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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

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More from @CultureExploreX

Jul 8
Italy doesn’t just have art.
Italy is art.

And nowhere is that clearer than in its churches, some built to honor God, others to display power, and a few to do both.

Here are 17 churches in Italy that will make you question what humans are even capable of. 🧵👇 Duomo di Siena, Italy Credit: @ValentyneDreams
1. Duomo di Milano – Milan

It took 579 years to build.

A forest of spires.
3,400 statues.
And on top? A golden Virgin Mary watching over the city.

This is what happens when ambition and spirituality unite. Credit: @Anc_Aesthetics
2. Santa Maria del Fiore – Florence

It changed architecture forever.

Brunelleschi’s dome was an unsolvable puzzle until he solved it without scaffolding.

No one had seen anything like it since the Pantheon. And 600 years later, no one’s matched it. Credit: Travel Destinations, Tips & Inspiration
Read 21 tweets
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. 🧵 Baldacchino by Gian Lorenzo Bernini was erected over Saint Peter's tomb, it was designed at the request of Pope Urban VIII around 1624 AD.  Credit: @histories_arch on X  St.Peter's Basilica contains the tombs of many Popes also.
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. Image
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. Credit: @The_Earth______
Read 25 tweets
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. 🧵 Basilica de Santa Maria Maggiore, Roma, Italia. Credit: juans83
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. Image
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
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. 🧵👇 Penelope and the Suitors 1900 tapestry by Victor John Robertson
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? Image
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. Atusa Shahbanu Credit: Hedayat Bazafkan
Read 18 tweets
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. 🧵 Detail from Washington Crossing the Delaware, an 1851 portrait by Emanuel Leutze depicting Washington and Continental Army troops crossing the river prior to the Battle of Trenton on the morning of December 26, 1776.
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. Spirit of '76 by Archibald Willard
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. Burning of Stamp Act, Boston. 1 photomechanical print (postcard) : color.
Read 22 tweets
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. 🧵 Templo de Santo Domingo - Oaxaca, Mexico Credit: @kobe_sylvester
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. Image
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. Image
Read 23 tweets

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