WHEN Peter the Great decided, in the early 1700s, that Russia needed access to the Baltic Sea, he built a port city on the river Neva, on the Gulf of Finland. 

From the ‘koffwey rooms’ of 16th century Constantinople, to the high street chains of today, coffee shops have always been about so much more than simply drinking coffee, explains Robert Hume

The Roman Empire is a somewhat neglected part of history, but Peter H Wilson’s tome sets the record straight and reveals new secrets, writes Michael Duggan.    

Margaret Hickey’s version of the history of Christianity ( Irish Examiner, December 18) was not a version I would have chosen.

Religion has historically been the cause of conflict. Until Jesus Christ, the belief was that many gods existed. 

TV presenter Caroline Flack has secured two perfect 40 scores in “one of the closest finals in Strictly’s history”.

His head bowed and hands clasped in front of him, Pope Francis stood today for two minutes of silent prayer facing east inside one of Istanbul’s most important mosques, as he shifted gears toward more religious affairs on the second leg of his three-day visit to mainly Muslim Turkey.

WE have been here before.

A Book of Voyages

Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure

...In addition to resolving the child abuse, corruption and banking scandals, will you shed infallibility and extend an olive branch to Christians in the east to unite the Church once more? asks AN Wilson

Former president Mary McAleese has decried the Church’s treatment of five silenced priests, accusing Rome of operating through fear and imposing strictures on the clerics which “consume the truth”.

With his sceptic’s hat firmly in place, Mark Evans looks at the myth of Friday the 13th, and meets some truly scared believers

THE horse chestnut is one of the largest flowering trees growing in the temperate zone, often exceeding 30 metres in height with a huge, domed crown.

SATURDAY

Greece has always looked at its classical age as a usable past but there is no solace in the classics to inspire the country out of its financial and economic woes. What Greece needs is a cultural revolution, writes Fouad Ajami

ONCE upon a time, they say, the citizens of Cologne did not have to work.

Roger Crowley

IN his letter (April 12), Mark Cronin reasserts the British view that the Turks bear responsibility for being invaded at Gallipoli because “the pro-German faction within the Turkish government was the controlling party in the lead-up to the war”.

More than a million people have reserved places to see the Turin Shroud when it goes on public display this spring for the first time in 10 years.

Xanadu

CORK’S iconic Shandon church is to host its first fully paid concert later this month.

LUNAR eclipses have signalled the collapse of the Roman armies, the Ottoman Empire and the reign of Mary Harney.

Pope Benedict XVI called divisions among Christians a “scandal to the world” and recalled the faith's deep roots in Europe at a joint ceremony in Istanbul today with the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians at his ancient enclave.

Pope Benedict XVI began his first visit to a Muslim country today with a message of dialogue and “brotherhood” between faiths and Turkey’s chief Islamic cleric said at a joint appearance that growing “Islamophobia” hurts all Muslims.

Turkish security teams fanned out across the Turkish capital Ankara today before the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI on his first visit to a predominantly Muslim country, where he faces public anger over his remarks on violence and Islam.

Turkish security teams are in position around the cities of Ankara and Istanbul today, as Pope Benedict XVI begins his first visit to a predominantly Muslim country.

CHANTING Islamist slogans and brandishing banners against Western intervention in the Middle East, thousands of people have rallied in Turkey to denounce the visit of Pope Benedict XVI.

Tens of thousands of people chanted slogans against Pope Benedict XVI and waved banners against his upcoming visit in a defiant display of the pro-Islamic anger that could await the pontiff on his first papal trip to a mostly Muslim nation.

The Pope alluded to his own difficulties with ageing today, saying in a Christmas address that each passing year brings a stronger need for help from God.

The Christian Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria was killed today when an army helicopter that was transporting him and his entourage to a monastic enclave in northern Greece crashed in the sea, government and church officials said.