At the corners of walls, near the gates of old European buildings, and sometimes at exterior corners, one can find guard stones. Today, people rarely notice them, and their purpose remains unclear to most. However, in the era of horse-drawn transport, they played a crucial role—protecting building corners from damage.
The main issue was the wheel hubs of wooden and later iron-rimmed carts. These hubs often protruded far beyond the width of the vehicle and could cause serious damage to walls. While carts were significantly lighter than modern cars, their construction could leave deep gouges and chips on building corners. This is why guard stones were installed—simple yet effective elements of urban infrastructure.
They were usually made of stone or iron. In Novi Sad, for example, only a few of these stones remain. Many were removed over time, as evidenced by traces on buildings and archival photographs. In the second-to-last photo, you can see what happens to a gate corner without protection.
The main issue was the wheel hubs of wooden and later iron-rimmed carts. These hubs often protruded far beyond the width of the vehicle and could cause serious damage to walls. While carts were significantly lighter than modern cars, their construction could leave deep gouges and chips on building corners. This is why guard stones were installed—simple yet effective elements of urban infrastructure.
They were usually made of stone or iron. In Novi Sad, for example, only a few of these stones remain. Many were removed over time, as evidenced by traces on buildings and archival photographs. In the second-to-last photo, you can see what happens to a gate corner without protection.
👍5❤2
I love bay windows, perhaps because they are one of the symbols of Europe's architectural past. They expand space, let in more light, and create a play of shadows on the façade. It’s amusing how this originally utilitarian feature gradually turned into a decorative excess and was rejected by modern architecture, which strives for strict rationality. They are still built sometimes. But most of the time, it turns out badly. :)
The photo shows a bay window from the era of excess. 1909, Austro-Hungarian Secession (better known as Art Nouveau in France and the UK). The architect, Hungarian Lipót Baumhorn, was a master of Hungarian modernism and designed many buildings in Novi Sad, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The photo shows a bay window from the era of excess. 1909, Austro-Hungarian Secession (better known as Art Nouveau in France and the UK). The architect, Hungarian Lipót Baumhorn, was a master of Hungarian modernism and designed many buildings in Novi Sad, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
👍8❤2
Reading the traveler Jean Chardin. Stumbled upon his description of Yerevan — crude, precise, unsentimental. Seventeenth century, yet it reads like a fresh report. The engraving is his, too.
"After passing through many villages and towns, we reached Yerevan...
From Tiflis to Yerevan is 78 miles.
Yerevan is a large but unattractive and dirty city. Most of it is taken up by gardens and vineyards; there are no beautiful buildings. It lies in a valley, surrounded on all sides by mountains and flooded by two rivers: the Zangu flows from the northwest, and the Kerkh-Bulagh from the southwest...
The fortress of Yerevan can be considered a small independent town. It has an egg-shaped form, four agars in circumference, and contains 800 houses. Only native Persians live there; Armenians merely own shops where they work and trade during the day, locking them at night and returning home. The fort is surrounded by three tiers of crenellated walls made of sun-dried bricks. The walls have towers in the manner of ancient Eastern fortifications, and the fort is crowned with an irregularly shaped earth mound. Another form of defense could not be constructed more regularly, as the fortress stretches northwest along the edge of a ravine over 300 fathoms deep, at the bottom of which a river flows. This side, being naturally inaccessible, has no other fortifications beyond the mound. The garrison of the fort numbers 2,000 men. Each enclosure has iron gates with its own guards. The palace of Kusakali is located within the fortress, on the edge of the dreadful ravine I just mentioned. It is a large and beautiful building, particularly impressive in summer.
Near the fortress, just a thousand steps away, lies a hill that dominates it, fortified with double walls and equipped with good artillery; it can hold 200 men. This small fort is called Gechi-Kala.
The city of Yerevan itself is situated a cannon shot away from the fortress. Its center is occupied by the market and various structures. These are in such poor condition that it would be no surprise if they were all destroyed in a single day. There are many churches in the city...
Next to the bishop’s residence stands an old tower built of hewn stone.
In front of the bishop’s residence is a large market, next to which stands a brick mosque now in a semi-ruined state... Three hundred steps from it lies the large Meydan (square). All large squares in Asia are called meydan. The Yerevan square, lined with trees, has a diagonal of 400 steps and is used for walks, carousels, carriages, horse riding, and all sorts of exercises, both on foot and mounted.
The city and fortress have many baths and caravanserais; the finest of them is located 500 steps from the palace and was ordered to be built a few years ago by the governor of Armenia. The main entrance of this caravanserai is 80 steps long and forms a handsome hall with shops. The building is rectangular and consists of three large and sixty small rooms, with spacious stables and large storerooms. In front of it is a square surrounded by shops selling all kinds of goods, and nearby, a beautiful mosque and two cafés..."
