The East · Geography · Society
India's Population Overtakes That of China
India's population has overtaken that of China. India is home to 1.442 billion people, China to 1.425 billion. The population of Russia is 146.150 million people.
Section
· 1872 stories
Society
Moscow · Education · Society · Society Pages
Conference on Patronage and an Evening in Memory of Ivan Betskoy and Russian Patrons
Concluding the conference "The History of Charity and Patronage in Moscow", the Ivan Betskoy Foundation held a reception in honour of Patron and Philanthropist Day. If the conference itself was given over to discussions of the activities of patrons, the formation of museum collections and trusteeship in education
Archive · Books · Society · Saint Petersburg
Lines from Ivan Pnin’s 1805 poem “Man” on the condition of the slave
In what dread expanse I behold The Slave apart from Man, One, like the sun in a clear sky, The Other as gloomy as the earth. One is everything, the other a nullity, If only he had known his slavish duty, Had questioned nature; had examined Who is to blame
NB! · Faith · Society
World Religions in Figures
Geography · Observations · Society
Venice introduces a 5 euro fee for visitors to the old city on 29 peak days
Visiting Venice to become a paid affair on 29 days this year: certain days in April, May, June and July, when attendance at Venice Biennale events peaks. The charge will be 5 euros a day. It may be raised once the number of visitors to the city reaches a set
NB! · Geography · Maps · Observations · Society
Map of European city populations around 1530 and the density of towns in Northern Italy
The population of European cities by the first third of the sixteenth century. Note the densely populated north of Italy: this is precisely the age of the High Renaissance.
Faith · Observations · Society · People
Pope Francis's address to the World Economic Forum makes no mention of God
I have read the address of Pope Francis I to the participants of the 2024 World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. What does Francis mention? International instability, praise for the World Economic Forum, innovative and effective ways of building a better world, the need for social cohesion, an ever more
Faith · Mores · Society · Paris · Ethnography
Mi-Carême in France: the Laundresses' Festival and the Election of Queens until the 1930s
For Catholics, the middle of Lent coincided with the French carnivalesque festival of Mi-Carême, which in Paris and its suburbs was celebrated on a very grand scale, with processions of coal-heavers, water-carriers, washerwomen and students. There were processions, parades, feasts, dances, parties, merry-go-rounds, fireworks and
Architecture · Heritage · Society
Ban on demolishing buildings with the characteristics of a cultural heritage site takes effect on 15 April
In Federal Law No. 73 "On Cultural Heritage Sites (Monuments of History and Culture) of the Peoples of the Russian Federation", the wording "demolition of an identified cultural heritage site is prohibited" has been changed to "demolition of an identified cultural heritage site, as well
Books · Society · Humour
Alexander Galich in “Night Watch” on a procession of monuments and a bronze generalissimo
When the festivities die down in the city, When sinners sleep and the righteous too, The state storerooms Quietly let the monuments slip away. Hundreds of thousands (all of them alike) Go along the moonlit path, And chance passers-by Tumble head over heels into the "emergency ambulance"
NB! · Faith · London · Monarchies · Society
As Buckingham Palace makes perfectly clear, King Charles III is alive and well enough to read the Bible for a church service he was unable to attend in person
NB! · Faith · Observations · Society · Rome
In My Opinion, This Is Very Sad
In my opinion, this is very sad. An enormous heap of rubbish lies literally in front of the entrance to Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, one of the 7 pilgrimage churches of Rome and, without exaggeration, one of the most sacred churches in the city. I do not know what Francis