Whenever they tell you it can't be done in the modern age, show them Dresden.
Everything you see in the bottom image was rebuilt in the last 20 years... (thread) 🧵
The German city of Dresden was a jewelry box of Baroque beauty — once known as the Florence of the Elbe. This is how it looked at the turn of the 20th century:
Many don't know the extent of the devastation that happened here. When Churchill turned his bombers on civilian targets in 1945 to demoralize Germany, Dresden was obliterated.
25,000 people died in one night — and possibly far more.
It remained Churchill's biggest regret. He said himself: "the destruction of Dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of Allied bombing."
You've seen this famous image before:
Some 80% of buildings in the historic center were damaged or totally destroyed. Everything in this image (the palatial complex called the Zwinger, and the church behind) was decimated.
And this was the Frauenkirche, the luminous church at the heart of Dresden that was once one of Europe's largest domes...
After the war, when the USSR imposed a puppet state over East Germany, the communists ruled that the church must lie in rubble rather than be rebuilt.
Ostensibly, this was to memorialize the war — more likely, it was for the same reason it was destroyed in the first place: to demoralize.
The Soviets were effective at weaponizing architecture. They went about clearing away the remains of war-ravaged beauty and erecting brutalist blocks across Europe.
Postwar Dresden became a vastly different city...
Its once-charming squares became exercises in building the model cities of socialism.
The Frauenkirche lay in pieces for 50 years — until the Berlin Wall fell and Germans went about healing half-century-old wounds.
In 1993, the people of Dresden decided to piece their church back together, brick by brick.
Every stone in the pile was sorted and analyzed. Except for a brand new dome, the church was built with as much original stone as possible, to the exact specifications of the original — as much as could be pieced together from old photographs.
Rebuilding took 11 years, and in 2005, the cathedral was reconsecrated; rising like a phoenix from the ashes. It was finished one year ahead of schedule.
And here's what happened around it. Elegant historicism that is putting Dresden back on the map of Europe's most awe-inspiring centers.
Much more work is planned, but it's fighting considerable bureaucratic resistance.
Dresden's revival isn't important because it's an insightful rebuilding project. It's important because it proves that beauty is what binds cultures together.
Here's proof: the gilded orb and cross atop the new dome were crafted by an English goldsmith — one whose father partook in the firebombing of 1945.
Queen Elizabeth contributed directly to its funding.
The Frauenkirche was left in rubble perhaps because it reminded people of the terrifying risk of war. You might say sights like that deter future conflict — but rebuilding it is what brought nations together.
Acts of mutual rebuilding are what brought peace to war-torn Europe.
Dresden took the traditions of its past and built them (literally) into hope for the future.
I went into more detail on this in my free weekly newsletter — do NOT miss the next email!
Prague is probably the world's most beautiful city.
Here's why... (thread) 🧵
Largely sparred from WW2 bombs, Prague is a time capsule of architectural movements — from Gothic to Art Nouveau. A thousand years of history is condensed into a few square miles...
It's exceptional because it was made the capital of the Holy Roman Empire in 1355. Charles IV made Prague the empire's most beautiful city — commissioning wonders that endure to this day, like Charles Bridge.
How much human knowledge has been lost to history?
Well, this ancient wonder was razed by the Mongols in 1258 — it's said the Tigris River ran black with ink.
Here's what was inside... (thread) 🧵
1,200 years ago, the world's largest city was Baghdad (modern-day Iraq) — 1.5 million lived there at its peak. The Round City, a masterpiece of urban planning, contained one of history's greatest libraries.
Baghdad was then an intellectual capital of the world. Scholars came from all across the Islamic empire, and the ruling Caliphs were eager to collect their knowledge under one roof: The House of Wisdom.
A thread of Europe's most spectacular (and unusual) castles... 🧵
1. Hohenzollern Castle, Germany
A 19th century wonder of the romantic age. Unusual because although it looks formidable, it was not built as a fortress — but as a family memorial for the House of Hohenzollern.
2. Castel del Monte, Andrea, Italy
Its story is as mysterious as it looks. Built in the 13th century by the Holy Roman Emperor, it's octagonal and symmetrical with extreme precision. Nobody knows why it was built that way, or what it was for...
You know the Colosseum already — so these are its lesser-known wonders... 🧵
1. Andrea Pozzo's "3D" ceiling:
The illusionistic frescoes of the Church of St. Ignatius are every bit as majestic as the Sistine Chapel — Pozzo's 17th century genius opened flat ceilings to the heavens. The "dome" he painted is actually flat...
2. The Pyramid of Cestius
Rome has an ancient pyramid. Egyptian forms (like obelisks) were once fashionable in the empire, particularly during the Augustus years. This 118-foot tomb was built for a Roman senator in c.12 BC.
This is what American cities looked like a century ago.
Everything you see here was demolished.
Why? This is what happened... (thread) 🧵
At the turn of the 20th century, American cities transformed swathes of their centers into huge architectural displays — all for great exhibitions called the World's Fairs...
St. Louis, for example, turned acres of its parks into lagoons and waterways, navigated by visitors on Venetian gondolas and electric boats. Nearly 1,500 buildings went up in achingly beautiful neoclassicism.