NB! · Faith · Monarchies · Observations · People

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, in retirement, celebrates her 85th birthday

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, in retirement, has celebrated her 85th birthday. It is touching that the festive table was decorated in the manner of Easter. And it is very sad to think that we are witnesses to the last Christian rulers of Europe; one wants to go on believing

NB! · Faith · Art

The Last Supper, Albrecht Dürer, 1510

Faith · Art

The Creation of Eve and the Fall on the “Paradise” Panel of Bosch’s “Last Judgement” Triptych

The Lord scatters the darkness of demons. "Paradise", the left panel of Hieronymus Bosch's triptych The Last Judgement, 1504. From the bottom upwards we see the creation of Eve, the Fall, the expulsion of the first humans from Eden. And at the top: a battle between

Church interior with an altar and Chinese-style murals, three figures in red robes on the vault and a meal scene beneath them.

NB! · Architecture · Faith · Art · Ethnography

Catholic church in Taiwan decorated in Chinese style after sketches by Gresnigt

Taiwan has a Catholic church in the Chinese style, inspired by sketches by Gresnigt. The apostles at the Last Supper here eat with chopsticks, and all the saints have faces resembling those of the Chinese

Faith · Geography · Maps · London · Observations · Society

Population and religious makeup of major European capitals in 1900 and today

The Religious Affiliation of Europe's Largest Cities as of 1900. Some interesting observations: London's population at that time was 6.4 million. An incredible figure for the period. Today London's population is 9.6 million, and no fewer than 15-20% of them are

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Faith · The East · Art · Education

Sketches for a Catholic church in the Chinese style, created by the Benedictine monk Adelbert Gresnigt and published in the bulletin of the Catholic University of Peking in the 1920s

A priest in purple vestments holding a palm branch leads a procession of parishioners among trees and boulders.

NB! · Faith · Ethnography · Humour

Parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Church in Africa celebrate Palm Sunday with palm branches

Meanwhile, Palm Sunday in Africa, with real palm branches, of the kind with which Jesus Christ was greeted at Jerusalem. This, according to a report from the Exarchate, is how African parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Church celebrate the feast.

Faith · Moscow · Observations · Mores · Society

Happy Palm Sunday!

I have a question, addressed perhaps not even to the rectors of Moscow's churches so much as to observant citizens at large. What, exactly, is so difficult about bringing in pussy willow for parishioners and setting up stalls with it on the grounds near the church? Candles are

Black-and-white photograph of a crowd on Red Square with market tents and a large bunch of balloons before the Historical Museum.

NB! · Archive · Faith · Moscow · Observations · Ethnography

Palm Sunday on Red Square in 1896 and the 1910s, with market stalls and festivities

Palm Sunday celebrations on Red Square in 1896 and in the 1910s. Trading stalls were set up on Red Square, with festive revelry and Palm Sunday sleigh rides. And today?

In the Press · Faith · The East · Cinema

Friends, I've recorded a fresh podcast on "The White Lotus" in the context of Eastern cultures

With my co-host and fellow Orientalist Lesha Strizhov, we discuss how the plot of the series is connected with the history of Thailand. What do the heroes of "The White Lotus" have in common with the heroes of Eastern epic? What mythological and religious parallels can be