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Anemospilia, or how much human sacrifice is too much?
On a certain day around the year 1700 BC, on the slopes of Mount Juktas in central Crete, a small group of people had gathered in a temple for a religious ceremony. A young woman assisted a man a few years her senior: the high priest. His status was obvious from his splendid adornments, perhaps…
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Castillon, or how to win at war
In the south-west of France, about forty minutes by train from Bordeaux, lies the town of Castillon. Few people get on or off at this small station. From there, a street leads down into town, passes a few restaurants, a church, a mairie, crosses the Dordogne River and that’s it. It is a small, sleepy…
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Gibraltar, or if you don’t like our principles, we have others
Gibraltar is a small town in the interior of Spain, part of the region of Andalucia. In the cozy square by the church there are a couple of excellent restaurants where the locals gather of an evening. The waiting staff may not speak much English, but if you manage to make yourself understood, you can…
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Agder, or the benefits of child labour
The interior of southern Norway offers spectacular hiking opportunities. Dense, mixed forests are intersected by babbling brooks. Tranquil marshy pools dot the landscape and give home to a wide array of waterfowl. A lucky wanderer may spot both deer and the imposing, though mostly harmless elk. But what is idyllic in the daytime, takes on…
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Cannae, or the history of what never happened
Considering its historical significance, Canne della Battaglia is difficult to reach. If you have independent means of transportation, you can set out and hope your map leads you where you need to go. If not, you will be forced to rely on the single bus that departs from Barletta once a day, with a return…
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Leipzig, or the rise and fall and rise of a European kingdom
Four or five kilometres south-east of Leipzig lies a war memorial: the Monument to the Battle of the Nations. The far more efficient German can do in one word what English does in seven: the Völkerschlachtdenkmal. It is a massive construction in rust-red granite, 91 metres tall, flanked at the top by gigantic, primeval warrior…
EUROPA RECONDITA
AN ITINERANT JOURNAL ABOUT HISTORY, CULTURE AND BEER
