Today we stopped off in Lancut on our way from Zamosc to Krakov and I fell in love with this extraordinary castle. It’s nothing special from the outside but the inside is amazing. My photographs do not do it justice. We have seen so many castles in the last 20 years that we’ve become a …
Category Archives: Historical buildings
Postcard #17 – Armenian Houses in Zamosc
There are five very colourful 17th century Armenian houses on the market square in Zamosc, whose style combines Italian and oriental influences. The blue house is decorated with a young married couple while the yellow shows a polychrome Virgin of Mary slaying Evil in the form of a dragon. The red house depicts the Archangel Gabriel …
Postcard #15 – Lublin & Zamosc
This rather strange castle in Lublin in eastern Poland was built in the 16th century and rebuilt in the English neo-gothic style after a fire in the early 19th century. From 1820 to 1945 it was a prison. Its saving grace is a Byzantine chapel which dates back to the 15th century. Ce château un …
Postcard #13 – Gdansk Crane
It was omewhat overcast today when we visited Gdansk but fortunately it didn’t rain. The crane you can see just behind the tall ship is one of the city’s icons and was also used as an entrance gate. First mentioned in 1367 the original structure burnt down in 1442 before its current design was created in 1442-1444. As a …
Postcard #8 – Poznan, Poland
It was a long day today – 500 k by car with quite a lot of roadworks around Berlin but we still had time to visit the main square of Poznan, Poland, Stary Rynek or Old Market Square while the light was still sufficient. The building in the centre is the town hall. It is one …
Postcard #7 – Bad Sulza
When we cycled past this building today, we were most intrigued. We still aren’t entirely sure because all the information was in German and I haven’t been able to find out much more on the web. Bad Sulza means “salt baths” and photos inside the building show men loading salt into the section on the …
Postcard from Malta: The Three Windmills – Les trois moulins
Today we visited the town of Zurrieq which has four 18th century windmills. The best preserved is Xarolla which has sails and still works, while the others, Marmara, Qaret (2 photos, taken from the back and front) and Salib only have the base and tower left. We didn’t get as far as Salib. Aujourd’hui nous avons …
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Postcard from Malta – Tarxien Temples
Four megalithic temples built between 3600 and 2500 BC and interconnected were unearthed in 1914. The main temple above is the only known example of a six-apse temple. Quatre temples mégalithiques construits entre 3600 et 2500 av. J.-C.et reliés entre eux étaient exhumés en 1914. Le temple principal ci-dessus est le seul exemple connu d’un …
Snow on Château de Menars – Neige sur le château de Ménars
I took this photo of château de Ménars yesterday on the way back from Chambord. The snow was so dazzling that I couldn’t take a sharp photo of the château. J’ai pris cette photo du château de Ménars hier sur le retour de Chambord. La neige était tellement éblouissante que je n’ai pas pu prendre …
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The Purple Shutters – Les volets mauves
I think these purple shutters really brighten up this old square in the historical quarter of Puits Chatel in Blois although they probably weren’t approved by the national heritage people. A “grenier à sel” is a salt storehouse. Je trouve que ces volets mauves égayent bien la place du Grenier au Sel dans le quartier historique de …