Feb 10th, 2012 at 12:00PM: On a steep hill overlooking the Vale of Sparta in southwestern Greece stands the last capital of the Roman Empire.
In 395 AD, beset by enemies, the empire split into western and eastern halves. The Western Roman Empire was soon overwhelmed. The east flourished. Its capital was at Constantinople, modern Istanbul. Known as the Byzantine Empire, it developed a distinctive style of art and ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
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Mistra: a medieval ghost town in southern Greece
Feb 10th, 2012 at 12:00PM: On a steep hill overlooking the Vale of Sparta in southwestern Greece stands the last capital of the Roman Empire.
In 395 AD, beset by enemies, the empire split into western and eastern halves. The Western Roman Empire was soon overwhelmed. The east flourished. Its capital was at Constantinople, modern Istanbul. Known as the Byzantine Empire, it developed a distinctive style of art and ...10 things to do in every city you visit
Feb 8th, 2012 at 2:00PM: While every city has its own unique landmarks, culture, and sights to see, there are certain general things you can do in any city you visit to make your experience more memorable. To enhance your next trip, take this checklist with you and try to do each of these things in every city you visit.
Sample the local cuisine
One way to really get to know a culture is through the food. It's ...Greek museums face the economic crisis
Feb 1st, 2012 at 10:00AM: It's not easy being the caretaker of Greece's heritage these days. Greek museums are facing budget cuts, strikes, reduced staff, even loss of visitors due to riots. The National Archaeological Museum had many rooms closed during the peak tourist season last summer due to budget cuts, and strikes are regularly closing all publicly owned museums.
Take the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens. ...Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: From steel town to scenic city
Jan 31st, 2012 at 2:00PM: While many people still visualize Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to be an old steel city, the hilly town has certainly changed a lot in the last 30-40 years. My first impressions when arriving were that the lit up hillsides, public art, modern architecture, colorful bridges, scenic rivers, diverse restaurants and lively club scene made Pittsburgh seem a lot more eclectic and trendy than industrial. If ...Interdisciplinary art gallery in New York allows travelers to buy a ticket for a journey unknown
Jan 20th, 2012 at 12:30PM: Calling all free spirits: Have you ever felt the urge to just get on a random train and let it take you to a new place. Do you like the idea of forgoing any trip planning and just letting the journey guide you to where you will go? Well now through mid-April, the Bureau of Unknown Destinations in Brooklyn, New York, is open for business.
Basically, travelers will book a free round-trip train ...London's Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art opens Alberto Burri retrospective
Jan 15th, 2012 at 1:00PM: The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art is one of London's best small art museums. Housed in an elegant Georgian mansion on a quiet street in the London borough of Islington, it has the best collection of modern Italian art in the city and perhaps the nation.
Its latest exhibition is Alberto Burri: Form and Matter, a retrospective of one of the leading Italian figures in modern art. Burri ...Metropolitan Museum of Art to reopen American Wing after $100 million remodel
Jan 14th, 2012 at 9:00AM:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is famous for its impressive collection of American art, including iconic images such as Emanuel Leutze's 1851 painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. Now that collection has a larger, better designed home thanks to a $100 million renovation.
The New American Wing Galleries for Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts open Jan. 16 and total 30,000 square ...The British Museum has great lineup for 2012
Jan 12th, 2012 at 4:00PM:
Travelers to London this year will want to stop by the British Museum. Not only is it one of the top museums in the world, with huge collections from the Classical, Egyptian, Medieval, and pretty much every other period, it also hosts several temporary exhibitions every year. As a regular visitor to London I always make sure to see as many of these exhibitions as I can.
The first is Hajj: ...National Gallery in Budapest exhibits art of epic Hungarian history
Jan 11th, 2012 at 2:30PM:
The Hungarian capital of Budapest is a popular destination for those who love high art and culture. Its sumptuous National Gallery is famed across Europe, and now it's putting on a new exhibition highlighting the nation's history.
Heroes, Kings, Saints - Pictures and Memories of Hungarian History brings together some of the masterpieces of 19th century Hungarian painting. This was a high ...Daily Secret offers insider intel for Istanbul, Athens, Shanghai and more
Jan 7th, 2012 at 12:00PM: Last month, I went to a designer-clothing pop-up sale in the back of a restaurant, scored an invite to an exclusive party with Champagne and gourmet truffles, and got the manager's private phone number of a hot new nightlife spot. I'm not famous or especially well-connected, I'm just a subscriber to DailySecret.com. Daily Secret is website and email newsletter that delivers insider intel for ...Phoenix Art Museum opens exhibit on world religion
Jan 5th, 2012 at 3:00PM: The Phoenix Art Museum is one of the city's best art spaces. With more than 18,000 objects in its permanent collection, it brings everything from Picasso to medieval Japanese silk to central Arizona. Their Asian collection is especially good.
