Located off the southeastern peninsula of Sulawesi, in Indonesia’s Southeast Sulawesi province, Buton Island is home to the Butonese people, an ethnic group with a long history shaped by maritime trade and the cultures of the Indonesian archipelago.

Photographs of blue-eyed Butonese children and adults have attracted international attention in recent years, particularly after being shared online. Some have two intensely blue eyes, while others display heterochromia, with one blue eye and one brown eye.

Behind their unusual appearance is a rare genetic condition known as Waardenburg syndrome.

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A rare genetic condition

Waardenburg syndrome affects pigmentation and can result in very pale or bright blue eyes, differences in the colour of the two eyes, patches of lighter skin or hair, and, in some cases, congenital hearing loss.

The condition is estimated to affect around one in 40,000 people worldwide. Several different types of Waardenburg syndrome have been identified and the symptoms can vary considerably between individuals.

Photographs distributed by the Pacific Press Agency have documented members of a family from Buton Island whose blue eyes are attributed to Waardenburg syndrome. The images have helped draw international attention to a physical characteristic that remains extremely unusual in Indonesia, where brown eyes are overwhelmingly predominant.

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Waardenburg syndrome can be inherited, although its genetics vary depending on the type involved. Several genes have been associated with the condition, and some forms follow an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern, meaning an affected parent can have a 50% chance of passing the altered gene to a child.

Importantly, however, blue eyes are not a characteristic of the entire Butonese population. They occur among certain individuals and families on the island.

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Portuguese legends and the history of Buton

The appearance of blue eyes on Buton has also inspired stories linking the phenomenon to European ancestry.

Portuguese sailors and traders were active across the Indonesian archipelago during the spice trade, and local accounts tell of marriages between Portuguese visitors and members of Butonese society. One story claims that a Butonese princess married a Portuguese sailor, giving rise to descendants with European features.

However, contemporary explanations for the particularly striking blue eyes seen among some Butonese families focus on genetic mutations associated with Waardenburg syndrome rather than establishing European ancestry as their cause.

The history nevertheless reflects Buton’s position along centuries-old maritime trading routes connecting different parts of Southeast Asia and beyond.

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One island in a vast archipelago

Buton itself covers approximately 4,727 square kilometres, making it one of Indonesia’s larger islands. According to Indonesia’s 2020 census figures, the administrative areas covering the island had a combined population of around 415,000 people.

Much of the island remains relatively sparsely populated compared with Indonesia’s major urban centres, while its communities maintain distinct languages, traditions and cultural practices.

The Butonese are historically known as sailors and traders, and their culture extends far beyond the physical characteristic that has attracted international attention. Traditional clothing, weaving, family rituals and Islamic customs continue to play an important role in communities across the island.

Indonesia is one of the world’s most culturally and linguistically diverse countries, encompassing thousands of islands and hundreds of ethnic and linguistic groups. The unusual blue eyes found among some inhabitants of Buton offer another striking example of the genetic diversity found across the vast archipelago.

L’article Why striking blue eyes can be found on this Indonesian island est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Every year, the Greek Ministry of Culture organises a special free night opening coinciding with the full moon. In 2026, the event is set to take place on Friday 28 August, from approximately 7:30 pm until midnight. Visitors will not only be able to freely access 126 ancient sites across the country, many of which will be organising concerts or guided tours to celebrate the occasion, but they will also get to enjoy those places under a particular light.

“For the 27^th consecutive year, the August Full Moon unites archaeological sites, museums and monuments of Greece in a great celebration of culture. We invite you to participate in this unique experience this year and enjoy the magic of the night and the special atmosphere that the moonlight creates in the monuments of our country,” stated the Greek Ministry of Culture.

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The event includes some of Greece’s most-visited ancient sites, including the Acropolis Museum in Athens. The while regular admission fees will apply to the permanent collection, the museum will stay open until midnight and visitors will gain free admission to the temporary exhibition ‘Inspiration: Ancient Greek Art in Italy’.

