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Jul 6

Most people think of mausoleums as tombs.

But the best of them are something more, Cathedrals of memory, ambition, and love carved in stone.

Here are 22 that left the world in awe and one that hides a deadly secret. 🧵

1. Basilica of Saint-Denis – France

Where the French kings go to sleep.

Gothic architecture was born here. Stained glass blazing like fire, tombs of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI beneath your feet.

2. Taj Mahal – Agra

Shah Jahan built it for love.
The world never forgot.

Symmetrical gardens, flawless white marble, and haunting beauty.

But don’t miss the tragic twist: he was buried next to her, off-center, breaking perfect symmetry.

Read 25 tweets

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Jul 5

Most people visit Rome for the Colosseum or the Vatican.

But Rome is a city of cathedrals.

And these 18 churches aren’t just places of worship, they’re where architecture, power, and beauty collided to shape Western civilization.

You won’t believe #3 and #4. 🧵

1. Sant’Agnese in Agone

Francesco Borromini’s boldest move.

He took geometry, crushed it, and turned it into emotion.
Step inside and you’ll feel space bend.

2. Santa Maria Maddalena

Baroque at its most unhinged.
Designed by Carlo Fontana and Giuseppe Sardi who curved the façade like it was dancing.

Don’t blink. The walls almost move.

Read 21 tweets

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Jul 5

They say ancient epics ignored women. But what if that’s wrong?

What if the most powerful minds in early literature weren’t warriors but women?

Let’s talk about the forgotten heroines of East and West: The Shahnameh and The Odyssey. 🧵👇

One is Persian.
The other Greek.

One written by Ferdowsi. 120,000 lines.
The other by Homer. 12,000 lines.

Different worlds. Same question:
What role did women play in shaping the epic imagination?

Western scholars often claimed Persian women were passive. One even wrote:
“Such figures as Penelope… cannot be found in the Persian epic.”

But we are going to put that theory to the test.

Read 18 tweets

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Jul 3

Tomorrow is July 4th. Independence Day.

We’ll hear about Lexington. Muskets. War. But remember this:

The American Revolution didn’t begin with a gunshot; it began with a boycott.

Before the first shot fired, ordinary Americans had already overthrown British rule. 🧵

From 1765 to 1775, colonists ran a full-blown civil resistance campaign.

They shut down courts.
Refused to import goods.
Built parallel governments.

It wasn’t protest for show. It was rebellion in plain sight.

Britain passed the Stamp Act in 1765.

Americans didn’t riot.
They simply refused to comply.

Printers ran papers without stamps.
Lawyers stopped using courts.
Ports either closed or defied British orders.

Read 22 tweets

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Jul 2

Latin America holds some of the most stunning architecture in the world.

Most of it was built by Europeans on top of Indigenous empires.

These 20 buildings reveal a continent shaped by beauty and conquest.

And the first three will leave you speechless. 🧵

1. Las Lajas Cathedral – Colombia

It’s not built on a canyon.
It’s part of it.

Bridging cliffs like a miracle frozen in stone.

Built after a woman claimed the Virgin Mary appeared inside the gorge.

2. Church of San Francisco – Quito, Ecuador

500 years old.
Baroque on the outside.
Moorish on the inside.

And built by the hands of indigenous artisans during Spanish rule.

Read 23 tweets

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Jul 1

We talk about globalization like it’s new.

But 2,000 years ago, merchants were already trading silk, spices, and stories from China to Italy.

Not through the internet.
Through deserts, mountains, and war zones.

Here are the 16 cities that shaped the Silk Road. 🧵

It began in Xi’an, China.

Not just the home of the Terracotta Army but the launchpad of the world’s most ambitious trade route.

Silk, porcelain, and even Buddhist monks left from here.

Every empire west of here would feel it.

Next stop: Lanzhou.

Sitting on the Yellow River, this city wasn’t just scenic, it was strategic.

If you controlled Lanzhou, you controlled the gateway west.

And everyone wanted it.

Read 19 tweets

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