Inhabited bridges were marvels of the medieval age.
By far the longest was London's, considered a wonder of the world.
A brief thread on living bridges... 🧵
Old London Bridge was among Europe's most significant sites: a place of both royal pageantry and religious pilgrimage.
Built in just 30 years, it was an undertaking on par with Europe's greatest castles and cathedrals. It was completed in 1209 and stood for over 600 years, for centuries as London's only river crossing.
It was crucial to the life of the city and held great spiritual significance. Londoners bequeathed money and land for its upkeep - "to God and the Bridge" - and donations were encouraged by the Church.
Bridge building was then considered an act of piety. Bridges were symbols of union; between physical realms and between Man and God.
This has been enshrined in language for millennia: the Latin term for Pope is pontifex, meaning "bridge-builder".
A chapel dedicated to St Thomas Becket stood at the center of London Bridge. It was the official starting point of a popular pilgrimage to his shrine in Canterbury.
It was also a "living bridge", with thriving residential communities and commercial zones: homes, shops and pubs.
It peaked at around 140 separate residences and some 150 shops, within structures of as many as 6 stories.
It was a major engineering feat: 900 feet long, with 19 massive arches that slowed the river so much that it was prone to freezing over in winter.
Great "frost fairs" took place on the ice when that happened (see the bridge visible in the background).
The finest painting of the bridge we have is by Claude de Jongh in the 17th century (the first reply in this thread). Canaletto also drew it, before the removal of its houses in 1758:
Paris also had living bridges. They were a popular solution for limited accommodation, especially within the confines of walled medieval cities.
Over the centuries, they proved either too dangerous or too unsanitary to keep. And when medieval walls were rendered ineffective by gunpowder, city expansion had less reason not to take place beyond the walls.
Many still survive across Europe. A slightly less grand but still standing example exists in Florence - the Ponte Vecchio:
Some still stand in England, too. Lincoln and Bath are the most notable:
In China, Chengdu's Anshun bridge has been reconstructed many times over the centuries, but still exists in a similar form to the 13th century original - a bridge that Marco Polo wrote about.
Living bridges were often so densely packed and congested that crossing them took forever. Old London Bridge could take an hour to cross on foot.
In the end, it was decided that London needed a new bridge with a wider crossing.
So, a new bridge was put up in 1831, nearly twice as wide as the original. The medieval bridge had fallen into disrepair at this point, and was demolished shortly after.
Had the original survived, London Bridge would undoubtedly be one of Europe's greatest sights today.
If threads like this interest you, join my weekly newsletter (free)!
This church has been under construction for 124 years. In 2026, it will become the tallest in the world.
It isn't funded by the state or even the Church — it's being built entirely by the people.
And it's far more impressive than you realize... (thread) 🧵
Barcelona's Sagrada Familia is proof that intergenerational construction is still alive. When complete, it will be the world's second tallest religious building of any kind.
142 years ago, it existed only in the mind of Antoni Gaudí — Spain's most visionary architect.
Nobody had seen his strange mix of Gothic and Art Nouveau before. Gaudí saw natural beauty as a gift from God, and made this the blueprint of his work.
Should federal buildings only be allowed to be neoclassical?
A thread... 🧵
Trump's "Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture" executive order would've prevented brutalist blocks like the FBI HQ if it existed in 1965.
But is that the right thing to do?
The order, revoked by Biden, restricted new federal buildings to "classical" styles: Neoclassical, Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Beaux-Arts, Art Deco — and what it deemed "historic humanistic architecture".
The most uplifting architectural revival happening today is in Budapest.
The city is reclaiming its identity after decades of communist rule.
Here's what's going on... (thread) 🧵
And another example. Façades (and much more) all across the city are being brought back to life.
So why is it happening?
In the 19th century, Budapest became a twin capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It enshrined its lofty ambitions — to be the easternmost bastion of Western civilization — in architecture.
If you think anything in recent times comes close, you're severely mistaken... (thread) 🧵
1348 usually comes up in answer to this question. The Black Death wiped out half of Europe's population, but the sheer loss of life was only the beginning...
Constant threat of death led survivors to abandon the balanced Christian worldview that was the foundation of the Middle Ages — turning to frenetic hedonism or religious fanaticism. Groups blamed each other, and the fabric of communities began to unravel.
Libraries are more than storage spaces for books — they're temples to human knowledge.
This one, built in 1776, was long considered the 8th wonder of the world.
A thread of the world's most beautiful libraries... 🧵
Many of history's great libraries were lost to time: the Library of Alexandria, Baghdad's House of Wisdom, the Library of Pergamum. These were enormous, with estimates in the hundreds of thousands of scrolls...
They were also works of architectural magnificence. The Roman Library of Celsus proves the idea that knowledge belongs in uplifting settings has existed since antiquity.
But what are the greatest libraries standing today?