Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 3 i Explore History

Like time capsules in stone, the historic buildings and archaeological discoveries that we come across help us learn about the events that led to where we are today. Lindisfarne is one such place, where history is found in the very soil, with an eventful past of Anglo-Saxons and Viking raiders. Beyond Lindisfarne’s bloodied shores, we head to Versailles in search of the truth about Louis XIV’s scandalous court, and to Egypt to seek out Khufu, the pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid of Giza –›the only Ancient Wonder of the World still standing. We’re indulging in a bit of nostalgia, with a feature celebrating ››› years of Beatrix Potter with events at her Lake District home. You can even hop aboard a heritage train for the journey of a lifetime…

Postcards from the Front by Kate J Cole By the time World War II broke out, postcards were at the peak of popularity. This book is a collection of postcards sent and received by Tommies, and a guide to researching and identifying your own postcards from the time. Price: £14.99/$20 English Heritage Blue Plaques app This app celebrates 150 years of the Blue Plaque scheme, shedding light on places where historical figures lived. It shows where Karl Marx, Virginia Woolf, John Logie Baird and many more spent their time in London. Price: Free (iOS and Android) In the Land of Giants by Max Adams Historian Max Adams explores the landscapes and people of Medieval Britain, through eight walks, a sea voyage and a motorbike ride, in this book that’s part…

“WWII emergency survival packs included pills that could keep a person awake for days” WEWELSBURG CASTLE The last castle I visited was Wewelsberg Castle in Germany. It was Heinrich Himmler’s private castle during World War II and, for a time, the headquarters of the SS. The Nazis tried to destroy it at the end of the war under Himmler’s orders but they failed, leaving an extraordinary glimpse into the curious Germanic fantasies of Himmler. IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM The Imperial War Museum in London was the last museum I visited. I was at the museum to film a piece on drug taking by the Allies in World War II and while I was there, explored the history of their emergency survival packs, which included fascinating additions such as pills that…

“Lindisfarne must have seemed like it was a help-yourself buffet to the Viking scouts” Enslaving People were as valuable as gold and jewels to the raiders. The Vikings were slave traders, taking women to use as concubines and men as slave labourers. Excavations have found the iron neck collars that were the mark of a slave. Defiance Although the monks left Lindisfarne in the 830s, the discovery of carved stones from the late 8th through to the 10th centuries show that people were still given Christian burial on the island. Burning The Vikings burned as well as plundered. A year later, the monasteries at Monkwearmouth and Jarrow were attacked; excavations at the site show the flames were hot enough to melt glass. Vulnerability The wall, ditch and bank that surrounded…

The Great Pyramid, a symbol of Ancient Egyptian engineering and ingenuity, remains one of the world’s most domineering structures. Standing 146.5 metres tall, it towers above the other two pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx and the remains of the Necropolis, a stark reminder of just how powerful the empire of the Ancient Egyptians truly was. And yet, we know very little about the man who had such an awe-inspiring symbol of power erected. The life of King Khufu has remained a subject of great fascination for historians and archaeologists for decades – most notably for the fact that the Old Kingdom monarch’s remains are nowhere to be found. So what happened to the great monarch of Ancient Egyptians? And how can the mysteries of the Great Pyramid be unlocked?…

Hall of Mirrors Widely regarded as one of the most beautiful rooms in history, the Hall of Mirrors perfectly reflects the splendour and magnificence Louis wished to create at Versailles. 73 metres long, 10 metres wide and with a huge 12-metre-high ceiling, the entire passageway is covered with 357 mirrors from the floor to the ceiling. One side opens up onto the sprawling gardens with 17 glass doors that allow the breathtaking scenery to be reflected in the mirrors around the room. Despite the time and effort that went into this glimmering room, it was only used for ceremonies on very special occasions, such as meeting with foreign diplomats, or for royal weddings. The Hercules Salon This room was the last in the King’s Grand Apartment to be finished and…

