Monday, 1 December 2025

Site of Palmyra

I thought I'd received a new UNESCO site but I realized I already had it, because the postcard I had identified as being from Damascus is actually also from Palmyra. I hate it when the information on postcards is wrong. I hate it even more that most of the monuments on this site were destroyed by war.


Palmyra
This postcard was sent from UK by Alisha

An oasis in the Syrian desert, north-east of Damascus, Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world. From the 1st to the 2nd century, the art and architecture of Palmyra, standing at the crossroads of several civilizations, married Graeco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences. - in: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/23


Tetrapylon
This postcard was sent by Marta

The Tetrapylon was erected during the renovations of Diocletian at the end of the third century. It is a square platform and each corner contains a grouping of four columns. Each column group supports a 150-ton cornice and contains a pedestal in its center that originally carried a statue. Out of sixteen columns, only one is original while the rest are from reconstruction work by the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities in 1963, using concrete. The original columns were brought from Egypt and carved out of pink granite. - in: wikipedia

Town of Bamberg

Bamberg is the kind of town that I like to visit. I hope to do it one day


Bamberg
This postcard was sent by Michèle

Bamberg is located in southern Germany in the north of Bavaria. It is a good example of a central European town with a basically early medieval plan and many surviving ecclesiastical and secular buildings of the medieval period. When Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, became King of Germany in 1007 he made Bamberg the seat of a bishopric, intended to become a 'second Rome'. Of particular interest is the way in which the present town illustrates the link between agriculture (market gardens and vineyards) and the urban distribution centre.
From the 10th century onwards, Bamberg became an important link with the Slav peoples, especially those of Poland and Pomerania. During its period of greatest prosperity, from the 12th century onwards, the architecture of this town strongly influenced northern Germany and Hungary. In the late 18th century Bamberg was the centre of the Enlightenment in southern Germany, with eminent philosophers and writers such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and E.T.A. Hoffmann living there. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/624

Bamberg Cathedral
This postcard was sent by Wolfgang
Bamberg Cathedral (GermanBamberger Dom, official name Bamberger Dom St. Peter und St. Georg) is a church in BambergGermany, completed in the 13th century. Since 1993, the cathedral has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Town of Bamberg".
It was founded in 1002 by King (and later Emperor) Heinrich II (Henry II) and consecrated in 1012. With the tombs of Henry II and his wife Cunigunde, the cathedral contains the remains of the only imperial couple that was canonized. With the tomb of Pope Clement II (1005–1047) it also contains the only papal grave in Germany, and north of the Alps. - in: wikipedia