Culture

Rastatt Favorite Palace, located near Baden-Baden, Germany—where Romans discovered healing hot springs—served as a pleasure palace for the Margravine Sibylla Augusta (1675–1733). It is a short carriage ride from Schloss Rastatt, the oldest Baroque residence in the German Upper-Rhine.The oldest of Germany’s so-called porcelain palaces—home of one of the world’s largest collections of Chinese porcelains—it

http://top-zaymov.ru The remains of an ancient city wall—built in the Iron Age to protect the city of David in the Kingdom of Judah—has been unearthed by archaeologists in the City of David National Park in Israel as part of a park development. The wall was erected in the days of the First Temple to protect

If there was ever a monument of architecture dedicated to the feminine soul, Château de Chenonceau should be that testament. The medieval castle that dominates the right bank of the Cher River in France’s Loire Valley exists only because of the women who loved this regal residence. Built upon the ruins of a 12th-century medieval

Sometimes people miss the most precious things around them, while others can enlighten and become the lucky ones. Once upon a time, there was a man who was very frugal but spent lavishly on art. Over the years, he collected many famous paintings. One year, his country was involved in a war, and his only

Some 18 years ago, Minnesota-born Cody Swanson arrived in Italy on a two-way ticket as a fresh-faced 18-year-old keen to discover more about traditional art. That he did. But his trip wasn’t quite what he had envisioned. He’s lived in Italy ever since, having never used his return flight. Swanson settled in Florence, where he

(Continued from Part 1) Story 4 – Propriety: Do Not Go after Ill-gotten Gains Xie Ting’en, a native of Fuzhou in Jiangxi, was a businessman in the Qing dynasty. He was revered for his integrity and known by the locals as “Master Xi” (since he was from Jiangxi). He grew up in a poor family

Zhang Yue was the prime minister during the Kaiyuan era under the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. He was known for having some unique wisdom regarding money, which he laconically expressed in “Qian Ben Cao,” an article just over 200 characters long. The centerpiece of the article was an analogy where Zhang compares money

In 1805, Napoléon Bonaparte promised “triumphal arches” to his troops after they won the Battle of Austerlitz. The first arch that he commissioned was the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile (the Triumphal Arch of the Star) in Paris, commonly known as the Arc de Triomphe, and construction began on Aug. 15, 1806, Bonaparte’s birthday.  As a great

King Philip II inherited the Spanish Empire in 1556, including territories on every continent then known to Europeans. During his reign, the Spanish kingdoms reached the height of their influence and power.  The king was named “Philip the Prudent” due to his care and thought for the future. He was devoted to God; he upheld

In order to see some of the best art of Western civilization, you have to look up. On the ceilings of palaces and churches are sweeping scenes of the heavens, of allegories and saints and divine beings in all their magnificence—feats of technical and technological innovation, a mastery of skill coupled with a flourishing of

A massive renovation at the Tel Ashkelon National Park has unveiled the largest Roman basilica in Israel, dating to about 2,000 years ago, which is set to be accessible to the general public once the project is completed. The extensive development work at the park, funded by Nature and Parks Authority alongside Leon Levy Foundation,

There have been many stories about forbearance in both Eastern and Western civilizations. According to ancient Greek mythology, Prometheus, the Titan god of fire, took pity on humans when he saw how hard their lives were and stole fire from Apollo, the god of the Sun, and gave it to them. Zeus, the king of

Venturing to Mongolia to meet the country’s last remaining nomadic eagle keepers, Russian photographer Daniel Kordan turned his reverence into a series of incredible photographs. Kordan’s work, a breathtaking mixture of epic landscape photography and intimate portraiture, exemplifies the bond between the keepers and their birds—an elusive 1,000-year-old tradition that runs the risk of dying

The Royal Palace was originally the Town Hall of Amsterdam, created in the 17th-century golden era of Holland. It was a time when Amsterdam and its fleet of ships held a dominant trading position, attracting great wealth to the nation’s capital.  When the population grew fivefold, a new town hall was needed to serve the

From the very first note and the first strike of the gong, the audience knows they are in for something special. An orchestra blending the musical traditions of the classical West and ancient China begins to play. The curtains draw, revealing a bright new world in heavenly, jewel-like tones. Shen Yun Performing Arts, a favorite

If there is anything the Founders constantly repeated, certainly one of the most important was the importance of studying history. After all, humanity has been around a lot longer than any of our lifetimes. Our species has thousands of years of experience under its belt. It stands to reason there’s a lot of wisdom to

There’s always a place for the beauty, care, and respect found in traditional culture. We can search for it and find a way to bring it into the future so that the generations after us have a foundation on which they can build. The 19th-century British painter Frederic Leighton inspired me to deeply think about

The former gold-mining town of Brazil’s Ouro Preto is rich in Portuguese architectural treasures. The remote and rugged hillside town was built in the late 17th century, after gold was discovered in the region in 1693. At the height of the region’s gold rush, 60 percent of the world’s gold came from Ouro Preto, but by