Is it possible to take Turkish tea or coffee with the sultan? You might not think so. But look carefully at the glassware. recognising the sultan’s insignia When you next order a Turkish coffee or a tea, have look at the glass of water that comes with it. If you…
The shifting fortunes of Ephesus, one of the great ancient cities of Turkey. traces of vanished splendour Visitors touring Ephesus might end their visit at the Terraced Houses, with their beautiful frescoes and opulent marble floors. The degree of preservation is stunning. Left to the elements, frescoes do not survive…
The 19th-century doctor Ignác Semmelweis was the Hungarian pioneer of hand-sanitization. His ideas were to revolutionise medicine, not just in Hungary but around the world. who was semmelweis? How many of us, while methodically washing our hands during the Covid-19 pandemic, spared a thought for Ignác Semmelweis? Semmelweis (1818–65) is…
The art of the Renaissance or the art of food? Do we go to Florence for the food or for the art? Has gastronomy replaced Giotto on the Florence bucket list? how it began ‘Yes,’ said Lucy. ‘They are lovely. Do you know which is the tombstone that is praised…
A look at how the streets of Rome are paved. All roads lead to Rome. And Rome still leads the world in roads. The streets of the ancient city were paved in huge, irregular blocks of stone known as basolato. Today only a very few segments of such paving survive: along…
The Seuso Treasure is one of the finest hoards of Roman silver ever discovered. what is the seuso silver treasure? The Seuso Roman silver Treasure, in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest, consists of 14 stunning pieces of late imperial Roman tableware: Four huge platters, variously decorated; a washbasin; five…
We asked author Robin Saikia to explain which bars he recommends in his invaluable Drink & Think Venice – The Story of Venice in Twenty-Six Bars and Cafés. Here are his descriptions of 10 of them: Each chapter of Drink & Think Venice begins with an introduction to one of…
A fully revised new 2025 edition of this popular Blue Guide, by Sicily resident and tour guide Ellen Grady, will be available shortly. Now presented in the Blue Guides new, full-colour format, with stunning photographs and award-winning Blue Guides mapping. The guide retains the Blue Guides’ traditional focus on architecture,…
On art and culture, Biedermeier and the Enlightenment in Austria-Hungary in the post-Napoleonic age—and how keeping one’s head down is not a new thing. “Biedermeier Lifestyles” was the title of a recent exhibition at the Hungarian National Gallery in Budapest. It is a title that will possibly need explanation. In…
On 15 December 2024, the annual major timetable revision by European railway operators was announced. This is when new routes and schedules for 2025 are published, essential knowledge for planning rail travel in Europe in speed and comfort. Mark Dudgeon, the Blue Guides rail correspondent, highlights the main changes and new services…
Venice offers a huge wealth of museums, churches, architecture and other sights to see and visit. Here, by district (“sestiere”) are the highlights selected in Blue Guide Venice, the definitive guide to the Most Serene City: 1. SESTIERE OF SAN MARCO Some highlights of the sestiere of San Marco. For much more detail…
“Exuberantly impractical” may be overstating it, but we are happy that Liam Callanan (author of When in Rome) in a round-up of great books on Rome (in the Week, here ») sees our Blue Guide Rome, the best guide book to Rome, at the detailed and scholarly end of the…
Islam Issa: Alexandria: The City that Changed the World. Sceptre Books, 2023 Islam Issa, the author of this expansive history of Alexandria, spent his childhood in his native city. His Alexandrian descent through the male line was unequalled. His father’s “ancestry test revealed a staggering 97.5 percent near to the…
The drama of Sicily’s history – frequently fabulously prosperous, sometimes desperately poor, devastated by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, overrun by Ancient Greeks, invaded by Romans, Byzantines, Moors and Normans, then shuffled between powerful powerful European dynastic interests: Swabian, Angevin, Aragonese, Savoyard, Bourbon – risks overshadowing appreciation of the peace, prosperity…
Catherine Fletcher: The Roads to Rome, A History, The Bodley Head, London, 2024, reviewed by Charles Freeman Simone Quilici, one of my former pupils (when I taught the International Baccalaureate History programme), is now director of the Via Appia, which stretches in its original paved state outside Rome. I was…
Carol von Pressentin Wright’s classic Blue Guide to New York City, relied on by tour guides, residents and visitors alike since its first edition in 1983, is available in a special reprint edition from Amazon in the UK and US. You might not guess it, Amazon make the correct edition almost impossible…
“Now you see us” is the title of an exhibition running at Tate Britain until October. It aims to place before us the output of British women artists over the course of half a millennium, from 1520 to 1920. Along the way, it plucks many names from oblivion and it…
Ian Mortimer, Medieval Horizons: Why the Middle Ages Matter, The Bodley Head, 2023. Reviewed by Charles Freeman When do the Middle Ages begin and end? I think AD 500 is a good starting point, following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476. Many studies do not get going…
In his famous Lives of the Artists, Giorgio Vasari describes the sculptor Alessandro Vittoria as ‘most rare in marble portraits’. From humble beginnings, Vittoria (1525–1608) went on to become one of the greatest Italian sculptors of his age. who was alessandro vittoria? Vittoria was born in Trento, a city in…
The latest title in the Blue Danube imprint, which focuses on literature, history and travel in Central Europe, is Venetian Angel, a short novel by Ferenc Molnár, now translated into English for the first time. Molnár was a famous pre-war dramatist whose many plays included one on which the Rodgers…
