Temple Church in London

2 May 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, London Reading Time:  10 minutes

© geograph.org.uk - John Salmon/cc-by-sa-2.0

© geograph.org.uk – John Salmon/cc-by-sa-2.0

The Temple Church is a late 12th-century church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. During the reign of King John (1199–1216) it served as the royal treasury, supported by the role of the Knights Templars as proto-international bankers. It is jointly owned by the Inner Temple and Middle Temple Inns of Court, bases of the English legal profession. It is famous for being a round church, a common design feature for Knights Templar churches, and for its 13th and 14th century stone effigies. It was heavily damaged by German bombing during World War II and has since been greatly restored and rebuilt. The area around the Temple Church is known as the Temple and nearby formerly in the middle of Fleet Street stood the Temple Bar, an ornamental processional gateway. Nearby is the Temple Underground station.   read more…

Richerenches, the truffle village

18 July 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera, Bon appétit Reading Time:  5 minutes

Black Richerenches Truffle © Véronique PAGNIER/cc-by-sa-3.0

Black Richerenches Truffle © Véronique PAGNIER/cc-by-sa-3.0

Richerenches (Richarencha in Occitan) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in southeastern France with a populaton of 670. In 1136, a local lord, Hugh of Bourbouton, gave the Knights Templar land at Richerenches. Two years later he gave even more, and the next day he took his vows as a Templar. He eventually became the Commander of the Templar commandery of Richerenches, which rose to be one of the most important Templar commanderies in Provence.   read more…

Knights Templar and Friday the 13th

11 June 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Order of Knights Templar in Europe around 1300 © Marco Zanoli/cc-by-sa-3.0

Order of Knights Templar in Europe around 1300 © Marco Zanoli/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple (French: Ordre du Temple or Templiers) or simply as Templars, were among the most wealthy and powerful of the Western Christian military orders and were among the most prominent actors of the Christian finance. The organization existed for nearly two centuries during the Middle Ages.   read more…

Return to TopReturn to Top