Placenames in the UK, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Europe, named after famous people

 

I recently, in 2026, learned that Constantinople was named after Roman Constantine. I wondered, how many more cities are named after famous people from the past? In the UK we have Hadrian's Wall. Many cities have names ending in chester, from caster or fort, from Roman times. 

United Kingdom & Scotland

England

• Nelson (Lancashire): Named after Admiral Horatio Nelson (originally named after a public house, The Lord Nelson, built in his honor).

• Telford (Shropshire): Named after famous Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford, who designed roads, bridges, and canals throughout Great Britain.

• Petersfield (Hampshire): Named after Saint Peter, to whom the local parish church is dedicated.

• Grimsby (Lincolnshire): According to local legend and the Grimsbytale, founded by a Viking fisherman named Grim.

• Bishop's Stortford (Hertfordshire): Named in connection with the Bishops of London, who owned the manor from the 11th century.

Scotland

• Fort William (Highlands): Named after King William III (William of Orange).

• Fort Augustus (Highlands): Named after Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (son of King George II).

• Alexandria (West Dunbartonshire): Named in honor of Alexander Smollett, local landowner and MP.

• Helensburgh (Argyll and Bute): Named after Lady Helen Colquhoun, wife of Sir James Colquhoun, who founded the town in 1784.

• Maryhill (Glasgow): Named after Mary Hill, an heiress who inherited the estate and laid out the settlement in the late 18th century.

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Wales & Ireland

Wales

• Llandudno: Named after Saint Tudno, the 6th-century patron saint of the Great Orme.

• St Davids (Pembrokeshire): Named after Saint David (Dewi Sant), the patron saint of Wales.

• Llangollen: Named after Saint Collen, a 6th-century monk who founded a church beside the River Dee.

• Tredegar (Blaenau Gwent): Named after the Morgan family of Tredegar House (specifically Sir William Morgan).

Ireland

• Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough): Historically named Maryborough after Queen Mary I of England ("Bloody Mary").

• Daingean (formerly Philipstown): Historically named Philipstown after King Philip II of Spain (husband of Queen Mary I).

• Cobh (formerly Queenstown): Renamed Queenstown in 1849 to commemorate a visit by Queen Victoria, before reverting to Cobh in 1920.

• St. Patrick's Well / Kilpatrick: Dozens of towns and landmarks across Ireland are named after Saint Patrick.

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Europe

France

• Louisbourg / Saint-Louis: Many towns carry the name of King Louis IX (Saint Louis) or King Louis XIV.

• Albertville: Named after King Charles Albert of Sardinia, who incorporated the town in 1836.

• Charleville-Mézières: Named after Charles de Gonzague, Duke of Nevers and Rethel.

Germany & Central Europe

• Karlsruhe (Germany): Named after its founder, Margrave Charles III William (Karl) of Baden-Durlach.

• Ludwigsburg (Germany): Named in honor of Eberhard Louis (Ludwig), Duke of Württemberg.

• St. Petersburg (Russia): Named after Saint Peter the Apostle (though founded by Czar Peter the Great).

• Kaliningrad (Russia, historically Königsberg): Renamed after Bolshevik leader Mikhail Kalinin in 1946.

• Zelenogradsk / Formerly Cranz (Russia): Numerous Soviet-era renamings across Eastern Europe honored historical figures like Vladimir Lenin (Leningrad, Ulyanovsk) and Joseph Stalin (Stalingrad, now Volgograd).

Netherlands, Belgium, & Southern Europe

• Eindhoven / Willemstad (Netherlands): Willemstad was fortified and named after William the Silent (William I, Prince of Orange).

• Charleroi (Belgium): Named in honor of King Charles II of Spain (who ruled the Southern Netherlands at the time).

• San Sebastián (Spain): Named after Saint Sebastian.

• Valletta (Malta): Capital city named after Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Order of Saint John, who defended the island during the Great Siege of 1565.

I then tried another search, which capital cities in Europe were named after famous people? 

I got these results.

Several European capital cities are named after historical figures, monarchs, commanders, or patron saints:

Named after Monarchs & Rulers

• Valletta (Malta): Named after Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Order of Saint John, who successfully defended the island against the Ottoman Empire during the Great Siege of 1565.

