Faith · Observations · Society

The Serbian football club Crvena Zvezda has been fined €95,000 by UEFA because its supporters unfurled on the stands an image of the Orthodox saint Venerable Simeon the Myrrh-Streaming and the inscription "May our faith lead us to victory" during a Europa

The Serbian football club Crvena Zvezda has been fined €95,000 by UEFA because its supporters unfurled on the stands an image of the Orthodox saint Venerable Simeon the Myrrh-Streaming and the inscription "May our faith lead us to victory" during a Europa League match against Lille.

Archaeology · Archive · In the Press · The East · Observations

1913 newspaper reports of temple chambers inside the Great Sphinx and Reisner's denial

I have told this story before, but in view of the alternative news I shall repeat myself. In 1913 a number of English-language newspapers carried an article reporting that several chambers of a temple-like character had been discovered inside the Great Sphinx. The text claimed that a fairly

Moscow · Observations · Society · Society Pages

The first National Prize for Cultural Managers is awarded at the Theatre of Nations

Yesterday the National Award for Cultural Managers was presented for the first time at the Theatre of Nations. If you remember, we have followed this story from the very beginning, from the moment the award was first proposed. We watched the idea take concrete shape, and now we have seen

Aristocracy · Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Heritage

So this is the sorry state of the rear façade of the once-famous palace of Count Kirill Grigoryevich Razumovsky, built in the 1780s

So this is the sorry state of the rear façade of the once-famous palace of Count Kirill Grigoryevich Razumovsky, built in the 1780s. To a design by Bazhenov, or by Kazakov, or by someone else altogether. The view of the opposite façade, facing Vozdvizhenka, is blocked by the Kremlin

NB! · Moscow · Observations · Humour

Wouldn't it be nice to be watching Don Quixote at the Theatre of Nations instead of all this

NB! · Observations

I came across this English expression, "threw himself to the lions", literally "бросил себя ко львам", that is, "rushed headlong into danger" or "went for broke"

Aristocracy · London · Observations · Mores

The 8th Marquess of Ailesbury's fall from a window and his mother's death at the Savoy

I have been reading about the strange death of the 8th Marquess of Ailesbury. Two years ago, Michael Brudenell-Bruce, aged 98, died after falling from a window of his London home in Shepherd's Bush. The marquess's body was found by his partner; he lay in

Faith · London · Monarchies · Observations · Society

Bishop Dewar fears Britain may become a post-Christian society

Anglican Bishop Cairion Hugh Dewar Publishes an Open Letter to King Charles III, Urging Him to Play More Actively His Traditional Role as Defender of the Christian Faith and to Pay Particular Attention to Preserving Britain's Christian Heritage. In the bishop's view, Christianity in the country

Observations · Science · People

I don't know about you, but for me Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov is one of the greatest men of all time

Let us simply remember him with a kind word

Faith · Books · Observations

The hecatomb in the Iliad and Solomon's sacrifices at the dedication of the Temple

The Iliad begins, quite literally, with a hecatomb, literally "a hundred oxen", offered to the gods before battles and after victories. It is a recurring motif throughout the whole epic. But the truly richest material on the sacrifice of cattle is to be found in the Old Testament.

Architecture · Faith · Art · Observations · Heritage

UNESCO-listed Sucevița Monastery and its frescoes in the late Byzantine tradition

The Ladder to Paradise on the north façade of the medieval Suceviţa Monastery in Romania. The monastery, naturally, is a UNESCO monument. Inside and out it is covered entirely, with the exception of the western wall, in paintings of scenes from the Old and New Testaments, the intercession of all

Aristocracy · Art · Observations · Mores · Paris · Pop Culture

The Rothschilds’ ball at Château de Ferrières with a dress code of surrealist heads

The Surrealist Ball. Hosted by Baroness Marie-Hélène de Rothschild and her husband Baron Guy de Rothschild at their family estate, the Château de Ferrières in Seine-et-Marne, France. The dress code, written in mirror script, read: "Black tie, long dresses and surrealist heads". As the guests