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Split, the place chosen by Roman Emperor Diocletian for his retirement seaside palace

Diocletian is known for his persecution against Christians, for building the largest public baths, splitting the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern (Byzantine) and for an unsuccessful attempt of stopping a giant economic crisis by reforming currency and even price controls. Diocletian is also the only Roman Emperor to have retired out of his own […]

Houses in the mud: the troglodyte dwellings

If you consider holiday resorts boring and want to feel more like an explorer without leaving Europe, you might wanna have a look at the mud houses in Spain. With a bit of imagination you could feel like a time traveler, going as far as the stone age, because in villages like Guadix people are […]

The Olympic stadium of Barcelona on Montjuic, used by Espanyol

With this large stadium, Spain bid for two summer Olympics and was picked up once. In the 1920s an Olympic sized stadium was already in place in Montjuic (“mountain of the Jews”), the residential area of Barcelona that was once dominated by Jewish traders. But Berlin won the race and hosted the infamous 1936 Olympics, […]

The royal fortress of Suceava outlasted the walls of Constantinople

The fall of Constantinople must have been the greatest event in the history of the Middle Ages. Though the Ottoman Empire was already spread around the town, it was thought that its walls were impenetrable. It was the greatest city of its time, in an age when Paris was a collection of villages and Rome […]

The Garden of Eden, brought to life in the Moorish gardens of Alcazar, Seville

Coming from a dry continent, the Arabs developed a profound admiration for green gardens, sometimes building the necessary springs themselves, which required some impressive engineering skills for the time. The Quran itself is full with images of the Paradise described as an oasis in the desert. So when the Muslims crossed the Mediterranean to the […]

The spectacular Agbar Tower, the new landmark building of Barcelona

In a city of architecture like Barcelona, is tough job to steal the show, but the Agbar Tower manages to turn all heads. It is the most impressive building you will see when landing with a plane or when approaching with a cruise ship and is visible from a lot of places in the town, […]

Views from the walls of the medieval citadel of Dubrovnik

The two kilometers of thick walls that used to defend the city-republic in the Middle Ages are now used as a mandatory route for tourists that come from allover the world. Dubrovnik is one of the very few examples of communities that flourished behind a wall and also one of the very few examples in […]

Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe and the museum of FC Barcelona

More than a club is the slogan written on the seats of Nou Camp. And while club sympathies may be opened to discussions, everyone can agree that this is no ordinary football stadium. It is just a few hundred seats from being able to accommodate 100.000 spectators, which makes it the largest stadium in Europe. […]

Vienna architectural details, old and new

If you are interested in architecture, than the Austrian capital is a city not to be missed. The former imperial capital has plenty of impressive palaces, museums hosted in historic buildings, monumental churches, elegant public squares with statues and private buildings from all periods. The historic center is overwhelming with beautiful buildings at every corner, […]

Budapest, pictures from the beautiful Hungarian capital

One of the most beautiful and diverse towns of Europe was formed by the union of three cities: Obuda (the ancient city with ruins from antiquity, which gave the name to the second), Buda (the medieval capital, with its hill castles, historic churches and mountain caves) and Pesta, the vast modern city on the other […]

The Old Town of Budva. Too beautiful to look 2500 years old

If you are curious what made Budva the place with the most millionaires in Europe, to the proportion of population, here’s the answer. Budva is an ideal resort for Mediterranean: it has marine and mountainous landscape, historic architecture, medieval churches, sandy beaches, night life. To put it in one line, it has the classy look […]

National Arena (Bucharest), one of the most modern stadiums in Europe

Though the stadium inaugurated in 2011 is not one of the large stadiums on the continent, with its 55.000 seats capacity, it is packed with features. It has a retractable roof, with the stands always covered. The cable system that supports the roof makes it unusable in daylight because of the shadows, but the cables […]

Trogir: 2300 years of history and style in one of the best preserved medieval city in Europe

Eclipsed in fame and size by Dubrovnik on the same Adriatic coast, Trogir is like a very expensive perfume, kept in a tiny bottle. It would have been hard for a film crew to recreate such accurate sets for bringing to life an aristocratic society of hundreds of years ago. But Trogir looks perfect and […]

Plaza de Espana in Seville, modern architecture taking a bow to Moorish heritage

Though it looks like a historic building from distant times, the complex in Plaza de Espana, Sevilla is actually less than a century old, being built for the World Exhibition of 1929. The building is situated in a very peaceful park, Maria Luisa and is the high point of an entire area of Seville, built […]

Sighisoara, medieval city perfectly preserved

Despite its small size, Sighisoara might be the most beautiful Romanian cities. A charming miniature, that makes you feel like a lucky explorer during a discovery. Sighisoara is one of the cities of Transylvania built by German settlers in the Middle Ages, brought by the Hungarian crown here to lift up the economy. Thus its […]

Vienna Parliament building

Designed by architect Theophil von Hansen, the Parliament Building is an outstanding construction, in a city packed with impressive architectural monuments. The building is inspired by Greek architecture, as a symbol of the home of democracy and was the legislative building of the Austrian Hungarian empire. A large ramp climbs to the entrance from both […]

The White Tower, the emblem of Thessaloniki

The tower of Thessaloniki is a souvenir of the lasting Ottoman occupation, when the Turks fortified the city with walls against a see attack. The tower was long time used as a prison and was the scene of several massacres. At the beginning of the 20th century, when the Greeks earned their independence, the tower […]

Roman forum in the ancient Rome

The forum was the most important public place in ancient Rome, an open space surrounded by columns and statues of revered historic figures, in which the local elite could meet to discuss politics, raise popular support, take part in elections and make commerce. Temples and political institutions surrounded the forum. A term somewhat misleading for […]

Sibiu (Hermannstadt) The charm of a former European cultural capital

With a documented history of nine centuries, Sibiu is one of the oldest cities in Romania. Situated in the heart of Transylvania, Sibiu was built by German settlers brought here by the Hungarian king. Back then, Transylvania was part of Hungary and the settlers were brought to defend the border of the empire and to […]

Cotroceni Palace, from royal residence, to presidential palace

An absolute must see if you visit Bucharest, the Cotroceni (pronounced Kotrocheny) has a history of 400 years, a beautiful architecture and a very relaxing surrounding domain. It was first intended as a monastery, with churches and cells. Probably some kind of religious construction existed there prior to 1600. Prince Serban Cantacuzino, who financed the […]

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