(Part 1 of 2 on Paris)
Two Paris museums, the Musée de Montmartre and the Musée de National du Moyen Âge (National Museum of the Middle Ages, commonly known as the Cluny), would seem to have nothing in common, save that both hold collections… until one takes note of their gardens.
Over 600 years have passed since construction began on the structure you see in November’s photo. It is what remains of Ak-Saray (Ak-Sarai), which was Amir Timur’s (Amir Temur's) summer palace, built in his hometown of Shakhrisabz, Uzbekistan. Construction is said to have begun in 1380, and a surviving inscription gives the date of the palace's completion as "798 A.H.," or AD 1395-96. However, further construction and embellishment went on until Timur's death in 1405. Today, all that remains are the huge portals.
The Nemunas River, the longest river in Lithuania, wends its way from the Lithuania/Belarus border north toward Kaunas, then westward across southern Lithuania to empty into the Curonian Lagoon.
by Emilee Hines; Hendersonville, NC
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of World War I, the Musée royal de l’Armée et d’Histoire militaire - Bruxelles, or the Royal Museum of the Army and of Military History - Brussels (Parc du Cinquantenaire 3; phone +32 [0] 2 549 60 49), will house the exhibition “It’s our History,” Feb. 7, 2014-April 26, 2015. Through artifacts, testimonies, multimedia displays, film and immersive spaces, it will focus on the conflicts leading up to the war and the effects it had on shaping 20th-century Europe.
In downtown Hamburg, a new museum has been built in the former crypt of the famous St. Nikolai Church (last rebuilt in 1846), which was partially destroyed during World War II.
Opened on Sept. 1, 2013, the new permanent exhibition (presented in English and German) is divided into four themed sections: St. Nikolai Church’s history, Hamburg before and during the war, consequences of the city’s destruction, and memories of the war plus its impact.
Inside the one remaining spire of the church, there is a 76-meter-high observation deck reached by a glass-enclosed elevator.
Addressing medical care on the front during the First World War through diaries, letters, literature, photographs and objects, the exhibition “War and Trauma — Medical Care in WWI” will be on display in the In Flanders Fields Museum (Lakenhallen - Grote Markt 34, B-8900 Ieper, Belgium; phone 32 057 239 220) in Ypres, Belgium, Nov. 11, 2013, to June 30, 2014.
My father emigrated from Albania 100 years ago and, although my family kept no ties to the homeland, my wife, Anne, and I had been thinking about going there for years. After reading Carol Probst’s article “Albania — Enjoying Europe Without the Cost and Crowds” (Dec. ’12, pg. 36), we got in touch with the guide she recommended, Enea Kumi.
Offa’s Dyke, a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site in Wales, was damaged in August when someone with a bulldozer carved out a 50-yard section and used the dirt to fill in a road nearby. It is a criminal offense to disrupt or damage protected monuments, and the authorities are investigating.
A popular walking trail for visitors, the 1,200-year-old monument is a long earthwork stretching about 80 miles from the Wye Valley to Wrexham. The dike is thought to have been built in the eighth century by King Offa of Mercia.
