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After vast parts of Vientiane were destroyed when Siamese armies sacked the city in 1827, the original city pillar shrine of the Laotian capital was lost. But not too long ago, archaeologists discovered fragments of the original site dating back to the fourth or fifth centuries. A new city pillar shrine, or Hor Lak Muang, was […]
The Quiapo district of Manila is located just outside the walled city of Intramuros. It became a natural extension when the city was expanding during the Spanish colonial times, and it was the address of choice for the well-heeled Filipino mestizo families, especially at Hidalgo Street, where rows of bahay na bato (house of stone) competed […]
One of the most iconic artifacts of ancient Japan is the Shakōki-dogū (“goggle-eyed clay idol”), which was found at the Kamegaoka archaeological site in Aomori Prefecture in 1887 and is held at the Tokyo National Museum today. The image often represents the Japanese Neolithic as a whole. The Kamegaoka site was discovered in 1622 when […]
Originally constructed in 1611 and rebuilt in 1810, Hirosaki Castle (also known as Tatsuoka Castle) is one of the 12 surviving feudal castles in Japan and the northernmost of them. Today, the castle park is famed for its cherry blossom views, but visitors often remark that the castle itself is smaller than they expected. The original […]
Te Aro Pā was once the largest pa, a Maori settlement, in New Zealand, encompassing about 40-60 acres by the 1840s. Due to earthquakes, the Taranaki land wars, and colonization, the settlement’s population dwindled in size with most of the land sold off by the 1900s. In 1908, a building was erected over this site, […]
Monaco, as the second-smallest country in the world, is not much of a military power. Aside from a small force of 250 soldiers, it relies entirely on France for its national defense. However, there was a time when this tiny country had to fend for itself on the world stage. Perched on the tip of […]
In the village of Banja near Aranđelovac, on the northeastern slopes of Mount Venčac, Dvorine, also known as the “Hungarian Cemetery,” is an archaeological site of a once-luxurious 14th-century medieval church, a necropolis, and a brick building with both ground and upper floors. Largely unknown to those both within and outside Serbia, this church is believed […]
During the 19th century, many European nations pursued the construction of opulent cemeteries with elaborate architectural features and multitudes of mausolea. One of the grandest European cemeteries from this period is the Addolorata Cemetery on the island of Malta, which was part of the British Empire during most of the 19th century. This cemetery was […]
Walking through Erbil’s Arab quarter, it’s not immediately obvious what has left the buildings mostly abandoned. Erbil is not a war-torn city. Unlike Mosul just 50 miles away, it was never bombed by the United States during the 2000s invasion, and not taken over by ISIS in the 2010s. As part of Iraqi Kurdistan, a […]
Nestled amongst the brambles in what used to be the suburbs of a once mighty city are two circular piles of brick that have puzzled archeologists since they were first uncovered in the late 1960s. A commonly accepted explanation is that these two structures are stupas built to commemorate King Suddhodan and Queen Maya Devi, […]