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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

Dec 19
Forget the predictable Christmas destinations.

If you want a December that actually feels like Christmas, these places still get it right.

Snow, bells, candlelight, and streets older than modern life itself.

Here are 23 European towns that turn Christmas into something real. 🧵⤵️Old Town Tallinn, Estonia Christmas Market
Tallinn, Estonia

One of Europe’s oldest Christmas markets, set inside a medieval square that time forgot. Credit: @archeohistories
Florence, Italy

Renaissance stone glowing under festive lights. Christmas surrounded by genius. Credit: @learnitalianpod
Read 26 tweets
Dec 18
Christmas didn’t just change how people worship.

It rewired how the West thinks about identity, guilt, desire, reason, and the soul.

This thread traces the thinkers who quietly shaped your mind, whether you believe or not. 🧵 Neapolitan presepio at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh
Paul the Apostle did something radical in the first century.

He told people their past no longer had the final word. Not birth. Not class. Not failure.

That idea detonated the ancient world. Identity became moral, not tribal. A statue of St. Paul in the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran by Pierre-Étienne Monnot
Origen of Alexandria shocked early Christians by saying Scripture wasn’t simple on purpose.

He argued that God hid meaning beneath the surface.

Truth, he said, rewards effort. If reading never costs you anything, you’re not reading deeply enough. Origen significantly contributed to the development of the concept of the Trinity and was among the first to name the Holy Spirit as a member of the Godhead
Read 17 tweets
Dec 10
We’ve been taught a false story for 150 years that Evolution erased God.

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Nature produced a creature that refuses to live by nature’s rules. 🧵 During the 13th century, Saint Thomas Aquinas sought to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy with Augustinian theology. Aquinas employed both reason and faith in the study of metaphysics, moral philosophy, and religion. While Aquinas accepted the existence of God on faith, he offered five proofs of God’s existence to support such a belief.
When Darwin buried his daughter Anne, he didn’t lose his faith because of fossils.

He lost it because he couldn’t square a good God with a world full of pain.

Evolution didn’t break him. Grief did. Anne Darwin's grave in Great Malvern.
But here’s something we often forget.

The same evolutionary world that frightened Darwin is the one that produced compassion, loyalty, sacrifice, and love.

Traits no random process should easily create.

Why did nature bother?
No one has a satisfying answer. Hugging is a common display of compassion.
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Nov 21
This inscription was carved into a cliff 2,500 years ago. At first glance you see a king towering over chained rebels.

But this isn’t a carving of victory. It’s a warning.

The ruler who ordered it was watching his world fall apart and trying to warn us that ours will too. 🧵 Image
He didn’t carve this to celebrate power.
He carved it because rebellion nearly shattered the world he ruled.

A man rose up claiming the throne. People believed him. Entire provinces switched allegiance overnight.

Reality and Truth were twisted. Loyalties changed.

The king wasn’t concerned with rebellion, rather he was concerned with confusion.The Behistun Inscription is a multilingual Achaemenid royal inscription and large rock relief on a cliff at Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of Iran.  Photo By Korosh.091 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
The purpose of the inscription was to leave lessons for future generations.

Lesson 1: A civilization dies the moment truth becomes optional.

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Truth wasn’t a moral preference to him.
It was the ground everything stood on.
Read 16 tweets
Sep 27
Civilizations don’t just fall.

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Rome left warnings in paint and stone.

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“I’m amazed, wall, you haven’t collapsed under the weight of so many scribbles.”

When Vesuvius buried Pompeii, it froze satire in ash. CIL IV 10237. Gladiator Graffiti from the Nucerian Gate, Pompeii, depicting the names “Princeps” and “Hilarius”. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
CIL IV 8055. Graffiti depicting Gladiators, Pompeii. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain
Asellina’s Tavern Election Poster. Picture Credit: Marco Ebreo. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons
Rufus est (This is Rufus). Caricature from the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
By the 5th century, Roman art had shifted.

Gone were muscular gods and lively battles.
Instead: flat, rigid emperors, empty eyes, Christian symbols replacing myth.

The style mirrored an empire losing vitality. Late Roman mosaics at Villa Romana La Olmeda, Spain, 4th-5th centuries AD By Valdavia - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
Read 18 tweets
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Friday the 13th wasn’t always unlucky.

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Read 19 tweets

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