Keep in touch with the musings of the Historvius team and get updates on the latest goings on with the site:
Appy Days
By Mike Lewis
We’ve had some great news here at Historvius HQ recently with the launch of Google’s ground-breaking new Field Trip app - which is now available to download for free from Google Play and the Apple App Store.
It’s an awesome new discovery engine which allows you to find fantastic places all around you – and what’s more, it even has a little Historvius mixed in for good measure!
That’s because Historvius has linked up with Google on this innovative new mobile experience and you’ll find a feast of historical gems along with information on architecture, events and even great local restaurants.
Field Trip exposes dozens of unique voices about the world around you, based on what you’re interested in: from local history to unique product and shopping opportunities, architecture, design, food, outdoor art, nightlife and live entertainment. These feeds are updated daily in many cases.
Linking Historvius with Field Trip means that together we can help you discover the stories from the past which took place all around you. The app provides a unique service, helping you plan your experiences as well as uncovering fascinating fact about the places they see every day. You can find out more about it at www.fieldtripper.com.
On The Road: The Grand Canyon
By Isabelle Moore
Read the full blog: Being at an elevation ranging between 8,000 and 9,000 and in the middle of the lower, southwestern desert section of Utah, Bryce canyon hits high temperatures of 30 degrees in summer, but spends large parts of the year frozen. Having spent the last two weeks in pretty much non stop heat, it was a shock to begin hiking down into the canyon in single digit temperatures and finding small patches of snow on the path!
Apart from being freezing on the way down but sweltering on the way up (the sun had fully risen by then!), the hike was fantastic. Bryce is less well known than the Grand Canyon, but I’m not sure why, it easily surpasses the larger canyon in both beauty and accessibility. Trails are available for novice and experienced hikers, as well as horse trails guided tours. The hoodoos (the towers of orange rock) are formed by frost erosion rather than the traditional river erosion that created most of the famous canyons, hence why they are so uniquely shaped.
The park is long and thin, stretching along the rim of canyon, the main viewpoint looks down onto the amphitheatre of the canyon giving the best views, while further down there are a dozen more viewpoints, including a natural arch, with more trails leading into the canyon.
Having fallen in love with Bryce and spent much longer than our allotted time there, we sped out of the park down to the Utah/Arizona state line and Antelope Canyon. I had seen an image of Antelope Canyon from the cover of National Geographic and presumed that it was in some far-flung corner of the world that I would never reach. Turns out it’s about three hours north of the Grand Canyon and two below Bryce Canyon!
The canyon is on a Native American reservation, hidden behind a giant power plant with only a couple of road signs to direct you there, but it is well worth the effort. It can only be visited through a guided tour, but they run every 30 minutes from 8am until just before sunset. The canyon is very short, approximately 3/4 of a mile as the crow flies, but it takes approximately 45 minutes to tour the entire thing as you have to descend 12 separate staircases and navigate the winding trail at the bottom.
Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon, formed by flash flooding of the sandstone, separated into two sections: the upper and lower, respectively nicknamed ‘The Crack’ and ‘The Corkscrew’. We toured the lower canyon with it’s corkscrew curves.
Antelope was gorgeous and vied with Bryce for position as my favourite sight of the whole trip. After our 45 minutes was up we climbed out, walked the 10 minutes back to the car and set off for Flagstaff, Arizona. Next up was the Grand Canyon…
After a night in Flagstaff we arrived at the Grand Canyon earlier, briefly considered another hike, swiftly changed our minds and instead hired a couple of bikes to cycle back and forth along the rim.
The South rim is a National Park, unlike the West rim, and visually very different (I visited the West rim in 2011). Apart from being a lot busier, the South rim is also a lot greener, the red of the canyon is much more muted and visibility across can be poor as this is where the canyon is widest. Obviously it’s not a sight to be sniffed at, and cycling along the rim was amazing, however I was a little disappointed with the park as the views were not as spectacular as the West rim and the canyon as a whole was a bit underwhelming to us, having just hiked through Bryce and Antelope!
