The Appalling "Restoration" of One of the Oldest Dwellings in France

The appalling "restoration" of one of the oldest dwellings in France. During the pandemic, the owners of the world-famous House of Jeanne in the small town of Séverac-le-Château in the south of France carried out repairs. After the house, a contemporary of the Crusades, became popular on the internet, crowds of tourists flocked to it, and the owners began to offer tours of this house of the 13th and 14th centuries. At some point the proprietors decided that their seven-hundred-year-old property was too dilapidated and resolved to refresh not only the walls, hiding the centuries-worn brick under plaster, but also the window frames, replacing them with PVC double glazing. Someone wrote: better they had demolished it altogether. I cannot agree with that, and such misguided improvement can be put right, but all the same, PVC windows really are one of the chief threats to the authentic appearance of old buildings. If you yourself own an old house or a flat in a historic building, please do not choose the shortest path of plastic glazing: it truly ruins the look of a building like nothing else

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Signs of violent death found on skulls from burials beside the royal tombs at Abydos

An American archaeologist has carried out a forensic analysis of skulls of people who were buried beside the tombs of Egypt's first kings at Abydos, and has found on many of them traces of violent death. Abydos in Upper Egypt served as the burial place of the kings

Black-and-white group photograph of people in masquerade costumes with fans and headdresses, some seated on a floor covered with confetti.

Guests at a costume party in a Moscow theatre in the early 20th century

A costume evening at one of the Moscow theatres in the early twentieth century

Professor Mie Oba proposes Japan as ASEAN's third partner alongside the US and China

Professor Oba Mie of Kanagawa University writes that Japan could become a third partner for the ASEAN countries alongside the USA and China. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations preserves its independence under the slogan of "centrality": the bloc's members seek to remain the principal forum

Blessing of Animals on 4 October, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi

On 4 October, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, who is regarded as the patron of animals and of nature, animals are blessed in churches all over the world. Stories of his sermon to the birds and of the wolf of Gubbio are associated with the name of Francis,

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Signs of violent death found on skulls from burials beside the royal tombs at Abydos

Guests at a costume party in a Moscow theatre in the early 20th century

Professor Mie Oba proposes Japan as ASEAN's third partner alongside the US and China

Blessing of Animals on 4 October, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi