When London burned: 1666’s Great Fire
Thomas Farriner was a baker who served King Charles II, supplied bread to the Royal Navy, and lived in Pudding Lane, London. All regular, until he went to bed on […]
Hyder: the easternmost town in Alaska that can only be accessed from Canada.
The town of Hyder, Alaska, is both the geographically easternmost town in Alaska, as well as the southernmost town in Alaska that can be reached by car. However, one cannot […]
Yangzhou Zhongshuge: this Chinese library’s interior is designed to look like an infinite tunnel of books
We are in Yangzhou. The Chinese city is known for its graceful arched bridges, proximity to the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Architects kept these local features in […]
The colonial era ghosts that still haunt the streets of Yorktown, the landmark village of the American Revolution
It is said that the town of Yorktown is haunted. From Cornwallis’ Cave on the banks of the York River, to Crawford Road, the town is a magnet for urban […]
Everything you need to know about New Orleans’ Cities of the Dead~
There is no shortage of spooky graveyards in America, especially in the South and, it seems, when it comes to burying the dead no city does it better, and with […]
The images of a Venice free of tourists transformed by COVID-19
In addition to being one of the most beautiful cities in the world, either with the snow, or with the high water, or during its magnificent carnival (and did you […]
Quarantine in Milan: here’s what it’s like in a coronavirus red zone.
First Easter and Easter Monday. Then, Italy’s Liberation Day on April 25, a national Italian holiday commemorating the end of Nazi occupation during World War II and the victory of […]
A forest of pillars, recalling the Holocaust: the controversial Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin
In the 15 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of the nation, Germany has struggled to come to terms with its Nazi past. Nowhere has […]
Paris through a Nazi’s lens: Propaganda pictures of Occupied France in 1940’s
André Zucca (1897-1973) was a French photographer and Nazi collaborator, popular thanks to his work with the German propaganda magazine Signal. Born in 1897 in Paris, son of an Italian […]
A splendid collection of rare color Photos of Paris taken about 100 Years Ago
For most of us are normal to see historical photographs in black and white, due to the diffusion of monochrome films during the early years of photographic technique. The color […]
Metelkova: the alternative cultural center in Ljubljana
If you ask any local in Ljubljana, they will point you in the right direction, 5 minutes from the city centre of Slovenia’s capital city. The area now known as […]
Panam Nagar: a ghost town of Sonargaon – Bangladesh.
We are in Sonargaon, about 30 km southeast of Dhaka, along the Meghna River, Bangladesh. As early as the 14th century, Sonargaon was the ancient capital of Bangladesh, or more […]
Vyborg: Once Finland’s 2nd most influential city, now only a small provincial town somewhere in Russia
In Vyborg, Russia, time seems to have stopped. The city has a long history behind it that the ruins of its past never cease to pass down. Once Finland’s second […]
The sunken city of Pavlopetri: the oldest submerged city in the Mediterranean
Pavlopetri, in Greek: Παυλοπέτρι, is an anonymous village opposite the island of Elafonisos, on whose beach, in 1967, an exceptionally important discovery was made for world archeology: an ancient submerged […]
Shakespeare Ghost Town – New Mexico
This small New Mexico town has gone by many names, and only acquired its present one in 1879 at the beginning of its second mining boom. Old timers called it […]
The altered traffic signs of Edinburgh, Scotland
We are in Einburgh, Scotland. Scattered around the city center are a number of traffic signs that have been given new life through amusing graffiti stickers. A keen eye but […]
Bueren Mountain: in Liege the stairs that will take your breath away!
Cutting down a steep slope right in the heart of the Belgian city of Liège, Bueren Mountain is not in fact a mountain, but a long staircase that can literally […]
Prague: the magnificent European capital cobbled with Jewish gravestones
Prague is one of the most touristic cities in Europe. It is a large UNESCO World Heritage site, full of fairytale towers, ornate statues and art nouveau façades. The beauties […]
1950s Berlin: Photographs of a destroyed city
Berlin, 1956. About ten years have passed since the end of the Second World War, and Germany was at the beginning of a reconstruction, first architectural and then political, which […]
It’s Great To Be Alive! An unintentionally funny safety booklet from the 1950s
According to this 1950s Police Safety League booklet there is life threatening danger at every corner for the teen and pre-teen! Looking at these scanned images from the guide It’s […]
History, Haunting and Secrets of Seattle’s Pike Place Market~
The Pike Place Market in Seattle is, of course, a good place to shop, but also the most haunted place in Seattle, if not throughout the Washington state. The upstairs […]
‘A Bella Mbriana: a love legend along the narrow streets of Naples
The history of Naples is full of legends and myths, which are lost between truth and fantasy, between streets and alleys, between lights and shadows. The love legend of ‘A […]
A revolutionary war Sugar House prison window in downtown Manhattan
Hidden away on a wall of the New York City Police Department Headquarters there is a mysterious window. It is embedded in the wall, and made of an ancient brick […]
Grand Hotel Bolivar is thought to be one of the most haunted places in Lima, Peru.
We are in Lima: here, the Gran Hotel Bolivar was opened in 1924 in the hope of modernizing the city as a place to house dignitaries visiting the Peruvian capital. […]
The cyanometer that measure the blueness of the sky in Ljubljana centre
Cyanometers have been color-coding the sky since the late 18th century, however Martin Bricelj Baraga’s sculpture adds a really modern twist. Located in the center of Ljubljana, Slovenia, the monolithic […]
Legends and origins of “O’ Munaciello”, the Neapolitan sprite.
A Neapolitan proverb reads: “O munaciello: a chi arricchisce e a chi appezzentisce“, which means something like “The munaciello or enriches or sends into poverty“. The munaciello, literally “little monk” […]
Szimpla Kert: Budapest ruin pub that offer peep into the past.
Try to imagine: on a chilly night, young party-goers gather inside a two-storey former factory in the heart of Budapest’s entertainment district, where old computer monitors displaying psychedelic patterns line […]
The story of the almost disappeared town of Thurmond, West Virginia
On the shore of New River Gorge, in West Virginia, United States, lies the almost abandoned city of Thurmond. “Almost” because, the 2010 census, confirmed that five people still live […]
Idroscalo of Pavia: a piece of history of the city abandoned on the Ticino river.
On the Ticino river, south of the covered bridge, which was one of Pavia’s most symbolic monuments, there is a now abandoned structure, left to decay. It is the Idroscalo […]