Architecture · Faith · Heritage · Rome
One of the creators of Roman Baroque, the great sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), builder of Saint Peter's Square, contemplated the decline of another landmark of Rome: since the fourteenth century the Colosseum had been in a pitiable state, crumbling ever further. Despite its worldwide fame since
Faith · Observations · Heritage · Mores · Society · Pop Culture · Rome
Vatican police escorted out of St Peter's Basilica, and attempted to arrest, a blogger who had been dancing inside the church and filming it. The silly girl, naturally, at once raised a howl about it online. Each time I see activities of this sort, I want to ask:
Architecture · Monarchies · Heritage
Built in Burgundy at the end of the fourteenth century for Philip the Bold, the Château Philippe le Hardi is known for its remarkable tiled roof with a distinctive colourful pattern. Over the centuries it has been rebuilt several times, but it remains a significant historical and architectural landmark of
Heritage · Science · New York · Society · Pop Culture
In July, a Martian meteorite found in Niger in 2023 was sold at Sotheby's in New York for $4.3 million. The stone, known as NWA 16788, became the largest Martian meteorite ever sold at auction. Only the other day, Niger opened an investigation into the circumstances of
Architecture · Faith · Art · Heritage
Almost 600 square metres of frescoes are called the most accomplished creation of Gury Nikitin. The subject of the main volume glorifies Our Lord Jesus Christ, telling the whole story of his life. On the piers are depicted the venerated saints, the pillars of the Church, together with representatives of
Archaeology · Heritage · Nature
A Polish angler has pulled a medieval sword from the Vistula. As the law requires, he handed the find over to the capital's Office for the Protection of Monuments. According to preliminary estimates, the sword dates from the 13th to 14th centuries, the time of the founding of
Architecture · Faith · Observations · Heritage · Education
📌 Also in this building: in 1767 a prison was opened for "raving convicts". From 1829 most of its prisoners were clergy and sectarians. Among the inmates were the soothsayer monk Avel, who foretold the fate of the Romanov dynasty; the Old Believer hierarchs Arkady, Alimpy, Konon and Gennady;
Books · Heritage · Society
The answer is very simple: the preservation of holdings. Between 2022 and 2023, a number of European countries recorded cases of rare antiquarian editions disappearing from public and university libraries. Among the lost copies are first editions published in the lifetimes of Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, Shevchenko, Kruchenykh and other authors
Architecture · Heritage · Mores · People · Rome
“I am not sure that time passes as the calendar or the clock describes it. 800 years of these walls is, for me, the present. That is why I am not nostalgic. I never truly believe that those who are no longer alive have gone. Everyone leaves a deep imprint
Archaeology · Heritage · Science · Nature
Russian archaeology marks an event of world significance: a Russian monument, the cave paintings of Shulgan-Tash on the River Belaya in Bashkortostan, has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. I congratulate everyone who has had a hand in the work at the site and in its study,
Museums · Heritage · Society · Paris
The French government has presented a bill intended to simplify the restitution to their countries of origin of works of art removed in the colonial era, reports Artguide. If the law is adopted, the process of returning objects from France's national collections that originate from states which lost
Books · Monarchies · Heritage · Society
In 1722 Peter I introduced a special mass-produced form of state insignia, the Zertsalo, which remained an obligatory attribute of the institutions of the Russian Empire until 1917. The symbol of the supremacy of law took the form of a wooden prism with three panels, crowned with the state