Remnants of Horse Stables in Lviv

As part of the horse-drawn transportation infrastructure in Lviv, stables were built alongside residential buildings around the city. The stables were one-level structures with haylofts. Sometimes carved horses heads adorned the facades. Not many of these stables remain and those that do are hiding in quiet corners and back alleys […]

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Guard Stones: Warsaw

Warsaw’s remaining guard stones differ quite a bit from those that can be found in Lviv and Galicia. I am especially fond of the ones that look like gnomes. For well over a century, these little old men have remained on duty, protecting the walls behind them from damage by carriages.  […]

Guard Stones of Lviv: Protecting the City’s Corners

Guard stones are exterior architectural elements made of metal, stone, or concrete located at the corners of entryways, carriage driveways, or gateways to protect walls from carriage wheel damage. Once an important element of the horse-drawn transportation infrastructure, guard stones have become largely obsolete as cars do not pose the […]

Carriage Curbs in Lviv

In many of Lviv’s old buildings there is a porte-cochère, a passageway through a building designed to let carriages pass from the street to an interior courtyard. Along the sides of the porte-cochère is an elevated platform, which functioned as a sort of sidewalk for people to be able to […]

Guard Stones: Prague

A sampling of guard stones from Prague:

Guard Stones: Stockholm

A sampling of Stockholm’s various kinds of guard stones. Stone Cannon Pipes Finding these only confirmed that the cannon that I saw in Riga were indeed used as guard stones Next to this cannon is a rune stone, which is 1,000 years old. More info about it here. Metal

Remnants of the Past in Klosterneuburg

Traces of the past in Klosterneuburg, an ancient town right outside of Vienna. Boot Scraper Guard Stones Hoisting Beam for Lifting Goods Building Number and Conscription Number Metal Shutter

Guard Stones: Vienna

Vienna has a lot of guard stones, as do probably all old European cities and towns. Most that I found were made of stone, but I also found some metal ones. In the medieval center stone is more common, while metal barriers are common for newer buildings. Looks as though […]

Sundial on Stable in Lviv

Hidden behind a tall fence at the end of a small street in Kastelivka stands a villa called “Julietka.” It was built for private use in 1891-1893 by Julian Zachariewicz and his son Alfred, two famous Lviv architects. Next to the villa is an old stable with a sundial.

Mounting Blocks in Charleston

In the 18th and 19th centuries, mounting blocks were common in cities, towns, and villages. Usually made of stone, they were installed in key locations, usually near inns, churches, country houses, to aid mounting or dismounting a horse, carriage, stagecoach, etc. The more elabarote mounting blocks are called carriage steps […]

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