European History

Originally intended to serve as a luxury hotel and casino, the building was turned into an orphanage after Abdul Hamid II banned gambling in the Ottoman Empire.

Preservationists Rally to Save Abandoned Casino-Turned-Orphanage in Istanbul

The enormous, 122-year-old structure—one of Europe's largest wooden buildings—is close to collapsing

A map of Doggerland, which once connected Britain to mainland Europe

Study Rewrites History of Ancient Land Bridge Between Britain and Europe

New research suggests that climate change, not a tsunami, doomed the now-submerged territory of Doggerland

Student researchers analyzed this leaf from a Book of Hours (left), a devotional Christian manuscript that dates to the 15th century. The students found traces of French cursive writing beneath the visible text (right). The cursive was likely scraped away to make the parchment reusable for the illuminated Gothic script.

College Sophomores Discover Hidden Text in Medieval Manuscript

Students at Rochester Institute of Technology used a self-developed UV imaging system to assess a 15th-century religious document

Writer and photographer Paul Koudounaris' new book, A Cat's Tale, finds his pet kitty, Baba, channeling famous and little-known felines from history.

A History of Felines, as Narrated and Illustrated by a Cat

Baba the cat is both storyteller and photographic model in what is perhaps the most unique cat history book ever published

The musket balls arrived in Scotland two weeks after the Jacobites' defeat at Culloden Moor.

Trove of Musket Balls Sent to Aid Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite Rebellion Found

The ammunition, shipped from France to Scotland in hopes of helping to restore the Stuart dynasty to the throne, arrived too late

Scholars will use A.I. to identify references to specific scents in artwork and texts.

Researchers Are Recreating Europe's Centuries-Old Scents

A team of scientists will curate an "encyclopedia of smell heritage" that spans the 16th through early 20th centuries

Routine sewage work in Athens unearthed a bust of Hermes, the Greek god of trade, wealth, luck, fertility, animal husbandry, sleep, language, thieves and travel.

Ancient Bust of Greek God Hermes Found During Work on Athens' Sewage System

The well-preserved sculpture, which dates to around 300 B.C., was once used as a street marker

Ruins of farms on Fuaigh Mòr, an island evicted during the Highland Clearances

How Profits From Slavery Changed the Landscape of the Scottish Highlands

Money earned through enslavement played a key role in the eviction of Highlanders in the 18th and 19th centuries, study finds

The photographs document daily life starting in the late 1920s. For additional information on the archive, contact collections@derrystrabane.com.

See Northern Ireland Through the Lens of a Pioneering Woman Archaeologist

Newly digitized photographs by educator and historian Mabel Remington Colhoun cover the 1920s through the 1980s

The Nazis persecuted and murdered Roma people across Europe.

Remnants of Concentration Camp Used to Imprison Roma Found in Czech Republic

All of the 130-plus Roma people interned at the WWII–era site in Liberec were later murdered by the Nazis at death camps

A couple hiking in the Alsace region of northeastern France spotted the tiny aluminum message capsule in a grassy field in September. The note, written in German in cursive script by a Prussian military officer, was probably attached to a carrier pigeon but never reached its destination.

A Carrier Pigeon's Military Message Was Delivered a Century Too Late

A couple in Alsace, France, stumbled onto a capsule containing a cryptic note dated to either 1910 or 1916

The Basilica di San Francesco di Paola is one of nine Naples churches in areas deemed highly susceptible to sudden collapse.

Sinkholes Threaten to Swallow Naples' Historic Churches, Study Suggests

A new paper identifies 9 high-risk places of worship and 57 that are susceptible to "potential future cavity collapses"

A satellite image of the Noordoostpolder, a Dutch municipality where the four settlements were found

Dutch Archaeologist Discovers Traces of Four Submerged Medieval Settlements

A five-year research project yielded the locations of several long-forgotten villages

The Book of Lismore consists of 198 large vellum folios.

Medieval Manuscript Returns to Ireland After Hundreds of Years in British Hands

The 15th-century Book of Lismore features the only surviving Irish translation of Marco Polo's travels, among other historical texts

Detail of Michelangelo's The Last Judgment fresco

This $22,000 Book Features Life-Size Photos of the Sistine Chapel's Art

The pricey tome consists of three 25-pound, two-foot-tall volumes

Tourigny analyzed gravestones from four large pet cemeteries in the United Kingdom, including the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals.

Pet Cemeteries Reveal Evolution of Humans' Relationships With Furry Friends

By analyzing a thousand tombstones, an archaeologist revealed how animals evolved from companions to family in just 100 years

The show features 60 works by women and 70 by men, including Carlos Verger Fioretti's Phalaena (1920).

Why the Prado's Show on Women in Art Is Facing Accusations of Misogyny

Critics say the exhibition, centered on the Spanish art world between 1833 and 1931, echoes "the very misogyny it has sought to expose"

A 14th-century latrine in Riga, Latvia

Archaeologists Mine Medieval Toilets for Traces of Gut Microbiomes

New techniques could help researchers understand human diets in different times and places

A replica statue of Atlas at the Temple of Zeus in Agrigento, Sicily

A Colossal Statue of Atlas Will Rise Again

Sicily's Temple of Zeus once featured 38 giant likenesses of the mythological Titan. Now, a reassembled version is set to go on view

The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam will open its depot next year, making 151,000 artworks that would otherwise be in storage accessible to the public.

A Dutch Museum Will Display All 150,000 Objects in Its Collections

The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen's unique storage facility is slated to open in fall 2021

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