Do you know what these ultra-fashionable nineteenth-century boots from the museum of the French département of Ardèche were for?

Do you know what these ultra-fashionable nineteenth-century boots from the museum of the French département of Ardèche were for? No, not for some forgotten martial art or a frightening provincial pastime, but for a peaceful and useful business: the husking of chestnuts and acorns, which are eaten. Incidentally, flour for pancakes, loaves and pies is made from acorns, while roast chestnuts, chestnuts in honey and chestnuts with chicken are probably familiar to everyone

Report a translation error

September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

Do you know what these ultra-fashionable nineteenth-century boots from the museum of the French département of Ardèche were for?

Read more

September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s