Exploring Historical Marvels: Norwich Castle Makeover Reveals Medieval Treasures and Bodrum’s Matryoshka Castle Uncovers Ancient Wonders
The city of Norwich Castle Keep in East Anglia, England has undergone a comprehensive $37 million makeover and reopened to the public, making it an appealing destination for travelers seeking to explore beyond popular tourist hotspots. Originally commissioned by William the Conqueror in the 12th century, this castle boasts a new medieval gallery showcasing over 900 Norman artifacts from the British Museum, marking the first such exhibition outside of London. Norwich Castle Keep is noteworthy as one of the earliest castles built after the Norman Conquest and features sturdy walls made of Caen limestone imported from Normandy, France, symbolizing Norman power.
Bodrum Castle on Bodrum Peninsula in southwest Turkey offers a unique blend of historical marvels. Constructed by the Knights of Saint John in the 15th century, the castle incorporates stones from the nearby 4th-century BCE Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Since the 1960s, it has housed one of the world’s few Museums of Underwater Archaeology, featuring over 3,000 years of seafaring exhibits and historic shipwrecks on display.
For those planning a beach vacation, CNN Underscored offers a roundup of the best water shoes for 2025.
Once dominant in the photography industry, Kodak, which accounted for 90% of film and 85% of camera sales in the United States during the 1970s, now faces potential cessation of operations due to failing to keep pace with digital technology. As a tribute to the era of print photography, we present two compelling stories of vintage photo recreations.
Four lifelong friends from England recreated a 1972 beach photograph they had taken as young women, displaying remarkable attention to detail in their reenactment. In another heartwarming story, three US couples who met on vacation in Mexico in the 1990s and have remained close friends for over 30 years recreated their favorite photo from that trip at the exact same beach location in Cabo San Lucas.
In August 1945, just hours before World War II ended, the US firebombed the Japanese city of Kumagaya. Eighty years later, the remnants of this air raid are still evident, as one survivor describes it as “utterly foolish.” CNN visited the city to commemorate the anniversary and spoke with those who lived through the bombing.
The abandoned secret nuclear missile base in Lithuania offers a glimpse into the political dynamics of the Cold War and nuclear arms race. Visited by over 35,000 people last year, this once-classified site still carries an eerie ambiance.
“Dark tourism,” or visiting sites associated with tragedy, continues to spark debate as it straddles the line between commemoration and sensationalism. The UNESCO World Heritage list acknowledges places significant to humanity, including scenes of atrocity in some cases.
Recent additions to this list include Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge torture sites, which were added 50 years after the rise of the Communist government.
Paris apartments and a Venetian island are among the unique travel destinations featured in various articles. Intriguing facts about the world’s only non-rectangular national flag and one of Europe’s smallest countries can also be found in other reports.