Provins, Town of Medieval Fairs

Provins is known for its medieval fortifications and I would love to visit this town

Tour César

This postcard was sent by Gabi

Mention is made as early as the latter half of the 9th century of a castrum (fortress), located in the upper town. In 1137, a document written by Thibaud II, Count of Champagne, refers to the presence of a tower.

The tower was built between 1152 and 1181, under the reign of Henry the Liberal, in its current situation within the first curtain wall, which thenceforth served as an outer defensive wall.

At the origin, the tower was not covered and ended by merlons. The roof, the pepper-boxes and the framework have been added between the 16th and the 18th century.

The Caesar Tower is an outstanding illustration of the history of medieval military architecture. It served as a watchtower and a prison. - in: http://www.provins.net/en/heritage-and-sightseeing/sites-and-monuments/the-caesars-tower.html

Historic Site of Lyon

Lyon is not very far from Geneva, but for some reason it doesn't attract me... Maybe if I go there I'll like it, but for now I have other places in mind to see, including a few in France

Fontaine Bartholdi at the Place des Terreaux

This postcard was sent by Loic

The Place des Terreaux is a square located in the center of Lyon, France on the Presqu'île between the Rhône and the Saône, at the foot of the hill of La Croix-Rousse in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon.

The Fontaine Bartholdi is a fountain sculpted by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and realised in 1889 by Gaget & Gautier. It was erected at the Place des Terreaux, in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, in September 1892.

The fountain depicts France as a female seated on a chariot controlling the four great rivers of France, represented by wildly rearing and plunging horses, highly individualized but symmetrically arranged, with bridles and reins of water weeds. - in: wikipedia

Pyrénées - Mont Perdu

This site is located on the border between France and Spain and provides beautiful landscapes

Cirque de Gavarnie

This postcard was sent from Australia by Helen

The Cirque de Gavarnie is a cirque in the central Pyrenees, in south-western France, close to the border of Spain. It was described by Victor Hugo as "the Colosseum of nature" due to its enormous size and horseshoe shape causing a resemblance to an amphitheatre. It is located within the commune of Gavarnie, the department of Hautes-Pyrénées, and the Pyrenees National Park. Major features of the cirque are La Brèche de Roland (English: Roland's Pass) and the Gavarnie Falls. - in: wikipedia

Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park

This postcard was sent by Jordi

Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park (Parque nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido) is an IUCN Category II National Park situated in the Pyrenees of Huesca province, Aragon, Spain. There has been a National Park in the Ordesa Valley since 1918. Its protected area was enlarged in 1982 to cover the whole region amounting to 156.08 km².

The most important species of the Park was the bucardo or Pyrenean ibex which unfortunately went extinct in January 2000 in spite of preservation efforts. The Pyrenean chamois is a type of goat. There are other species such as the marmot, boar and the Pyrenean desman or water-mole (Galemys pyrenaicus), and great birds like the golden eagle, the bearded vulture, the griffon vulture, hawks, and the royal owl. - in: wikipedia

Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada

Granada is one of the most popular touristic attractions in Spain, and no wonder... the decorations of the Alhambra palace are insanely beautiful!

Alhambra

This postcard was sent by Belén

The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It was originally constructed as a small fortress in AD 889 on the remains of Roman fortifications, and then largely ignored until its ruins were renovated and rebuilt in the mid-13th century by the Moorish emir Mohammed ben Al-Ahmar of the Emirate of Granada, who built its current palace and walls. It was converted into a royal palace in 1333 by Yusuf I, Sultan of Granada. After the conclusion of the Christian Reconquista in 1492, the site became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella (where Christopher Columbus received royal endorsement for his expedition), and the palaces were partially altered to Renaissance tastes. In 1526 Charles I & V commissioned a new Renaissance palace better befitting the Holy Roman Emperor in the revolutionary Mannerist style influenced by Humanist philosophy in direct juxtaposition with the Nasrid Andalusian architecture, but which was ultimately never completed due to Morisco rebellions in Granada. - in: wikipedia

Court of the Lions

This postcard was sent from Germany by Marion

The Court of the Lions (Patio de los Leones) is an oblong courtyard, 116 ft (35 m) in length by 66 ft (20 m) in width, surrounded by a low gallery supported on 124 white marble columns. A pavilion projects into the court at each extremity, with filigree walls and a light domed roof. The square is paved with coloured tiles and the colonnade with white marble, while the walls are covered 5 ft (1.5 m) up from the ground with blue and yellow tiles, with a border above and below of enamelled blue and gold. The columns supporting the roof and gallery are irregularly placed. They are adorned by varieties of foliage, etc.; about each arch there is a large square of stucco arabesques; and over the pillars is another stucco square of filigree work.