As the sun set we drove out of the park and across Arizona, heading towards Las Vegas…
The Top Five Historic Sites I’ve Visited
By Siobhan Coskeran
The Colosseum, Rome
It’s not often that a single word can conjure up a vivid picture of the past, but if you were to ask anyone what ‘Colosseum’ means to them then it’s likely they’ll describe a powerful scene. Brutal gladiatorial fights, wild animals pitched against each other, a resplendent Emperor overseeing the spectacle; a picture of Roman society. Exaggerated Hollywood blockbusters have helped to imbed this image in the popular imagination, but the place itself has played a big part too.
More than anything, what struck me about the Colosseum on my first visit was its scale. How on earth could such a large structure – the largest amphitheatre ever built in the Roman Empire – have been built nearly 2,000 years ago? And not only is it large, but it’s also very complex. The four tiers of its outer walls, with three tiers of arches which once housed magnificent statues, encircle an arena capable of seating between 50,000 and 80,000 people. Below the stage, too, an intricate system of rooms and passageways acted as a backstage area and allowed for tricks such as gladiators arising out of the floor. The stage could even be flooded to depict sea battles – features like that would still be impressive to an audience in a modern arena. To accomplish this feat, the Romans had to use the latest techniques. Concrete had only recently been invented, and vaulted arches were a relatively recent architectural feature, but both were used with great success and made the Colosseum an incredibly sturdy structure.
What’s most impressive about the architecture is that – despite fire, earthquakes, and stone thieves – it is still partially standing today. There’s no better way to relive the strange world of Roman entertainment than standing in the Colosseum and envisaging what it must have felt like to experience such an imposing structure in all its glory, full to overflowing with people baying for blood. Much better than watching Russell Crowe rewrite history any day.
Memento Park, Budapest
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This graveyard for Soviet statues on the outskirts of Budapest is one of the most evocative museums I’ve ever visited. It’s even hard to call it a museum – there’s very little information, just a collection of the monuments and figures that littered the city’s streets during Hungary’s Communist era, all standing in a field. But it’s all the more effective for being so.
Standing next to a huge, steely grey statue of a Red Army soldier wielding a Communist flag tells you more about the period than an information piece in a museum ever could. It illustrates the nature of the regime very literally; overbearing, intimidating, powerful. The calf of one towering statue of a worker alone was larger than me. These statues are imposing in an open field – it’s hard to imagine how imposing they must have been in the streets of Budapest.
Statues like these were removed in many places once the Communist regime fell, but most were melted down. No one can be blamed for wanting to erase unpleasant memories. Even though these statues were preserved, it’s clear that the inhabitants of Budapest didn’t want them too close to home; the park is a 15-minute bus ride out of the city. But I’m very thankful that they were saved; although uncomfortable, this unique opportunity to see the statues as they were seen by those who lived under Communism seems a highly effective way to teach the lessons of history.
Hampton Court Palace, London
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Henry VIII’s favourite palace is still as magnificent as it was during his reign, and there’s no better place to experience the splendour that a Tudor monarch lived in. It also tells of the more intimate parts king’s life: as well as being the place where Henry’s much-desired male heir, Edward VI, was born, Hampton Court was where his favourite wife, Jane Seymour, died, and where he learned of Catherine Howard’s adultery. And if that’s not enough, you can even see the Royal Tennis Court where Henry played.
The palace charts the story of the changing monarchy, too. The transition from the Tudors to the Stuarts prompted changes to the architecture; William and Mary undertook a rebuilding project that resulted in the stunning south front, designed by Christopher Wren. Unfortunately the result was that Henry VIII’s private apartments were lost, but that in itself is an interesting insight into the approach of the Stuart monarchs to their Tudor predecessors.
The sights of Hampton Court aren’t confined to the buildings, though – the grounds alone are worth a visit. With sunken gardens, long tree-lined avenues, and even a maze, there is something for everyone. You can even pay a visit to the Great Vine, which is an impressive 240 years old and holds the Guinness World Record for being the largest vine in the world. The only downside is that there’s hardly enough time to explore everything!
St Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow
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Red Square is iconic for a number of reasons, but this colourful building is certainly the most eye-catching part. Combined with the religious history it reveals, St Basil’s Cathedral (also known by the slightly long-winded name of the Cathedral of the Protection of Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat) is a fascinating place to visit.
The cathedral’s architecture is immediately striking. Designed to resemble a bonfire rising into the sky, it has no parallels in Russian architecture. In fact, it’s far removed from most conceptions of a church – it’s so markedly different to the sombre spires we’re familiar with in the West, you could be mistaken for thinking St Basil’s would be more at home in a Disney fairytale. The exterior is an explosion of colour, and it’s easy to get dizzy tracing the numerous swirls, diamonds, and points that adorn it. I thought the inside would be more sober, but found an even more elaborate maze of galleries and chapels with intricate murals lining every wall.
Because of its bright and brilliant design, it’s hard to believe that the cathedral was built as long ago as 1561 on the orders of Ivan the Terrible. After its construction it immediately became a focal point of Moscow, acting as the geometric centre of the city and the tallest building until 1600. St Basil’s hasn’t been exempt from the challenges of religious change, however. Stalin wanted to demolish the church as part of his attack on religion and to allow his soldiers to leave Red Square en masse. However, when the architect Baranovsky stood on the cathedral's steps and threatened to cut his own throat if the masterpiece was destroyed, Stalin relented. Unfortunately Baranovsky was punished with five years in prison, but I for one am grateful that the building was saved.
Cathedral-Mosque, Córdoba
Few sites have undergone as many changes in the religion they represent as the Cathedral-Mosque of Córdoba. Initially a pagan temple stood on the spot, then Visigothic Christian Church, until it was converted into a mosque by the Umayyad Moors. And since the Spanish Reconquista, it has been a Roman Catholic cathedral.
Visiting the Cathedral-Mosque, though, gives little sense of the turbulent times it has experienced. Elements of the former Mosque blend well with Christian designs to create an intriguing and remarkably peaceful building. Walking through the outer walls, you find yourself in a beautiful courtyard with lush orange trees and fountains, providing immediate relief from the busy streets filled with tourists and souvenir shops outside. It’s not a usual feature of Roman Catholic cathedrals, but that only makes it all the more special.
The building itself is incredibly large and has many different parts to it – it wouldn’t be hard to get lost in one of its corners. But it’s probably this large size that allows the Cathedral-Mosque’s contrasting elements to co-exist. Initially you’re greeted by a cavernous room of striking yet simple arches on marble pillars, into which the more recognisably Roman Catholic elements of intricate gold and white statues are introduced. The combination is very striking, and gives the Cathedral-Mosque a very individual – and captivating – character. On top of this, climbing the cathedral’s tower is a chance to get a fantastic view of the city.
On The Road: New York City
By Isabelle Moore
Read the full blog: Having decided that graduation had come around all too fast and I was not ready to face up to the grim world of job hunting in an economic disaster zone, I teamed up with a similar-minded friend and we began planning a Jack Kerouac style jaunt across America. We decided in May that we would hire a car in September and spend about five weeks driving in a huge loop from New York City encompassing at least twenty states. Having booked our car rental and found a couch to crash on in Manhattan we deemed ourselves fully organized for the impending trip, it was to be an impromptu holiday where we drove until we were bored or tired and slept where we found cheap motels, living the stereotypical on-the-road lifestyle!
I flew out early to spend some time with friends in Louisiana, but September 25th came round quickly and soon I found myself bumbling around JFK searching for my friend Katie. We eventually found each other and set off on the Skytrain and subway combination into the city. We had managed to wrangle a sofa bed stay from one of Katie’s family friends so headed up to the Upper East Side to their apartment. Apart from having the most stunning views of Manhattan, the family was incredibly accommodating, we were given a key and told to come and go as we pleased. That evening we just ate dinner at a local diner and fell asleep to the lights and sounds of the city vowing to make the most out of the next day.
We jumped out of bed the next morning, having realized it was gloriously sunny outside, and dashed off to Central Park stopping only to grab the ubiquitous New York bagel for breakfast. After getting hopelessly lost in the maze of paths through the park we finally found our way to Central Park Zoo, a sight that I had managed to miss on my previous tours of Manhattan.
