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Europe

Ancient places can be found all over Europe. Their fascinating histories and impressive artifacts open intriguing glimpses to times past, and open up a window on European history. Visiting such ancient places in Europe can be an unforgettable experience.

Science is constantly discovering new archaeological places and uncovering more evidence into what we once thought we knew about our history, therefore offering new pieces to the ever changing puzzle of humanity’s past and altering how we interpret it. This section will present the most interesting archaeological sites all over Europe, as well as new discoveries of ancient places that are worth paying a visit.

In the famous Eighty Years' War or Dutch War of Independence, ice skates played a crucial role in the final outcome between Spain and the Netherlands that also led to the end of the notorious Spanish Inquisition. Blades of ice skates, made by the German company "Kondor," from about 1890. Source: Christos Vittoratos / CC BY-SA 4.0
11 June, 2022 - 14:46 Lex Leigh

Battles on Ice Skates in the 1500s: The Dutch Against The Spanish!

When you think of Spain, you don’t normally think of ice skates. Yet, that’s exactly what the King of Spain wanted back in 1572. And it wasn’t just a single pair; the king specifically requested 7,...
A knight taking a serf bride off to fulfill his right of jus primae noctis, or first night intercourse. Source: diter/Adobe Stock
10 June, 2022 - 14:47 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Jus primae noctis: Did Medieval Lords Really Sleep With Serf Brides First?

The jus primae noctis , droit du seigneur , or “right of the first night,” is an alleged medieval custom which permitted lords to engage in sexual intercourse with the brides of their male subjects...
The world famous York Viking poop fossil or Lloyds Bank coprolite that is about 900 years old. Source: Linda Spashett/ Wikimedia
8 June, 2022 - 19:00 Robbie Mitchell

The Lloyds Bank Coprolite: The Importance of One Huge Viking Poop

The scenic city of York in England has a lot to be proud of. The city, in one form or another has been nestled between the Ouse and Foss rivers for over 2,000 years. It has a rich history dating back...
An arson attempt at Malmesbury Abbey was stopped by heroic locals. Source: Lukas Gojda / Adobe Stock
8 June, 2022 - 14:58 ashley cowie

Local Heroes Save Historic Malmesbury Abbey from Fiery Ruin

Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire, England, was attacked by arsonists on Friday evening. The 12th century center of learning would have been entirely lost, if it were not for the brave actions of “heroic...
Legedzine in the Ukraine is home to the remains of remnants of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture. Every year it hosts a festival organized by the Trypillian Culture State Historical and Cultural Reserve. Source: Александр Водолазский / CC BY-SA 4.0
7 June, 2022 - 01:58 mrreese

The Mysterious House-Burning of the Forgotten Cucuteni-Trypillian Culture

The discovery of ancient cultures, and artifacts related to those cultures, often brings for new and surprising information about how our ancient ancestors once lived. Some cultures are found to have...
Aerial drone image of the Cerne Giant chalk figure, Dorset, England. Source: Roberto / Adobe Stock
5 June, 2022 - 23:00 Andrew Swan

The Cerne Giant and the Egyptian Osiris Hypothesis

In the county of Dorset in southwest England is an enigmatic figure which has been carved into the side of a hill. Known as the Cerne Giant, it is a 55-meter (180 foot) tall depiction of a naked man...
The Black Death or the Bubonic plague killed millions and was completely impossible for "doctors" to understand let alone treat. But they invented all kinds of cures for plague from sensible ones to totally insane ideas! Source: illustrissima / Adobe Stock
4 June, 2022 - 22:57 Sahir

Blood, Emeralds, Snakes & Poop: Bizarre European Medieval Plague Cures

Originating in China in the 1300s, plague arrived in Europe aboard a ship, bringing fearsome death in its wake. The Black Death ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351, carrying away at least a third of...
The Swiss pikemen today in a Pike Square re-enactment during the 2009 Escalade in Geneva. Source: Rama / CC BY-SA 2.0 FR
2 June, 2022 - 22:59 Jake Leigh-Howarth

The Swiss Pikemen: Europe’s Most Deadly Middle Age Military Formation!

The medieval pike, around 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) in weight and just under 5 meters (16.4 feet) in length, was a weapon supposedly invented in Turin, Italy in 1327 AD. However, its history was...
Archaeologist Kristborg Þórsdóttir standing at the site of the vast system of Viking era caves. Source: Sigurjon Olason / Visir
30 May, 2022 - 14:57 Sahir

Mysterious Viking Era Cave Network Found in Iceland is Enormous

Last summer, a series of man-made Viking era caves were discovered southwest of Oddi in southern Iceland dated to the 10th century AD. Excavations have now revealed a massive system of interconnected...
Iklaina: Perhaps the First City State of Mycenaean Culture
28 May, 2022 - 14:56 Sahir

Iklaina: Was the First Greek City State of Mycenaean Culture?

