The Georgian fortress of Surami, built in the Middle Ages, but used until the beginning of the XIX century.

A picturesque water mill in Vrisi, Greece. While there are few well-preserved historical areas in the big cities of the mainland, in the provinces it is much easier to come across them.

The conservatism of Transylvania is vividly demonstrated by the church in the village of Grui - if you do not look closely at the decor of the bell tower and do not know that most of the Orthodox churches in this county where it is located appeared after the XVIII century, it could easily be mistaken for medieval.

An impressive cinematograph with an equally interesting name, "The Сrippled Warrior" from Voronezh. It owes its unusual name to the society of invalids of the same name, to which it belonged.

Cyclists on the Helen of Anjou Bridge near Danilovgrad in Montenegro, believed to have been built in the Middle Ages by this Serbian queen from France.

The double-tented chapel of Saint George in the village of Niz, Russia.

Inside an Orthodox church of Saints Constantine and Helen in Newtown, Sydney, Australia.

What do you think of the mini-triumphal arch recently built in Anapa in honor of the heroes of the Russo-Turkish Wars?

Anapa was once a Turkish fortress, and its only surviving gate, with the architecture of which the arch echoes, is not far from the monument.

An elegant Gothic portal in the Agia Moni monastery in Viannos, Greece. It is rather well noticeable that the craftsmen drew inspiration from Venetian architecture.

Like many other cities in this part of the Balkans, Plovdiv in Bulgaria became an important centre of the tobacco industry in the late XIX and early XX centuries. This resulted in a whole Tobacco Quarter of beautiful industrial architecture.

Alas, in our time these buildings began to deteriorate, and one of the most beautiful of them, shown on the photo, was demolished despite the authorities' promises to preserve the unique complex.

Recently the Brotherhood of Academists, a large organization of traditionalist Russian students, has opened an English-language channel, and it may not be long before foreign branches appear. My Russian colleagues asked me to cover this event, and although the topic is not related to architecture, I couldn't help but agree - given the organisation's focus on Orthodoxy and my long, though not personal, acquaintance with it.

Hopefully, soon Orthodox students in other countries will be able to unite around common ideas as well!

Also, today we remember a sadder event - the genocide of the Pontic Greeks.

These heirs of the Byzantine Empire, who still retain the self-name Romans (Ρωμαίο), lived on this land for thousands of years, until they were almost completely exterminated and expelled by the Young Turks a century ago. Nowadays only numerous temples and monasteries, abandoned or occupied by mosques, remind of them.

The photo shows the ancient monastery of Panagia Sumela in the Pontic Mountains, now a museum, where the authorities allow parties, but not services.

Women's gymnasium in Šiauliai, Lithuania - built at the expense of the Zubov princes on the territory of their estate in honor of the coronation of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna.