Postcards Around the World

2012-12-07

Jelling Stones - Denmark (UNESCO)

sent by Pham

Information on the card: "The two runic stones in Jelling. Left, King Harald Bluetooth's stone and right, the stone elevated by his father King Gorm in memory of the latter's wife, Thyra"

"The Jelling burial mounds and one of the runic stones are striking examples of pagan Nordic culture, while the other runic stone and the church illustrate the Christianization of the Danish people towards the middle of the 10th century." In: UNESCO

2012-12-06

Carcassonne - France (UNESCO)

unused, bought in Braga (Portugal)

"Since the pre-Roman period, a fortified settlement has existed on the hill where Carcassonne now stands. In its present form it is an outstanding example of a medieval fortified town, with its massive defences encircling the castle and the surrounding buildings, its streets and its fine Gothic cathedral. Carcassonne is also of exceptional importance because of the lengthy restoration campaign undertaken by Viollet-le-Duc, one of the founders of the modern science of conservation." In: UNESCO

2012-12-05

Lac Léman - Switzerland

unused

"Lake Geneva or Lake Léman (French: Lac Léman, Léman) is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53% 345.31 km2 (133.32 sq mi) of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland (cantons of Vaud, Geneva, and Valais), and 40.47% 234.71 km2 (90.62 sq mi) under France (Haute-Savoie). The average surface elevation of 372 m (1,220 ft) above sea level is controlled by the Seujet Dam in Geneva.

Lake Geneva, formed by a retreating glacier, has a crescent shape that narrows around Yvoire on the southern shore. It can thus be divided figuratively into the "Grand Lac" (Large Lake) to the east and the "Petit Lac" (Small Lake) to the west. The Chablais Alps border its southern shore, the western Bernese Alps lie over its eastern side. The high summits of Grand Combin and Mont Blanc are visible from some places. Compagnie Générale de Navigation sur le lac Léman (CGN) operates boats on the lake." In: Wikipedia

2012-12-04

Tarragona - Spain (UNESCO)

unused,

Archbishops Tower

unused,

Romain Forum

"Tárraco (modern-day Tarragona) was a major administrative and mercantile city in Roman Spain and the centre of the Imperial cult for all the Iberian provinces. It was endowed with many fine buildings, and parts of these have been revealed in a series of exceptional excavations. Although most of the remains are fragmentary, many preserved beneath more recent buildings, they present a vivid picture of the grandeur of this Roman provincial capital." In: UNESCO

2012-12-03

Mérelle Waterfall in Gérardmer - France

unused

"Gérardmer is a commune in the Vosges department in Lorraine in northeastern France." In: Wikipedia

2012-12-02

Old postcard shop in Porto - Portugal

Ediciones Fisa

unused

Lino & Ferreira, Lda shop in Porto (Rua do Almada, 57-59). Not sure if the store still exists.

2012-12-01

World map from 1626 - Russia

RR PTxWorld G27, sent by Julia

A fantastic map, or as it says "A new and accyrat map of the World - Drawne according to y truest defcriptions u left obferuations y have beene made by Englifh or Strangers 1626"

2012-11-30

Ruins of São Miguel - Brazil (UNESCO)

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

2012-11-29

Castle from Loire Valley - France (UNESCO)

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

2012-11-28

DE-1563996 - Penguins

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