Exploring Uzbekistan In a 2018 article, The British newspaper The Telegraph described Uzbekistan as “the most fascinating country you’ve never been to”. Decades of isolation, particularly during Soviet rule, have pushed it down the list …
Turkey: From Anatolia to the Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, also historically known in the West as the Turkish Empire, was a superpower that lasted for 600 years. Parcelled out among the victorious Allied nations …
Life in the Medieval British Village In a previous article, we looked at the icons of the British village–the pub and the cottage–and looked at their history and evolution from Roman and Norman times. In …
Icons of the British Villages: Pubs and Cottages The British pub and cottage figure prominently in the image of a (often romanticised) quintessential “British village”. In this article, we will give special attention to these …
Istanbul, Imperial City For more than a thousand years, Constantinople stood as the capital of the Byzantine Empire, surviving numerous attacks and internal rebellions, until the cannons of the Ottoman Empire breached its walls. Constantinople, …
The Portuguese in Africa The Kingdom of Kongo and the Transatlantic Slave Trade The Kingdom of Kongo was a former kingdom that dominated West Central Africa in the fourteenth century (Heywood, 2009). Located south of …
Exploring Newcastle Newcastle (or Newcastle upon Tyne) in northeast England is rich in architectural wonders and steeped in history. It was an important settlement on the River Tyne during Roman times, a thriving commercial hub in …
Who led Rome? There are plenty of lead characters that rose to Roman power throughout its empire. While some of them are very well known, others are less so. Some ascended to leadership via lineage …
Xi’an, the Beginning of the Silk Road The bustling city of Xi’an (“Western Peace”) in China’s Shaanxi Province is one of China’s oldest cities and perhaps also its most culturally significant: as the ancient …
Shetland Islands Discovered Scotland’s Shetland Islands (or simply, Shetland) is a group of more than 100 islands, only 16 of which are inhabited, with a pristine coastline unrivalled in all of the United Kingdom. Its …
Vikings and Their Use of Wool for Sails According to Kassia St Clair in her book The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History, when the Gokstad ship, dated 850 AD, was found in 1879 as a …
The Beginning of Human Civilisation Ancient Greece is well-known as one of the earliest civilizations that contributed significantly to human advancement. “Greece reached heights in almost every area of human learning” (Mark 2013). Generally speaking, Ancient, …
Exploring the Faroe Islands
- 9 mins read
Blog, Denmark, Europe, History, Scandinavia, Scotland, Travel tips
The Faroe Islands, far far away Tjornuvik village, Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands (also called the Faroes or Faeroes) is a self-governing region of the Kingdom of Denmark, a group of 18 pristine volcanic islands …
New Discoveries about Britain’s Stone Circles
- 8 mins read
Archaeology, Blog, British Isles, England, History, Scotland, Wales
New Discoveries about Britain’s Stone Circles We’ve written about Britain’s prehistoric stone circles before, but recent studies from 2017 to 2019 show there are likely more secrets to uncover about these Neolithic monuments. In this …
Ireland’s Gems More than 11 million people travelled to Ireland according to the latest tourism statistics, lured by its lush scenery, historic landmarks, and centuries-old culture. (This number includes visitors to both Northern Ireland, part …
Victorian England Country Life The industrial revolution changed dramatically Victorian England Country life. From the demographic shift in the population commencing the rural -urban drift, to education and the nouveau rich from the industrialisation who …
Armenia: Buildings and Christianity In this post, we will look at examples of Armenia’s buildings and building design before and after its conversion to Christianity. Grigor Lusavorich, later Saint Gregory the Illuminator, was born and …
Egyptian linen treasures Egypt has long held a place in the imagination of curious travellers. Many of us were introduced to the stories of pyramids, pharaohs and buried treasure as children, and since then, books …
Discovering Georgia Standing at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains, the lands of Georgia are filled with wondrous sites just waiting to be discovered. The deep religious devotion of nation’s inhabitants is manifested through the …
Islands of the Outer Hebrides An article that shares some the culture, people and history of the key islands on the Western side of Scotland. The Outer Hebrides The name Hebrides is derived from the …
Uncovering Albania Albania sits on the Ionian and Adriatic Seas in southern Europe, bounded by Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Greece. This small and mountainous country in the Balkan peninsula had roots in ancient Illyria, and …