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Stockholm Kastellet (1667) is a very special castle.
These days Sweden is a peaceful nation, but it’s had a turbulent past with its neighboring countries of Norway, Denmark, and Poland.
The most distinguishing feature of Kastellet is a forked Swedish flag, flying majestically above the citadel. When this flag is up all is well in Sweden and the country is at peace. A marine is sent to the citadel twice a day, to hoist the flag in the morning and take it down at the end of the day.
The tradition has only been broken twice in the modern era. Once, in 1996, a group of Norwegian expats broke into the building and hoisted up a Norwegian flag for the Norwegian constitution day. This act was quickly resolved as a prank. Another time was in 2008, when, somewhat alarmingly, the flag failed to appear in the morning. However this turned out to be simply because of a broken line on the mast, and fortunately no wars were fought on that day.
I was inspired by the reach history of Swedi...

Khanlar Asadullayev is an artist from Azerbaijan. His passion for drawing and painting began in his childhood. Naturally, Khanlar followed this direction in his profession. After graduation of Azerbaijan State Art College named by Azim Azimzadeh (2003 - 2007) he got higher education at State Academy of Fine Arts (2007 - 2011). Since 2007 he lives in Baku (Azerbaijan) and works in his own Art School & Gallery. He teaches there many young talents who want to improve further their paining skills. He is an active member of the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan since 2010 and the Union of Azerbaijan Artists PA since 2023. Also, since 2019 he is an ambassador of “Nevskaya Palitra” in Azerbaijan. His works are in private collections in...