Some of the other most famous sites include the sanctuary and town of Delphi, known for its Oracle at the Temple of Apollo, and Ancient Olympia. The site and the museum of the birthplace of the Olympic Games will remain open until midnight, with archaeologists organising guided tours.

However, visitors are encouraged not to solely concentrate on the country’s most famous sites. For example, in an interview with Euronews, Bnbstay founder Yahya Davud recommended visiting the Necromanteion of Acheron in Epirus. The sanctuary overlooking the River Acheron was once thought to be the entrance to the underworld. People would therefore travel to the Necromanteion to talk with the spirits of the dead.

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“Everything in this place was built around darkness and rituals, so a night-time visit during a full moon is not just a spectacular tourist attraction. In fact, this kind of experience is much closer to how this place was meant to be experienced than a visit in the middle of the day,” said Davud.

Aside from Ancient sites, some of Greece’s newer monuments will be opening their doors for a nightly visit as well. At medieval ghost town of Mystras in Sparta, for example, visitors will be able to wander around the Palace of the Despots.

Extending beyond the Full Moon evening itself, according to the Ministry of Culture, this year’s celebration also features events on 26, 27, 29, and 30 August. A full overview of the sites and their concerts, theatrical performances, dance productions, exhibitions, and guided tours can be found through the Ministry’s website. While most sites will be free, visitors are encouraged to book their visit in advance when possible in order to be certain to obtain a spot.

L’article Greece to grant free access to 126 ancient sites during August full moon est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Located in the hills near Lake Garda, outside Verona, the attraction is situated below the vineyards and not far from the world’s most famous and romantic balcony. It occupies a former nuclear bunker codenamed West Star, hinting at the Soviet Union’s five-pointed red star.

Spanning 13,000 square metres and connected by a kilometre-long network of tunnels, the underground complex was constructed between 1960 and 1966 near the town of Affi, at the height of the Cold War. It served as a key NATO command-and-control centre until 2004, coordinating military operations across southern Europe and hosting exercises.

The bunker was designed to withstand nuclear, chemical and biological attacks, and it has all the facilities needed to survive a nuclear war for a month. Its 100 rooms were designed to accommodate 300 personnel and were equipped with kitchens, water tanks, filtration systems and protected showers, as well as an infirmary.

In addition to the war room and communications centre, the complex featured a gym, a bar and a mechanics’ workshop. The latter contained everything one would expect in such a space, including erotic posters put up by the military staff, which will continue to work their “magic” on visitors as they will be left untouched. 

West Star was decommissioned in 2007 and ownership of the complex was transferred from Italy’s Ministry of Defence to the municipality of Affi in 2018. Plans to transform the site into a museum began to take shape in 2022, when a team of researchers from the University of Florence started to map it.

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The bunker’s history was investigated by researchers, who spoke to former employees who shared their experiences while West Star was still a military facility. They also digitised technical documents about the bunker’s construction.

The Italian parliament has now approved €7 million to transform the site into a museum by 2029, although part of it is expected to open to the public as early as next summer.

Once the work is complete, 70 to 80 per cent of the site will be accessible to visitors, including the original war room, infirmary, canteen and kitchen.

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Michelangelo Pivetta, the University of Florence architecture professor who led the research project, told the The Art Newspaper (TAN), the museum would offer “an opportunity to start speaking again about the Cold War – which is not spoken about enough today – in a historical sense.”

Beyond the military history, the museum will showcase some ingenious Cold War technology, including huge electricity generators and evaporation towers that collected humidity and recycled it into water. It will also display some of the most advanced computers of the ’60s and ’70s, such as Europe’s earliest ARPANET system, the pioneering computer network that preceded the modern internet, according to Pivetta.

Original maps will also be on display. “They are special because they don’t make them like that anymore. They tell the story of a world that no longer exists”, Pivetta added. 

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The site is expected to eventually attract 100,000 visitors a year. Marco Sega, the mayor of Affi, called the approval of the funding a historic moment for the community.  

“We now have a great responsibility: to make the best use of these resources and reopen the NATO base as soon as possible,” he said.

