L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site

This sites proves that Europeans were in North America before Columbus

L'Anse aux Meadows

This postcard was sent by Julie

L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site contains the excavated remains of a complete 11th-century Viking settlement, the earliest evidence of Europeans in North America. Situated at the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula of the island of Newfoundland, this exceptional archaeological site consists of eight timber-framed turf structures built in the same style as those found in Norse Greenland and Iceland from the same period. The buildings include three dwellings, one forge and four workshops, on a narrow terrace overlooking a peat bog and small brook near the shore of Epaves Bay in the Straight of Belle Isle.

Artifacts found at the site show evidence of activities including iron production and woodworking, likely used for ship repair, as well as indications that those who used the camp voyaged further south. - in: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/4

Vatican City

There is a Portuguese expression for those who go somewhere and don't visit the main attraction or don't taste a typical dish, that says that is like going to Rome and not seeing the pope. I don't know if the senders of these cards saw the pope but I'm sure they enjoyed the trip

St. Peter's Square and the Basilica

This postcard was sent by Martinha

St. Peter's Square (Italian: Piazza San Pietro) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighbourhood or rione of Borgo.

St. Peter's Square and the Basilica

This postcard was sent by Anna

At the centre of the square is an ancient Egyptian obelisk, erected at the current site in 1586. Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed the square almost 100 years later, including the massive Tuscan colonnades, four columns deep, which embrace visitors in "the maternal arms of Mother Church". A granite fountain constructed by Bernini in 1675 matches another fountain designed by Carlo Maderno in 1613. - in: wikipedia

St. Peter's Square and the Basilica

This postcard was sent by José "PilotOne"

The Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply St. Peter's Basilica, is an Italian Renaissance church in Vatican City, the papal enclave within the city of Rome.

Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and one of the largest churches in the world. While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, St. Peter's is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world" and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom". - in: wikipedia

Kizhi Pogost

These churches in an island of the lake Onega are amazing and were built without the use of a single nail! They are one of the landmarks of Russia.

Kizhi Pogost

This postcard was sent by Yulia and Vlad

The architectural ensemble of the Kizhi Pogost is located on a narrow spit in the southern part of Kizhi Island, a small island of the Kizhi Archipelago in Lake Onega. The architectural ensemble includes two 18th-century wooden churches: the Church of the Transfiguration and the Church of the Intercession and an octagonal wooden bell tower built in 1862 and considerably reconstructed in 1874.

Church of the Transfiguration

This postcard was sent by Lidiya

The Church of the Transfiguration is a monument with exceptional architectural and structural features. It has no parallel in either Russian or global wooden architecture. Considered by locals as the true wonder of the world, it gave birth to the legend about Master Nestor, who built the 37m high nail-less church using nothing but an axe. The Church of the Transfiguration was used during the summer, when the faithful journeyed from the outermost regions of the parish to attend services. A dendrochronogical study of the materials sets its construction date after 1713-14. The octagon, which defines the composition of the cruciform church, is extended by oblong bays facing the four cardinal points. The nave, flanked with side aisles, is preceded on the west by a projecting narthex reached via two staircases. 

Church of the Transfiguration

Thhis postcard was sent by Anna

The height of the Church of the Transfiguration, whose central cupola culminates at 37m, is a masterpiece of a multi-storey, multi-cupola, and single-block structure. Here, over a central volume covered with three octagonal frames, the architect placed bochkas (roofs whose peak is shaped like a horizontal cylinder with the upper surface extended into a pointed ridge) topped with 22 bulbous cupolas. Inside, under the so-called 'heaven' - a superb vault shaped like a truncated pyramid - there is a gilded wood iconostasis holding 102 icons from the 17th and 18th centuries. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/544

Kizhi Pogost

This postcard was sent by Natalia

Ischigualasto / Talampaya Natural Parks

This is my second postcard from Argentina that shows more than one UNESCO site. On the top there's Quebrada de Humahuaca but I already had one card from there. On the bottom corners there's Talampaya National Park and Ischigualasto Provincial Park, from where I didn't have postcards, until now :)

Talampaya and Ischigualsto (bottom corners)

This postcard was sent from Brazil by Paulo

Ischigualasto-Talampaya Natural Parks are located in the northern part of central Argentina comprised of two adjoining protected areas. These are Ischigualasto Provincial Park (60,369 hectares) in San Juan Province and Talampaya National Park (215,000 hectares) in Rioja Province, jointly covering 275,369 hectares west of the Sierras Pampeanas. The property is situated within Argentina's Monte ecoregion, a warm scrub desert along the Eastern Andean foothills. Against the backdrop of an attractive mountain landscape the property is a scientific treasure of global importance. It harbours the sedimentary Ischigualasto-Villa Union Triassic Basin, consisting of continental sediments deposited during the entire Triassic Period. This Basin boasts an exceptionally complete record and sequence of plant and animal life in the geological period from roughly 250 to 200 million years ago which represents the origin of both dinosaurs and mammals. Six distinct sedimentary formations contain the fossilised remains of a wide range of ancestral animals and plants revealing the evolution of vertebrates and detailed information on palaeoenvironments over the approximately 50 million years of the Triassic Period, and the dawn of the “Age of the Dinosaurs”. The ongoing scientific discoveries are invaluable for understanding palaeontology and evolutionary biology.

