Castel del Monte

This postcard arrived a few days before Christmas and it was a true anticipated gift! It's been a while that I was looking for a postcard of this castle with an unusual shape.

Castel del Monte

This postcard was sent by Cristina

Castel del Monte, located in the municipality of Andria, rises on a rocky hill dominating the surrounding countryside of the Murgia region in southern Italy near the Adriatic Sea. A unique piece of medieval architecture, it was completed in 1240. The castle’s location, its perfect octagonal shape, as well as the mathematical and astronomical precision of its layout all reflect the broad education and cultural vision of its founder, Emperor Frederick II. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/398

Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato

This is an area of very good Italian wine, cheese and truffles. A nice place for the views and for the stomach 

Route of Barolo and Barbaresco

This postcard was sent by Gian Luca

The vineyard landscapes of Langhe-Roero and Monferrato in Piedmont consist of a selection of five distinct winegrowing areas and a castle, whose names evoke profound and ancient expertise in the relationship between man and his environment. They reflect a slowly developed association between a diverse range of soils, grape varieties that are often native, and suitable winemaking processes. They offer panoramas of carefully cultivated hillsides, following ancient land divisions punctuated with buildings that lend structure to the visual space: hilltop villages, castles, Romanesque churches, farms, ciabots, cellars and storehouses for cellaring and for the commercial distribution of the wine in the small towns and larger towns on the margins of the vineyards. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1390/

Langhe - Castiglione Falletto

This postcard was sent by Gian Luca

The Langhe is a hilly area to the south and east of the river Tanaro in the province of Cuneo in Piedmont, northern Italy.

It is famous for its wines, cheeses, and truffles.

Its vineyards constitute an outstanding example of man’s interaction with his natural environment. Following a long and slow evolution of winegrowing expertise, the best possible adaptation of grape varieties to land with specific soil and climatic components has been carried out, which in itself is related to winemaking expertise, thereby becoming an international benchmark. - in: wikipedia

Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area

The Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area are the earliest Buddhist monuments in Japan

Horyu-ji

This postcard was sent by Yukie

There are around 48 Buddhist monuments in the Horyu-ji area, in Nara Prefecture. Several date from the late 7th or early 8th century, making them some of the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world. These masterpieces of wooden architecture are important not only for the history of art, since they illustrate the adaptation of Chinese Buddhist architecture and layout to Japanese culture, but also for the history of religion, since their construction coincided with the introduction of Buddhism to Japan from China by way of the Korean peninsula. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/660

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest caldera and it was formed two to three million years ago

Ngorongo Crater

This postcard was sent by Emerich

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area spans vast expanses of highland plains, savanna, savanna woodlands and forests. Established in 1959 as a multiple land use area, with wildlife coexisting with semi-nomadic Maasai pastoralists practicing traditional livestock grazing, it includes the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest caldera. The property has global importance for biodiversity conservation due to the presence of globally threatened species, the density of wildlife inhabiting the area, and the annual migration of wildebeest, zebra, gazelles and other animals into the northern plains. Extensive archaeological research has also yielded a long sequence of evidence of human evolution and human-environment dynamics, including early hominid footprints dating back 3.6 million years. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/39

Kilimanjaro National Park

The Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and is part of the Kilimanjaro National Park

Kilimanjaro

This postcard was sent by Emerich

Kilimanjaro National Park is a Tanzanian national park, located 300 kilometres (190 mi) south of the equator and in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. The park is located near the city of Moshi. The park includes the whole of Mount Kilimanjaro above the tree line and the surrounding montane forest belt above 1,820 metres (5,970 ft).

A variety of animals can be found in the park. Above the timberline, the Kilimanjaro tree hyrax, the grey duiker, and rodents are frequently encountered. The bushbuck and red duiker appear above the timberline in places. Cape buffaloes are found in the montane forest and occasionally in the moorland and grassland. Elephants can be found between the Namwai and Tarakia rivers and sometimes occur at higher elevations. In the montane forests, blue monkeys, western black and white colobuses, bushbabies, and leopards can be found. - in: wikipedia

Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the Subak System as a Manifestation of the Tri Hita Karana Philosophy

This site gave me a real big headache! There are a lot of temples and rice fields in Bali and when this site was inscribed, not very long ago, there were a lot of postcrossers offering and collecting any water temple or any rice field in Bali as part of this site. I realized later that is not like that and the card I had brought me serious doubts. Then I received two more postcards and after some research I think that the first postcard of this post is part of the Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun, the second is part of Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed and the third, which was the first I received, is not part of the protected area. Forgive me if I'm wrong... 

Taman Ayun Temple

This postcard was sent by Emerich

Taman Ayun literally translates as ‘beautiful garden’ and is generally regarded as one of the most attractive temples of Bali. The Taman Ayun temple is situated in a beautiful park with trees and ponds, near the village of Mengwi in the south of Bali at about 8 km southwest of Ubud and 18 km northwest of Denpasar.

Pura Taman Ayun was built in 1634 by the Raja of Mengwi, I Gusti Agung Putu. It is a socalled Pura Kawiten or family temple, a special temple where the deified ancestors of the Raja Dynasty of Mengwi and important gods of other temples are honored. - in: https://www.wonderfulbali.com/taman-ayun-temple/

Tirta Empul

This postcard was sent by Shinta

Tirta Empul, Bali, is one of the largest and busiest water temples in Indonesia. The temple was founded in 926 A.D. and is dedicated to Vishnu, who is the Hindu God of water. The name of the temple actually means ‘holy water spring’ in Balinese.

Tirta Empul is located close to the town of Tampaksiring in the village of Manukaya. - in: http://discoveryourindonesia.com/tirta-empul-bali/

Karangasem Rice Field

The five protected areas (in red what I have):

• Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur
• Lake Batur
• Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed
• Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru
• Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun

High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago

In the year 2000 the High Coast in Sweden was inscribed as a World Heritage site and in 2006 the site was extended to Finland. So far I only have the Finnish side

Kvarken Archipelago

This postcard was sent by Sini

Kvarken is the narrow region in the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay (the inner part of the gulf) from the Bothnian Sea.

On the Finnish side of Kvarken, there is a large archipelago, the Kvarken Archipelago, which includes the large islands Replot, Björkö and a large number of smaller islands. - in: wikipedia