Besides West Star, Italy has a number of smaller Cold War museums. The Bunker Museum in Dobbiaco, in the far north of the country, is one of them. Opened in 2023, it was part of a network of bunkers that operated between 1951 and 1993 to counter a potential Soviet invasion.

Once open, West Star will add a very different attraction to a region better known for Lake Garda, Valpolicella wines and Verona’s Romeo and Juliet.

L’article Verona’s hidden Cold War bunker to become new tourist attraction est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Taller than the famous statue of her son, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which stands 38-metre high, Mary now towers 55.6 metres over Konotopie and its surrounding agricultural land. The village is home to fewer than 150 people.

Completion of the monument took eighteen months and was funded by Polish millionaire investor Roman Karkosik, and his wife, Grazyna, who reportedly covered the 100-million-zloty (€23.2 million) cost. Among their specific requests was that “their” Mary should stand taller than Poland’s 33-metre-high Jesus Christ the King of the Universe in Świebodzin.

The inauguration ceremony saw helicopters scatter red roses over the crowds, while priests dressed in white celebrated mass and the Mazowsze ensemble performed traditional folk dances.

The statue was consecrated by Krzysztof Wętkowski, bishop of the diocese of Włocławek. “Here in Konotopie, we lift our eyes upward; we lift our eyes toward Mary, who directs us toward God,” he said.

EUROPE’S TALLEST VIRGIN MARY STATUE UNVEILED

A towering 55.6-metre (182 ft) concrete statue of the Virgin Mary has been unveiled in Konotopie, rural Poland.

It stands taller than Rio’s Christ the Redeemer and was consecrated on Saturday for the Feast of the Assumption. pic.twitter.com/WRLNRA1rNI

— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) August 16, 2026

Among those attending was former Polish president, Nobel Peace Prize winner and leading figure of Poland’s anti-communist movement Lech Wałęsa, who led the Solidarność trade union that helped bring communist rule to an end.

The 82-year-old later posted a photo of himself in front of the statue, the sun shining like a halo over Mary’s head. “We sinners ask Our Lady of Mercy to take care of the whole nation,” he wrote in Polish.

“This is the end of my path,” he said at the inauguration. “I started with the Virgin Mary and I end with the Virgin Mary.”

Wałęsa often credited his faith with giving him the strength to fight for his country and famously wore a Black Madonna pin on the label of his jacket during his Solidarity days.

Karkosik made his fortune investing in undervalued Polish companies during the post-communist 1990s, becoming one of Poland’s richest men. The couple live in a restored 18^th-century palace two kilometres from the monument and have described the statue as an expression of gratitude to God.

Europe’s tallest statue of Mary was blessed on August 15 in Konotopie, Poland. During the ceremony, Bishop Krzysztof Wętkowski said the more than 55-meter (180-foot) monument is meant to turn people’s thoughts toward God and serve as a place of prayer.https://t.co/gKsCUj48vZ

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) August 15, 2026

“The statue will be for all people,” Grażyna Karkosik said. “Each of us coming to see it will think more deeply about their own lives, not only about God.”

Before Konotopie’s Mary claimed the title, Europe’s tallest Virgin stood in Miribel, France. Poland’s Mary is still barely over half the height of the 98-metre Mother of All Asia – Tower of Peace in Batangas City, the Philippines.

Sculptor Adam Jakub Matejkowski first produced a two-metre model. Construction faced obstacles, including finding a company capable of producing material for the concrete mould. With no Polish supplier able to make it, it was eventually manufactured in Italy.

The monument is free to visit, including its observation deck, 15 metres above ground in the crown-shaped pedestal. Local authorities expect it to become both a pilgrimage site and tourist attraction. Kikoł’s mayor told the Guardian that investor interest, particularly in restaurants, was already growing, though it was too early to assess the impact.

Although Poland remains one of Europe’s most religious countries, with 70% identifying as Catholic and 30% attending Sunday mass, religiosity has fallen sharply, especially among younger generations. Wiesław Mering, a Polish Roman Catholic prelate who attended the ceremony, told the Guardian the decline “hurts” him. “The history of Christianity has ups and downs, but this place is a reminder that Mary won’t give up on Poland.”

