Explore the diverse breathtaking moments From urban streets to remote landscapes across the globe

Chapel of San Baudelio de Berlanga, 11th century, Soria, Spain. It was built in the middle of nowhere, in lands that were frontier between Christianity and Islam. A plain stone square from outside, its palm tree shaped central column and frescoes make this church next to unique...

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Chapel of San Baudelio de Berlanga, 11th century, Soria, Spain. It was built in the middle of nowhere, in lands that were frontier between Christianity and Islam. A plain stone square from outside, its palm tree shaped central column and frescoes make this church next to unique...

ARTIFACT / Photography

Chapel of San Baudelio de Berlanga, 11th century, Soria, Spain. It was built in the middle of nowhere, in lands that were frontier between Christianity and Islam. A plain stone square from outside, its palm tree shaped central column and frescoes make this church next to unique...

ARTIFACT

Chapel of San Baudelio de Berlanga, 11th century, Soria, Spain. It was built in the middle of nowhere, in lands that were frontier between Christianity and Islam. A plain stone square from outside, its palm tree shaped central column and frescoes make this church next to unique...

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Fresco with dromedary camel, transferred to canvas. From the monastery of San Baudelio de Berlanga, near Soria, Spain, first half 12th c. The Cloisters collection

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Fresco with dromedary camel, transferred to canvas. From the monastery of San Baudelio de Berlanga, near Soria, Spain, first half 12th c. The Cloisters collection

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When Alexander marched toward Persepolis in 330 BC and set the city ablaze, Persian artisans were carving the capital of a new column. Over 2,300 years later, the unfinished capital still sits on the same stone base where it was being shaped.

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When Alexander marched toward Persepolis in 330 BC and set the city ablaze, Persian artisans were carving the capital of a new column. Over 2,300 years later, the unfinished capital still sits on the same stone base where it was being shaped.

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Stari Grad is a fortress near the city of Užice, in central Serbia. Historians believe it was built in the second half of the 14th century CE to control movement along nearby roads, and the town of Užice

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Stari Grad is a fortress near the city of Užice, in central Serbia. Historians believe it was built in the second half of the 14th century CE to control movement along nearby roads, and the town of Užice

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The 1st century CE al-Diwan is a square chamber containing 3 stone benches that served as a triclinium for sacred feasts. Carved by the Nabataeans into a hillside to shield it from the wind, it's one of the few extant examples of nonfunerary architecture in Madain Saleh, Saudi Arabia

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The 1st century CE al-Diwan is a square chamber containing 3 stone benches that served as a triclinium for sacred feasts. Carved by the Nabataeans into a hillside to shield it from the wind, it's one of the few extant examples of nonfunerary architecture in Madain Saleh, Saudi Arabia

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The well-preserved main central mosaic of the 6th century CE Basilica of Justinian located in the ancient coastal city of Sabratha, Libya. The mosaic was carefully removed from the church ruins and is now displayed in its own dedicated enclosure at the Sabratha Archaeological Museum

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The well-preserved main central mosaic of the 6th century CE Basilica of Justinian located in the ancient coastal city of Sabratha, Libya. The mosaic was carefully removed from the church ruins and is now displayed in its own dedicated enclosure at the Sabratha Archaeological Museum

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Cordoba Mosque, Spain. Entrance arch to the expansion built by Al-Hakam II around 970 AD, seen from inside. With the original building as starting point, this phase was defined by innovation, richness and creativity that added a new dimension to its already universal architecture.

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Cordoba Mosque, Spain. Entrance arch to the expansion built by Al-Hakam II around 970 AD, seen from inside. With the original building as starting point, this phase was defined by innovation, richness and creativity that added a new dimension to its already universal architecture.

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A Manichæan silk painting of the Buddha-Jesus, from the Southern Song Dynasty, c.12-13th century CE. A syncretic figure is seated in lotus position. He holds a red lotus, in which rests a golden cross. He is haloed by a Christian nimbus, and rests under a Buddhist chatra .

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A Manichæan silk painting of the Buddha-Jesus, from the Southern Song Dynasty, c.12-13th century CE. A syncretic figure is seated in lotus position. He holds a red lotus, in which rests a golden cross. He is haloed by a Christian nimbus, and rests under a Buddhist chatra .

