A river god looks out from theFontana dei Quattro Fiumi. A Bernini masterpiece from 1651, the 'Fountain of the Four Rivers' stands in the heart of Piazza Navonna and includes a large obelisk at its centre. It was commissioned for Pope Innocent X whose palace faced onto the piazza and the four river gods represent … Continue reading God Gaze
Author: labhistorical
Lookout
As Albania is still based on small communities, when you get to a viewpoint you are looking at the same scenery people have looked at for hundreds of years. This is particularly the case at Phonike - an ancient Hellenistic city built on a plateau ridge looking out towards the port at Butrint. It is … Continue reading Lookout
Peter Prevails
Dan Brown lovers might remember the Vatican obelisk from Angels and Demons where the intrepid symbologist Robert Langdon makes a 'point' about how odd it is for such a pagan monument to be at the heart of the Catholic church. There isn't actually anything particularly strange about this though. Caligula brought this obelisk over from … Continue reading Peter Prevails
It’s in the detail
It's all too easy when visiting places to take the obvious picture of the grand facade or a sweeping landscape... but these don't interest me as much as it's the close up details which you can't see in magazines/books/websites that you want to remember and make visiting sites a special experience. So here is the underside … Continue reading It’s in the detail
Drama Submerged
It is said that here at Butrint, the Trojan hero, Aeneas, met Hector's enslaved widow Andromache weeping at her fate. As a major city in ancient Epirus over several centuries, Butrint has some great remains to see from different time periods including a basilica, baptistery and Venetian towers. The great finds on display in the … Continue reading Drama Submerged
Aphrodite is born
These rocks are legendary in Cyprus for being the place from where Aphrodite was born. In typical Greek mythological fashion, Zeus had yet another affair and Aphrodite arose from the sea foam (aphros ) from which she gets her name. Indeed, there is even a Greek version of Berocca that is named Aphrosa for this reason! … Continue reading Aphrodite is born
Rebuilt wonder
There is always a bit of controversy when monuments are rebuilt, often looking out of place amongst the surrounding ruins... but the Stoa of Attalos, which was reconstructed in 1952-6, is a fantastic space in the Athenian Agora. As a faithful replica of what the original would have looked like, it gives the visitor a … Continue reading Rebuilt wonder
Nemea Museum
Nemea is not an often visited site but is accessible on the way to the more famous Olympia. But in ancient times, Nemea was the scene of the Nemean games which were also pan-Hellenic and served an equally important function in city-state diplomacy and rivalry. Famous for the Nemean Lion that Herakles slew, I always found … Continue reading Nemea Museum
Humourous Herculean labours
Came across this amusing list of what Hercules' labours would have been if they were emotional rather than physical challenges! https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/the-twelve-emotional-labors-of-hercules?mbid=social_facebook&fbclid=IwAR3aKbsqwdARIhlS251cJwV5PdvG1bNeT0pbC8_aElbUr_HO3z6n9Zmr0lA
The power of photographs in history
Although the people that history speaks of may not live any more, the stories and monuments left behind breathe life into the past and offer a window for us to see into a different time and place than today. With the invention of photography, this feeling of looking into a window on the past is … Continue reading The power of photographs in history
Laura Aitken-Burt 