Amsterdam

In the early 17th century, laughter was almost never captured on a painter's canvas. Frans Hals changed that.

"He was not a sober painter," said Friso Lammertse, co-curator of a major exhibition of the Dutch master's paintings that opens this week at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum.

According to Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, the number of cruise ships and passengers that visited Türkiye has reached a record level in 2023.

Uraloğlu evaluated the statistics announced by the General Directorate of Maritime Affairs on the number of cruise ships and passengers anchored in Turkish ports.

Vincent van Gogh has been surprisingly busy for a dead man.

A new exhibition at Madrid's Prado museum is throwing a spotlight on the reverse side of paintings, letting visitors see labels, seals and sketches that are usually hidden from view.

The aim of the Reversos (On the Reverse) exhibition is to change the viewer's point of view and take them behind the scenes to open a "door to the secrets of art," said its curator, Miguel Angel Blanco.

Ancient Crimean gold treasures returned to Kiev on Nov. 27 after being stuck in a Dutch museum for nine years, where they were on show when Russia seized the Black Sea peninsula in 2014.

Ukraine hailed the arrival of the jewels in the midst of the Russian full-scale 2022 invasion as a victory for its "identity and freedom."

If the extraordinary energy tax on the transfer and transit of Russian natural gas through Bulgarian territory is introduced for the Republic of North Macedonia, the country will request compensation from Bulgaria and additional support from the European Union.

This was announced by the Minister of Economy of North Macedonia, Kreshnik Bekteshi, quoted by BTA.

Greek travelers are turning to European destinations off the usual list but more affordable, as shown by the air booking data for the upcoming national holiday on October 28.

Aegean Airlines has increased its number of available seats by between 18% and 20% on the international and domestic networks.

The Netherlands returned formal ownership to Sri Lanka of six colonial-era treasures on Aug. 28, including a more than 275-year-old cannon inlaid with gold, silver, bronze and rubies.

At a ceremony at the cultural ministry in Colombo, Dutch deputy minister for culture, education and science, Gunay Uslu, signed over the ownership of the objects to Sri Lanka, local officials said.

Inhabitants of Belgium's cobblestone-and-canal city of Bruges are clear: Summertime tourism has hit capacity.

"It's really reached a red line now," says one, 55-year-old architect Arnout Goegebuer, as he sits inside a cafe, peering out a window across a packed outside terrace.

"We don't need more tourists anymore, it's enough - maybe a little bit less" is needed, he says.

Amsterdam's city council has decided to close a major cruise ship terminal in its centre, officials confirmed to AFP, the latest measure to limit mass tourism in the Dutch capital.