The Culturist Profile picture
Jan 26, 2024 17 tweets 5 min read Read on X
France has over 40,000 castles (and châteaus) - more than any other country.

These are the most breathtaking 🧵

1. Château de Pierrefonds, Oise (14th century) Image
2. Château de Chenonceau, Indre-et-Loire (16th century) Image
3. Château d'If, Frioul archipelago, Marseille (16th century) Image
4. Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers, Vienne (13th century) Image
5. Château de Costaérès, Trégastel, Brittany (19th century) Image
6. Château de Meauce, Nièvre (13th - 15th century) Image
7. Château de Septmonts, Aisne (14th century) Image
8. Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, Indre-et-Loire (16th century) Image
9. Château du Sailhant, Cantal (10th - 19th century) Image
10. Château de Najac, Aveyron (13th century) Image
11. Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg, Bas-Rhin (12th - 20th century) Image
12. Château de Chantilly, Oise (16th - 19th century) Image
13. Château de Saumur, Maine-et-Loire (12th century) Image
14. Château de Chambord, Loir-et-Cher (16th century) Image
Honorary mention (not a castle but a fortified monastery)...

15. Mont-Saint-Michel, Normandy (10th - 16th century) Image
Here's a map showing the concentration of castles in Europe: Image
If you enjoyed this thread you NEED this weekly newsletter (free):
culturecritic.beehiiv.com/subscribe

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with The Culturist

The Culturist Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @the_culturist_

Apr 20
This is where Jesus was buried — and rose from the dead.

But is it really the authentic, historical tomb?

Well, something astonishing was just found underneath it… (thread) 🧵 Image
The Gospels say Christ was buried in a rock-cut tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy disciple.

According to Matthew, Joseph "rolled a great stone across the entrance"... Image
Image
The precise location of that tomb has, unsurprisingly, been a hot matter of debate ever since.

Today, the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem claims to be the site — but is it? Image
Read 19 tweets
Apr 10
The Narnia books are deeply Christian — but as a child you probably misunderstood them entirely.

Aslan is a clear Christ figure, but it goes way beyond simple allegory.

C.S. Lewis's stories were written to profoundly awaken your imagination… (thread) 🧵 Image
You read Narnia books as a child, or had them read to you, but you likely weren't aware of their spiritual depth.

C.S. Lewis infused them with important Christian ideas, often glaringly obvious ones… Image
Edmund, a stand-in for sin, eats the Turkish Delight before betraying his siblings to the White Witch, seduced by pride.

We see the poisonous influence of the Serpent in Eden. Image
Read 20 tweets
Apr 7
This 600-year-old altarpiece might be the most complex and deeply symbolic artwork in history.

It will change what you think a painting is capable of doing — because this isn't detail for detail's sake.

Step *inside* it and you'll see why... (thread) 🧵 Image
Jan van Eyck's (and his brother Hubert's) Ghent Altarpiece was centuries ahead of its time in 1432.

When closed, it depicts the Annunciation in intentionally muted colors, anticipating what's to come... Image
Open it up, and color and light explode at you — out of the darkness comes revelation.

Everything that the Fall, prophets, and Annunciation led up to is revealed in the coming of Christ. Image
Read 19 tweets
Mar 28
Reminder: Tolkien hated Disney.

He called them "hopelessly corrupted" and knew they'd ruin any story they touched.

Why? Tolkien's storytelling philosophy was profoundly different… (thread) 🧵 Image
The Hobbit was published a few months before the Snow White movie came out in 1937.

Tolkien watched it with his friend C.S. Lewis, and later insisted that Disney *never* adapt his own works… Image
Image
Tolkien dedicated his life to the study and creation of myths and what he called "fairy-stories".

For him, age-old tales like Beowulf weren't just entertainment, but vehicles of profound truth, emerged from cultural soil over generations. Image
Image
Read 16 tweets
Mar 21
JRR Tolkien hated Dune because its ethics are fundamentally wrong.

The Lord of the Rings is a profoundly different take on Good and Evil — and how to live a moral life.

Here's why… (thread) 🧵 Image
Tolkien, in an unsent letter, said he disliked Frank Herbert's Dune "with some intensity".

Why? He didn't explain, but Dune's protagonists are directly opposed to the heroes of Middle-earth... Image
Dune, GoT and others adhere to the idea that good and bad actions are defined by their consequences.

Their characters are pragmatists, choosing the lesser of evils to forge a path they deem is good. Image
Image
Read 21 tweets
Mar 14
America built the greatest train stations ever seen — and then demolished them.

Here's what the American railway was like at its peak.

And what destroying it says about us… (thread) 🧵 Image
Right now, the US has more railway tracks than any other country (155,000+ miles).

Most of this, of course, is freight... Image
But Americans also once had the greatest passenger system in the world. Note the decline since the mid-20th century.

1962 vs. 2005: Image
Image
Read 19 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(