Empress Irene with her Son Constantine VI in the Hagia Sophia (12th Century Mosaic) Empress Theodora was not the only powerful woman in...

Was writing up the story of Emperor Justinian when I came across the story of his wife Theodora which is even more remarkable. Only 50...

It was a snowy winter evening when we approached the farm house where the Egloff family lived. A foot of fresh snow muffled the sound of...

Hadrian is one of the best known Roman Emperors. His legacy is present in so many places, one wonders how he achieved so much during just...

Garibaldi's Monument on Garibaldi Place in Nice Almost everybody knows Giuseppe Garibaldi and what he has done for the unification of...

There are many fascinating aspects of the Ottoman Empire which we are going to discover this summer. One of them is the Sultanate of...

There are few people who have a capital named after them. President Washington comes to my mind as does Jean Parisot de Valette. When...

Arberesh Dance Group in Calabria Overnight, temperatures dropped sharply in the Ardèche. A beautiful, sunny week finished. Now a cold...

This will be my last blog about important people of the Mediterranean – I know there are many more but it is time to return to other...

Over the last 20 blogs I mentioned the name of Charles V. numerous times, often in a very specific context. Time to devote a full blog to...

Not everybody will be happy with my choice of person today: Pope Pius V. He was Pope and Bishop of Rome from 1566 – 1572 and probably one...

Most people won’t recognise the name of Piri Reis, or Captain Piri, the Turkish Admiral and cartographer to the Sultan, unless you are an...

In most of Europe and the US, Andrea Doria may not be a famous name. But in Italy it is. Who has several ships named after him? Most...

On our journey from Genoa to Sicily we will cross the path of some famous people who at one point in their life were busy in the area. Am...