Culture Critic St. Petersburg

When the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was engulfed in flames, Ubisoft, the creators of Assassin's Creed, had previously mapped the cathedral for their game. They generously extended their plans and expertise to assist in the restoration and reconstruction of this iconic

The Sami people are also an important part of Scandinavia’s pre-Viking days. The hunter-gatherers inhabited northern parts of Europe (Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia) for around 5,000 years. They weren't reindeer hunters until much more recently, however. The Sami people

Fascinating “The Hiding Place” is a book written by Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch watchmaker and Christian writer who helped many Jewish people escape from the Nazis during the Holocaust in World War II by hiding them in her home. The book recounts the story of her family’s efforts and how she

The Vikings did not have a concept of dungeons or jails as we know them today. However, they did have a system of punishment for criminals, which often involved fines and banishment. In some cases, criminals may have been held in temporary confinement, such as in a longhouse, but

The Olduvai Gorge, situated in Tanzania's East African Rift Valley, holds a crucial place in the study of human evolution. Discovered by Louis and Mary Leakey in 1931, this site, often called the "Cradle of Mankind," has unveiled vital insights into our history. The Olduvai

Houses in Mali are typically built of a mixture of earth and cement. Malian towns exhibit an eclectic mix of styles, including traditional mud huts, concrete houses, European-style villas, and mosques and government buildings in the Sudanese style. The Dogon built their houses

The Magna Carta is the most famous document in English history. It has been the basis of English law for centuries and inspired the American justice system. The Magna Carta defined England as a nation of laws. Therefore, the king must follow the same rules as everyone else.

There's a district in Germany called "Fuggerei" (Augsburg) where the rent hasn't been raised since 1520. The residents still pay 88 euros as rent for an entire year. The Fuggerei is the world's oldest social housing complex still in use. It is a walled enclave within the city of

The Viking Village is a film set located in East Iceland, originally created for a movie produced by Universal Studios. It was constructed in 2010 and is situated on the massive land of a local farmer. The set consists of an ancient Viking village, complete with wooden buildings

Considered “Doremon's hometown” - Shirakawa-go means “white crossroads,” literally “white river village,” and is one of the oldest villages in Japan. Located in the middle of the valley, in winter, the farm houses here are covered with snow, creating a beautiful scene like in a

This abandoned island in Japan is called Hashima Island. It is man-made and was once a mecca for undersea coal mining. It was a sharp representation of Japan's rapid industrialization. Also known as Gunkanjima (meaning Battleship Island) for its resemblance to a Japanese

Skara Brae is a Neolithic settlement on the Orkney Islands in Scotland. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in the world. Skara Brae was built around 3100 BC, and it was abandoned around 2500 BC. In 1850 a winter storm exposed the village, hidden in the sand

The ancient metropolis of Babylon is one of the most famous cities of the ancient world and today can be found near the town of Al-Hillah in modern-day Iraq. It is likely that Babylon was founded in the third millennium BC and rose to prominence over the next thousand years. In

Despite being extinct for more than 65 million years, dinosaurs still fascinate the world: Humans marvel each time paleontologists discover ancient fossils in scientific digs, unearthing the remains of previously unknown dinosaur species. In the study published in Nature

Olmec Head Statue The Olmec colossal heads are the most famous artifacts left behind by the Olmec civilization. The Olmec people are believed to have occupied a large part of modern-day Southern Mexico. The Olmec were an ancient Pre-Columbian people living in south-central

Newgrange is a prehistoric monument located in the Boyne Valley, County Meath, Ireland. It was built during the Neolithic Period around 3200 BC, making it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. The monument is an exceptionally grand passage tomb with a large circular

A chariot dating back 2000 years, bearing Thracian origins and discovered in Bulgaria, has garnered attention due to its exceptional preservation and unique contents. This four-wheeled wooden chariot, adorned with intricately carved bronze plating and fittings, was found in situ,

For several centuries, Viking settlers eked out a living on Greenland, tending pastureland, hunting walruses, and constructing stone buildings that still stand today. Sometime in the 15th century, however, their civilization collapsed, and all the Vikings either died or fled.

There is an abandoned ghost village in Turkey known as 'The Burj Al Babas'. The village is home to 587 unoccupied castles that look straight out of a movie.