The Old Bishops’ Palace Museum, Musée de l’Ancien Évêché, Grenoble, France The history of the Isère Department is sweepingly and excellently looked at in the building that used to be home to the bishops of Grenoble. The collection is not vast, but very well presented, and makes for a good starting point for further exploration of the city. The building…
The Archaeological Museum of St Laurent, Musée archéologique Saint-Laurent, Grenoble, France Across the Isère river, in the quaint streets of the St Laurent quarter of Grenoble, is a fascinating little museum which serves as a heartening example of what can happen if you dig down under the buildings of cities with ancient origins. The museum is proud of the fact…
The Old Archbishops’ Palace, Narbonne, France The formidable Roman history of the French city of Narbonne was, until recently, covered in the Old Palace building by the cathedral. It was a fitting home, but it is, sadly, no more. Come 2020, the objects will be in their new home, the NarboVia museum. This is not a bad thing, because while…
…continued from Part One… In Part Two of this look at the highlights of the National Museum of Denmark, I’ll be concentrating on the medieval art of Denmark. It was a fascinating collection, with objects from Iceland, as well as German made religious art which was used in Danish churches. The Middle Ages in Denmark are defined as starting in…
Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal While America is littered with museums built around the varied collections of their millionaire founders, this sort of thing is much rarer in Europe. The Armenian Calouste Gulbenkian, who made his fortune from oil, put his money to good use and amassed an amazing little collection of objects from across the ages which…
Glasgow Cathedral, Glasgow, Scotland Every great city should have a great Cathedral. Ideally, it should be basically medieval and have little or no distressing Victorian ‘renovation’. Helloooo Glasgow Cathedral! The High Kirk, or St Mungo’s Cathedral, was said to have been founded by St Kentigern (popularly known as Mungo) in the 6th/7th century. Basically nothing survives from the earlier churches,…
In Ribeauvillé, Alsace, France There is something about the Middle Ages. They are exciting but quite frightening; they are attractive, but have a very ugly side. They are full of character, but not necessarily of the kind you like. The Christmas Market at Ribeauvillé has a Medieval theme, and actually captured a lot of the beauty, and some of the creepiness,…
In Bremgarten, Switzerland It’s not often that history geeks like me get to indulge their geekiness, and it’s really not often that we get to experience the past in a way that feels almost authentic. Every year in the northern Swiss town of Bremgarten, people who are trained in the crafting skills of the Middle Ages come together to demonstrate…