Tower of London

This was one of my first postcards received through Postcrossing and it was sent by a teacher that took her students to the Tower of London

Tower of London

This postcard was sent by Helen

The Tower of London, officially Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite. The castle was used as a prison from 1100 (Ranulf Flambard) until 1952 (Kray twins), although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site. - in: wikipedia

Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica

This site contains remains of Greek and Roman times.

Church of Saint Lucia alla Badia

This postcard was sent from Switzerland by Isabella

The Church and the Cistercian convent dedicated to St. Lucia had a prominent place in Syracuse, because of its location in the heart of Ortigia and especially for the feast of St. Lucia in May, established in memory of a miracle of the Patron Saint during the famine of 1646 (still celebrated on the first Sunday in May), commemorated by an inscription still existing in the church below the choir of nuns. St. Lucia alla Badia seems to be built in two different styles, in the manner of the Picherali with reliefs of Spanish coats of arms and with the Rococo-style decorations. - in: http://citymapsicilia.it/en/structure/church-of-saint-lucia-alla-badia/

Street of Tombs in Neapolis Archaeological Park

This postcard was sent from Germany by Gabi

The park includes the northern part of the Neapolis quarter (one of the five city-quarters of Syracuse in the Greek and Romans periods) where the most famous monuments of the city were built; the Greek theatre (dated to the IIIrd cent BC as it appears today, but founded in the second half of the Vth cent.BC); the Roman amphitheatre (dated by some to the period of Augustus, by others to Septimus Severus); the Altar of Hieron II (a grand altar for public sacrifices) and the Street of Tombs cut deep into the bed-rock during the Hellenistic period and flanked by Byzantine hypogeums. - in: http://www.regione.sicilia.it/beniculturali/museopaoloorsi/parchi/neapolisENG.htm

Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (South-Eastern Sicily)

Eight towns are part of this site. So for I only have a postcard of one. I think I would like very much of any of these cities because I love Baroque

Baroque Buildings in Via Crociferi

This postcard was sent by Isabella

Via Crociferi is one of the oldest Catania streets in the heart of the city, it starts in Piazza San Francesco D’Assisi (crossing Via Vittorio Emanuele II) through the famous St. Benedict triumphal arch.

This street is considered the symbol of Baroque in Catania, because there are some of the most beautiful eighteenth-century churches of the city. - in: http://citymapsicilia.it/en/structure/crociferi-street/?c=to-see

The eight towns (in red what I have):

• Caltagirone
• Catania
• Militello Val di Catania
• Modica
• Noto
• Palazzolo Acreide
• Ragusa
• Scicli

Villa Adriana (Tivoli)

This complex combines elements of the architectural heritage of Egypt, Greece and Rome

Maritime Theatre at Villa Adriana

This postcard arrived from Czech Republic sent by Veronika

Hadrian's Villa (Villa Adriana in Italian) is a large Roman archaeological complex at Tivoli, Italy. 

One structure in the villa is the so-called "Maritime Theatre". It consists of a round portico with a barrel vault supported by pillars. Inside the portico was a ring-shaped pool with a central island. The large circular enclosure 40 metres (130 ft) in diameter has an entrance to the north. Inside the outer wall and surrounding the moat are a ring of unfluted ionic columns. The Maritime Theater includes a lounge, a library, heated baths, three suites with heated floors, washbasin, an art gallery, and a large fountain. - in: wikipedia

Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany

This was my first 3D postcard and it scared me when I took it out of the mailbox! I thought the head of the turtle was moving! :D

Twelve Villas and two gardens are part of this site.

Fontana del Bacchino in the Boboli Gardens

This postcard was sent by Gabi

The Boboli Gardens (Italian: Giardino di Boboli) is a park in Florence, Italy, that is home to a collection of sculptures dating from the 16th through the 18th centuries, with some Roman antiquities.

The Gardens, directly behind the Pitti Palace, the main seat of the Medici grand dukes of Tuscany at Florence, are some of the first and most familiar formal 16th-century Italian gardens. The mid-16th-century garden style, as it was developed here, incorporated longer axial developments, wide gravel avenues, a considerable "built" element of stone, the lavish employment of statuary and fountains, and a proliferation of detail, coordinated in semi-private and public spaces that were informed by classical accents: grottos, nympheums, garden temples and the like. - in: wikipedia

The Villas and Gardens (in red what I have):

• Villa di Cafaggiolo
• Villa del Trebbio
• Villa di Careggi
• Villa Medici in Fiesole
• Villa di Castello
• Villa di Poggio a Caiano
• Villa la Petraia
• Boboli Gardens
• Villa di Cerreto Guidi
• Palazzo di Seravezza
• Gardens of Pratolino
• Villa La Magia
• Villa di Artimino
• Villa del Poggio Imperiale

Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor

Kotor is one of those places that I knew through postcards and now I'd love to go there

Kotor

This postcard was sent by Christina

Kotor is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor.