L’article Poland unveils Europe’s tallest Virgin Mary statue est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Castles are something most people have dreamt about at least once in their life. Their thick walls, their sheer scale, their well-kept secrets, and their centuries-old histories are as mysterious as they are intriguing.

When travelling, castles and palaces therefore make for a perfect sightseeing activity. Yet knowing where to find the best ones can be quite challenging, as they are not always easy to spot on a regular map. The new Castlemap solves that issue by providing a map showing a selection of the most noteworthy castles and palaces across the world.

Contrary to some maps that can be bought at local tourist information desks, Castlemap is freely accessible online and can even be downloaded. All information features on the map comes from open data: facts, coordinates, and founding dates from Wikidata, photographs from Wikimedia Commons, stories from Wikipedia, and the night basemap from OpenFreeMap and Natural Earth.

Data selection

At the moment, it features 7,045 notable landmarks across 141 countries. The developer selects the most significant landmarks worldwide based on a fame ranking that blends Wikipedia coverage with real readership. Those who wish to see another castle featured on the map can increase its chances by improving its Wikidata entry. Well-documented sites join the atlas at the next refresh and the correction helps everyone else who uses the same open data. According to Castlemap, whether or not a spot is featured on the map is not a verdict on a castle’s importance, only on how well the open data describes it so far.

Castlemap classifies the castles and palaces as follows:

• Castle & château:  a fortified residence. Someone lived there, and it was built to be held.
• Fortress & fort: built for a garrison rather than a household – citadels, star forts, coastal batteries.
• Palace & residence: a grand residence with no serious defensive purpose.
• Ruin: not a fourth kind of building but a state. It shows any building included in the other three categories that no longer stands as it was, including sites that have vanished completely.

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At the moment of writing, those who are looking to visit any of the above are best off going to Spain. With 500 listings, the country comes out at the top of the ranking. Germany (477) and France (465) come next in a list that is clearly dominated by Europe. One exception, however, is Japan. The country is featured no less than 298 times on Castlemap.

The interactive map also has quite an entertaining feature. With Castleguesser, users are challenged to recognise any of the castles on the map based on a single picture. The perfect game for a rainy night at home and one that could easily be integrated into a history quiz.

L’article New interactive map reveals more than 7,000 castles and palaces worldwide est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Hailed as “the most epic chip-building effort in the world,” the facility will be built in Grimes County, Texas. Vast in ambition and size, the “vertically integrated factory” will provide over nine million square metres of manufacturing space and host manufacturing, packaging, and testing processes.

Bringing these aspects together in one location will, the press release claimed, allow rapid improvements and deployment of chips optimized for products such as Tesla’s Optimus robots and “self-driving” Cybercabs, alongside those headed for SpaceX’s data centres in space.

The facility is required because, combined, SpaceX and Tesla are projected to require in excess of one terawatt (TW) of processing capacity or “compute,” which outstrips current global supply. At the same time as announcing the move, Musk explained “this looming gulf between supply and demand is at the core of Terafab’s necessity” and expressed appreciation for his current chip suppliers, encouraging them “to expand production whenever possible.”

Advanced chips are argued to be more and more essential to today’s economy, as AI systems, satellites, secure communications, and advanced manufacturing all rely on them. Musk’s press release notes that “much of the world’s semiconductor production remains concentrated overseas, and the United States has recognized the importance of rebuilding advanced manufacturing capacity domestically. Terafab aligns with that broader national effort by expanding high-end manufacturing capacity in Texas.”

Grimes is located in southeastern Texas, a place where historically, slave ownership was high, lynchings were common, and the population declined during the 20th century, when the county remained rural and agricultural. The facility will be built in the Gibbons Creek Reservoir area, on the former site of a steam electricity station. AI-produced renderings reveal two symmetrical U-shaped buildings ending in wing-like roofs, with a service road through the middle.