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The zoo was first opened in the 1860s, starting life as a menagerie; it wasn’t until 1988 the current incarnation of the zoo came to exist. Including one of the most bizarre collections of animals to view, Central Park Zoo is small but beautiful, with many of the original 1930s buildings still housing exhibits. Arranged around the central courtyard, which contains the sea lion pool, are habitat-themed exhibits containing snow leopards, red pandas, a polar pear and snow monkeys to name only a few. The zoo, although chock full of children even on a weekday, is a great place to waste a couple of hours away from the hustle and bustle of the city streets.
Once we had had our quota of cute animals for the day we caught the subway straight down the island to the business district and headed for the 9/11 Memorial Gardens. Due to the huge amount of construction still ongoing on Number 1 World Trade Center, the gardens are only accessible from one point and time slots limit the number of visitors. The area is free to enter but security is understandably tight, all visitors must enter through airport style security screenings. Once we’d wound our way through the numerous roadblocks we made our way to the South pool. The memorial is beautiful and very poignant, with the names of the 2,983 victims of 9/11 etched into the edges of each pool, including the six victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, whilst the new tower rises above them.
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I was most struck at how quiet and serene the memorial is, the sounds of the city being drowned out by the waterfalls in each pool. The memorial will remain a work in progress until autumn of 2013, when the tower is due to be completed and the museum should also be open by next year.
After dinner at *in my opinion* the world’s best burger restaurant, Five Napkins in Hell’s Kitchen we headed back up to the upper east side to plan our next day excursions. The next morning we set off across Central Park again to the American Museum of Natural History, yes the setting of Night at the Museum 1 and 2! This fantastic museum is donation entry; the recommended donation is $18 for an adult but visitors can choose what to donate and add more on their way out if they choose. It has one of the world’s largest collections of taxidermy animals, including specimens from all over the Americas, Africa and Asia. The museum also houses the Rose Space Center that contains an animation of the Big Bang and its after effects, along with a floor dedicated to the evolution of mammals and the story of dinosaurs and their extinction. Realistically the museum would take all day to peruse properly but if you can be cut throat and just head to the halls and galleries that interest you it can be seen much faster.
With the remainder of our time in Manhattan we meandered around midtown from Grand Central and its fantastic food court, to Times Square and Broadway just taking in the lights and sights. The next morning we had a slow start before collecting our hire car and driving out of the city and state, heading south…
To Be Continued...
European Historical Highlights
By Chris Reid
As part of my University course, I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a year in the heart of Europe, working and studying in Berlin and Vienna. Not only was I able to spend considerable time in such historic locations where the surroundings were often a living reminder of a past both terrible and glorious. For example the ‘Mauerpark’ in Berlin with the remnants of the Wall running alongside it, situated on the former death strip, but which now hosts a flea-market, barbeques in summer and a novel karaoke. Or the magnificent palaces of Vienna, such as Hofburg and Schoenbrunn - at the latter one can attend concerts by the Vienna Philharmonic in the vast grounds, and the former is a majestic adornment to the city centre. But the location in central Europe served as a fantastic base for further travel around (mainly eastern) Europe. The following five historical sites were particular highlights during my year of travels.
University of Vienna
The familiar concept of studying was transformed into a historical tour for the summer term in which I attended lectures at the University’s ‘Hauptgebäude’ (main building). It is the oldest university in the German speaking world, founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365. After being relocated after the 1848 revolution, the university acquired its current home in 1884. Walking to, and attending lectures in such a historic monument was a surreal experience, walking past the equally stunning buildings hosting parliament, the town hall and national theatre on Vienna’s Ringstrasse. The courtyard, where students could relax, with its design modelled on the Italian Renaissance and containing over 150 busts of famous professors, as well as the library, with its long wooden benches and brass lamps, high vaulted ceilings and pillars, which felt almost like Hogwarts, were particularly enchanting.
