History
fromOpen Culture
2 days agoHow Everything in a Medieval Castle Worked, from Its Moats to Its Dungeons
Medieval castles were complex structures designed for defense, featuring elements like barbicans, moats, and parapets.
The financial accounts kept by the fabrique for Girona Cathedral provide exceptionally detailed records, allowing historians to calculate the total number of workers and the average employed per year.
I like to create a small universe. From the master plan to the doorknobs, from the trees planted outside to the way people will sit and eat and dance inside, you create and control a whole microcosm.
They were all adult males between 40 and 60 years old when they died, ranging in height from 1.62 to 1.82 meters (5'4-6). They were in good overall health with excellent teeth, but osteoarthritis in the bones, particularly in the legs, attests to them having consistently experienced strenuous physical activity in their lives.
No introduction to Saint-Malo is complete without a stroll along the ramparts. These granite walls, rebuilt and reinforced over centuries, encircle the intra muros, the historic heart of the city by the port. The nearly two-kilometer circuit offers sweeping views of the Atlantic, the Fort National, and the distant Grand Bé. Walking the ramparts is like pacing the city's memory: narrow streets below hide cafés, boutique shops, and layers of architectural history.
Travelers often overlook tiny European countries, but, as I discovered on a recent trip to Luxembourg-Europe's seventh-smallest nation, with a population of just 699,000-there's much to discover in these hidden gems. Last summer, I visited my aunt, who has lived in Europe for over 20 years, with stints in Paris, Vienna, Zug, Switzerland, and now, Luxembourg. We spent three days touring the historic city nestled between Belgium, Germany, and France. It's built on a rocky plateau overlooking deep gorges, a sweeping canyon, and surrounding countryside.
In the UK and the US, it is often crystal clear when your new home is classified as a heritage home or period property, but in France it can be less obvious. You could be breaking the rules simply by installing new windows. So how can you check that your big plans aren't going to upset anyone - or worse, break the law?
Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) unveils a new vision for the Ensemble Immobilier Tour Maine-Montparnasse, a large-scale urban retrofit that transforms a closed 1970s retail complex into an open, pedestrian-focused piece of Paris. Commissioned by the co-owners of the Montparnasse Commercial Centre and the CIT Tower, the project unfolds in parallel with the ongoing redevelopment of the adjacent Montparnasse Tower, led by Nouvelle AOM. The two interventions aim to recalibrate one of the most contested sites of the city, shifting it from an inward-looking megastructure to a permeable urban district grounded in daily life, movement, and public space.
Europe has never been short on spectacle. Yet beyond the headline cities and endlessly recycled itineraries lies a quieter, deeper continent; one that's best encountered through patience and a willingness to detour from the obvious itinerary. Our 7 wonders of Europe for 2026 in Europe are not places that beg for attention. Instead, they reward those prepared to explore more than a few miles from the nearest airport and linger a little longer than planned.
TANK has completed the L'Alliance , a modular school in Dunkerque, France. The new construction includes an agora, a seven-classroom nursery, an eight-classroom elementary school, a cafeteria, a community center, a multipurpose hall divisible into smaller spaces, a cybercenter, offices, a civic hall, and outdoor areas.