The confirmation of the plans on 6 August 2026 came two months after Grimes County lawmakers agreed a full property tax abatement package and €30 million state grant to secure trillionaire Musk’s investment. That is reported to represent an estimated $55 billion (over €47.6 billion) initially,  and could reach more than twice that. Some predict the factory will employ between 1,800 and 3,000 people.

But critics say those jobs are unlikely to be filled by local hires, and the project, and its wider sector, bring major sustainability challenges. There are growing environmental concerns about how resource-intensive semi-conductor chip manufacturing is, relying on massive amounts of ultrapure water, fossil-fuel-generated energy to power tools and climate and humidity control, as well as processes that involve fluorinated greenhouse gases, like nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), which has a global warming potential 17,000 times greater than CO₂.

Terafab approximate size comparison between Giga Texas, the Pentagon, Apple Park, and the Mall of America.

There has never been a building this large. Elon Musk says it will be the most valuable building by far. pic.twitter.com/GCmpfeduJn

— Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) August 6, 2026

According to a paper published at 2021’s IEEE International Symposium on High-Performance Computer Architecture, the semiconductor manufacturing sector alone is responsible for around 50 megatons of CO₂ emissions annually.

On top of that, Musk’s controversial personal brand is already making itself felt locally. Business owners in Anderson, 10 minutes from the Gibbons Creek site, expressed fear about telling news station ABC13 Houston their true feelings about the project, saying their opinions would drive customers away. Patty Schroeder, who moved in from Houston, told ABC she appreciates the location’s “peace and quiet” and “wide open spaces” and said: “change is coming.”

L’article Elon Musk to build world’s largest building in rural Texas est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Led by Ma Yansong, Dang Qun and Yosuke Hayano, the design draws on the classical Chinese allusion Shui Luo Shi Chu, meaning roughly “the water recedes and the rocks emerge”. Work began in 2018, and eight years later, the 188,000-square-metre complex is complete and open to the public.

Occupying a roughly 51,000-square-metre waterfront site in Houhai, in Shenzhen’s Nanshan District, it houses the Creative Design Pavilion and Shenzhen Science and Technology Life Hall, alongside galleries, educational spaces, a design library and a multifunctional theatre.

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The structures, which locals have nicknamed “AirPods”, for their resemblance to Apple’s earbuds, offer a clear visual dissonance with the forest of skyscrapers behind them, precisely the point as the world’s seventh most populous city strives to stand out from other “super cities”.

“Much of my work is guided by a simple question: can public space be more open and equal?” Ma Yansong told Dezeen. “[…] This site was entirely reclaimed from the sea. How can our design turn ancient nature into people’s imagination of the future, and make a large cultural building feel intimate, in service of human experience?”

Ma Yansong says he wanted to create a “surreal atmosphere” in which visitors could enter into dialogue with ancient times and the future, adding: “Architecture should be integrated into nature and become a landscape that can be experienced.”

The result allows city dwellers to escape the hustle and bustle of urban life without actually leaving it, offering them a place to rest, think, and reconnect with nature. Shenzhen Bay Culture Square sits between Houhai and the waterfront landscape of Talent Park, its planted roofs extending the park across the museum itself.

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Joggers, children, birdwatchers and photographers are revelling in the space, conceived by MAD to allow visitors to “step outside everyday perception into a larger imagination of nature and time”.

The complex comprises two clusters of halls, north and south. Above them, an undulating green roof rises and falls like a natural valley, with paths winding between lawns, trees and planted slopes towards viewpoints over Shenzhen Bay. The pavilions progressively decrease in height from city to shore, partly to avoid blocking the migratory birds that travel the East Asian-Australasian Flyway each year.

Much of the complex is tucked beneath this topography, freeing the surface for pedestrians, with a road along the eastern edge sunk underground and a footbridge connecting the roof park to the surrounding city.

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“By placing the building volumes beneath the landscape, the project leaves the ground to nature, creating an open waterfront park where people can freely walk, explore, and linger,” said MAD.

Below this pastoral roofscape, the galleries are spare and almost cavernous, with ribbed concrete exposed overhead and lighting and services absorbed into the ceiling. A ring-shaped atrium connects the underground galleries and draws daylight in.