Snowdonia is rightly renowned for its stunning mountain scenery, but it has a fascinating industrial heritage too, which can be explored with a trip on the Ffestiniog Railway. This is the world’s oldest narrow-gauge railway, constructed in the 1830s to take slate from the mountain quarries of Blaenau Ffestiniog down to the harbour in Porthmadog. It was an ingenious system; the trains, loaded with slate, ran downhill powered by gravity and the empty wagons were then pulled back up by horses. Steam locomotives were introduced in 1863, later followed by passenger trains – which allowed the Victorian traveller to marvel at the beauty of the Welsh mountains. The slate was prized for its quality and durability and transported all over the world, primarily for use as roofing material. However, the…

Tom Kitten Beatrix called Hill Top “Tom Kitten’s House.” The Tale of Tom Kitten was written as she was moving in. Tom and his siblings, Mittens and Moppet, perch on the fern-covered wall, beside the little white gate, to watch the puddle-ducks pass by. Their mother stands under Hill Top’s stone porch as they go down a flowery path, which looks much the same today. Samuel Whiskers The Tale of Samuel Whiskers, or The Roly-Poly Pudding, includes glimpses of the house at Hill Top. The carpet and curtains on the half-landing are in the illustration where Samuel Whiskers rolls along the rolling pin with which he plans to make Tom into a pudding. The rats make their way through gaps in the thick walls, up the chimney and under the…

Pompeii shop finds Gold coins and four skeletons were among the artefacts found as part of an archaeological excavation of a ruined shop on the outskirts of Pompeii. Italian and French archaeologists were working on the site when they found the bones of young people killed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Ancient 13th-century Cambodian boat A 12.8 metre longboat that was buried in a dry riverbed near Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple complex has been dated to the 13th century. It’s the oldest boat to be found in Cambodia, and will be used to draw conclusions about life in the Khmer Empire. Monumental gate found at Hippos Excavations led by the University of Haifa at Hippos, an archaeological site in Israel, have uncovered a Roman gate that they hope will…

The Lindisfarne Gospels were written towards the end of the 7th century. Their 258 pages (which would have required the unblemished skin of 150 calves to make) contain the four Gospels, introductory material and a line-by-line translation of the original Latin into Old English, which was added in the mid-10th century. The translator, Aldred, added a colophon saying who had done what in producing the Gospels. Almost unbelievably, one monk, Eadfrith (who would later go on to become the bishop of Lindisfarne) had written and drawn all of the material within. Most early Medieval manuscripts were created by whole teams of monks, so could one man really have done all of this himself? Recent work has confirmed what Aldred has said: the Gospels really are the work of one man,…

The Great Pyramids at Giza are testament not only to the ingenuity and engineering prowess of an ancient culture, but an almost everlasting statement from a handful of incredibly powerful men. The pharaohs were already the most powerful and spiritually pure beings in the kingdom, but these few weren’t satisfied with earthly glory – they wanted structures that would ensure their survival for time immemorial. From Khufu to Menkaure, these men would express their power like no other – and their mark on the world would live on for thousands of years. Khufu For a man believed to have commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza in his honour, the details surrounding the life and times of Khufu are somewhat incomplete. However, we do know that this pharaoh of the Fourth…

They have inspired writers, artists, musicians and film-makers; their success was a key factor in the industrialisation of Britain; they have shaped the landscapes of nations; they have been of strategic importance in war; have both cost lives and have saved them. They are, of course, trains. It’s difficult to imagine life without railways, and their rich and varied history is surely best explored by taking a trip on a train – whether that is just a short hop on a heritage steam locomotive or an epic journey that lasts several days and crosses continents. The forerunner to the railways we travel on on a daily basis today were wagonways, with wheeled trucks running along primitive wooden ‘tracks’. Powered by men or by horses, they appeared in Britain in the…