Recent excavations at Iklaina, hitherto believed to be a sleepy historic village on the Peloponnesian Peninsula, have challenged the established chronology of state formation in Greece. The...
Pompeii man and woman discovered in the Casa de Fabbro, or House of the Crafsman, in a photograph taken in 1934. Source: Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità
27 May, 2022 - 19:00 Sahir

First Complete DNA Sequencing Unveils Truth of Pompeii Victim

The skeletons of a man and woman discovered around 100 years ago, as they were trying to survive the notorious Mount Vesuvius eruption of 79 AD, have been put under the scanner by scientists. Using...
The Montgolfier brothers were the first to launch a hot air balloon and their first public demonstration of a hot air balloon took place in Annonay, France on June 4, 1783. Source: Public domain
25 May, 2022 - 18:58 ashley cowie

The Naked Hot Air Balloon Aeronauts Who Conquered High Altitude Mayhem

In the 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci dreamed of people flying through the air, but it wasn’t until 19 September 1783 that history’s first aerostatic flight was achieved by the Montgolfier brothers...
Burnswark hillfort in southwest Scotland was used as the start point for discovering the indigenous Hadrian’s Wall settlements, which lay north of Hadrian’s Wall that was pretty much the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire. Source: J. Reid / Antiquity Publications Ltd
25 May, 2022 - 00:01 Sahir

Over 100 Indigenous Settlements North of Hadrian’s Wall Discovered

Northern Britain, a fluctuating frontier area during the Roman occupation of Britain (43-410 AD), represented a tussle between Iron Age communities and the centralizing authority and power of the...
The saints Chrysanthus and Daria being pushed underground to their horrible death in a salt mine. Source: Public domain
24 May, 2022 - 22:57 Sahir

Legendary Christian Martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria Proved To Be Real

Legend has it that the now Christian saints Chrysanthus and Daria, who lived in the third century AD, converted thousands of fellow Romans to the Christian faith. This resulted in their arrest and...
Klaus Störtebeker was part of the Victual Brothers pirate band that terrorized the Baltic Sea until . . . Source: waewkid / Adobe Stock
17 May, 2022 - 22:37 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Klaus Störtebeker: The Bizarre Tale of a North German Pirate

Looking to the past, the annals of history have its fair share of extraordinary and unusual deaths, some more famous than others. It’s well known that Attila the Hun, the marauding Mongolian warlord...
The collaboration of archaeologists and scientists in England led to the 2021 discovery of a large number of Stonehenge pits used for trapping big game about 10,000 years ago! The Stonehenge monument at sunset. Source: vencav / Adobe Stock
17 May, 2022 - 18:56 Sahir

Hundreds of Ancient Hunting Pits Discovered By Stonehenge

Widely believed to be the most intensively investigated prehistoric site in the world, Stonehenge has forever held a place of mystery and never-ending curiosity in the minds of human beings...
Wife auctions were popular with the lower classes in England from about 1700 to 1850 because divorce was expensive and complicated. This work of art is by Thomas Rowlandson (1756–1827) and is called Selling a Wife. Source: Thomas Rowlandson / Public domain
11 May, 2022 - 18:56 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Why Did Victorian Women Willingly Sell Themselves at Wife Auctions?

The year was 1832 when Joseph Thompson, a local Cardiff man, led his wife by halter to the local marketplace hoping for a good price in what was, after all, just a wife auction. Before the bidding,...
Though the crusades are numbered it would appear that the Pisans zero crusade was truly the first as it preceded the First Crusade by nearly 80 years. And from that time forward the fortunes of Pisa rose to incredible heights! Source: Lunstream / Adobe Stock
10 May, 2022 - 23:01 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Was Pisa’s 1016 Sardinia Expedition the First Crusade of Them All?

During the First Crusade, the city state of Pisa, like many other European powers, was moved by the pleas of Pope Urban II, who in 1095 ordered the Christian kingdoms of Europe to launch a holy...
A closeup of the Blackboy statue in Stroud, England that may or may not be removed because it relates to English colonialism and racism. Source: Brian Robert Marshall / Blackboy, Blackboy's School building, Stroud
3 May, 2022 - 18:40 Nathan Falde

Controversial Blackboy Statue Set for Removal

After more than a year-and-a-half of study and contemplation, the District Council that governs Stroud, Gloucestershire, England has voted to seek the removal of a controversial statue from its perch...
A painting of the Antonine plague, by painter Joseph Wannenmacher, which was the beginning of the end for the western Roman Empire. Source: ChrisSchweigi / CC BY-SA 3.0
22 April, 2022 - 01:59 Jake Leigh-Howarth

The Antonine Plague and the Downfall of the Roman Empire

The Antonine plague, which happened between 165 and 180 AD, was a disastrous pandemic deemed so catastrophic that many historians have argued that it was the first major event to usher in the decline...
This Hanseatic League ship, which may exceed the Bremen Cog for preservation quality, was miraculously discovered 5 feet (1.5 meters) beneath the streets of Tallinn, Estonia’s capital. Source: Patrik Tamm / ERR
21 April, 2022 - 14:59 Sahir

Massive Medieval Hanseatic League Ship Found Near Tallinn, Estonia

One of the largest ports in the Baltic Sea, Estonia’s Tallinn Port is also one of the oldest in northern Europe, famous as trade center between Rurik Novgorod and Viking Scandinavia. Yesterday, a 700...
The mysterious lead sarcophagus found at Notre Dame
17 April, 2022 - 23:00 Sahir

Mysterious Notre Dame Lead Sarcophagus Will be Opened!

In April 2019, a devastating fire engulfed the historical Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of Paris, built at a time when France was moving towards its identity as a nation, all the way back in the...
Detail of illustration showing Roman soldiers killing the Anglesey Druids, as described by Tacitus. Source: Public domain
14 April, 2022 - 14:59 Jake Leigh-Howarth

The Conquest of Anglesey and the Destruction of Druidism’s Last Stronghold

With a reputation for their savagery, the destruction of the Anglesey Druids and conquest of the Welsh Isle of Anglesey by the Romans put an end to the last pagan corner of Wales in 77 AD. But was...
Ruins of the Borgaråsen hillfort in Magma Geoparks in Norway. Source: Magma Geopark
9 April, 2022 - 22:59 Sahir

Were the Hillforts of Norway More Than Just Defensive Structures?

Hillforts are typically European erections of the Bronze and Iron Ages. They were fortified or defended settlements usually located at a natural height which people took advantage of to protect...

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