Culture Explorer Profile picture
Mar 7, 2024 17 tweets 6 min read Read on X
They said it was the Dark Ages, yet Europe was igniting architectural wonders that continue to mesmerize the world to this day.

Let's delve into these timeless masterpieces. 🧵⤵️ Image
1. Aachen Cathedral, built in 796 AD, crowned Charlemagne and symbolized the Holy Roman Empire's power. By Photo by CEphoto, Uwe Aranas or alternatively © CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34481376
2. St. Peter's Basilica - The original church was built in the 4th century by Emperor Constantine, the Roman empire’s first Christian emperor, on the spot where St. Peter was thought to be buried. The new church was constructed between 1506 and 1626.
Fresco showing cutaway view of Constantine's St. Peter's Basilica as it looked in the 4th century.
The new St. Peter's Basilica
3. Hagia Sophia, completed in 537 AD, transformed into a mosque in 1453, marking the Ottomans' triumph over Constantinople. By Arild Vågen - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24932378
4. The Monastery of San Juan de la Peña, from the 9th century, allegedly protected the Holy Grail against Muslim conquest. San Juan de la Peña.
5. St. Mark's Basilica, initially erected in 828 AD, gained fame when Venice acquired Saint Mark's relics, boosting its religious clout. Image
6. Mont Saint-Michel, established in 966 AD, repelled an English siege in 1433, showcasing French defiance in the Hundred Years' War. Image
7. The Viking raid on Lindisfarne Priory in 793 AD, founded in 634, signaled the dawn of the Viking Age. By Kim Traynor - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33863202
8. Santa Maria in Cosmedin, built in the 8th century, became known for the Mouth of Truth, enveloped in legends. By globustut.by - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60479722
9. St. Michael's Mount, with its monastery from the 8th century, is tied to myths of Archangel Michael's appearance in 495. By Marktee1 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17318191
10. The Rock of Cashel, rooted in the 4th century, is where St. Patrick reputedly used a shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. By David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada - Rock of Cashel, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=96704425
11. Ravenna's 5th and 6th-century monuments stood at the heart of empire transitions, reflecting its changing fortunes. Basilica of San Vitale By Commonists - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113592919
12. St. Gall Monastery, founded in 719 AD, preserved medieval knowledge in its library through turbulent times. By A.Savin - Own work, FAL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=134255831
13. Bobbio Abbey, established in 614 AD, became a center of learning, safeguarding classical texts during the Middle Ages. Image
14. The Glosses of San Millán, from the 6th-century San Millán Yuso and Suso Monasteries, are among the earliest examples of Spanish and Basque languages. By Cenobio - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3834838
15. The Basilica of Saint Denis, with origins in the 7th century, became the burial site for French kings, linking it closely with France's monarchical history. Image
These buildings not only exemplify architectural mastery but also stand as silent witnesses to pivotal moments that shaped Europe.

What other structures did I miss that were built between 500 AD and 1000 AD. Reichsburg Cochem was built in 1000 AD Credit: Wikimedia Commons

• • •

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

Keep Current with Culture Explorer

Culture Explorer 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 @CultureExploreX

Jun 14
You think Europe is refined, orderly, predictable?
Then you haven’t been to Sicily.

Here, civilizations clashed. Greek temples, Norman castles, Baroque churches, Arab domes, Christian altars. The Godfather...

Let’s walk through the places that make Sicily unforgettable 🧵👇 the Roman Theater of Catania
Casa Professa, Palermo

Baroque without restraint.

Marble explodes across every surface, ceiling to floor, like the church itself couldn’t contain the faith inside it.
Valley of the Temples, Agrigento

Once a rival to Athens.

Now a ghostly colonnade standing watch over olive groves and Sicilian winds. Image
Read 16 tweets
Jun 13
For decades, Iran has been reduced to headlines.

But behind the politics is a land of unimaginable beauty—palaces, poetry, sacred light, and stone cities older than Rome.

Let’s rediscover the real Iran through breathtaking places you’ll never forget 🧵👇 “Nation Gate” or “Gate of all Nation” is a gate constructed during Achaemenid era by King Xerxes order. He was the successor of the founder of Persepolis, Darius.
Vank Cathedral, Isfahan (1606)

Armenian resilience meets Persian detail. Inside: frescos, tilework, and a library that survived centuries. Credit: @WorldOfPicture5
Golestan Palace, Tehran (1524)

Qajar elegance wrapped in mirrors, marble, and European charm. The peacock throne once stood here. Image
Read 25 tweets
Jun 12
Before Picasso broke forms and Duchamp mocked art...
A group of painters built entire worlds of beauty, myth, and silence.