The classic Trans-Siberian railway journey takes seven days and goes from Moscow in the west to Vladivostok in the east. Construction of the line was inaugurated in 1891 by Tsar Nicholas II, and much of the work was carried out by convict labourers, as well as Russian soldiers. It is not considered one of the world’s most scenic routes – being sent to Siberia was, after all, considered a punishment – but many of the stops along the way are rich in Russian history. Yekaterinburg, for instance, was where Tsar Nicholas II, his wife and five children were murdered in July 1918 by Bolsheviks. The site is now marked by a large Byzantine-style church. Then there’s Perm, which was the childhood home of Sergei Diaghilev – founder of the Ballet…

Five-star service, fine food and Art Deco glamour – a trip on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) is one of the world’s greatest railway journeys. The classic route is to go from London on a British Pullman train to the coast, sometimes in carriages that have played their part in history - a couple, for example, formed part of Winston Churchill’s funeral train. Once in France, you then join the Continental Wagon-Lits train which boasts beautifully restored blue and gold carriages from the 1920s, a bar complete with grand piano and sleeping cars that convert to sitting areas with white-gloved attendants. It whisks you through Paris and on to Venice, a magical journey lasting 24 hours. Once a year, in a nod to its historic name, the train travels on…

The small, stone farmhouse in the village of Near Sawrey might not be a great stately home, but few houses speak as clearly as Hill Top does of its owner’s personality. After all, the Lake District home so close to Beatrix Potter’s heart is described so eloquently, and illustrated so beautifully, in many of her famous tales. This summer sees the 150th anniversary of her birth, and there is no better way to celebrate than to visit the area she loved all her life – and no better place to explore her world than the house and garden she described as being “very precious to me.” “It is in here I go to be quiet and still with myself,” she once told a young relative. “This is me, the deepest…

Hill Top 28th July 2016 This is the specific date that marks the 150th anniversary of Beatrix’s birthday, and her beloved Hill Top is throwing a party – a free, all-day event. Bring a picnic and enjoy the garden’s summer beauty. Melford Hall July – August 2016 Beatrix would visit her cousin at Melford Hall in Suffolk, where you can see some of her possessions. There will be story reading on 23 July, a party on 28 July, and an outdoor theatre on 13 August. Windermere 16th Sep – 9th Oct 2016 The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction hosts ‘Where is Peter Rabbit?’ from 27 June to 4 September – a musical adventure show. Plus, a play for adults, Meeting Bea, from 16 September to 9 October. Mottisfont Abbey Throughout…

Toompea Castle has been a stronghold of various ruling powers over the centuries from where they reigned over the city of Tallinn. Originally the site of an ancient wooden fortress (one of Tallinn’s first) dating back to 1050, Toompea Hill has long been a prized vantage point. Toompea Castle was first erected during the 12th century and each of the subsequent conquerors have left their mark with expansions. The Danes sold the castle to the Teutonic Order in 1346, and it remained in their hands for the remainder of the Middle Ages. Much of the 14th-century castle can be seen today with additional buildings dating from 1767 and 1773, including the beautiful baroque façade. Today Toompea is home to the Riigikogu (Estonian parliament). The western wall and the Pikk Hermann…

“I perform the function of a whetstone, which can make the iron sharp though is itself unable to cut.” These words by Ancient Roman poet Horace were often used by John Aubrey to describe himself. It was a modest claim as Aubrey wasn’t just a leading gatherer and disseminator of scholarly and biographical information in late 17th century England. He was also a scientist, historian of architecture, pioneer of archaeology and antiquarianism, as well as the author of the celebrated book, Brief Lives, which so brilliantly captured the spirit of his age. Aubrey was born in Easton Piercy, North Wiltshire, in 1626 to an affluent, land-owning family. Educated at a local grammar school, he entered Trinity College Oxford in 1642 to study Law. Here, he was introduced to not only…

There is a reason why Abraham Lincoln’s face is carved into Mount Rushmore – an honour that only four of the 44 men to have held the office of president of the United States have been afforded. It is not just that he is the Martyr President; the man who gave up his respectable job as a lawyer to campaign for what he believed in, and who was ultimately murdered for daring to do what he thought was right. Beyond this, many feel that he epitomises the American dream. The self-educated son of a frontiersman who could barely read and write, Lincoln mounted a successful presidential campaign through hard work, compassion and determination rather than through wealth and patronage. Throughout Illinois, a place that Lincoln truly made his home, we…