Sighisoara citadel, Romania
Exploring Romania by car proved to be one of the highlights of my travels. Sighisoara is perhaps best known as the birthplace of Vlad Tepes, or ‘Dracula’, but it was a joy to delve deeper into Sighisoara’s fascinating history. Known as Castrum Sex by the Romans, the medieval town acquired its current appearance under the Saxons, who built the 3,000 foot long defensive wall. One of Transylvania’s picturesque medieval towns, it was later part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Overlooking the valley of the Tirnava river, the uneven cobbled streets of Sighisoara’s hilltop citadel, with its brightly coloured buildings, transport you back to the Middle Ages, and was quite unlike anything I’d seen before. The clock tower, dating back to 1280, the ‘Covered Staircase’ leading up to the ‘Church on the hill’, with its vast cemetery are wonderful historic embellishments to this “enchanting Saxon burgh”.
Marksburg Castle, Braubach, Rhine valley
Marksburg perhaps conforms to our romantic image of a medieval castle, and it could hardly be set in a more picturesque location, overlooking the Rhine, upriver from the Deutsches Eck, which marks the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel (Moselle) rivers. Having stood for a period of over 700 years, with its high position on steep slate cliffs, and with walls over a metre thick in places, helps to explain why it has the distinction of being the only castle on the Rhine never to have been destroyed. It is the only Rhine castle to avoid capture in the Thirty Years War, and was the only fortress in the Rhineland-Pfalz area to withstand all sieges against it between the 14th and 18th centuries. It was also interesting to hear about the diet of those inhabiting the castle – the poor quality of the water meant it had to be mixed with wine, or alternatively one had to drink beer. On an ordinary day residents would be allocated 3 litres of beer. The castle was also a sometime prison, the German Emperor Henry IV a notable prisoner. Henry IV reigned from 1056-1106, and was the first monarch to rebel against Papal authority. He was dethroned by the pope in 1076, faced numerous revolts by the German princes and was eventually usurped by his son Henry V.
St. Michael’s gate, Bratislava
The accessibility of many historic sites during my year abroad took some getting used to – Bratislava being one – a relatively cheap bus ride away from Vienna. Serving as the entrance to Bratislava’s beautiful old town, St. Michael’s Gate once served as part of the medieval city’s fortification, and is now the only gated tower entrance remaining out of the original four.
The gate dates from the 14th century, and according to local superstition, any students passing through the gate will fail their exams if they speak. The gate in fact sits beneath a white 50 metre high tower, which dominates the elegant lower buildings that crowd around it. Bratislava hosted the coronations of nineteen different Hungarian kings in the medieval period. St Michael’s gate was a prominent stopping point on the coronation procession, where the king would pledge an oath to the archbishop. Not only is the gate and accompanying street particularly picturesque, but the tower affords a simply fantastic view over the old town.
Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin
History was inescapable whilst living in Berlin. From its medieval beginnings in the 13th century, through its position as the capital of Prussia, the scene of the declaration of the Weimar Republic in 1918, and its years as a divided city after World War II, Berlin’s monuments, buildings and museums all catalogue this rich history. The Nazi past of course stands out as a result of the horror perpetrated by the Third Reich. The Holocaust memorial of Berlin - located between the Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamer Platz - is a particularly poignant memorial in a country that has often struggled to come to terms with this past, containing the names of all known Jewish victims of the Holocaust in an attached place of information. The memorial itself is one of the most unusual, and yet powerful, I have been to, intended by its designer to be an “everyday experience.” It is possible to wander between approximately 2,700 stone slabs of uneven height (up to 4.8m) covering 19,000 square metres. Moving between the slabs, the sense of being surrounded by concrete, it is impossible not to ponder the scope of the atrocities of the Holocaust.
Second Time's a Charm
By Mike Lewis
Some great news for the team today - for the second year in a row we've been nominated for an award at the Travolution Awards. This year we've been shortlisted in the category of Best Travel Information Website alongside some rather august company such as Lonely Planet and MSN.
The awards celebrate the best in the field for online travel, technology and digital marketing and the judges will be announcing the winner on Tuesday 23rd October - so we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed that we clear the final hurdle!
