Jelling Mounds, Runic Stones and Church

This site symbolizes the transition from paganism to Christianity in Denmark 

Jelling Church

This postcard was sent by Dorthe

Jelling Church dates back to around 1100 and is the fourth church on the site. The first was a wooden church erected in the eighth century by Harald Bluetooth as a mausoleum to his father, Gorm the Old, whose tomb was discovered under the church in 1978.

The first church was razed by fire and was later replaced by a church in Romanesque style constructed using travertine stone.

Jelling is home to some of Europe’s finest Viking-Age monuments: Denmark’s two largest grave mounds and two rune stones erected in the eighth century by the kings Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth. - in: http://www.visitvejle.com/ln-int/jelling-church-gdk607969

Jelling Stones

This postcard was sent from Germany by Doris

The Jelling stones (Danish: Jellingstenene) are massive carved runestones from the 10th century, found at the town of Jelling in Denmark. The older of the two Jelling stones was raised by King Gorm the Old in memory of his wife Thyra. The larger of the two stones was raised by King Gorm's son, Harald Bluetooth, in memory of his parents, celebrating his conquest of Denmark and Norway, and his conversion of the Danes to Christianity. The runic inscriptions on these stones are considered the best known in Denmark.
The stones are strongly identified with the creation of Denmark as a nation state. Both inscriptions mention the name "Danmark" (in the form of accusative "tanmaurk" ([danmɒrk]) on the large stone, and genitive "tanmarkar" (pronounced [danmarkaɽ]) on the small stone). - in: wikipedia

The par force hunting landscape in North Zealand

This site is a collection of hunting grounds and three forests, all located in the North Zealand peninsula to the north of Copenhagen.

Hermitage Hunting Lodge

This postcard was sent from Germany by Doris

The Hermitage Hunting Lodge (Danish: Eremitageslottet or Eremitagen) is located in Dyrehaven north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The hunting lodge was built by architect Lauritz de Thurah in Baroque style from 1734 to 1736 for Christian VI of Denmark in order to host royal banquets during royal hunts in Dyrehaven.

The area surrounding the building was fenced as Jægersborg Dyrehave on the initiative of Frederick III, beginning in 1699. The project was not completed in his lifetime, and Christian V, who was influenced by the time he had spent at the court of Louis XIV in France, changed the plans for the fencing to include a much larger area in order to facilitate a new style of driven hunt. - in: wikipedia

Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai

This site  is a collection of 19th century Victorian Neo Gothic public buildings and 20th century Art Deco buildings in the area of Mumbai

Rajabai Clock Tower

This postcard was sent by K R Bhat

The Rajabai Clock Tower is a clock tower in South Mumbai India. It is located in the confines of the Fort campus of the University of Mumbai. It stands at a height of 85 m (280 ft or 25 storeys).

The Rajabai Clock Tower was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, an English architect.^[1] He modeled it on Big Ben in London.The foundation stone was laid on 1 March 1869 and construction was completed in November 1878.

The tower was built in a fusion of Venetian and Gothic styles. - in: wikipedia

Engelsberg Ironworks

This site is the best-preserved and most complete example of this type of Swedish ironworks

Forge at Engelsberg Ironworks

This postcard was sent by Doris

Engelsberg Ironworks (Swedish: Engelsbergs bruk) is an ironworks in Ängelsberg, a village in Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland, Sweden. It was built in 1681 by Per Larsson Gyllenhöök (1645-1706) and developed into one of the world's most modern ironworks in the period 1700-1800.

The history of iron production in the region dates back to at least 13th century. The local peasants both mined the ore and produced the iron using primitive furnaces.

In the end of the 16th century more modern production methods were introduced in Engelsberg and production volumes increased substantially in the following decades. - in: wikipedia

Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining

This site encompasses a series 23 historic parts that played an important part in the industrialization of Japan in the Bakumatsu and Meiji periods

Former Kagoshima Spinning Engineers Residence

This postcard was sent by Phoebe

The Kyu-Kagoshima Bosekisho Gishikan (Old Kagoshima Spinning Engineers House) in Kagoshima is, like its many counterparts in other Japanese towns such as the foreigners' houses in Kobe, simply known as Ijinkan, Foreigners Residence.

The Ijinkan was constructed at the end of the Edo Period in 1866 to house seven British engineers.