Now the museum has started the new year with a major new exhibition. Sacred Word and Image: Five World Religions covers the written word and painted image ...Sexy goddess bares all in Boston
Dec 29th, 2011 at 12:00PM:
The ancient goddess of love, sex, and beauty is making an appearance at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Aphrodite and the Gods of Love is a new exhibition examining one of the most popular ancient goddesses and her place in the Classical world. More than 150 ancient works of art are on display, including famous pieces such as the Knidia, a life-size sculpture of Aphrodite made by the ...Get to know Belarus through the art of motion timelapse
Dec 29th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
This timelapse video, One Day in Life, was created by professional photographer and Minsk native, Artem Sergeevich. It shows the country of Belarus in a way that will put any negative eastern Europe stereotypes out of your head and have you booking a one-way plane ticket there. Vibrant colors wash over a mix of countrysides and cityscapes, making the factories look just as beautiful and ...
New Georgia border crossing provides a whimsical welcome
Dec 26th, 2011 at 4:00PM:
Customs checkpoints tend to be dreary, depressing places.
A rare exception is the new Georgia border crossing with Turkey, located right at the crossroads between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. There, German architect Jürgen Mayer H. recently unveiled a modern, state-of-the-art border crossing that rises from the shores of the Black Sea in a white, whimsical squiggle. How's that for a ...Your Paintings website puts UK's art collections at your fingertips
Dec 23rd, 2011 at 1:00PM:
An online collection now boasts half of all the publicly owned oil paintings in the United Kingdom.
Your Paintings was started in June by the BBC and the Public Catalogue Foundation and has already uploaded high-quality images of 104,000 oil paintings by 23,000 artists.
The goal is to put online all of the estimated 200,000 publicly owned paintings housed in some 3,000 institutions, making ...Stay at a former military prison turned art hostel in Ljubljana, Slovenia
Dec 22nd, 2011 at 1:00PM: Recently, Gadling's Meg Nesterov talked about 10 reasons to travel to Ljubljana in Slovenia. The country has a lot to offer to visitors, and for those looking for an affordable and historical place to stay, a unique hostel experience, as well.
Hostel Celica, currently an artsy youth hostel, was once a military prison within the military barracks of Metelkova Street, dating back to 1882. Once ...Amsterdam's Schipol Airport gallery opens winter exhibition (about winter!)
Dec 21st, 2011 at 11:00AM:
I love airport art galleries. They offer the delayed passenger something far more satisfying than eating fattening toxins in the food court. The gallery at Schipol Airport, Amsterdam, is one of the best because it's run by the world-famous Rijksmuseum.
The gallery has just opened Dutch Winters, a collection of winter scenes by Dutch artists. Interestingly, the curators didn't go for the usual ...6 art classes to try in Bali
Dec 19th, 2011 at 3:00PM:
There's no better place in Indonesia to take art classes than in Bali, an island known around the world for its artistic tradition. Indeed, it seems that everywhere you look, you find traces of man-made beauty. From the ornamentation on the temples to the etchings on the sidewalks to the attention and care given to daily offerings set out on the street, art oozes from every crack.
When ...Ancient Egypt--Art and Magic, opens at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida
Dec 19th, 2011 at 2:00PM: Ancient Egypt never ceases to fascinate. Its elaborate religion, art, and ritual make it at once foreign and compelling. Now a new exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida, showcases some of the highlights of this unique culture.
Ancient Egypt--Art and Magic: Treasures of the Fondation Gandur pour l'Art brings to the public eye one of the greatest private collections of ...New public artwork imitates the changing mood of the city
Dec 17th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
For the people of Lindau, Germany, there is no such thing as keeping your mood to yourself. At least, not since German artists Julius Von Bismarck, Richard Wilhelmer, and Benjamin Maus installed a "Fuehlometer" (Feel-o-Meter), an interactive piece of public artwork that gauges and replicates the city's mood swings.
The large smiley face is set on top of a lighthouse and changes ...
