European Heritage Label

4 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, EU blog post series, European Union Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Andrijana F/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Andrijana F/cc-by-sa-4.0

The European Heritage Label is a recognition awarded by the European Union to buildings, documents, museums, archives, monuments or events which are seen as milestones in the creation of today’s Europe. The program is managed by the European Commission.   read more…

Monemvasia on Peloponnese peninsula

3 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Katsikas pantelis/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Katsikas pantelis/cc-by-sa-4.0

Monemvasia is a town and municipality in Laconia, Greece. The town is located on a tied island off the east coast of the Peloponnese, surrounded by the Myrtoan Sea. The island is connected to the mainland by a tombolo 400 metres (1,300 ft) in length. Its area consists mostly of a large plateau some 100 m (330 ft) above sea level, up to 300 m (980 ft) wide and 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long. Founded in the sixth century, and thus one of the oldest continually-inhabited fortified towns in Europe, the town is the site of a once-powerful medieval fortress, and was at one point one of the most important commercial centres in the Eastern Mediterranean. The town’s walls and many Byzantine churches remain as testaments to the town’s history. Today, the seat of the municipality of Monemvasia is the town of Molaoi.   read more…

European Quarter in Strasbourg

18 March 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, EU blog post series, European Union Reading Time:  5 minutes

European Parliament © Jose Huwaidi/cc-by-sa-4.0

European Parliament © Jose Huwaidi/cc-by-sa-4.0

The European Quarter is spread over an area covering the districts of Wacken, Orangerie and Robertsau in the north-west of Strasbourg, France, and comprising the intersection of the River Ill and the Marne-Rhine Canal and has held the European Heritage Label since 2015. The first specific European building in the area was the Council of Europe‘s Palace of Europe in 1949, with the Rhine Commission being located towards the centre of the city. The European Audiovisual Observatory and the Institute for Human Rights are the only institutions in the quarter to have moved into pre-existing premises: a 1900 villa and an 18th-century former postal relay station and inn turned conventual building, respectively. The Arte headquarters, previously disseminated on several buildings across the town, were united in a single spacious building close to the Louise Weiss building in 2003.   read more…

The International Court of Justice in The Hague

1 January 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, House of the Month Reading Time:  12 minutes

© International Court of Justice

© International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice (French: Cour internationale de justice; commonly referred to as the World Court, ICJ or The Hague) is the primary judicial branch of the United Nations (UN). Seated in the Peace Palace in The Hague, the court settles legal disputes submitted to it by states and provides advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized international branches, agencies, and the UN General Assembly. Established in 1945 by the UN Charter, the Court began work in 1946 as the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice. The Statute of the International Court of Justice, similar to that of its predecessor, is the main constitutional document constituting and regulating the Court.   read more…

The Cluny Abbey in Burgundy

1 September 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, House of the Month Reading Time:  22 minutes

© Jan Sokol/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Jan Sokol/cc-by-sa-3.0

Cluny Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to St Peter. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churches built in succession from the 4th to the early 12th centuries. The earliest basilica was the world’s largest church until the St. Peter’s Basilica construction began in Rome. Cluny was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910. He nominated Berno as the first Abbot of Cluny, subject only to Pope Sergius III. The abbey was notable for its stricter adherence to the Rule of St. Benedict, whereby Cluny became acknowledged as the leader of western monasticism. The establishment of the Benedictine Order was a keystone to the stability of European society that was achieved in the 11th century. In 1790 during the French Revolution, the abbey was sacked and mostly destroyed, with only a small part of the Abbey surviving. Starting around 1334, the Abbots of Cluny maintained a townhouse in Paris known as the Hôtel de Cluny, which has been a public museum since 1843. Apart from the name, it no longer possesses anything originally connected with Cluny.   read more…

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