Ruins of São Miguel - Brazil (UNESCO)

© Edicard

RR PT G74, sent by "gracinha"

"The São Miguel das Missões mission was built between 1735 to around 1745. São Miguel das Missões was one of the many Spanish Colonial Jesuit Reductions in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. Spanish Jesuit missionaries founded the mission for Crown mandated Indian Reductions (Christian converting) of the Guaraní Indians; and to protect the natives from the Portuguese slave traders known as the Bandeirantes.

The Treaty of Madrid in 1750 handed sovereignty over the area from Spain to Portugal and the Jesuit missions were ordered to move to the retained Spanish territory, west of the Uruguay River. The Guaraní tribes refused to comply with the order to relocate from their homelands, now deemed in Portuguese territory. This led to the Guarani War, and this mission's termination after a battle against a joint Portuguese-Spanish army, sent to enforce the newly realigned border between the two colonial powers.
The cathedral (Catedral Angelopolitana), built in the 1920s in nearby Santo Ângelo city, is modeled after the São Miguel das Missões reduction." In: Wikipedia

Castle from Loire Valley - France (UNESCO)

© Editions Valoire

unused, bought in Braga (Portugal)

Some of the castles from the Loire Valley: Azay-le-Rideau, Amboise, Chambord, Blois and Chenonceau.

"The Loire Valley is an outstanding cultural landscape of great beauty, containing historic towns and villages, great architectural monuments (the châteaux), and cultivated lands formed by many centuries of interaction between their population and the physical environment, primarily the river Loire itself." In: UNESCO

DE-1563996 - Penguins

© JC Cards & Leuchter Edition

DE-1563996 sent by "arasim"

German: "Ich tröster! Bin euer" Jesaja 51,12

English (via Google Translate):  "I confort! I'm yours" Isaiah 51,12

Sydney Opera House - Australia (UNESCO)

© S. T. Yiap / VistGallery

unused, offered by "geminiscp"

"Inaugurated in 1973, the Sydney Opera House is a great architectural work of the 20th century that brings together multiple strands of creativity and innovation in both architectural form and structural design. A great urban sculpture set in a remarkable waterscape, at the tip of a peninsula projecting into Sydney Harbour, the building has had an enduring influence on architecture. The Sydney Opera House comprises three groups of interlocking vaulted ‘shells’ which roof two main performance halls and a restaurant. These shell-structures are set upon a vast platform and are surrounded by terrace areas that function as pedestrian concourses. In 1957, when the project of the Sydney Opera House was awarded by an international jury to Danish architect Jørn Utzon, it marked a radically new approach to construction." In: UNESCO

Geneva - Switzerland

© Photo & design: Dino Sassi

unused,

"Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland (after Zurich) and is the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situated where the Rhone exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic and Canton of Geneva. The municipality (ville de Genève) has a population (as of June 2012) of 192,385, and the canton (République et Canton de Genève, which includes the city) has 468,194 residents. In 2007, the urban area, or agglomération franco-valdo-genevoise (Great Geneva or Grand Genève in French) had 1,240,000 inhabitants in 189 municipalities in both Switzerland and France. The economic area "Great Geneva-Bern area" has 2.9 million inhabitants." In: Wikipedia

Old town of Colmar - France

© Editions RIBO

unused,

"Colmar (German between 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: Kolmar) is the third-largest commune of the Alsace region in north-eastern France. It is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department and the Arrondissement of Colmar.

The town is situated along the Alsatian Wine Route and considers itself to be the "Capital of Alsatian Wine" (capitale des vins d'Alsace). The city is renowned for its well preserved old town, its numerous architectural landmarks and its museums, among which is the Unterlinden Museum with the Isenheim Altarpiece." In: Wikipedia

Map card of Portugal mainland (III)

© Edig

unused

Bridge over Adaja river and the Walls of Ávila - Spain (UNESCO)

© Garcia Garrabella

unused, bought in Braga (Portugal)

"Founded in the 11th century to protect the Spanish territories from the Moors, this 'City of Saints and Stones', the birthplace of St Teresa and the burial place of the Grand Inquisitor Torquemada, has kept its medieval austerity. This purity of form can still be seen in the Gothic cathedral and the fortifications which, with their 82 semicircular towers and nine gates, are the most complete in Spain." In: UNESCO

Gardens of Versailles - France (UNESCO)

© Éditions D'Art

unused, bought in Braga (Portugal)

"The Palace of Versailles was the principal residence of the French kings from the time of Louis XIV to Louis XVI. Embellished by several generations of architects, sculptors, decorators and landscape architects, it provided Europe with a model of the ideal royal residence for over a century." In: UNESCO

Church of Our Lady of Pain in Paraty - Brazil (UNESCO tentative)

© Design and photos: H. Seelaender, A. Pereirinha

sent by "andreaeiko"

"The colonization of the Brazilian territory and the conquest of its backlands are reflected in the routes of Parati. In its explicit destiny, Parati became the first benchmark for trade along the Atlantic Forest's trails. Parati was a turning point and an interface between sea and land, a temporary or permanent point for extinct, absorbed or excluded races.

Ever since the Europeans first caught sight of Brazil in 1500, and especially of Parati's coast in 1502, the slopes of the so-called Serra do Mar – covered by the Atlantic Forest, which lies along with the Atlantic coast between the Brazilian plateau and the coastal plains – have been playing a critical role in Brazilian history." In: UNESCO