Centuries-old oak beams ripped out and concrete poured in their place. Priceless tiles removed. Murals nearly erased by high-pressure streams of water. These are reports from the restoration of a 16th-century Turkic palace near the southern tip of Russia-occupied Crimea. For the Moscow-installed local authorities, a firm with apparently no experience in restoring historic buildings … Continue reading Facelift or farce? ‘Restoration’ of palace shocks Crimean Tatars