Category: Architecture

Petrine Baroque

The proximity of the Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox cathedral to parliament, in the centre of Tallinn, I suppose aroused anti-Russian sentiment and led some people to moot its demolition and replacement with a park.

Toompea Time

There was a fine view of this tower, Pikk Hermann, from the fifth floor of one of the Radissons in Tallinn.

Basilica of Saint-Denis

If you watch rugby you will have heard of the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. It was built for the 1998 football World Cup. I went to Saint-Denis, three stops north of Gard du Nord on the RER, on Monday morning to see an older building.

Fountains of Paris

In rural Ireland in the 1950s most homes had electricity but few had mains water. A well at Barmeath supplies water, pumped by hand until electricity came along. Mrs McGinn, who lived in the front lodge, had to trudge across a field to fill two buckets at a tap feeding a cattle trough. There was… Continue reading Fountains of Paris

High Renaissance

My next book, well that’s a bit misleading as it will be my first book, is going to look at busts and portraits. I have a newly formed theory that sculptors are more generous than artists. Take a look at these two fellers.

Roman Churches

I visited the churches mentioned by James Lees-Milne in his guide Roman Mornings when I last visited in 2017 but here is no shortage of churches in Rome and yesterday I went to some I had not been to. The only challenge was to work out a circular walk and to factor in lunch.

Christmas Day

25 December (1940) Christmas Day! An old butler came in to wake me at half-past eight, bearing the conventional tray with tea. He was a trifle apologetic at bringing it to an American. And as he began fussing around opening the curtains and folding my clothes, I asked him about himself. He said he had… Continue reading Christmas Day

Of Obelisk and Orchid

I have been interested in war memorials for a long time and have wondered vaguely when they were first erected and, in particular, when the names of the fallen of all ranks were listed and commemorated.