• Vaduz (Liechtenstein): Named in connection with the noble ruling House of Liechtenstein and historical counts of Vaduz (specifically originating from Faduzes, linked to historical local rulers/owners).

• Kyiv (Ukraine): According to medieval tradition and the Primary Chronicle, the city was founded by and named after Kyi, the eldest of three brothers and a legendary prince of the East Slavic Polans tribe.

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Named after Christian Saints

• San Marino (San Marino): Capital (and country) named after Saint Marinus, a Christian stonemason who founded a monastic community on Mount Titano in 301 AD.

• Minsk (Belarus - Historical Legend): Local folk legend attributes the city's name to a legendary heroic giant and founder named Menesk (or Minyash).

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Named after Mythological Figures & Ancient Gods

• Athens (Greece): Named after Athena, the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, warfare, and handicraft, following a mythical competition between Athena and Poseidon to become the city's patron.

• Rome / Roma (Italy): According to Roman mythology, named after its founder and first king, Romulus, who built the city alongside his twin brother Remus in 753 BC.

• How many more do you know? Please contact me through comments. 

• -ends-

  This post will be updated later today and in the future.

  Please share links to your favourite posts.

Cat Cafés Around The World To Visit - Starting in Singapore, more in the USA, Japan, everywhere

Problem
Cat Cafes hae proliferated all over the world. More than 50 in Japan. Others in the Far East and Asia are in India, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore. Wiki lists cat cafes in Australia and New Zealand, Canda the USA and Mexico. Where is the nearest cat café? Here are a few of my favoutie destinations:

Answers
Alphabetically:

ENGLAND
Manchester

JAPAN
Kyoto
Tokyo

RUSSIA
Russia has only one but it's a good one.
Cats Republic, St Petersburg, Russia. Photo by Catsmuseum in Wikipedia.

RUSSIA
Cats' dinner time at Cats Republic. St Petersburg, Russia.

Cat perching in Cat Café, Singapore. Photo by Falonsonnen99 in Wikipedia.

SINGAPORE
Cat cafe
Clarke Quay
Charges per hour
...............

The Cat Café
241B Victoria Street
Level 3 above Burger King
Boat Quay
thecatcafe.sg
Email
Tel (Only during opening hours.)

On their website you can see the cats, with their names, and pick your favourite.
http://thecatcafe.sg/cat-cafes-cat/

The place opened in 2014 and is run by a husband and wife team.

I could not get directions from their website but I got directions from their Facebook page.
One minute from Bugis MRT station.
What you need to know before you go:
~The cafe serves tea of coffee or soft drinks and a pastry. `there's an entry charge of Singapore $15 which includes a soft drink.

I woke up at 7 am on a Monday morning and thought I'll go there for breakfast and a photo. Good thing I checked. No use rushing there for breakfast or elevenses (UK term for a  drink and snack at mid-morning, at 11 pm). Nor even lunch. On Mondays, it opens at 3 pm until 10 pm. You could have a one-course Indian meal at busy Boat Quay, then go here for your coffee and a pastry for dessert.

Other days, Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays, 10-10. Please check times for yourself. I read the Monday times and thought that was all week.

Cost? So that's $15 - plus the price of a pastry. You are paying for the novelty and entertainment and the cost of feeding the cats.

If you normally pay that price for a coffee at a Starbucks or a Sheraton, no problem.

USA
Many cat cafe establishments all over the USA. One in Lower East Side Manhattan is called Koneko which is Japanese for kitten.

Happy travelling, meouw!

Useful Websites
https://catcafe.co.uk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_café (List of cat cafes around the world.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koneko_(cat_cafe) Manhattan, New York, USA.
https://www.travelpirates.com/other/usa-cat-cafes_4291

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Visiting Russia for the World Cup? What to see in St Petersburg and Moscow: statues and stations

Kievskaya-Koltsevaya station, Moscow underground, photo by Antares 610 shared in Wikipedia.

Problem
 World Cup Russia™ opened on 1 September. It is a unique place where fans can get all kinds of information related to football's premier international competition, which will take place in 11 cities across Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018.

Which stations to see in St Petersburg and Moscow.

St Petersburg:
Sportivnaya
Avtovod

Where are the nine dogs in Moscow?

Answers

Some are statues inside stations, others outside.