"After passing through many villages and towns, we reached Yerevan...
From Tiflis to Yerevan is 78 miles.
Yerevan is a large but unattractive and dirty city. Most of it is taken up by gardens and vineyards; there are no beautiful buildings. It lies in a valley, surrounded on all sides by mountains and flooded by two rivers: the Zangu flows from the northwest, and the Kerkh-Bulagh from the southwest...
The fortress of Yerevan can be considered a small independent town. It has an egg-shaped form, four agars in circumference, and contains 800 houses. Only native Persians live there; Armenians merely own shops where they work and trade during the day, locking them at night and returning home. The fort is surrounded by three tiers of crenellated walls made of sun-dried bricks. The walls have towers in the manner of ancient Eastern fortifications, and the fort is crowned with an irregularly shaped earth mound. Another form of defense could not be constructed more regularly, as the fortress stretches northwest along the edge of a ravine over 300 fathoms deep, at the bottom of which a river flows. This side, being naturally inaccessible, has no other fortifications beyond the mound. The garrison of the fort numbers 2,000 men. Each enclosure has iron gates with its own guards. The palace of Kusakali is located within the fortress, on the edge of the dreadful ravine I just mentioned. It is a large and beautiful building, particularly impressive in summer.
Near the fortress, just a thousand steps away, lies a hill that dominates it, fortified with double walls and equipped with good artillery; it can hold 200 men. This small fort is called Gechi-Kala.
The city of Yerevan itself is situated a cannon shot away from the fortress. Its center is occupied by the market and various structures. These are in such poor condition that it would be no surprise if they were all destroyed in a single day. There are many churches in the city...
Next to the bishop’s residence stands an old tower built of hewn stone.
In front of the bishop’s residence is a large market, next to which stands a brick mosque now in a semi-ruined state... Three hundred steps from it lies the large Meydan (square). All large squares in Asia are called meydan. The Yerevan square, lined with trees, has a diagonal of 400 steps and is used for walks, carousels, carriages, horse riding, and all sorts of exercises, both on foot and mounted.
The city and fortress have many baths and caravanserais; the finest of them is located 500 steps from the palace and was ordered to be built a few years ago by the governor of Armenia. The main entrance of this caravanserai is 80 steps long and forms a handsome hall with shops. The building is rectangular and consists of three large and sixty small rooms, with spacious stables and large storerooms. In front of it is a square surrounded by shops selling all kinds of goods, and nearby, a beautiful mosque and two cafés..."
👍5🔥3❤2
Stone Pipes from Erebuni. Urartian Water Supply, 8th–7th centuries BCE
These fragments are part of an ancient pipeline that supplied water to the fortress of Erebuni. The Urartians carved the pipes from tuff or basalt. Individual sections were joined using a socket-and-spigot system.
Water flowed by gravity from springs located outside the citadel. This was part of a larger hydraulic infrastructure: the Urartians also built canals, reservoirs, and cisterns.
Stone was used where durability was critical — under roads, through walls, or on challenging terrain. This design was more durable than the clay or metal pipes used in Mesopotamia and Egypt, but significantly less efficient and, in many ways, more archaic.
Interestingly, after the fall of Urartu, such solutions disappeared. In the Hellenistic period, pipelines were made from lighter and easier-to-produce materials.
These fragments are part of an ancient pipeline that supplied water to the fortress of Erebuni. The Urartians carved the pipes from tuff or basalt. Individual sections were joined using a socket-and-spigot system.
Water flowed by gravity from springs located outside the citadel. This was part of a larger hydraulic infrastructure: the Urartians also built canals, reservoirs, and cisterns.
Stone was used where durability was critical — under roads, through walls, or on challenging terrain. This design was more durable than the clay or metal pipes used in Mesopotamia and Egypt, but significantly less efficient and, in many ways, more archaic.
Interestingly, after the fall of Urartu, such solutions disappeared. In the Hellenistic period, pipelines were made from lighter and easier-to-produce materials.
👍6❤3👏1
Rare wood from the 9th century.
Four carved capitals from Sevan — detailed, weathered, almost alive.
They survived against the odds.
Two of them — on open display in Yerevan, without a glass case.
A short piece about wood that endured, and the strange mercy of time.
Four carved capitals from Sevan — detailed, weathered, almost alive.
They survived against the odds.
Two of them — on open display in Yerevan, without a glass case.
A short piece about wood that endured, and the strange mercy of time.
🔥5👍3