Pharaoh Djoser and the world's first pyramid at Saqqara.
/The amazing stepped pyramid is a major turning point in Egyptian and arguably, world history. It is a turning point because it led to one hundred pyramids being built in Egypt and it is the first monumental stone building in the world. To build pyramids, required a huge workforce and an economic system to support the construction, the builders and to finance it all. When completed, it would have been stunning close up and being 60 m high, it could be seen for miles around and therefore, leave a lasting impression that this was a monument built for an awesome king. Today, when one thinks of Egypt, one thinks of pyramids and this was the first. Before it, pharaohs were buried in the ground and later on, in “mastabas”, small, low level, mud brick constructions, that lacked conveying any form of status. From now on pyramids were to be seen, not as a pharaoh’s last resting place but as a popular TV programme has put it, a resurrection machine.
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St Teilo’s Church, now lovingly re-erected within the open-air precinct of St Fagan’s Museum of Welsh Life, is a remarkable testament to Wales’s medieval and 16th century heritage. Originally constructed in the early 16th century, this humble parish church was painstakingly dismantled, transported, and restored to its former glory — not least its dazzling wall paintings, which have been carefully recreated with scholarly precision. These vivid murals, brought back to life through meticulous craftsmanship, offer visitors a rare window into the devotional art and storytelling of the late medieval period. Stepping inside St Teilo’s, you’re transported back half a millennium, immersed in a world where faith, community, and artistic expression converged on plastered walls that still speak with vibrant colour and enduring power.