Old City of Salamanca

I returned recently from Portugal and on the way back I stopped in Salamanca, Spain. It was raining a lot but it was worth it. The city is beautiful and the New Cathedral is one of the most beautiful cathedrals that I have ever seen! Too bad that the visit was too short...

Salamanca

Salamanca is an ancient university town situated in the west of Spain in the Autonomous Community of Castilla and León. The Carthaginians first conquered the city in the 3rd century B.C. It then became a Roman settlement before being ruled by the Moors until the 11th century. The university, one of the oldest in Europe, reached its high point during Salamanca's Golden Age. 

Plaza Mayor and Clerecía Church

The city's historic centre has important Romanesque, Gothic, Moorish, Renaissance, and Baroque monuments. The Plaza Mayor, with its galleries and arcades, is particularly impressive. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/381

Plaza Mayor

The Plaza Mayor (English Main Plaza) in Salamanca, Spain is a large plaza located in the center of Salamanca, used as a public square. It was built in the traditional Spanish baroque style and is a popular gathering area. It is lined by restaurants, ice cream parlors, tourist shops, jewelry stores and a pharmacy along its perimeter except in front of the city hall. It is considered the heart of Salamanca and is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful plazas in Spain. - in: wikipedia

Old and New Cathedrals of Salamanca

Salamanca has two cathedrals, the Old Cathedral, of the 12th century and of Romanesque style, and the New Cathedral, much larger, built in the 16th century of Gothic style and completed in the 18th century. The place where they both join is known as Patio Chico and is one of the most charming corners of the city. - in: wikipedia

Roman Bridge and the Cathedrals

The Roman bridge of Salamanca (in Spanish: Puente romano de Salamanca), also known as Puente Mayor del Tormes is a Romanbridge crossing the Tormes River on the banks of the city of Salamanca, in Castile and León, Spain. The importance of the bridge as a symbol of the city can be seen in the first quartering of city's coat of arms (along with its stone bull-verraco.) - in: wikipedia

Frog on the Skull - University of Salamanca

The University of Salamanca (Spanish: Universidad de Salamanca) is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the city of Salamanca, west of Madrid, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It was founded in 1134 and given the Royal charter of foundation by King Alfonso IX in 1218. It is the oldest founded university in Spain and the third oldest university in the world in continuous operations. The formal title of "University" was granted by King Alfonso X in 1254 and recognized by Pope Alexander IV in 1255. - in: wikipedia

It seems that the skull would represent Prince Juan (son of the Catholic Kings), who died in 1497 before turning 20, despite the many efforts of his doctor. The frog would represent the physician who treated him, Doctor Parra, giving the frog its nickname of “Parrita” (Little Parra). - in: http://www.culturaltravelguide.com/salamanca-mysterious-hidden-carvings

Clerecía Church

La Clerecía: currently houses the Pontifical University. Building started in 1617 and was completed 150 years later as the Colegio Real del Espíritu Santo, of the Society of Jesus. The style is Baroque. It difference the school, with an interesting cloister and the church, with an impressive façade of three bodies, two twin towers of 50 meters high and a huge dome. The Clerecía name is because it belonged to the Real Clerecía de San Marcos after the expulsion of the Jesuits. - in: wikipedia

Casa de las Conchas

The Casa de las Conchas is a historical building in Salamanca, central Spain. It currently houses a public library.

It was built from 1493 to 1517 by Rodrigo Arias de Maldonado, a knight of the Order of Santiago de Compostela and a professor in the University of Salamanca. Its most peculiar feature is the façade, mixing late Gothic and Plateresque style, decorated with more than 300 shells, symbol of the order of Santiago, as well as of the pilgrims performing the Way of St. James. In the façade are also the coat of arms of the Catholic Monarchs and four windows in Gothic style, each one having a different shape. - in: wikipedia

Heard and McDonald Islands

I really love this postcard! These penguins are so cool!

King penguins at Heard Island

This postcard was sent by Xue

Heard and McDonald Islands are remote sub-Antarctic volcanic islands located in the southern Indian Ocean about half-way between Australia and South Africa, and just over 1,600 kilometres from Antarctica. The islands are a unique wilderness, containing outstanding examples of biological and physical processes continuing in an environment essentially undisturbed by humans. 

Heard Island is dominated by Big Ben (an active volcano rising to a height of 2,745 metres), and is largely covered by snow and glaciers.

