Built with the Bones of the Dead: The Hidden Church of San Bernardino, Milan, Italy

Basilica di Santo Stefano © Francesco Zocchi 2016.

The most interesting parts of Milan are hidden in plain sight. This city, once an ancient Celtic settlement conquered by Romans and now considered the fashion capital of Europe, isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when planning for your holidays in Italy. Flashier and more popular choices like Venice, Florence or Rome are the usual tourist […]

Japanese Legends: The Three Most Evil Yokai of Japan

The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons © https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Night_Parade_of_a_Hundred_Demons_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

Japan has a love of official top three lists. You may have heard of the Three Views of Japan (Matsushima, Amanohashidate, and Itsukushima), the Three Great Gardens of Japan (Kenroku-en, Koraku-en, and Kairaku-en), or the Three Sacred Mountains of Japan (Mount Fuji, Mount Haku, and Mount Tate). But did you know that there are official […]

Albion’s Glorious Ile: William Hole and the Strangest Maps of Britain Ever Made

Map of Cambridgeshire from Poly-Olbion, Part Two, 1622. ©Flash of Splendour Arts

In the early 17th century, the celebrated London engraver William Hole created some of the strangest maps of Britain ever commissioned to illustrate Poly-Olbion, a vast 15,000-line topographical poem by Michael Dayton (1563-1631).

#PhallusThursday – The Penis as Potent Symbol

Erotic art from Pompeii © Dee Dee Chainey

Many classical sculptures today have lost their penises to time and prudery but the ancient world was awash with explicit graphic imagery.

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