What’s near you?
By Sue of the Historvius team
I live in a fairly bog standard commuter town not far outside London. When history-loving friends come to visit, I take them to St Albans, a nearby town stuffed with historic sites – Cathedral, Roman remains and oodles of medieval splendour. I only take them to see my own town when they want to go shopping, in the usual High street shops.
I had no illusions about the history of my town. I like living there because of the amenities, the commuter links and the schools not because of its history. And then, on a shopping trip one day, I noticed a small window with a plaque beside it, saying that this was the last surviving part of a coaching house dating back to the 15th century.
Now, as most of my friends know, I am a Richard III freak and am interested in all things dating from that time. I put my hand out to touch it, and from then on, I became hooked on looking for signs of any historical places in my town preferably medieval, but all historical places around the town, no matter how small.
I looked above shops in the high street – not all that modern, most 1950’s, but some Tudor looking jewels. The Town Hall is Art deco. The local grand mansion where the great landowners lived was demolished, but if you look at a road map of the town you can see the ghost of its gardens in the layout and names of the roads in the estate built on the land – Chestnut Walk, Elm drive, and Mansion House Way.
A little further on, the Dower House is still in existence, at a suitable distance where the landowner could stick his mother when his father died and he inherited. Clues to the history of my ordinary little town came thick and fast: there were little 19th century estates built for railway workers, and a beautiful large Georgian house behind the town centre, now used as a solicitor’s office. I found Alms Houses, street names giving clues to the aristocratic owners of the land on which town grew up. I even found that the Victorian railway viaduct, a curse to the traffic in the town, was a tribute to 19th century engineering.
I suddenly found it interesting to look at the houses and streets from their historical perspective. I even found a book on the town, lying unloved on a bookshelf, a long ago Christmas gift flicked through once to look at its photographs. Now I was avidly reading it: Ice age, Doomsday book, origin of the town’s name. I could go on. I inhabited the local library, the museum, (small, hidden away, and not open all week). And I also visited the local church.
I found out a great deal about my not so bog standard local town just by looking and exploring, but it would have been so much easier to have joined my local Historical Society in the first place!
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Looking at things from a fresh angle
By Elli of the Historvius team
Historic sites provide some of the most beautiful and picturesque sightseeing opportunities around the globe, drawing tourists and generally causing an almighty buzz. Yet, for those who can’t quite make it to see these past wonders in the flesh, the online world is slowly bringing all of us closer to the action without needing to leave the warm glow of our computer screens. And, of course, here at Historvius, we’re always embracing things that make historic sites more accessible.
Amongst the latest innovations to hit the digital sphere - and Historvius - is Google’s 45 degree view function. Available in a growing selection of places ranging from Rome to Washington DC (although there’s some way to go before it can be called widespread), this neat new feature is a new take on the traditional satellite view, showing a sideward view of sites which is simply spectacular and makes you feel like you're right there on the ground.
If you want to see the best that 45 degrees has to offer, check out the satellite view of The Colosseum in Rome. From its archways to the underground tunnels, the imaging is so good that you can practically hear the ancient crowds roar. Other good examples include the Castle of Good Hope, The Washington Monument, Merida Roman Theatre and the Baths of Caracalla. You can see more by visiting www.historvius.com/45d.
Oh, and here’s a little tip: Look out for the little curved arrow just underneath the orange man. This allows you to rotate your angle, so you can see a full 360⁰ view of a site.
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In Defence of the Realm
By Mike Lewis
For many people seeking to explore historic places across the globe some of the most striking and picturesque examples are those defensive walls, castles and bastions built to defend the realm. From the most famous and obvious examples – such as the Great Wall of China and Windsor Castle – to hidden remnants of once-powerful empires such as Qasr Bashir and Krak des Chevaliers (pictured above), these structures have stood for centuries proving the strength of their foundations.
Yet, for all their ability to stand the test of time, how many of them actually stood the test for which they were built – namely defence.
