Shadows of a Forgotten World

P.S. Located in tiny courtyard of old building, which houses a very delicious vegetarian restaurant.

"Vodovod" means "water supply" in Czech František Friedl Praha Radlická Slévárna (Radlice Foundry) Likely dates from interwar period Ústřední elektrická stanice královského hlavního města Prahy The Central Electric Station of the Royal Capital City of Prague (The power plant was built in 1898)

I recently visited Uzhhorod to see the blooming sakuras. Along with the beautiful sakuras I came across quite a few remnants of Uzhhorod's prewar past. I have two previous posts ( ghost signs  and more ) about Uzhhorod, so t o repeat what I wrote before,  Uzhhorod  (Ungvár  /  Užhorod  /  Ungwar) , a city in Transcarpathia (Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine), which is near the borders of Slovakia and Hungary, has a multicultural history. For a long time the region around Uzhhorod was part of the Kingdom of Hungary, later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After WWI, it was annexed to Czechoslovakia. In 1938, Uzhhorod was transferred to Hungary, and in 1945 it was annexed by the Soviet Union. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the city became a regional capital in Ukraine. Manhole Covers K Blahut "tűzcsap" means hydrant in Hungarian Demeter Ungvar Demeter Zoltan Uzhorod Fire Hydrants I came across quite a few of these around the c...

An NPR article about the new book Dirty Old London: A History of the Victorians' Infamous Filth , with some excerpts from this book about London's horse-drawn transportation infrastructure, cesspools, the appearance of water closets, etc. Looking forward to reading this book to understand how people lived day-to-day and the changes that were introduced to address the problems associated with the filth, smoke, smell, etc. The link to the article is here . London Stereoscopic Company/Getty Images And here's the website about the book: http://www.dirtyoldlondon.com/

Many of Lviv's old buildings had communal sinks located in the courtyards and on the balconies of each floor.   The only antique outdoor sink still in place that I have found is in the "Soviet" courtyard. Ten  years ago there were more in their original locations, but by now they have all been removed and sold - and currently used as decorations as well as sinks in many of Lviv's restaurants. This sink is located in the hallway of an old building. This courtyard sink has been painted over. These next two courtyard sinks have been removed. The old sinks are sold in antique shops. People have found various uses for them: Doorside Table Flower Pot Decoration Outside a Cafe Decoration at Jewish Festival And there is a trend now for restuarants to use the antique sinks in their bathrooms: Sink at Kumpel Restaurant (the Perkun company also made manhole covers) Sink at Sztuka Cafe (Zygmunt Rodakowsi ...

Old Lamp Posts Old Water Pumps

The first water supply system in Lviv was built in 1407. The ​​German Peter Schtecher was responsible for drafting the plans for the construction of cisterns and water pipes. As information about the work associated with the laying of water pipes was strictly classified, no documents with the precise locations of the early water supply facilities have been found. The first cisterns are likely to have been located on the Lychakiv hills, east of Lviv. The Pohulyanka cistern is located on a steep hillside in Pohulyanka Park . The cistern collected water from nearby springs and piped the water to the city. The type of vault and the use of broken stone instead of crafted stone blocks are signs that the cistern itself dates back to 1407. In 1839 the current façade was built and the interior vaults were renovated .  The two massive buttresses are decorated with reliefs of sea nymphs ( Nereids ) holding gifts of the sea: shell s and branches of coral. The auth...