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 …
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, …
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 …
Ten key influencers that shaped Queen Victoria’s Britain (Part 1 of 2) This article related to Queen Victoria’s Britain was prepared by one of our Odyssey Program Leaders, Mal Bock. She will be leading this small group …
Soviet Art in Kazakhstan When the Kazakh khanate splintered into three hordes in the early 17th century, they became vulnerable to raids from Mongol tribes, primarily the Dzungars (dson, “left”; gar, “hand”) who formed the left wing …
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 …
Key 19th century painters No trip to any country in Europe is complete without a visit to one of the many impressive art galleries that are lined with the artistic talents throughout history. Especially in …
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 …
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 …
The Ottoman Empire, c. 14th-20th centuries The Ottoman Empire once extended from Iraq to North Africa, from Arabia to the Balkans, even pressing to the walls of Hapsburg Vienna on two separate occasions. Originating from …
Tehran Through Time Tehran, Iran at the foot of the snow-capped Alborz Mountains. Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution that toppled its monarchy and paved the way for an Islamic Republic under its supreme leader, Ayatollah …
Seeking Caravaggio’s “Nativity” The hunt for Caravaggio’s stolen “Nativity” painting may just be the most high-profile art crime of the 20th century. One stormy night in 1969, an altarpiece painted by Italian master Michelangelo Merisi da …
India’s Mughal Empire More than 4 centuries ago the Mughal empire was an immensely successful empire, covering the entire subcontinent of India and reaching a population of 100 million at its peak. It is …
The Roman Empire The Roman Empire at its peak covered an area of five million square kilometres (1.9 million square miles) and included territories in Asia, Africa, and the Western European nations around the Mediterranean Sea. …
Southern Italy: from Magna Graecia to Italian Unification When you ask people about Italy, more often than not one of the first places they mention is the capital city, Rome, or the submerged streets of …
The History and Legacy of the Silk Road The Silk Road (also called the Silk Routes) was an extensive system of trade routes formally established during the rule of China’s Han Dynasty. The routes traversed …
Exploring York Like a page out of a history book, the North-Eastern city of York in the United Kingdom is a Gothic wonder. What lies beyond this walled Roman fortress, aside from York Minister, …
Exploring Kazakhstan. “Land of Wanderers” Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world and covers a landlocked area bigger than all of Western Europe. But unlike Europe, it does not figure prominently in the …
Visiting Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia: The South Caucasus’ Entwined Histories and Must-See Sites Visiting Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in one trip makes logistical sense as the countries sit next to each other south of the Caucasus …
The Delicate Art of Art Restoration The Netherland’s Rijkmuseum recently announced that it will be restoring Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, its most famous and most treasured painting by the Dutch master. Rembrandt’s group portrait masterpiece, …