At the water’s edge, the line between architecture and nature deliberately blurs. Planted exclusively with native species, the landscape gradually descends towards the adjacent wetland without a hard boundary. A shallow pool doubles as an open-air theatre, with nearby platforms hosting markets, exhibitions, festivals and concerts.

Shenzhen recently welcomed another new museum tracing 4.6 billion years of Earth’s history, while MAD’s other recent projects include a bulbous science museum in Haikou and a curving headquarters in Shenzhen.

L’article Shenzhen opens major new design museum and coastal public park est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The name change was announced by the government and officially took effect in August 2026. The move replaces the internationally recognised name “Nauru” with “Naoero”, a name that reflects how the country is known in the local language.

“This proposed change seeks to more faithfully honour our nation’s heritage, our language, and our identity,” President David Adeang had said when he proposed the move to parliament in January.

The decision is part of a wider effort by Nauru’s government to promote the use of the Nauruan language and strengthen national identity. Officials said the traditional name better represents the island and its people after decades in which foreign administrations influenced how the country was named and represented internationally.

Located in the central Pacific Ocean northeast of Australia, Naoero is the world’s third-smallest country by land area, covering just 21 square kilometres, and has a population of around 12,000 people. The island gained independence from Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom in 1968 after decades of German, British and Australian administration.

The country’s economy was once among the wealthiest in the Pacific due to extensive phosphate mining. However, decades of extraction left much of the island environmentally degraded, and phosphate reserves have largely been depleted. In recent years, the country has relied on a combination of foreign aid, fishing licence revenues and its controversial role hosting Australia’s offshore immigration processing centre.

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The name “Nauru” became widely used internationally during periods of colonial administration, while “Naoero” is the name used by Nauruans themselves. The government’s decision reflects a broader discussion around the preservation of Indigenous languages and cultural traditions.

The transition to the new name will require updates to official references and international usage. The government is expected to work with relevant organisations to reflect the change in documents and communications.

For Naoero, the change is focused on recognising a name rooted in the island’s Indigenous language and traditions.

L’article Travelling to Nauru? The Pacific island nation has a new name est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The event usually attracts visitors from around the world, and this 24^th edition promises to delight flower lovers, admirers of the celebrated Japanese artist, and anyone eager to witness one of Belgium’s most colourful traditions. Covering nearly 1,680 m², the carpet will be composed of around 700,000 flowers.

This year’s edition introduces two major changes. The traditional begonias have been replaced by dahlias, as begonia cultivation in Belgium has declined in recent years. Dahlias were also chosen for their wider range of vibrant colours. And for the first time, a second flower carpet, inspired by hops as a tribute to Belgium’s brewing heritage, will be installed at the Brussels Bourse.

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The design for the main carpet was proposed by Japan, an honour traditionally reserved for the partner country, while the planting itself is carried out by the Belgian non-profit organisation Tapis de Fleurs. Each flower is inserted by hand into rolls of turf and watered throughout the event, particularly during periods of intense summer heat.

More than 100 volunteer gardeners assemble the carpet in under six hours before filling the remaining gaps with turf the day before the opening. Packed so densely, the flowers create their own microclimate, allowing the display to remain fresh throughout its four-day run.

The reinterpretation of Hokusai’s masterpiece was created by Japanese contemporary artist and Kyoto University of the Arts lecturer Hiro Sugiyama together with his Tokyo-based creative collective Enlightenment, known for blending pop culture with contemporary Japanese aesthetics.

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Sugiyama, who began producing digital art after co-founding Enlightenment before returning primarily to analogue painting in 2010, said the project seeks to bridge tradition and modernity.

“Through this synthesis, I seek to connect the past and the future, the analogue and the digital, Japanese culture and contemporary art. In this pivotal year marking 160 years of friendship between Belgium and Japan, I am delighted to bring this work to life in the form of a Flower carpet,” he said.

Japan’s ambassador to Belgium, Takeshi Osuga, highlighted the symbolic role that flowers play in both Japan and Belgium.