The most memorable is the knee high statue of a little dog on a plinth. I first read about this when I was researching stations in Moscow and around Russia.

The Dog Malchik

This dog was a popular little dog in a Moscow station. Until unfortunately a lady stabbed the dear little dog to death. Passengers were so upset they started fundraising for a memorial statue. People bring flowers to place on the statue.

The dog's name was Malchik.

The Station Mendeleyevskaya

The station was Mendeleyevskaya.

How do I remember the name of the station? I start with the name Mendel. Then eye. Finally v-skaya.

Mosco's Begging Dogs In General

Moscow metro has many stray dogs, some of which beg for food. I was surprised.

On the London underground dogs are usually on leads. Some dogs lead blind people. Others accompany owners patiently, sitting patiently at their feet. Sometimes a dog is led through the carriage, accompanying a beggar. Few people wish to engage with a beggar or a dog.

But the Moscow stations have unaccompanied dogs which beg for food and ride on trains and sleep.

Four Dogs On Ploshchad Revoluyutsee Metro station

Let’s start from the undoubtedly most famous dogs in Moscow: they are the four bronze ones inside the Ploshchad Revolyutsii metro station (станция метро Площадь Революции). 

Victory Park station is below the Victory Park where you can see a monument showing an army dog which was used to locate injured soldiers. (Photo in Tripadvisor about the Victory Park.)

Specific Dog

My second favourite is the small dog on the huge monument.

Moscow's Cemetery Dog

Moscow has a dog statue on a grave in a cemetery. The devoted dog on the grave. Haven't we heard that story before?

Yes, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Moscow's dog is not the only one.

So, you can get free amusement just by admiring the statues of the Moscow's dogs and learning about them. They say that the British are a national of animal lovers. But it seems that the people of Moscow are equally keen on dogs.

I could not find copyright free pictures of dogs. But you can see the images by typing in the words images and Moscow dogs and trains.

You can read a whole article on the different types of dogs and their strategies.

https://lidenz.ru/hidden-dogs-moscow/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendeleyevskaya

Trips To Russia

https://www.visitrussia.org.uk

Author

Angela Lansbury, writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Also see my previous posts on statues such as Gagarin, statues, and Russian Stations

Cities And Sights To See In Russia: Moscow, St Petersburg

Problem
What to see first in Russia?
I tried to copy a map from Wikipedia but it comes out without the cities marked which is useless. So I went to Wikitravel which is where you should go for copying or printing out maps to plot your travels. If you are not using a map for commercial use (to sell it to others) you could instead take a screen shot of a map with your camera on your phone and load it up onto your laptop.

Map of Russia from Wikitravel showing Cities.

Russia is the largest country in the world, bigger than the USA. Bigger than Canada.
Most of the population lives in the Western half, towards Europe. St Peterburg is in the north, on the sea.

My Story
As a schoolgirl in the 1960s I visited the Baltic states and St Petersburg on a school cruise ship.

Later, in the late 1960s, I was postgraduate student at University College, London, and I won a place on a trip to Japan, paying only for the fare by plane and train via Russia onto a ferry across the Sea of Japan to Japan. (In Japan we stayed with families from the local chambers of commerce in each city, who wanted to practise English. In other cities we stayed in youth hostels. We were shown around the city in a group or by the Japanese families with whom we stayed.)

On the way out, we crossed Russia on the Trans-Siberian railway for days, listening to endless Russian music, ending up in a station where we got off surrounded by signs in Cyrillic.
"Where are we? Are we there yet?"

Somebody read: "Volg-ga-grad?" We had never heard of Volgograd.

An older boy, tall, thin, left-wing, our self-styled student leader, who had studied history, politics and economics, picked up a local tourist brochure in English and read to us, "It says, 'Everybody has heard of Volgograd, worldwide.' Do any of you know it?"

We all shrugged and raised our eyebrows.

He continued, declaiming loudly, "It says, 'Everybody has heard of the famous siege of Volgograd? In WWII.' I haven't!"

Somebody else murmured, "I've only heard of the siege of Stalingrad ... "

"That's it! They've changed the name. We're in STALINGRAD!"

Stalingrad means Stalin's city. Leningrad means Lenin's city.

I now know that the Volga is the river. Grad means town or city.

