#vauban-ramparts

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History
fromOpen Culture
2 days ago

How 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.
#paris
fromFrenchly
1 week ago
Paris food

The Best Things To Do in Paris's 1st Arrondissement - Frenchly

The 1st arrondissement of Paris is rich in history, culture, and attractions, making it a must-visit area.
fromOpen Culture
2 months ago
History

Watch the Evolution of Paris Unfold in a Timelapse Video, from 300 BCE to 2025

Paris began on Île de la Cité and transformed over nearly two-and-a-half millennia along the Seine through successive eras and major urban interventions.
Paris food
fromFrenchly
1 week ago

The Best Things To Do in Paris's 1st Arrondissement - Frenchly

The 1st arrondissement of Paris is rich in history, culture, and attractions, making it a must-visit area.
History
fromBig Think
1 week ago

Militarized snowflakes: The accidental beauty of Renaissance star forts

Star forts exemplify the intersection of military engineering and geometry, showcasing beauty born from the necessity of defense against artillery.
fromMedievalists.net
1 week ago

How Many Workers Built a Medieval Cathedral? - Medievalists.net

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.
History
fromArchitectural Digest
3 weeks ago

Who Was Thierry Despont? Getting to Know the Legendary French Architect

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.
Design
fromArchDaily
3 weeks ago

Sporting Vichy / Comte & Vollenweider

The project faces the historic site of the Vichy parks. It is part of an ambitious project to reclaim the water body, which began with the renovation of the right bank of Lake Allier in 2014 and the left bank in 2019.
Renovation
fromwww.thehistoryblog.com
2 weeks ago

Five more seated Gauls found in Dijon

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.
History
Berlin
fromwww.independent.co.uk
4 weeks ago

Cologne Cathedral, one of Germany's best-known landmarks, to charge tourists for admission

Cologne Cathedral will implement an admission fee to address rising maintenance costs driven by inflation and personnel expenses, with annual upkeep reaching approximately 16 million euros.
fromFrenchly
1 month ago

The Best Things to Do in SaintMalo - Frenchly

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.
Miscellaneous
France news
fromThe Good Life France
1 month ago

7 historic and officially prettiest villages in France - The Good Life France

Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, an association of 180 officially designated villages across 70 departments, preserves historic rural communities through strict selection criteria while attracting new residents and visitors through craft studios, hospitality businesses, and authentic experiences.
LA real estate
fromLos Angeles Times
22 years ago

The height of Old World style

A $15.9 million double-penthouse condo combining two penthouses on the highest floors of a Wilshire Boulevard high-rise features luxury amenities and 19th-century design elements.
Science
fromOpen Culture
1 month ago

How Medieval Cathedrals Were Built Without Science, or Even Mathematics

Medieval cathedral builders engineered complex structures like Sainte-Chapelle without mathematics or formal science, using practical techniques and empirical methods instead.
Paris food
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

An ugly year for the Louvre: where does the world's biggest museum go from here?

Laurence des Cars resigned as Louvre president after a year marked by staff strikes, infrastructure crises, a major heist, and ongoing operational challenges despite a €1 billion renovation plan.
History
fromAnimals Around The Globe
1 month ago

11 Historic Bridges in The World That Are Engineering Masterpieces

Bridges represent human ambition and ingenuity, solving impossible engineering challenges across millennia using available knowledge and materials of their time.
fromTravel + Leisure
1 month ago

This Tiny European Country Has A Medieval City, Dazzling Waterfalls, and Free Public Transit-Here's How to Plan a Trip

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.
Miscellaneous
fromThe Good Life France
2 months ago

Renovating a property in France - heritage status and protected zones - The Good Life France

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?
Real estate
Renovation
fromArchDaily
1 month ago

How to Modernize a Grand Hotel Without Erasing Its Memory: Lessons from Brenners

Refurbishment can extend material life and preserve architectural identity while reducing environmental impact when original materials are durable and project conditions allow.
fromdesignboom | architecture & design magazine
2 months ago

renzo piano to open paris's montparnasse commercial center back to the city

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.
Remodel
fromCN Traveller
1 month ago

7 wonders of Europe for 2026

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.
Travel
Renovation
fromThe Good Life France
2 months ago

Renovating a property in France - heritage status and protected zones - The Good Life France

Renovating property in France often requires permissions; protected zones and proximity to historic monuments can restrict even minor changes like shutters or windows.
Design
fromArchDaily
2 months ago

New Town Hall of Scharrachbergheim / AL PEPE architects

Contemporary, rooted town hall uses regular wooden framework, pine-tar finish, and corten steel mesh to achieve horizontality, transparency, and integration with the wooded Alsatian site.
#adaptive-reuse
France news
fromOpen Culture
1 month ago

How This Skyscraper Ruined Paris, and Why They're Now Trying to Make It Invisible

Tour Montparnasse symbolizes Parisian modernity and commercialism but remains widely disliked as the city's lone central skyscraper, contrasting with celebrated landmarks like the Eiffel Tower.
fromwww.archdaily.com
2 months ago

School in Dunkerque / TANK Architectes

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.
Design
Miscellaneous
fromArchitectural Digest
9 years ago

The 11 Most Beautiful Gothic Cathedrals Around the World

Gothic cathedrals, built 12th–16th centuries, prioritize height and light using pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses to create taller, stronger stone structures.
Renovation
fromArchitectural Digest
1 month ago

A 14th-Century Building in Paris Becomes a Bachelor Pad Dressed in Chrome, Marble, and Embossed Leather

Chaille transforms a historic Marais apartment into a material-forward, layered home for a bold 28-year-old, emphasizing structural axis and mixed textures.
France news
fromThe Good Life France
2 months ago

A day in Montreuil-sur-Mer - The Good Life France

Montreuil-sur-Mer is a picturesque fortified hilltop town near Calais with historic ramparts, rich medieval and military history, and charming streets and monuments.
France news
fromThe Local France
2 months ago

Germany returns to France fragments of the Bayeux Tapestry taken in 1941

Two unembroidered fragments removed from the Bayeux Tapestry in 1941 by a Nazi scientist were returned to France by Schleswig-Holstein.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

"775 - Westphalia": Exhibition Explores the Origins of Charlemagne's Imperial Palace - Medievalists.net

Charlemagne established a fortified royal base at the Lippe River in 775, baptized many Saxons, and initially named it Karlsburg before the name vanished.
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