Porrona Village was built around the 1100s, and for five hundred years this region belonged to the two largest Sienese families of nobility, the Tolomeis and the Piccolominis. In 1894, a French noble, Pietro de Rochefort, purchased the village and all of the buildings. Porrona remains a lovely village that is not inhabited by many …
Destinations
Amberley Castle – West Sussex, England
Amberley Castle’s lands were given to Bishop Wilfrid as a gift from Caedwalla the King of Wessex in 683. The buildings that are now part of the castle originated as a log-framed lodge built by Bishop Luffa in 1103 as a respite for hunting. The next 400 years would see this mere hunting lodge become …
Deception Island – Southern Antarctica
As its name suggests, this is one island that’s not what it appears. Its interior port lies protected by a landmass in the shape of a horseshoe and has afforded safe harbor when sailors have found themselves lost in the sometimes tumultuous seas surrounding the Antarctic Peninsula. Therein lies the deception, as the history of …
Bothwell Lodge – Sedalia, Missouri
If you have ever complained about the costs of cooling your home on those warm and muggy summer days, it might behoove you to take note of the architectural design of the Bothwell House in Sedalia that was built above a natural cave system that provided energy-free cooling. The endeavor of John Homer Bothwell, a …
Paris Sewer Museum – Paris, France
Since the 1200s, sewers have been a staple of Parisian life. It was during this time that King Philippe Auguste ordered the streets to be paved and for a drainage system to be built. Covering these sewers would be introduced during the reign of Bonaparte, and today, the extensive network of over 1300 miles of …
The Parthenon – Nashville, Tennessee
The Parthenon – Nashville, Tennessee – At the heart of Centennial Park in Nashville, The Parthenon stands as the proud centerpiece. And just as in Athens, a forty-two-foot-tall replica of Athena is to where the eye is drawn. Both the building and the statue are exact replicas of the originals, even in size. This full-scale …