The Great Wall of China failed to protect the nation on several occasions, despite the enormous resources involved in building it, likewise great Roman creations like the Antonine Wall and Hadrian’s Wall never really stopped determined aggressors. And if you turn to medieval castles across Europe, it’s rare to find examples of strong defences turning the tide of war, indeed the United Kingdom is full of ruined castles destroyed in the Wars of the Roses, English Civil War or other such conflicts.
Perhaps the best example of failed defences is that of the Maginot Line, simply side-stepped by the Nazis in their invasion of France. In fact, the Germans were to suffer the same fate themselves in Normandy just four years later.
Maybe the problems were two fold – firstly a static defence can never react to the tactics of a flexible opposition, and secondly, every time someone came up with a better way to defend, someone else came up with a better way to attack. And so the never-ending dance continued.
Not that I’m complaining, as these less than perfect defences make more than perfect historic sites. Whether it’s castles, towers, walls or bunkers they’re great fun to explore and an amazing gateway into bygone times.
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The Other Colosseums
By Mike Lewis
It’s genuinely amazing that while we all know about the Colosseum in Rome, there are many other fantastic Roman amphitheatres that you just don’t hear about. Take Nimes Arena for example (pictured), absolutely stunning, and yet it’s relatively unknown when compared to Rome’s centrepiece.
Also on this list has to go Croatia’s Pula Arena, which still hosts shows today, Pompeii’s well preserved stadium, Tunisia’s El Jem and France's Arles Amphitheatre. Of course there’s a whole host of other Roman amphitheatres that are not as well preserved but are still worth a visit, but those listed above are just stunning.
So if you’re in the vicinity of one of these ancient super-venues, make sure you check them out, you’re bound to be in for a treat and you’re likely to have far more elbow room than you’d ever get at the Colosseum…
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Photo by Wolfgang Staudt (cc)
If Only They’d Told Me it was so Interesting…
By Mike Lewis
The recent finale of The Tudors, an immense multi-series drama based on the life of Henry VIII, was a fantastic example of what you can do when you want to bring history to life. It wasn’t that it was the best historical drama ever made (I Claudius takes it by a mile in my opinion) it was that it shed a new light on the Tudor period to an audience which – especially in the UK – is often brought up believing the entire period was rather dry.
If you came through the British school system you probably touched on the Tudors and the Stuarts when you were still under 11 years-old, and you may never have heard of them again.
We were taught to memorise the dates in which the monarchs reigned, and to know that Henry VIII liked killing his wives (though it was never really explained why, we were just left thinking he was some kind of over-weight, wife-chopping steam-roller). Everything was so condensed and glossed over that we were left thinking the whole thing was simply, to use a 10-year-old’s phrase, booriingg.
And yet, when you find out more about the whole period and the eye-popping reality of figures such as Henry VIII, then you find it is anything but dull. After all, at its core, history is full of stories.
Sometimes, you just think that if you want kids to love history, you need to tell them amazing stories – and then tell them these things actually happened. To get so side-tracked with remembering dates and trying to teach social history to 10-year-olds seems to me to be wasted effort.
After all, they’ve got so many more things vying for their attention – games consoles, TV, Hollywood and more – teaching history by numbers just won’t cut the mustard.
The really sad thing is that history can compete with Hollywood – indeed, it inspires much of what we see – it’s just that it’s not taught like that in the classroom. And I for one think it should be.
I don’t mind if the kids get the dates wrong, as long as they’re left intrigued by the real life stories that have taken place in the past.
Get them hooked on history when they’re young and they’ll be plenty of time for dates, social trends and analysis later.
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Sites of Royal Weddings Past
By Elli of the Historvius team
When William and Kate say their vows in Westminster Abbey on 29 April, they will not just be creating royal history, but also forming part of the illustrious story of this magnificent site. After all, it was in this medieval abbey that William I was crowned King of England in 1066, it was here that Henry IV died and where over 3,000 influential figures - among them Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I - were buried.
Yet what of history’s other great wedding venues? At Historvius, we’ve been embracing wedding season with gusto - big hats and all - looking back at some of the sites where royals have wed.