Next time I visit Russia I'll be better prepared, knowing a bit about the history of each major city and what I want to see there.

MOSCOW
Moscow, Russia's capital, with 13 million people, biggest city population in Europe, is on the Moskva river.

Shortlist of top sights to see:
Red Square.
Lenin's Mausoleum.
Tomb of the unknown soldier.
The Kremlin. (Russian Parliament.)
Kremlin Hill. Mountaintop panorama with a large cannon and large bell.
St Basil's Cathedral.

Gum Mall.
Bolshoi theatre.
Statues of famous Russians.
Amazing luxury city centre railway stations.
Dog statues in stations.

Victory Park and Victory Park metro station (In Cyrillic: Park Pobedy).
The Park celebrates the Patriotic War (WWII) with numerous fountains and monuments, lit at night, a museum, mosque and synagogue, tanks and guns, monument with army dog used to find injured or trapped soldiers. Victory Day is May 9th.

Dostoevsky Museum on Dostoevsky Street near Dostoevsky metro station.
His father worked at the next door hospital. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky^[11 November 1821 – 9 February 1881),^[b] sometimes transliterated Dostoevsky.  His most acclaimed works include Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), Demons (1872) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880). 

Two Pushkin Museums. 
Pushkin wrote Boris Godunov, Eugene Onegin, and other works which inspired operas and orchestral music.

St PETERSBURG

Pushkin Statue, Arts Square, in St Petersburg, 'The Venice of the North', Russia.

St Petersburg
(Previously called Petrograd in WWI and renamed Leningrad). Russia's second city has a population of 5 million. The city is on the Baltic Sea.
The Venice of the North, named after Peter The Great. Peter founded the city and made it his capital. He executed would be assassins and those who plotted coups including his own son. He is buried in St Peter and Paul fortress.
He was keen on modernizing Russia, copying the West, and ordered men to be clean-shaven, with fines for wearing beards.
Sights to See:
Chapel in St Peter and Paul fortress containing the remains of the Romanovs (shot in the basement of a house in Ekaterina in 1918.)
The Hermitage. (Part of the Fortress.)

Cathedral on Spilled Blood, in St Petersburg, Russia's 'Venice of the North'. Photo from Wiki. by WangWei.

Cathedral of the Spilled Blood.
Built over the spot where the reforming tsar was assassinated in 1881, which led to his son getting tough on the plotters and people demanding reforms, potential trouble-makers, and he passed the restrictive May laws and encouraged pogroms (riots massacring areas where he thought potential trouble makers and Jews lived) which sent emigrants to America.
Luxury city centre railway stations.
Pushkin Museum.
Dostoevsky is buried in St Petersburg.

Pushkin statue.

Rasputin Museum, St Petersburg.

Visiting St Petersburg - Travel
Flight £121 to St Petersburg was on the screen. I went back next day and it had gone - possibly last cheap ticket sold out. The deal was 3 nights in Moscow and 3 night in St Petersburg.

Ekaterina
Ekaterina or Yekaterina city.
Ekaterina means Catherine in Russian. It is named after Catherine I, wife of Peter the Great (for whom St Petersburg is named.) I used to struggle with the spelling. At first I could recognize it if I saw it, but not remember it well enough to type it into my computer screen search box. Then I tried to focus on the letters and relate them to English words. Like Katherine with a K. I think of EE! Katerina. Or E(e)k/ Kat(h)er(e) in a (h!). Or Ye Kate r in a. (Sounds like 'a Shakespearean character saying, 'You, Kate, are in a  ...?' Or Ye-katerina.

Sights To See
QWERTY monument, Ekaterina city, Russia. Stepping stones in the form of a Qwerty keyboard.

Church on the Blood, Ekaterina city, Russia. Built on the site where Emperor Nicholas II and his family, the Romanovs, including daughter Anastasia, were held captive in a house and assassinated in the basement in 1918.
A secondary church and small museum are on site.

The church on the blood, Ekaterina city.

A few miles away the bodies were hidden down a mine. (Later dug up and taken for burial in St Petersburg.) A chapel commemorating each victim was made on this mine.

Mafia Cemetery, Shirokorechenskoye Kladbishche Cemetery, Ekaterina city, Russia. Has upright tombstones engraved with mafia figures.

Volvograd (Previously called Stalingrad 1925-1961)
Wikitravel says:

• Mamayev Kurgan — the site of one of the twentieth century's most important battles: Battle of Stalingrad. This huge memorial is located on top of a large hill overlooking Volgograd and the Volga River. The name derives from the hill's supposed status as the grave of Mamai, a famous Tatar Khan and general (kurgan is a Tatar word meaning burial mound).

Panorama Museum
Houses a painting of the battle of Stalingrad.

Suggested Flights
One City Spring, Autumn or Summer Stops
My preference is avoiding winter. Snows start late October or November and can continue as late as March to May.

Bearing in mind that winters are cold and snowy and flights could be cancelled. Remember how Napoleon's marching army got stuck in the snow and his army had to turn back.
Return flight to Moscow. Do St Peterburg or Ekaterina the following year or a later trip.

Stopovers and Multi-Centres
Take a stopover in Russia on a flight further, for example between American or England or Europe via Russia to Asia or Australia.
stopover at Moscow and / or St Petersburg.

Fly to Moscow and train to St Peterburg, returning from St Petersburg.
Trains from Paris to Moscow, Paris-Moscow Express, not as fast nor frequent as one might think, once a week express takes 2 nights.
Train from Moscow to St Peterburg, only four hours.

www.airbaltic.com
www.skyscanner.net
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/russia
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Tourism-g298484-Moscow_Central_Russia-Vacations
http://www.visitrussia.org.uk
http://students.sras.org/a-guide-to-jewish-moscow/

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Russian English Speakers at Toastmasters Club in London, England

Problem
Where can you practise Reading, writing and speaking Russian?

Answer
In London, England, there is a Russian speaking Toastmasters club. I found out when I was notified by Meetup in London.

Russian-English Speakers Toastmasters (London)

Говорим, слушаем, учимся, смеёмся

Monday, 6:45 PM Jul 17 2017.

In Russia, Toastmasters International says:

RUSSIAN TOASTMASTERS

Toastmasters Russia consists of 5 clubs in Moscow and 1 club in St. Petersburg. The pioneer one was founded in Moscow in the year 1990 and the youngest club was formed just in February 2014.

Tips

For speakers clubs in English and foreign languages, see

www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
For the Toastmasters club in London, England
http://www.russianenglishlondon.co.uk

You can learn Russian on 

www.duolingo.com

Russian, French, and other language groups on
www.meetup.com

For more about the Russian alphabet and Russian keyboard and the Cyrillic alphabet and learning Russian see my other posts. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and speaker, teacher of languages.

Who Cares About Disasters Overseas? France? Russia? Why? Why Not?

Some body on Facebook asked why atrocities in Paris, France attracted more attention and supposedly more sympathy than events in St Petersburg.

Every country reports on its own nationals first. News filters through slowly. But I am more affected if an incident affects somebody I know, or associated with a place near where I live.

I can't speak for anybody else. However, I believe we do care. However, people generally feel more upset about nearby places they have been to whose language they speak.

I am sure that countries which speak Russian, have borders with Russia, or large numbers of tourists going there will feel and say and do more. Any Russian language publication will carry more news reports and arouse more reaction.

More people on an English language site have to change travel plans or call friends and family when an incident happens in Paris than in far away St Petersburg.

Places You Know In Russia
I have been to St Petersburg but could not even place it accurately on a map. It has changed its name which contuses me. I recall as a student standing with others reading world famous Volgograd. We all looked puzzled until somebody realised and explained, We're in St Petersburg!

St Petersburg has changed its name which confuses me.

Places You Know In France
I speak French. The trains from London go through France or Paris. Ferries from Britain go to France. So I care about France, Paris, and travelling to or through Paris and France. I can name several places in Paris, Notre Dame cathedral, the Eiffel Tower.

Songs
The words France and Paris immediately evoke English language songs such as I Love Paris in the Springtime. I can't name a song about St Petersburg.

Change of Travel Plans
More people on an English language site are in the UK or the USA and have to change travel plans or call friends and family when an incident happens in Paris than in far away St Petersburg.

St Petersburg is known for its heroic defence against the invaders in WWII. (I may add more later. Now I must go back to work.)

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.