Tomb of Asif Khan The tomb of Asif Khan stands at the centre of a large ornamental garden. Built entirely of brick, and topped by a bulbous dome, it is in a state of disrepair. The tomb stands within sight of Jahangir’s tomb, offering a few fragmented and tantalising remains of its once-magnificent interior. EXPLORER’S ESSENTIALS Open 8am – 5pm. On entry to the garden, you will find the Tomb of Asif Khan is to the left. While it has been somewhat neglected in recent years, and visits after dusk are not recommended, it is worth a visit for a different perspective. Tomb of Nur Jahan Set in beautiful gardens, the tomb of Nur Jahan (Light of the World) houses the remains of the beloved consort of the Mughal Emperor…

Ancient Rome Uncover the legacy of history’s great empire in the city that started it all, with ancient ruins, authentic food and drink and more Gateway to America The stories of the millions who passed through Ellis Island Cave Churches of Cappadocia Burrowing into the story of Turkey’s rocky churches Rebellion atop Castle Rock Edinburgh Castle’s historic part in the Jacobite risings PLUS: The National Trust’s biggest restoration at Ightham Mote, Guardian of Hadrian’s Wall, In the footsteps of Napoleon in exile, Wales’ best mining museums & much more…

Tintagel Bruce Denney “Tintagel Castle in Cornwall has breathtaking views – the alleged links to King Arthur make it even more exciting.” Pantheon Elly Rewcastle “The Pantheon is a pretty remarkable sight on just a normal day, but the way the Ancient Roman temple looked under a full moon, contrasting against busy Italian nightlife was simply beautiful. It’s not hard to fall in love with a city that’s as stunning as Rome.” Duomo di Pisa Amy Metcalf “As well as visiting the Leaning Tower of Pisa, I would recommend taking a tour around the vast Pisa Cathedral next to it. It has beautiful mosaics inside” Palacio Real Nikki Cutler “It’s so easy to spend a whole day walking around the beautiful Palacio Real in Madrid, and the outside is just…

Fiestas Patrias, 28 – 29 July To mark the anniversary of Peru’s independence from Spain in 1821, parties are held across the whole country. Festival Interceltique, 5 – 14 August This festival in Lorient, Brittany, celebrates Celtic communities across the world. This year, it is focused on Australia. Drachenstich-Festspiele, 5 – 21 August This traditional folk spectacle is held in Furth, Bavaria. The 500-year-old event re-enacts the slaying of a dragon. European Medieval Festival, Denmark, 26 – 27 August Horsens hosts this trip into medieval Europe. It includes music, crafts and entertainment.…

Excavations beneath a Buddhist temple in Nanjing, China, have unearthed what could be one of the most significant religious relics of recent decades. Here, archaeologists found a model of a stupa, a Buddhist shrine for meditation, within a stone chest, with a gold casket buried inside. Within this gilded casket, they found the bone fragment. The stone chest that held the stupa model was covered with inscriptions declaring the bone’s provenance as being from the Buddha’s own skeleton. The inscriptions also tell of how the model in which the bone was found was created around the early 11th century, under the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, and the names of people who donated money towards the crafting of the model. An article describing the findings was published in China in 2015,…

Today the name Versailles is associated with opulence and splendour. To walk through the gilded halls and gleaming rooms is to experience a world of grandeur that is seldom seen anywhere. The palace itself, and the stunning gardens that surround it, are commonly believed to be among the most beautiful man-made structures in the world. Versailles, however, was not always like this – it began life as a modest hunting lodge made of brick and stone in a small, virtually unknown village with a tiny population. It was the ambition of just one man that saw it flourish into the gem it is today. Louis XIV was a miracle child. His parents had experienced multiple stillbirths and his mother was 37 years old when he was finally born alive and…

