Amos Chapple Photography

“Beautiful from afar, but far from beautiful,” is how some locals describe the crowning figure of Brussels’ town hall. The statue was first emplaced on the building’s spire by a brave team of workers all the way back in 1454.

It depicts Michael, the patron Saint of the Belgian capital, slaying Satan. The lord of darkness perhaps hit back in 1863 when a lightning strike blasted the sword out of Saint Michael’s hand. The weapon reportedly clattered onto the cobbles of the Grand Place 100 meters below.

The statue has been restored and retouched several times through its life and in the 1990s it was taken down and replaced with a copy. The ancient original now lives in a museum in Brussels, still sporting flecks of its original gold coating.

She is Seville’s most famous Christian symbol and stands atop the tower built for a mosque.

In the 8th century Seville and most of the rest of the Iberian peninsula was conquered by Arab armies. A later series of military raids known as the reconquista ended with European Christians recapturing the territory by the late 1400s.

With Seville back in Christian hands the grand mosque of the city was converted into a cathedral and in 1568 this beautiful wind vane, known as Giraldillo, was emplaced atop the modified minaret.

She has twisted with the wind ever since, enduring earthquakes, lightning strikes and more than 450 blistering Andalusian summers.

The palm leaf in her left hand represents the triumph of Christendom over Islam while Giraldillo’s pregnant figure hints at Spain’s bright future under European control.

Inscribed just under the statue is a proverb: “The strongest tower is the name of the Lord.”

The sword-clasping ‘turul’ that has looked out from Buda Castle since 1903.

The mythical turul bird is credited with leading the Hungarians to their promised land from somewhere east of Europe in the 9th century.

The turul entered Hungarian mythology when a pregnant Magyar princess dreamed the bird swooped down and foretold that her unborn son and his descendents would reign over distant lands. After the tribe departed west, the turul guided the Magyars until they reached the land of today’s Hungary and settled.

The Budapest turul was made by sculptor Gyula Donáth. The artist died in 1909 but left a statue that endured through both world wars.

In photos of Budapest made after World War II, the turul can be seen looking out apparently unscathed over the broken city.

Poland’s golden king atop the spire of Gdansk’s town hall.

The stumpy statue was made in the likeness of Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) and first emplaced on the 80-meter tower in 1561. The original crashed to the ground when the town hall was destroyed during World War II. The gold-plated king was recreated in the 1950s then taken down for maintenance in 2007. During the repair works the king was put on public display but covered with a sheet to protect delicate eyes from his “prominent genitals.”

Christ atop Novara’s basilica in the last moments of sunlight over northern Italy.

The basilica was initially built, using funds from a meat tax, in the 1500s in gratitude for God sparing Novara the worst ravages of the plague. The structure’s hypodermic steeple was added later.

The Jesus statue is a replica of the original which now stands inside the basilica (see last pic in this gallery). The original bronze and gold Christ has far more detail than the modern fiberglass copy. Perhaps replica makers of the 1980s shrugged their shoulders over details, like the folds of the flag, that people wouldn’t notice from the street 126 meters beneath.

Sculptor Pietro Zucchi completed the original statue in 1878 and, judging from the care he took, was working to please God above, rather than municipal bean counters down below.

Ukraine today acknowledged their military have withdrawn from Soledar. The Donbas town is now in the hands of invading Russian forces.
The settlement itself is unremarkable, but beneath the surface was one of Ukraine’s treasures: A massive salt mine that supplied 95% all of Ukraine’s salt.
I was given a tour of the mine in 2019 and remember how proud the locals were of the operation, and how kind. I left with a suitcase full of salt chunks as clear as ice.

Kyiv seem to be downplaying the significance of the military setback but whatever Soledar's strategic relevance, the loss of this resource is historic 💔

I dreamed for years of witnessing this ancient mountain tradition. Last week I finally got the chance to photograph the fearless honeymen of the Georgian highlands.

Georgia's Cliff-Top Honey Harvest The beekeepers of western Georgia who risk their lives for liquid gold