Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars

Since this site was inscribed in 2015 that I'm planning to go there, especially to Épernay, but for some reason I always end up postponing...

Champagne Hillsides

This postcard was sent by Javier

The property encompasses sites where the method of producing sparkling wines was developed on the principle of secondary fermentation in the bottle since the early 17th century to its early industrialization in the 19th century. The property is made up of three distinct ensembles: the historic vineyards of Hautvillers, Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Saint-Nicaise Hill in Reims, and the Avenue de Champagne and Fort Chabrol in Epernay. These three components – the supply basin formed by the historic hillsides, the production sites (with their underground cellars) and the sales and distribution centres (the Champagne Houses) - illustrate the entire champagne production process. The property bears clear testimony to the development of a very specialized artisan activity that has become an agro-industrial enterprise. - in: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1465/

Yosemite National Park

The Yosemite National Park was the first UNESCO site that I received from the United States

Yosemite National Park

This postcard was sent by Boyana

Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in the central eastern portion of the U.S. state of California, commonly referred to as Northern California. 

Mule Deer in Yosemite National Park

This postcard was sent by Boyana

The park, which is managed by the National Park Service, covers an area of 747,956 acres (1,168.681 sq mi; 302,687 ha; 3,026.87 km²) and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain. Over 3.7 million people visit Yosemite each year: most spend the majority of their time in the seven square miles (18 km²) of Yosemite Valley. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, and biological diversity. 

Half Dome

This postcard was sent by Victoria

Half Dome is a granite dome at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park, California. It is possibly Yosemite's most familiar rock formation. The granite crest rises more than 4,737 ft (1,444 m) above the valley floor. - in: wikipedia

Yosemite Valley Chapel

This postcard was sent by Héléne

The Yosemite Valley Chapel was built in the Yosemite Valley of California in 1879. It is the oldest standing structure in Yosemite National Park.

The wooden chapel was designed by San Francisco architect Charles Geddes in the Carpenter Gothic style. It was built by Geddes' son-in-law, Samuel Thompson of San Francisco, for the California State Sunday School Association, at a cost of three or four thousand dollars. - in: wikipedia

Komodo National Park

Besides the monuments, what fascinates me in Indonesia are the Komodo Dragons! I love these lizards! They look really prehistoric 

Pink Beach at Komodo Island

This postcard was sent by Heidy

Pink Beach, or Pantai Merah, as it is aptly named, is one of seven pink beaches on the planet, and is just one of the many amazing features of Komodo Island that make it truly a Natural Wonder of Nature. This exceptional beach gets its striking color from microscopic animals called Foraminifera, which produce a red pigment on the coral reefs. For this reason, it is called Red Beach in the local tongue. When the tiny fragments of red coral combine with the white sands, this produces the soft pink color that is visible along the shoreline. Aside from Pink Beach itself, a few small segments along Komodo’s eastern bay also have a pinkish tint. - in: http://www.indonesia.travel/sites/site/833/the-romantic-pink-beach-of-the-komodo-islands

Komodo National Park

This postcard was sent by Shinta

The Komodo National Park is a national park in Indonesia located within the Lesser Sunda Islands in the border region between the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara. 

Komodo Dragon in Komodo National Park

 This postcard was sent by Shinta

The park includes the three larger islands Komodo, Padar and Rinca, and 26 smaller ones, with a total area of 1,733 km² (603 km² of it land). The national park was founded in 1980 to protect the Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard. Later it was dedicated to protecting other species, including marine species. In 1991 the national park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Komodo Dragon in Komodo National Park

This postcard was sent by Shinta

Komodo National Park has been selected as one of the New7Wonders of Nature. The waters surrounding Komodo island also contains rich marine biodiversity. Komodo islands is also a part of the Coral Triangle, which contains one of the richest marine biodiversity on earth. - in: wikipedia

Komodo Dragon in Komodo National Park

 This postcard was sent by Shinta

The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, and Padar. A member of the monitor lizard family Varanidae, it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of 3 metres (10 ft) in rare cases and weighing up to approximately 70 kilograms (150 lb). They are protected under Indonesian law, and a national park, Komodo National Park, was founded to aid protection efforts. - in: wikipedia

Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata

This site is shows how insignificant we can be against nature's wrath

Pompeii - The Civil Forum

This postcard was sent from Austria by Ingrid

Pompeii was an ancient Roman city near modern Naples in the Campania region of Italy, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Volcanic ash typically buried inhabitants who did not escape the lethal effects of the earthquake and eruption.