Of course, the first place which came to mind was St Paul’s Cathedral, the site where William’s parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, were married so famously in 1981. Built and rebuilt several times since 604 AD, it is not just a vital part of London’s skyline but an inextricable player in its history.
Beyond the British Isles, royals around the world have always found beautiful locations for their big days. In December 1922, The Forbidden City, home of the emperors for over five centuries, was the mystical backdrop for the grand wedding of China’s last emperor, Aisin-Gioro Puyi.
Meanwhile, some of Europe’s most captivating cathedrals have played the role of regal wedding venue. In Budapest, the Romanesque grandeur of Matthias Church has made it the setting of choice not just for royal weddings, but coronations, including that of Charles IV. King Matthias was so impressed by this ecclesiastical wonder that he married their not once, but twice (it was even renamed after him).
Those looking to immerse themselves in some truly ostentatious wedding history can visit the Chapel Royal in the Palace of Versailles, site of the wedding of two of France’s most infamously lavish royals, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
I Came, I Saw, I was Disappointed…
By Mike Lewis
I quite liked Troy – everyone else said it was, frankly, pants – but I liked it. I thought Brad Pitt wasn’t the best, Orlando Bloom was average I suppose and Eric Bana was fantastic, but I liked it. The shame of it was that, while it was pretty good, it wasn’t great. And that goes a hundred times over for Alexander. Which was pants.
So why is it that Hollywood can’t seem to get these historic epics quite right?
Aha! What about Gladiator, I hear you cry! Well, admittedly that was pretty good. But was it really all it could have been? I mean, if you’re like me and you like to see some semblance of realism, then you know that Maximus would have dashed off to his legions at Ostia as soon as he had the chance and would have marched on Rome – a la Sulla, Marius, Caesar, Constantine and many, many, many others. Now that would have been an ending. An epic battle outside the walls of Rome where honour was restored.
And yes, I know Commodus fought in the arena, but he didn’t die there – he was strangled in the bath, a death far more typical of ancient Rome, what with it’s poisoned mushrooms and stabby senators.
Even the so called more ‘realistic’ TV dramas seem to fail to capture that sense of wonder that one get’s from reading Conn Iggulden, Simon Scarrow, Robyn Young or Bernard Cornwell - and yes, I know they also play fast and loose with accuracy, but they do it in a good way. I mean, the BBC’s Rome was brilliant, but the battles were far from epic and somehow Caesar was more schemer and less genius than a fair reflection of his life plays out. And Spartacus is good, but so full of blood, gore and sex that you wonder that the Empire ever had time to conquer anyone.
And so my point – let me come to it at last. Why, with all the great historic fiction which we have around us, can’t we get the films right? Why was Alexander so terribly, terribly bad, when it was dealing with one of the greatest men who ever lived? Why was Kingdom of Heaven a bit of a let down? Why was Troy only average and Gladiator not quite there?
So here’s a challenge. We’ve never had a modern, epic film that really tells the story of Caesar. Now here’s a story worth telling. After all, here’s a man who, when captured by pirates, inflated the value of his own ransom, and then, after he was released, hunted down those very pirates and had them all strung up while he took his cash back. Can you imagine any modern politician doing that? Somehow I just don’t think they’ve got it in them.
A challenge then, to Hollywood. Give us an epic about Caesar that doesn’t disappoint. Tell the story on the big screen that lives up to the epic nature of the real thing.
Share your thoughts: e-mail info@historvius.com
No, Atlantis was not built by Paul from Whitley Bay
By Mike Lewis
You may have seen the recent story on our history news page that highlights yet another claim as to the location of Atlantis.
It’s certainly true that, as a site that maps history, it would be wonderful to be able to add Atlantis to our list of known locations. Alas, while these latest claims have some merit, they seem to fall a long way short of anything conclusive. After all, we don’t really know whether Atlantis existed at all, let alone where it is.
This whole thing got me thinking about the number of times we’ve been told about the ‘discovery of Atlantis’ and all the places that have claimed ownership of the mysterious city. As well as this latest claim, which puts Atlantis in Southern Spain, the legendary metropolis has been reported to be found in the Straits of Gibralter&
