In the heart of Paris lies a subterranean world of catacombs , a network of underground tunnels and rooms that span hundreds of kilometers beneath the city’s streets. These catacombs house the...
Beneath a bustling train station, archaeologists have found ancient graves loaded with artifacts that date back nearly 2,000 years. The burials belong to a lost necropolis of the Gallo-Roman town of...
Finding the remains of a high priest buried at the most sacred spot in Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral, and all of medieval France, seems a predictable discovery. However, unearthing a knight with an...
Although taking a summer vacation is now a standard aspect of modern-day civilization for many, it wasn’t always that way. Tourism was far less common in ancient times than it is today, but that...
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...
The great Catholic cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, literally, “Our Lady of Paris” is a historically celebrated 12th-century monument, which was already in urgent need of expensive repairs in the...
Menelaus, the mythological king of Mycenaean Sparta, is perhaps best remembered as the husband of Helen of Troy. While lost in his wife’s shadow, his story is inexorably entwined with that of the...
After 500 years, the ancient hand on a colossal bronze statue of Emperor Constantine is reunited with its middle bronze finger. In 2010, Aurélia Azéma, a French Ph.D. student researching ancient...
Greek Mythology consists of numerous gods and goddesses, although the Greek pantheon itself is comprised of just twelve main gods ruling Mount Olympus. Among the twelve, there are five female rulers...
Homer’s epic Illiad tells the mythical story of the legendary 10-year Trojan War between the Trojans and the Greeks, which erupted after the beautiful Helen, wife of King Menelaus, was taken by Paris...
Death , to most of us, is a distant nightmare lurking somewhere on an unfathomable horizon, a future concern. But there have always been people who see beauty in death, like we see beauty in a rose...
Over two millennia ago, France’s capital, Paris, was inhabited by Celtic Gauls who called their city Parisii. But then the Romans came and set up camp. They renamed their city Lutetia, meaning ‘place...
Rollo was a well-known Viking leader who lived between the 9 th and 10 th centuries AD. He is best-known for becoming the ruler of Normandy and is therefore sometimes referred to as the first Duke of...
Cleopatra’s Needle is the name shared by three ancient Egyptian obelisks – one in New York City, one in London, and one in Paris. However, each comes from a different Egyptian site and none may have...
Easter corresponds with the first Sunday following the full moon after the March equinox and as such the holy day occurs on different dates around the Christian world. However, the story of the...
A pair of French criminals have been caught trying to cash in on the coronavirus lockdown -stealing stones from Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. Just after reading a story in Le Parisien newspaper I...
The remains of last year ’ s burning of Paris ’ s Notre-Dame cathedral will be studied by scientists. On April 15 of last year the world froze as an electrical fire destroyed the cathedral’s roof and...
Paris, the capital of France, is often called La Ville Lumière (meaning ‘The City of Light’), however, beneath this bustling European city of 12 million people, lies a dark subterranean world holding...
Notre Dame de Paris (which translates as ‘Our Lady of Paris’) is one of the best-known Gothic cathedrals in the world and among the most famous landmarks in France . The monument caught the attention...
The destruction of Notre Dame cathedral is lamentable. A wonderful icon has been largely destroyed by fire . However, we should not despair. Part of the reason this loss is so upsetting is because we...
An immense tragedy is currently unfolding in Paris as a fire has broken out in the world-famous Notre-Dame cathedral and is spreading rapidly. Fire fighters are tackling the blaze in the 850-year-old...
Ragnar Lothbrok was a fearless Viking hero who ransacked England and France and fathered the Great Heathen Army. However the historicity of the man with “hairy breeches” is subject to debate. Where...
In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy is known as the woman whose beauty sparked the Trojan War. But Helen’s character is more complex than it seems. When considering the many Greek and Roman myths that...
Ramesses II is often called one the greatest pharaohs of ancient Egypt. He reigned for over 60 years and accomplished much during his lifetime. His achievements were not matched by the pharaohs who...