Kotor has been fortified since the early Middle Ages, when Emperor Justinian built a fortress above Acruvium in 535, after expelling the Ostrogoths; a second town probably grew up on the heights round it, for Constantine Porphyrogenitus, in the 10th century, alludes to Lower Kotor.

The city was part of the Venetian Albania province of the Venetian Republic from 1420 to 1797. It was besieged by the Ottomans in 1538 and 1657. Four centuries of Venetian domination have given the city the typical Venetian architecture, that contributed to make Kotor a UNESCO world heritage site. - in: wikipedia

Our Lady of the Rocks

This postcard was sent by Patricia from Spain

Our Lady of the Rocks is one of the two islets off the coast of Perast in Bay of Kotor, Montenegro (the other being Sveti Đorđe Island). It is an artificial island created by bulwark of rocks and by sinking old and seized ships loaded with rocks. The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rocks is the largest building on the islet; it has a museum attached. There is also a small gift shop close to the church and a navigation light at the western end of the islet.

The first known church was built on the islet in 1452. It was taken over by Roman Catholics and in 1632 the present Church of Our Lady of the Rocks was built. It was upgraded in 1722. The church contains 68 paintings by Tripo Kokolja, a famous 17th-century baroque artist from Perast. - in: wikipedia

Church of St. Anthony of Padua in Perast

This postcard arrived from Russia sent by Sasha

Perast is an old town on the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. It is situated a few kilometres northwest of Kotor and is noted for its proximity to the islets of St. George and Our Lady of the Rocks. - in: wikipedia

San Antonio Missions

The San Antonio Missions encompasses a group of five complexes built by Franciscan missionaries in the 18th century, situated along San Antonio River in southern Texas, as well as a ranch located 37 kilometres to the south.

Mission of San José

This postcard was sent by Susan

 Founded in 1720, the mission was named for Saint Joseph and the Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo, the governor of the Province of Coahuila and Texas at the time. It was built on the banks of the San Antonio river several miles to the south of the earlier mission, San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo).

San José, as it became known, was the largest of the missions in the area. At its height, the community contained about 350 Indian neophytes, sustained by extensive fields and herds of livestock. Viewed as the model among the Texas missions, San José gained a reputation as a major social and cultural center. It became known as the "Queen of the Missions." Its imposing complex of stone walls, bastions, granary, and magnificent church was completed by 1782. - in: https://www.nps.gov/saan/learn/historyculture/sanjosehistory1.htm

Mission Concepcion

This postcard was sent by Donna

Franciscan friars established Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña (also Mission Concepcion) in 1716 as Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de los Hainais in East Texas.

Mission Concepcion consists of a sanctuary, nave, convento, and granary. When originally built, brightly painted frescos decorated both the exterior and interior of the building. Traces of the frescoes still exist on the weathered facade of the building. Experts restored some of the artwork on the interior ceilings and walls of the convento in 1988. The Archdiocese of San Antonio completed another restoration of the mission's interior in 2010 which exposed more frescoes in the sanctuary and nave. - in: wikipedia

Mission Valero

This postcard was sent by Susan

The Alamo Mission in San Antonio, commonly called the Alamo and originally known as Misión San Antonio de Valero, is part of the San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Founded in the 18th century as a Roman Catholic mission and fortress compound, it was the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. The Alamo is now a museum in the Alamo Plaza Historic District.

Mission Valero

This postcard was sent by Georgia

The compound was one of the early Spanish missions in Texas, built for the education of area Native Americans after their conversion to Christianity. In 1793, the mission was secularized and then abandoned. Ten years later, it became a fortress housing a military unit, the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras, who likely gave the mission the name Alamo. During the Texas Revolution, Mexican General Martin Perfecto de Cos surrendered the fort to the Texian Army in December 1835, following the Siege of Béxar. A relatively small number of Texian soldiers then occupied the compound for several months. They were wiped out at the Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. When the Mexican army retreated from Texas several months later, they tore down many of the Alamo walls and burned some of the buildings. - in: wikipedia

The missions (in red what I already have):

• Mission Espada
• Mission San Juan
• Mission San José
• Mission Concepcion
• Mission Valero
• Rancho de las Cabras