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The Berlanga Cup is a rare 2nd-century AD Roman bronze-and-enamel vessel found in Spain that depicts Hadrian's Wall and includes the names of several Roman forts along it

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The Berlanga Cup is a rare 2nd-century AD Roman bronze-and-enamel vessel found in Spain that depicts Hadrian's Wall and includes the names of several Roman forts along it

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The South Gate of Angkor Thom, built in the 12th century leads to the Bayon temple, part of the larger Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia. It is lined with stone figures depicting mythical beings

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The South Gate of Angkor Thom, built in the 12th century leads to the Bayon temple, part of the larger Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia. It is lined with stone figures depicting mythical beings

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A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. They were used as dwellings over five millennia, from the European Neolithic Period to as late as the 17th/early 18th century

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A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. They were used as dwellings over five millennia, from the European Neolithic Period to as late as the 17th/early 18th century

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Indonesia showcases returned artifacts it had sought for decades from Netherlands. The collection is part of more than 800 historical artifacts that were returned under a Repatriation agreement signed in 2022.

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Indonesia showcases returned artifacts it had sought for decades from Netherlands. The collection is part of more than 800 historical artifacts that were returned under a Repatriation agreement signed in 2022.

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Rai stones are large donut-shaped stones weighing up to 4 tons which were used as currency on the Yap islands in Micronesia for centuries. Because it is hard to move the stones, buying something simply involved agreeing the stone changes ownership and 'recording' it in oral history

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Rai stones are large donut-shaped stones weighing up to 4 tons which were used as currency on the Yap islands in Micronesia for centuries. Because it is hard to move the stones, buying something simply involved agreeing the stone changes ownership and 'recording' it in oral history

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Discovered in a cave in southern Poland in the 1980s, this prehistoric boomerang was made from a mammoth tusk and estimated to be 18,000 years old. But new analysis has uncovered that the boomerang is between 39,000 to 42,000 years old, making it the oldest known boomerang in history.

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Discovered in a cave in southern Poland in the 1980s, this prehistoric boomerang was made from a mammoth tusk and estimated to be 18,000 years old. But new analysis has uncovered that the boomerang is between 39,000 to 42,000 years old, making it the oldest known boomerang in history.

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This gold and enamel ring was made in Italy in the 17th-century. Diamonds are set in the skull’s eye sockets and nose, and in the crossbones. Memento mori rings – from the Latin ‘remember that you must die’ – were intended to remind the wearer of the brevity of life.

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This gold and enamel ring was made in Italy in the 17th-century. Diamonds are set in the skull’s eye sockets and nose, and in the crossbones. Memento mori rings – from the Latin ‘remember that you must die’ – were intended to remind the wearer of the brevity of life.

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A Memento Mori carved in ivory. Very little is known about this piece, only that it was listed in the Catalogue of the Ivory Carvings of the Christian Era, by Ormonde Maddock Dalton, in 1909 and was described as being European from the 17th century

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A Memento Mori carved in ivory. Very little is known about this piece, only that it was listed in the Catalogue of the Ivory Carvings of the Christian Era, by Ormonde Maddock Dalton, in 1909 and was described as being European from the 17th century

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Chateau de Sully-sur-Loire is a castle, constructed along several centuries, converted to a palatial seigneurial residence, in Loiret, France. It is a chateau-fort, a true castle surrounded with a defensive moat, built to control one of the few sites where the Loire can be forded.

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Chateau de Sully-sur-Loire is a castle, constructed along several centuries, converted to a palatial seigneurial residence, in Loiret, France. It is a chateau-fort, a true castle surrounded with a defensive moat, built to control one of the few sites where the Loire can be forded.

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Chair from the court of Christian V of Denmark. The chair has trapping mechanisms in the arms, a bellow in the seat that acts as a whoopee cushion and a water tank in the back to emulate the sound of the sitter peeing their pants. Late 17th century.

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Chair from the court of Christian V of Denmark. The chair has trapping mechanisms in the arms, a bellow in the seat that acts as a whoopee cushion and a water tank in the back to emulate the sound of the sitter peeing their pants. Late 17th century.

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