Category Archives: architecture

Don Quijote’s Evil Giants

Posted on September 8, 2014 by 100swallows

When you first see the windmills on the great hill of Consuegra you will remember Don Quijote. He thought they weren’t windmills but evil giants standing haughtily in front of him; and he bravely tilted his lance and charged. They … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, Cervantes, engineering, great writers, Spain, travel, windmill | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hawkwood the Soldier of Fortune

Posted on February 23, 2012 by 100swallows

This man, painted on the wall of an Italian cathedral way back in 1436,  is an Englishman. The great fresco painting of Giovanni Acuto by Paolo Uccello (1436) (publlic domain photo) What were the Italians doing painting an Englishman in … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, art, history, Italy, Renaissance, warfare | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

How Did They Lift Those Stones?

Posted on August 27, 2010 by 100swallows

The Egyptians had to construct ramps and pull the blocks up with ropes and brute force. But the Greeks invented the lifting tongs, the block and tackle, and this ingenious wedge device: the Holivela Holivela Most people have never seen … Continue reading →

Posted in 1, architecture, engineering, inventions, Romans, Spain, The Greeks | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments