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Chandeliers have symbolized luxury and wealth since time immemorial. You probably can’t resist a chandelier that shines with a thousand lights. Isn’t it magic?

Chandeliers from yesterday to today.

According to Wikipedia, in the Middle Ages chandeliers were held by a chain or rope that could be descended to light candles set on branches of wood.

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Metal chandeliers appeared in the XVth century*. Their more impressive new shapes made them symbols of luxury. The addition of prisms and crystal pendants became popular three centuries later. In the XIXth century, gas lighting replaced candles for less than a century before the advent of electric bulbs.

When you take an interest in world history, you often discover differences. For example, in North Africa, the biggest chandelier in a mosque has been housed in the Great Mosque of Taza since about the 12th century*. The 3.2 tonne delicately worked bronze chandelier is cone-shaped. It is 2.5 metres wide and 4 m high. Originally, passers-by were dazzled by 514 oil-filled chalices (godets). Today, the godets have been replaced with electric light.

Other famous chandeliers dazzle the world. (more…)

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