By SIMON ROBINSON

EUROPE

BLADON
As a boy, Winston Churchill often visited his parents' graves in the small parish cemetery of Bladon in Oxfordshire. In accordance with his will, Britain's World War II leader was buried beside them and other family members when he died in 1965. But since then, surviving family members have grown unhappy with the disorderliness of the site. Now the grave has been restored and the surrounding area renovated with $600,000 from Britain's National Lottery. The 16 family gravestones packed together on a sometimes muddy slope have been reset in a series of steps; Churchill's headstone has been replaced by an understated piece in Portland stone carved with his name and that of his wife, Clementine; and stone steps have replaced an ugly concrete path. New benches will allow some of the 20,000 people a year who visit the grave to sit and contemplate.

ASSISI
Last year an earthquake destroyed priceless frescoes and parts of the structure of the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, where St Francis is said to have founded his monastic order eight centuries ago. But the disaster also led to a discovery: the collapse of the ceiling in the basilica's chapel partly exposed a triangular fresco depicting the Crucifixion that had lain hidden for centuries beneath layers of dirt and candle smoke. Restorers have now unveiled the work, which is thought to have been painted by Pietro Vannucci--better known as Perugino, or the Perugian--a distinguished Italian Renaissance artist and teacher of Raphael. The 16th century art historian Giorgio Vasari referred to the fresco but did not specify its location, and once it disappeared from view it was forgotten.

GLOBE

EXPATRIATES
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ASIA

BEIJING
Giacomo Puccini set Turandot, his final opera, in a fairytale version of Beijing's Forbidden City. In September, 74 years after the Italian composer's death, the work will be performed for the first time among the temples and palaces of that vast walled compound. The opera, completed by Franco Alfano after Puccini's death and first performed at Milan's La Scala in 1926, tells the story of a prince who must answer three riddles to win the hard-hearted Turandot, daughter of the emperor. The eight open-air performances in Beijing will be directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou and conducted by Zubin Mehta, musical director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. See www.turandot-on-site.com or tel. +43 1713 8844.