Ghetto of Rome

6 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  15 minutes

Great Synagogue of Rome © Livioandronico2013/cc-by-sa-4.0

Great Synagogue of Rome © Livioandronico2013/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Roman Ghetto or Ghetto of Rome (Italian: Ghetto di Roma) was a Jewish ghetto established in 1555 in the Rione Sant’Angelo, in Rome, Italy, in the area surrounded by present-day Via del Portico d’Ottavia, Lungotevere dei Cenci, Via del Progresso and Via di Santa Maria del Pianto, close to the River Tiber and the Theatre of Marcellus. With the exception of brief periods under Napoleon from 1808 to 1815 and under the Roman Republics of 1798–99 and 1849, the ghetto of Rome was controlled by the papacy until the capture of Rome in 1870.   read more…

Theme Week Belarus – Minsk

30 July 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  21 minutes

Babrujskaja street © Viktar Palstsiuk/cc-by-sa-4.0

Babrujskaja street © Viktar Palstsiuk/cc-by-sa-4.0

Minsk is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administrative centre of Minsk Region (voblasć) and Minsk District (rajon). As of January 2021, its population was 2 million, making Minsk the 11th most populous city in Europe. Minsk is one of the administrative capitals of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). First documented in 1067, Minsk became the capital of the Principality of Minsk before being annexed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1242. It received town privileges in 1499. From 1569, it was the capital of the Minsk Voivodeship, an administrative division of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was part of a region annexed by the Russian Empire in 1793, as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland. From 1919 to 1991, after the Russian Revolution, Minsk was the capital of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, in the Soviet Union. In June 2019, Minsk hosted the 2019 European Games.   read more…

Theme Week Belarus – Grodno

29 July 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  14 minutes

© flickr.com - Alexej Mazurkiewicz/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – Alexej Mazurkiewicz/cc-by-sa-2.0

Grodno is a city in western Belarus. The city is located at the Neman river, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish border and 30 km (19 mi) away from Lithuania. In 2019 the city had 373,547 inhabitants. Grodno is the capital of Grodno Region and Grodno District. Since 1945, the city has been a centre of one of the provinces of the Byelorussian SSR, now of the independent Republic of Belarus. Most of the Polish inhabitants were expelled or fled to Poland in 1944–1946 and 1955–1959. However nowadays Poles are still the second-most numerous nationality in the city (25%), after Belarusians (60%).   read more…

Theme Week Belarus – Mogilev

28 July 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  2 minutes

City Hall © Kazimier Lachnovic/cc-by-sa-3.0

City Hall © Kazimier Lachnovic/cc-by-sa-3.0

Mogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, on the Dnieper River, about 76 kilometres (47 miles) from the border with Russia‘s Smolensk Oblast and 105 km (65 miles) from the border with Russia’s Bryansk Oblast. As of 2011, its population was 360,918, up from an estimated 106,000 in 1956. It is the administrative centre of the Mogilev Region and the third largest city in Belarus.   read more…

Theme Week Belarus – Vitebsk

27 July 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Vitsebsk © panoramio.com - Svetlov Artem/cc-by-3.0

Vitsebsk © panoramio.com – Svetlov Artem/cc-by-3.0

Vitebsk or Viciebsk is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country’s fourth-largest city. It is served by Vitebsk Vostochny Airport and Vitebsk Air Base. Vitebsk developed from a river harbor where the Vićba River, from which it derives its name, flows into the larger Western Dvina, which is spanned in the city by the Kirov Bridge.   read more…

Brest in Belarus

18 July 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Monument of Courage in Brest Fortress © Alexxx Malev/cc-by-sa-4.0

Monument of Courage in Brest Fortress © Alexxx Malev/cc-by-sa-4.0

Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk, is a city (population 350,600 in 2019) in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish city of Terespol, where the Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It is the capital city of the Brest Region.   read more…

Theme Week Lithuania – Kėdainiai

25 June 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

City Hall and Monument of Radziwiłł © Algirdas/cc-by-sa-3.0

City Hall and Monument of Radziwiłł © Algirdas/cc-by-sa-3.0

Kėdainiai is one of the oldest cities in Lithuania. It is located 51 km (32 mi) north of Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population as of 2020 is 23,667. Its old town dates to the 17th century. The city is the administrative centre of the Kėdainiai District Municipality. The geographical centre of the Lithuanian Republic is in the nearby village of Ruoščiai, located in the eldership of Dotnuva.   read more…

Theme Week Lithuania – Šiauliai

23 June 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  13 minutes

Hill of Crosses © Diego Delso/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hill of Crosses © Diego Delso/cc-by-sa-3.0

Šiauliai is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 99,462. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Šiauliai located in eastern part of the northern plateau, Mūša, Dubysa and Venta River divide. Distance of 210 kilometres (130 miles) to Vilnius, Kaunas – 142 km (88 mi), Klaipėda – 161 km (100 mi), Riga – 128 km (80 mi), Kaliningrad – 250 km (155 mi).   read more…

Anne Frank Educational Centre in Frankfurt

27 January 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  8 minutes

Diary of Anne Frank © Diego Delso/cc-by-sa-4.0

Diary of Anne Frank © Diego Delso/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Anne Frank Educational Centre (German: Bildungsstätte Anne Frank) was founded in 1997 and is located in the neighbourhood of Dornbusch, Frankfurt am Main in Germany where Anne Frank was born. The Centre is supported by the Anne-Frank-Fonds in Basel. In their work, the Centre uses the biography and the diary of Anne Frank as a unique tool to promote tolerance and educate people about the consequences of Nazism, discrimination and racism.   read more…

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