Largely preserved under the ash, the excavated city offers a unique snapshot of Roman life, frozen at the moment it was buried and providing an extraordinarily detailed insight into the everyday life of its inhabitants. Organic remains, including wooden objects and human bodies, were entombed in the ash and decayed away, making natural molds; and excavators used these to make plaster casts, unique and often gruesome figures from the last minutes of the catastrophe. - in: wikipedia

Villa dei Misteri

This postcard was sent from Poland by Ania

The Villa of the Mysteries (Italian: Villa dei Misteri) is a well-preserved suburban Roman villa on the outskirts of Pompeii, southern Italy, famous for the series of frescos in one room, which are usually thought to show the initiation of a young woman into a Greco-Roman mystery cult. These are now probably the best known of the relatively rare survivals of Ancient Roman painting. Like the rest of the Roman city of Pompeii, the villa was buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 and excavated from 1909 onwards (long after much of the main city).

There are many different interpretations of the frescoes, but they are commonly believed to depict a religious rite. Another common theory is that the frescoes depict a bride initiating into the Dionysian Mysteries in preparation for marriage. In this hypothesis, the elaborate costume worn by the main figure is believed to be wedding apparel. - in: wikipedia

The seven inscribed areas (in red what I have)

• Pompeii
• Villa dei Misteri (Pompei)
• Herculaneum
• Villa dei Papiri (Herculaneum)
• Theatre of Herculaneum
• Torre Annunziata: Villa A
• Torre Annunziata: Villa B

Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh

I love castles and I wouldn't mind, nothing at all, to visit this one at Belarus!

Nesvizh Castle

This postcard was sent by Natalia

Nesvizh Palace is considered the country’s most beautiful palace by the people of Belarus. Its richly diverse architecture and attractive gardens make it one of the most popular tourist attractions in Belarus.

Nesvizh Palace is on the Nesvizh Estate, one of the oldest settlements and most famous places in Belarus. Nesvizh is in the Minsk region of Belarus, approximately 120km south-west of Minsk.

Nesvizh Castle

This postcard with a Postcrossing stamp was sent by Marina

The estate and town was acquired by the Radziwil family in the middle of the 16th century, and they stayed there until 1939 when they were expelled by the invading Red Army.
The foundation stone of Nesvizh Palace was laid in 1584. It was rebuilt many times and as a consequence has features of many architectural styles.

Nesvizh Castle

This postcard with a great stamp showing UNESCO sites from Belarus was sent by Natalia

In the late 19th century Nesvizh Palace was restored by the Radziwil family who also designed one of largest landscape gardens in Europe on the estate.
After World War 2 Nesvizh Palace was used as a Sanatorium and the gardens became neglected.
In 1994 the estate was designated the national historical and cultural reserve and in 2006 it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. - in: https://www.belarus.by/en/travel/belarus-life/nesvizh-palace

L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site

This sites proves that Europeans were in North America before Columbus

L'Anse aux Meadows

This postcard was sent by Julie

L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site contains the excavated remains of a complete 11th-century Viking settlement, the earliest evidence of Europeans in North America. Situated at the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula of the island of Newfoundland, this exceptional archaeological site consists of eight timber-framed turf structures built in the same style as those found in Norse Greenland and Iceland from the same period. The buildings include three dwellings, one forge and four workshops, on a narrow terrace overlooking a peat bog and small brook near the shore of Epaves Bay in the Straight of Belle Isle.

Artifacts found at the site show evidence of activities including iron production and woodworking, likely used for ship repair, as well as indications that those who used the camp voyaged further south. - in: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/4