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“The love of flowers is a universal language. In both Japan and Belgium, flowers hold a special place in our cultural and social lives,” he said.

The Grand-Place, often described as one of the world’s most beautiful squares, combines Gothic, Baroque and neo-Gothic architecture. Dating back to the 15^th century, it was rebuilt by the city’s guilds after the French bombardment of 1695 and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.

This is the second Flower Carpet celebrating Belgium-Japan friendship. In 2016, the Grand-Place was transformed into a Japanese-inspired landscape featuring traditional motifs, birds, koi carp and natural scenery to mark 150 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Those eager for an early glimpse can already head to nearby Mini-Europe, where a miniature version of the 2026 Flower Carpet has been recreated on its scale replica of the Grand-Place ahead of the official opening on 13 August.

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Practical info

Open 13–16 August 2026. Access to the Grand-Place is free. A panoramic view of the carpet is available from the balcony of the Hôtel de Ville (tickets required). For a full 360° view over the city and the carpet, the separate View Tower Experience takes visitors up the 200 steps of the City Hall Tower.

L’article Brussels Flower Carpet 2026: Hokusai’s Great Wave to take shape in thousands of dahlias est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

After initially refusing to refer the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Italy’s Constitutional Court has changed course over the controversial Law 74/2025, which restricts eligibility for Italian citizenship for many great-grandchildren of Italians living abroad. It has suspended its own proceedings and asked the ECJ to determine whether the legislation is compatible with EU law before issuing its own ruling.

Passed in March 2025, Law 74/2025 significantly tightened Italy’s jure sanguinis (right of blood) citizenship rules. The legislation limits automatic citizenship by descent to children and grandchildren of Italian nationals, thereby ending eligibility for many great-grandchildren and more distant descendants of Italians who emigrated abroad.

The reform sparked widespread criticism from Italian communities overseas, particularly in South America, North America and Australia, where millions of people trace their ancestry to Italian emigrants.

Previous ECJ rulings state that decisions affecting EU citizenship must respect the principle of proportionality and take individual circumstances into account.

Lawyers representing descendants of Italians abroad argue that the legislation retroactively strips citizenship rights from people who were already entitled to Italian nationality under previous rules, and that such a blanket approach conflicts with ECJ case law requiring national authorities to apply the principle of proportionality and consider individual circumstances when decisions affect EU citizenship.

The Constitutional Court concluded that the dispute raises questions over the interpretation of EU law that fall within the jurisdiction of the ECJ. It will suspend its own examination of the case until the Luxembourg-based court clarifies whether the new restrictions are compatible with the rights associated with EU citizenship and with established European legal principles.

Corrado Caruso, a law professor at Bologna University, told CNN he had not expected the court’s change of course.

“We’d requested a referral in the previous hearing, but the court denied it”, he said. Still, he sees it as encouraging. “It’s a positive step because it means the court has some doubts. I think there was a change of mind.”

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“Maybe the court was too quick in dismissing our request in March; maybe they reflected a little deeper,” he said, adding that recent unrelated rulings have been notably “EU-friendly.”

Marco Mellone, one of the four lawyers challenging the legislation, described the referral as “a 180-degree change of direction” and “a confession that they made a mistake in March”.

Monica Restanio, another lawyer involved in the case, called the decision “the best news that we could have got, and much better than what I was expecting”.

She argued that previous ECJ case law consistently requires governments to assess nationality cases proportionately and individually before depriving people of citizenship rights, rather than through blanket legislative measures.

“They had the chance to refer it three months ago and didn’t. It’s clear they changed their opinion,” Mellone told CNN. “They’ve been brave. The law was completely against 30 years of case law at the ECJ.”

If the ECJ finds that aspects of the legislation conflict with EU law, Italy’s Constitutional Court could ultimately require Parliament to amend the legislation. Such a ruling could also have implications for a separate case concerning the so-called “minor issue“, a 2024 measure restricting citizenship rights for children born abroad, which Italy’s Supreme Court is weighing, and in which Restanio is also involved.

L’article Italy’s citizenship-by-descent crackdown heads to Europe’s top court est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.