Louis XV Although Louis XIV’s great grandson did not make nearly as many expansions and changes to the palace as the Sun King had, Louis XV did finish the Hercules Salon, which had seen construction halted due to his father’s death. The new king also built several more apartments on the ground floor and two private apartments for himself, however, his most significant contributions to the building were the Opéra, the main theatre house, and the Petit Trianon – a small château built on the grounds. He also demolished the Ambassador’s Stair to make room for his daughters’ apartments. Louis XVI The infamous Louis XVI ordered that the gardens of Versailles be replanted and also had a new library built in his apartments. Perhaps even more infamously, his wife, Marie…

Beatrix Potter Gallery, Hawkshead Many of Beatrix’s drawings are now housed in the evocative setting of what was once her husband William’s law office. The surrounding village of Hawkshead is itself a delight, full of narrow streets and archways that Beatrix drew. William Wordsworth was a pupil at the carefully preserved grammar school there. Armitt Museum and Library, Ambleside Beatrix bequeathed to the Armitt Trust Library her wonderfully detailed drawings of fungi. The museum, with its atmospheric reading room, boasts a fascinating exhibition on her life and work. Close by is the Ambleside Bridge House, built over a beck, which Beatrix helped to preserve. Wray Castle, Ambleside The neo-Gothic house beside Windermere was where the Potter family first stayed for their summer holidays in the Lake District. Now run by…

The architecturally stunning city of Tallinn will surprise you at every turn as you walk along its cobbled streets and narrow, winding passageways. First recorded in 1154, Tallinn has had a long history of foreign rule beginning in 1219 when the Danes invaded the city. In 1285, Tallinn became the northernmost member of the Hanseatic League. By 1347, Teutonic Knights had taken control of Tallinn before it was conquered by the Swedes and then the Russians during the Great Northern War. It wasn’t until 1918 that Estonia finally achieved independence. Throughout most of its history, Tallinn was known by its German name, Reval. Only after 1918 did the capital become known as “Tallinn”, (Taani-linn – “Danish town”) a reference to the city’s Danish past. Tallinn is particularly famous for its…

1 Witty biographies The light-hearted tone of Brief Lives reveals Aubrey’s easygoing manner and sense of humour. 2 Wiltshire expert He concluded that the stone monuments of Wiltshire were the work of Druids, not Romans. 3 Posthumous fame Aubrey only saw one of his works published in his lifetime: Miscellanies Upon Various Subjects. 4 Empirical pioneer Aubrey was a pioneer of empiricism, the theory that all knowledge is acquired through the senses. 5 Royal Society Aubrey was one of the early members of the Royal Society and supported it throughout his life.…

Like all great political reformists, Lincoln’s radical anti-slavery agenda inspired a highly conservative backlash. By 1865, however, the ensuing civil war had been won, and Lincoln was ready to begin the slow and painful task of re-building America. But not everybody was content to put the past behind them. John Wilkes Booth, a successful actor and a seemingly happy and intelligent man, who had become slowly obsessed with the Confederate cause, concocted a plan with his two co-conspirators. Initially the three of them had intended to kidnap President Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward as a way of furthering the cause of the Confederate States and re-starting the war. However, the jubilant victory parades and street parties enraged Booth so much that he came to…

Workers Battalion Monument When members of the Workers Battalion dared to resist the invasion of Užice, they were slaughtered. Their sacrifice is remembered at Kadinjaca by a memorial complex, including many original artefacts, and those who fell were laid to rest in a crypt beneath the site. EXPLORER’S ESSENTIALS Always open to the public, free admission. The village of Kadinjaca is around a three-hour drive from Sarajevo and Belgrade. Public transport options are also available. Bubanj Memorial Park Set just outside Niš, the memorial park honours over 10,000 Serbs who were executed by the German invasion force during WWII. At its centre is an enormous marble memorial, depicting the eventual victory of the people against their oppressors. Five monoliths surround the central memorial. Always open to the public, free admission.…