Feature

Pecunia non olet, Public toilets in Paris and Vespasiennes

18 December 2025


Bernardo Bellettot (1720-1780). The Colloseum painted in 1743.Galleria Nazionale Parma.

The year of the four emperors (Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasianus), 69 AD, was one of the most remarkable years in Roman history. Nero had left the Empire in financial ruins and the generals fought a devastating civil war. The victor Vespasianus (9-79 AD) inherited a public deficit of 40 billion sestertii (the average monthly salary … Read more » “Pecunia non olet, Public toilets in Paris and Vespasiennes”

Save the Cathedrals and Churches

18 August 2025


The Interior of the Saint-Chapelle, built by Louis IX (1214-1270), King of France from 1226-1270. The Chapelle was built in seven years (1241-1248) and resembles European culture and the power of spirituality. Without cathedrals no skyscrapers, no Rembrandt and no humanism. Photo: city of Paris.

Any remuneration of the Great movements in modern history must include the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution. Communism and National-Socialism do not fall into these categories. Their nihilism, barbarism and destructive regimes are beyond civilised standards. Millions of ‘incorrect’ books, artefacts and religious buildings have been destroyed, tens … Read more » “Save the Cathedrals and Churches”

The Zwin Plain near Knokke

13 June 2025


The Zwin Nature Reserve or Zwin plain straddles the border between Flanders and the Netherlands, between the city of Knokke in Belgium and the village of Cadzand in the Netherlands. The Zwin Channel connects the area to the sea. Every high tide makes a large quantity of water from the North Sea flow into the … Read more » “The Zwin Plain near Knokke”

A French Immigrant in New York

11 November 2024


The most American of Americans, Liberty, was herself an immigrant from France. Parisians, watching the statue’s construction in the city in the 1880’s, proclaimed it was the eighth marvel of the world, even bigger than the colossus of Rhodus. The statue was an initiative of a group of French intellectuals, protesting what they saw as … Read more » “A French Immigrant in New York”

Nude on the Acropolis

8 November 2024


In 1927, photos stirred up a storm of controversy among historians and archaeologists in Athens. The Greek photographer Elli Souyoultzoglou-Seraidari or Nelly (1899-1998) photographed the nude dancer Mona Palva on the Acropolis. However, the Acropolis had been the subject of (civil) war, plunder, neglect and other blasphemy for many centuries. The Acropolis has been a … Read more » “Nude on the Acropolis”