Author: Cheryl Brooks

A ONCE-FAMOUS LONDON COURTHOUSE NOW A CHIC HOTEL

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NoMad Hotel, the former Bow Street Magistrates’ Court.

The latest London hotel everyone is talking about is NoMad, the first outside New York for the group that owns it. The interesting thing though is that it occupies the former Bow Street Magistrates’ Court and Police Station, a landmark historic building. It’s located opposite the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, and had been closed since 2006. It was the most famous Magistrates’ Court in England in the latter part of its 266 year existence, being the venue for such notorious cases involving high profile trials for the likes of Oscar Wilde, Giacomo Casanova, the Kray twins, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst, Christine Keeler, and General Pinochet, among many other reluctant visitors.

A DRAMATIC TRANSFORMATION OF A LONDON ICON

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View of the entire Battersea Power Station complex.

Since it was decommissioned in 1983, the Battersea Power Station had stood derelict on the south bank of the River Thames. Renowned for its four chimneys and Art Deco design, after decades of decay, the iconic Grade ll* heritage listed building has undergone a massive transformation, opening in late 2022. This complex project has opened the building and riverside to the public for the first time, retaining the power station’s unique historical features, but giving it a new 21^st century purpose.

TWO RADICALLY DIVERSE MUSEUMS TO DISCOVER IN ROME

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The entrance of Villa Farnesina facing into the garden.

For those of us who have been to Rome numerous times and have seen all or most of the city’s major monuments and museums, it’s great to come across two lesser-known attractions. These two museums are complete opposites to each other: one being a small, very fine Renaissance villa set in a beautiful garden, while the other is Rome’s newest gallery of contemporary art and architecture, housed in a former automobile factory with a dramatic extension by the late Zaha Hadid, one of the 21^st century’s most gifted architects.

TWO UNFORGETTABLE SITES IN PUGLIA

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Not to be missed on a visit to Puglia is a 13^th century citadel, the magnificent Castel del Monte, about 70kms north of Matera. Strategically perched on a hilltop in the Murgia region at an altitude of 540m that can be seen from many kms away, it seems to dominate the entire Kingdom of Sicily, of which Puglia was a part at that time. Another site, that’s one of the country’s most historically important, is Cannae. Anyone who has ever heard of Hannibal will doubtless know that his Carthaginian forces defeated the Roman army on numerous occasions, and the battle at Cannae in 216 BCE during the Second Punic War, was the most significant of these. It’s regarded as one the bloodiest battles in Roman history—definitely something for those of us with an interest in ancient history.

MATERA – SOUTHERN ITALY’S MOST EXTRAORDINARY SITE

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Italy’s southernmost region has many great sights and attractions, including huge fortress palaces, white-washed towns and villages, the extraordinary trullis that are only found in the Valle d’Itria, and some stunning beaches. As well as these treasures, there is one spectacular place that no visitor should miss. Matera is one of the most extraordinary destinations in Italy. This remarkable city, the third oldest continuously inhabited in the world, that once held so much sorrow for so many of its inhabitants, is perhaps one of the most fascinating you will ever visit.