Following the military engagement between the Royal Navy and the Satsuma shore batteries in 1863, known rather grandiosely as the Anglo Satsuma War, Satsuma (present-day Kagoshima Prefecture) and Britain enjoyed a close relationship. As part of their drive to modernize their domain, a group of students were sent to study in England, even though this was still illegal according to shogunate law. - in: http://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-museums-art-galleries/foreigners-mansion-ijinkan-kagoshima

Hashima Island

This postcard was sent by Akiko

Hashima Island, commonly called Gunkanjima (meaning Battleship Island), is an abandoned island lying about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the city of Nagasaki, in southern Japan. It is one of 505 uninhabited islands in Nagasaki Prefecture. The island's most notable features are its abandoned concrete buildings, undisturbed except by nature, and the surrounding sea wall. While the island is a symbol of the rapid industrialization of Japan, it is also a reminder of its history as a site of forced labor prior to and during the Second World War.

The 6.3-hectare (16-acre) island was known for its undersea coal mines, established in 1887, which operated during the industrialization of Japan. The island reached a peak population of 5,259 in 1959. In 1974, with the coal reserves nearing depletion, the mine was closed and all of the residents departed soon after, leaving the island effectively abandoned for the following three decades. - in: wikipedia

Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion

The last years on the way to Portugal or on the way back to Switzerland I always try to go to a new UNESCO site. This year we stopped in Saint-Emilion. It has very beautiful monuments but it could be cleaner... The wine is absolutely great but very expensive. However, I couldn't waste the chance to taste it ;)

Saint-Emilion

This postcard was sent by João Nogueira

Viticulture was introduced to this fertile region of Aquitaine by the Romans, and intensified in the Middle Ages. The Saint-Emilion area benefited from its location on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela and many churches, monasteries and hospices were built there from the 11th century onwards. It was granted the special status of a 'jurisdiction' during the period of English rule in the 12th century. It is an exceptional landscape devoted entirely to wine-growing, with many fine historic monuments in its towns and villages. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/932/

Saint-Emilion

Saint-Émilion's history goes back to prehistoric times and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with fascinating Romanesque churches and ruins stretching all along steep and narrow streets.

The Romans planted vineyards in what was to become Saint-Émilion as early as the 2nd century. In the 4th century, the Latin poet Ausonius lauded the fruit of the bountiful vine.

The town, previously called Ascumbas, was renamed after the monk Émilion (d.767), a travelling confessor, who settled in a hermitage carved into the rock there in the 8th century. The monks who followed him started up the commercial wine production in the area.

Saint-Emilion

Saint-Émilion is one of the principal red wine areas of Bordeaux along with the Médoc, Graves and Pomerol. The region is much smaller than the Médoc and adjoins Pomerol. As in Pomerol and the other appellations on the right bank of the Gironde, the primary grape varieties used are the Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with relatively small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon also being used by some châteaux.

Saint-Emilion

Saint Émilion wines were not included in the 1855 Bordeaux classification. The first formal classification in Saint-Émilion was made in 1955. Unlike the 1855 classification, it is regularly revised. - in: wikipedia

Chaine des Puys - Limagne fault tectonic arena

I bought this first postcard a few years ago at a gas station without knowing that this place was in the World Heritage tentative list. I'm glad I did it because this year it was inscribed. The volcanoes are visible from the highway where that gas station is located and this year I tried find postcards there again but I only found more in Clermont-Ferrand and that allowed me to see the volcanoes a lot closer

Chaine de Puys

The Chaîne des Puys is a north-south oriented chain of cinder cones, lava domes, and maars in the Massif Central of France. The chain is about 40 km (25 mi) long, and the identified volcanic features include 48 cinder cones, eight lava domes, and 15 maars and explosion craters. Its highest point is the lava dome of Puy de Dôme, located near the middle of the chain, which is 1,465 m (4,806 ft) high.

Chaine de Puys

The chain began to form approximately 95, 000 years ago, and the volcanic activity that formed the range stopped only about 10,000 years ago. The majority of the cones were formed by Strombolian eruptions, and these cones usually have well-defined summit craters. Some have nested craters, and others show broken rims where lava poured through.

In contrast, Puy de Dôme was created by a Peléan eruption; this type of eruption is characterized by long dormant periods periodically interrupted by sudden, extremely violent eruptions. - in: wikipedia