They weren’t rebels.
They were the last idealists.

And when the world changed, it left them behind.
Their story deserves to be remembered. 🧵👇 The paintings:  When the heart is young, 1902 Dolce Far Niente, 1897 Dolce Far Niente, 1906 All paintings are by John William Godward. Credit: period.dramas.lover
Lawrence Alma-Tadema

He recreated ancient Rome with obsessive detail—temples, baths, and sunlit terraces.

His marble looked colder than real stone. His women, timeless.

At his peak, he was a celebrity.
By the 1920s? Virtually erased. The Finding of Moses, 1904, oil on canvas, 137.7 × 213.4 cm, private collection.
The Women of Amphissa, 1887, Clark Art Institute
Sappho and Alcaeus, completed in 1881, depicts Sappho and her companions listening as the poet Alcaeus of Mytilene plays a kithara, on the island of Lesbos (Walters Art Museum).
The Education of the Children of Clovis (1861), oil on canvas, 127 × 176.8 cm, private collection. Queen Clotilde, wife of King Clovis, is shown training her three young children the art of hurling the axe to avenge the death of her father.
John William Godward

A disciple of Alma-Tadema.
He fled to Rome to escape modernism.

He painted silent, solitary women wrapped in togas, draped in color, resting in peace.

The world mocked him.
He destroyed all his work before dying by suicide in 1922. A fair reflection, 1915
Read 15 tweets
Jun 11
June 11, 323 BC: Alexander the Great dies suddenly in Babylon.

No wounds. No battle. Just a rising fever and silence.

Was it poison? A god’s curse. Or something more mundane that no one expected?

Here’s the real story behind history’s most haunting death. 🧵👇 Statue of Alexander the Great riding Bucephalus and carrying a winged statue of Nike.  Pella, Macedonia/Greece ©Carole Raddato
The empire Alexander built stretched from Greece to India.

His generals fought over it for decades after his death.

Because he died without naming a clear successor.

And nobody knows why. Image
For over 2,000 years, rumors have circled:

He was poisoned.
He drank himself to death.
He collapsed under madness.

Each version says more about politics than medicine. Augustus at the tomb of Alexander the Great by Lionel Royer
Read 18 tweets
Jun 11
He painted the most famous face in Western art.

But behind those soft lines was a mind unraveling, torn between God, myth, and mortality.

This isn’t just the story of Botticelli’s Venus. It’s about the man who gave beauty a soul... 🧵👇 Image
He was born Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi in Florence.

But the world would come to know him as Botticelli.

A student of Fra Filippo Lippi, he inherited the ability to blend sacred tenderness with poetic sorrow.

And then took it somewhere darker. Adoration of the Magi .... Botticelli may have drawn his self-portrait (person on the far right)
In the 1470s, Botticelli found his voice.

He painted The Madonna of the Magnificat, a round image of Mary writing her hymn of praise while Christ, barely an infant, guides her hand.

But the real story is how Botticelli broke the rules of space and form to show silent awe. Magnificat Madonna, c. 1483, Uffizi, Florence
Read 15 tweets
Jun 10
Vienna looks polished but dig deeper, and you’ll find the weight of empires, revolutions, and rebirth.

You are not walking through a city, you are walking through history.

After these 15 places, you won’t just visit Vienna. You’ll feel it. 🧵 Kunsthistoriches Museum Café in Vienna Credit: Elena Sanchez on pinterest pin/441915782204949240/
Austrian National Library (1723)

This was a throne room for knowledge, commissioned by Emperor Charles VI to rival the grandeur of Versailles.

Today, it holds over 12 million items.
You feel history just standing inside. The Austrian National Library in Vienna is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. Founded by the Habsburgs, the library was originally called the Imperial Court Library. Renamed in 1920. The library complex includes four museums, as well as multiple special collections and archives.
Justizpalast (1881)

In 1927, protestors lit this building on fire.

Anger over a trial verdict erupted into violence.
Austria’s fragile democracy trembled that day. 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!

:(