In the centre of the court is the Fountain of Lions, an alabaster basin supported by the figures of twelve lions in white marble, not designed with sculptural accuracy but as symbols of strength, power, and sovereignty. Each hour one lion would produce water from its mouth. - in: wikipedia

Sala de las dos Hermanas

This postcard was sent by Manu

The Sala de las dos Hermanas (Hall of the two Sisters), so-called from two white marble slabs laid as part of the pavement. These slabs measure 500 by 220 cm (15 by 7½ ft). There is a fountain in the middle of this hall, and the roof — a dome honeycombed with tiny cells, all different, and said to number 5000 — is an example of the "stalactite vaulting" of the Moors. - in: wikipedia

Generalife

This postcard was sent by Belén

The Palacio de Generalife was the summer palace and country estate of the Nasrid rulers of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus, now beside the city of Granada in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.

The palace and gardens were built during the reign of Muhammad III (1302–1309) and redecorated shortly after by Abu I-Walid Isma'il (1313–1324). Much of the garden is a recent reconstruction of dubious authenticity. - in: wikipedia

Albayzín

This postcard was sent by Belén

The Albaicín or Albayzín as it was known under Muslim rule, is a district of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It retains the narrow winding streets of its Medieval Moorish past dating back to the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. - in: wikipedia

Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape

This site comprises areas that were important in the industrial revolution, spanning Cornwall and West Devon

Wheal Coates

This postcard was sent by Lucy

Wheal Coates is a former tin mine situated on the north coast of Cornwall, England, UK, on the cliff tops between Porthtowan and St Agnes.

Earliest records indicate a mine at the site since 1692. The present mine opened in 1802 and was closed in 1889 when the price of tin fell. It came into full production in 1815. Flooding and bringing ore to the surface were the main problems of the mine until steam-driven equipment was available, as the mine's underground operations extended for some distance under the sea. The mine was sold in 1844 and thereafter allowed to flood. A new owner reopened the mine in 1872 but work was sporadic until its 1889 closure. For some years, the yield was 20lb of tin per ton of ore. In 1906, new ownership hoped to work the mine for both tin and copper. Wheal Coates had produced a small amount of copper ore, more than a century earlier. - in: wikipedia

The comprised areas (in red what I have):

• St Just Mining District
• The Port of Hayle
• Tregonning and Gwinear Mining Districts with Trewavas 
• Wendron Mining District
• Camborne and Redruth Mining District with Wheal Peevor and Portreath Harbour 
• Gwennap Mining District with Devoran and Perran and Kennall Vale
• St Agnes Mining District
• The Luxulyan Valley and Charlestown 
• Caradon Mining District
• Tamar Valley Mining District with Tavistock 

Derwent Valley Mills

I received this card about one year ago and at the time, I don't know why, I thought it was from a site that I already had, but yesterday I realized that actually it was in my missing list! Great surprise!

The Silk Mill

This postcard was sent by Gosia

The Derwent valley, upstream from Derby on the southern edge of the Pennines, contains a series of 18th and 19th century cotton mills and an industrial landscape of high historical and technological significance. It began with the construction of the Silk Mill in Derby in 1721 for the brothers John and Thomas Lombe, which housed machinery for throwing silk, based on an Italian design. The scale, output, and numbers of workers employed were without precedent. However, it was not until Richard Arkwright constructed a water-powered spinning mill at Cromford in 1771, and a second, larger mill in 1776-77 that the "Arkwright System" was truly established. The workers' housing associated with this and the other mills are intact and span 24km of the Derwent valley from the edge of Matlock Bath in the north nearly to the centre of Derby in the south. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1030

Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd

I already have one postcard with all the four castles, but they are so great that I wouldn't mind to have one postcard for each castle. I'm only missing three!

Caernarfon, Conwy, Beaumaris and Harlech Castles

This postcard was sent by Tündi

The four castles of Beaumaris, Conwy, Caernarfon, Harlech and the attendant fortified towns at Conwy and Caernarfon in Gwynedd, North Wales, are the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe, as demonstrated through their completeness, pristine state, evidence for organized domestic space, and extraordinary repertory of their medieval architectural form.

The castles as a stylistically coherent group are a supreme example of medieval military architecture designed and directed by James of St George (c. 1230-1309), King Edward I of England’s chief architect, and the greatest military architect of the age. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/374/

Beaumaris Castle

Beaumaris Castle, located in the town of the same name on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, was built as part of Edward I's campaign to conquer the north of Wales after 1282. Plans were probably first made to construct the castle in 1284, but this was delayed due to lack of funds and work only began in 1295 following the Madog ap Llywelyn uprising. A substantial workforce was employed in the initial years under the direction of James of St George.

Beaumaris Castle was never fully built, but had it been completed it would probably have closely resembled Harlech Castle. Both castles are concentric in plan, with walls within walls, although Beaumaris is the more regular in design. - in: wikipedia

The four castles:

• Beaumaris Castle
• Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls
• Conwy Castle and Town Walls
• Harlech Castle