The large populations of marine birds and mammals, combined with a virtual absence of introduced species, provide a unique arena for the maintenance of biological and evolutionary processes. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/577/

Macquarie Island

The Macquarie Island has a very rich wildlife, including penguins and seals

Macquarie Island - Pleurophyllum Hookeri

This postcard was sent by Xue

Macquarie Island (34 km long x 5 km wide) is an oceanic island in the Southern Ocean, lying 1,500 km south-east of Tasmania and approximately halfway between Australia and the Antarctic continent. 

King penguins and Spaniel dog at Macquarie Island 

This postcard was sent by Helen

The island is the exposed crest of the undersea Macquarie Ridge, raised to its present position where the Indo-Australian tectonic plate meets the Pacific plate. It is a site of major geoconservation significance, being the only place on earth where rocks from the earth’s mantle (6 km below the ocean floor) are being actively exposed above sea-level. These unique exposures include excellent examples of pillow basalts and other extrusive rocks. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/629/

Messel Pit Fossil Site

Fossils of over 1000 species of plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes and insects can be found in this site 

Messel Pit

This postcard was sent from Switzerland by Isa

Messel Pit is the richest site in the world for understanding the living environment of the Eocene, between 57 million and 36 million years ago. In particular, it provides unique information about the early stages of the evolution of mammals and includes exceptionally well-preserved mammal fossils, ranging from fully articulated skeletons to the contents of stomachs of animals of this period. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/720

Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau

Bauhaus was one of the most important movements of the modern architecture, but I'm not a big fan of the style

Bauhaus sites in Dessau

Between 1919 and 1933, the Bauhaus School, based first in Weimar and then in Dessau, revolutionized architectural and aesthetic concepts and practices. The buildings created and decorated by the School’s professors (Henry van de Velde, Walter Gropius, Hannes Meyer, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Wassily Kandinsky) launched the Modern Movement, which shaped much of the architecture of the 20th century and beyond. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/729/

Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin

When a UNESCO site is formed by two or more places or buildings I like to have a postcard of each or a multi-view that shows them all. But when a site, like this one, is formed by 150 buildings, well, I'm not gonna say that it's impossible, but it would take some time to collect them all! However it's not imperial to cross it from my missing list.

Sanssouci Palace

Sanssouci is the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. It is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. While Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and is far smaller than its French Baroque counterpart, it too is notable for the numerous temples and follies in the park. The palace was designed/built by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff between 1745 and 1747 to fulfill King Frederick's need for a private residence where he could relax away from the pomp and ceremony of the Berlin court. The palace's name emphasises this; it is a French phrase (sans souci), which translates as "without concerns", meaning "without worries" or "carefree", symbolising that the palace was a place for relaxation rather than a seat of power. - in: wikipedia

Chinese House at Sanssouci Park

The Chinese House (German: Chinesisches Haus) is a garden pavilion in Sanssouci Park in Potsdam, Germany. Frederick the Great had it built, about seven hundred metres southwest of the Sanssouci Summer Palace, to adorn his flower and vegetable garden. The garden architect was Johann Gottfried Büring, who between 1755 and 1764 designed the pavilion in the then-popular style of Chinoiserie, a mixture of ornamental rococo elements and parts of Chinese architecture. - in: wikipedia

New Palace

The New Palace (German: Neues Palais) is a palace situated on the western side of the Sanssouci park in Potsdam, Germany. The building was begun in 1763, after the end of the Seven Years' War, under King Friedrich II (Frederick the Great) and was completed in 1769. It is considered to be the last great Prussian baroque palace. - in: wikipedia

Cecilienhof Palace

Cecilienhof Palace (German: Schloss Cecilienhof) is a palace in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany built from 1914 to 1917. Cecilienhof was the last palace built by the House of Hohenzollern that ruled the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire until the end of World War I. It is famous for having been the location of the Potsdam Conference in 1945, in which the leaders of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States took important decisions affecting the shape of post World War II Europe and Asia. - in: wikipedia

Pfaueninsel Castle

Pfaueninsel ("Peacock Island") is an island in the River Havel situated in Berlin-Wannsee, in southwestern Berlin, near the border with Potsdam and Brandenburg. The island is part of the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In 1793, the Prussian king Frederick William II, a descendant of Frederick William I, acquired the island and had the Pfaueninsel castle built for himself and his mistress Wilhelmine Enke in 1794-1797. The small Lustschloss was placed on the western tip of the island, visible from the king's residence at the Marmorpalais in Potsdam. - in: wikipedia

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