The property is located in an arid region in the rain shadow of the Andes. Further to the significance for research the property has important archaeological values, such as 1500 year-old petroglyphs. Exceptional landscape features include red sandstone cliffs reaching 200 metres in height in Talampaya National Park and, in Ischigualasto Provincial Park, white and multi-coloured sediments creating a stark landscape named “Valle de la Luna" or "Valley of the Moon”. The site has sparse desert vegetation, characterised by xeric shrubs and cactus, with interspersed trees. The desert environment contains several rare and endemic species of flora and fauna. - in: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/966

Archaeological Sites of Mycenae and Tiryns

Mycenae and Tiryns were the two greatest cities of the Mycenaean civilization. 

Treasury of Atreus

This postcard was sent by Elena

The Treasury of Atreus or Tomb of Agamemnon is a large "tholos" tomb on the Panagitsa Hill at Mycenae, Greece, constructed during the Bronze Age around 1250 BC. The lintel stone above the doorway weighs 120 tons, with approximate dimensions 8.3 x 5.2 x 1.2m, the largest in the world. The tomb was used for an unknown period. Mentioned by Pausanias, it was still visible in 1879 when the German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered the shaft graves under the 'agora' in the Acropolis at Mycenae. - in: wikipedia

Tiryns

This postcard was sent from Germany by Svenja

Tiryns is a Mycenaean archaeological site in Argolis in the Peloponnese, and the location from which mythical hero Heracles performed his 12 labors.
Tiryns was a hill fort with occupation ranging back seven thousand years, from before the beginning of the Bronze Age. It reached its height between 1400 and 1200 BC, when it was one of the most important centers of the Mycenaean world, and in particular in Argolis. Its most notable features were its palace, its cyclopean tunnels and especially its walls, which gave the city its Homeric epithet of "mighty walled Tiryns". Tiryns is linked with the myths surrounding Heracles, as the city was the residence of the hero during his labors, and some sources even cite it as his birthplace. - in: wikipedia

Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is one of the most innovating architectural works of the 20th century. 

Sydney Opera House

This postcard was sent by Peter who already performed in the Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, Australia, identified as one of the 20th century's most distinctive buildings.

Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the building was formally opened on 20 October 1973 after a gestation beginning with Utzon's 1957 selection as winner of an international design competition. The government of New South Wales, led by the premier, Joseph Cahill, authorised work to begin in 1958 with Utzon directing construction. The government's decision to build Utzon's design is often overshadowed by circumstances that followed, including cost and scheduling overruns as well as the architect's ultimate resignation.

Sydney Opera House

This postcard was sent by Penny

The facility features a modern expressionist design, with a series of large precast concrete "shells", each composed of sections of a sphere of 75.2 metres (246 ft 8.6 in) radius, forming the roofs of the structure, set on a monumental podium. The building covers 1.8 hectares (4.4 acres) of land and is 183 m (600 ft) long and 120 m (394 ft) wide at its widest point. It is supported on 588 concrete piers sunk as much as 25 m (82 ft) below sea level.

Sydney Opera House (center and top corners)

This postcard was sent by my friend Barbara who is now living and working in Sydney

Although the roof structures are commonly referred to as "shells" (as in this article), they are precast concrete panels supported by precast concrete ribs, not shells in a strictly structural sense. Though the shells appear uniformly white from a distance, they actually feature a subtle chevron pattern composed of 1,056,006 tiles in two colours: glossy white and matte cream. - in: wikipedia

Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex

Dong Phayayen–Khao Yai Forest Complex covers five protected areas: Khao Yai, Thap Lan, Pang Sida and Ta Phraya National Parks, and Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary.

Khao Yai National Park

This postcard was sent by SL

Khao Yai National Park is in the western part of the Sankamphaeng Mountain Range, at the southwestern boundary of the Khorat Plateau. The highest mountain in the area of the park is 1,351 m high Khao Rom.

This park lies largely in Nakhon Ratchasima Province (Khorat), but also includes parts of Saraburi, Prachinburi, and Nakhon Nayok Provinces.

The park is the third largest in Thailand. It covers an area of 300 square kilometers, including tropical seasonal forests and grasslands. Elevations mostly range from 400–1,000 m. There are 3,000 species of plants, 320 species of birds like red junglefowl and coral-billed ground cuckoo, and 66 species of mammals, including Asian black bear, Indian elephant, gaur, gibbon, Indian sambar deer, southern pig-tailed macaque, Indian muntjac, Ussuri dhole, and wild pig. There are no tigers in Khao Yai, and there haven't been any for at least twenty years. Its waterfalls include the 80 metre Heo Narok, and Heo Suwat made famous from the film The Beach.

Recent wildlife studies show that animal ranges, particularly the few resident tigers, are impacted by human activity near the center of the park. This study has not deflected the government's call for private lodging concessions within the park itself. - in: wikipedia