Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe

This site used to be shared by three countries but recently UNESCO extended it to nine more. As if it wasn't already hard enough to get postcards of the previous three...

Jasmund National Park

This postcard was sent by Gerald

The Jasmund National Park (German: Nationalpark Jasmund) is a nature reserve on the Jasmund peninsula, in the northeast of Rügen island in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is famous for containing the largest chalk cliffs in Germany, the Königsstuhl (German = "king's chair"). These cliffs are up to 161 m (528 ft) above the Baltic Sea. The beech forests behind the cliffs are also part of the national park.

Wissower Klinken in Jasmund National Park

This postcard was sent by Michèle

The chalk cliffs face constant erosion. With every storm, parts of the cliffs fall, including rocks and fossils of sponges, oysters and sea urchins.

The most majestic part of the cliffs is the Königsstuhl (English: king's chair) which stands at 118 m (387 ft). One of the most scenic and best known of the chalk outcrops, the Wissower Klinken, collapsed into the Baltic Sea on February 24, 2005, in a landslide caused by spring-thaw weather conditions. - in: wikipedia

Grumsin Forest

This postcard was sent by Carola

Buchenwald Grumsin World Heritage Natural Site - the largest nature development area of the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve. What is special about the 670-hectare nature reserve between the A 11 motorway Berlin-Prenzlau and the city of Angermünde is not only that there are old beech trees, but also a typical landscape shaped by glaciers dating back to the last glacial period (about 10,000 to 15,000 years ago) with deep valleys and rugged heights, resembling mountains with numerous lakes and marshlands. - in: http://www.brandenburg-tourism.com/detail/id/17724/theme/a-z.html

Parco Nazionale delle Casentinesi

This postcard was sent by Sini

The Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona, Campigna is a national park in Italy. Created in 1993, it covers an area of about 368 square kilometres (142 sq mi), on the two sides of the Apennine watershed between Romagna and Tuscany, and is divided between the provinces of Forlì Cesena, Arezzo and Florence.

A large part of the park is woodland. In the park are areas the mountain vegetation, all types of woodland of the lower sub-mountain belt vegetation. In the forest dominated by hornbeams, turkey oaks and sessile oaks, chestnut woods (especially in the Camaldoli area and at Castagno d’Andrea on the Florentine side). In rocky places there are some of remaining rare cork oaks . - in: wikipedia

Spain's Beech Forests

This postcard was sent by Javier

Beech forest of Castilla – La Mancha: the Tejera Negra beech forest is 150 kilometres from Madrid, and you will need to reserve a parking space in advance. There are two circular walking routes and a visitors’ centre.Beech forest of the Community of Madrid: the Montejo beech forest, about 100 kilometres from Madrid, includes part of the Sierra del Rincón Biosphere Reserve. Booking is essential, and you can do it up to three months in advance.Beech forests of Navarre: the Lizardoia beech forest is part of the popular Irati Forest, and close to its visitors’ centre (Casa de Irati, in Ochagavía), which organises guided tours and offers information on mountain bike routes. The Aztaparreta beech forest is part of the Roncal Valley and very close to the Larra-Belagua ski resort, in the heart of the Pyrenees.Beech forests of Castilla y León: the beech forests of Cuesta Fría and Canal de Asotín are in León’s share of the Picos de Europa National Park. The park hiking route “Through the villages of Sajambre” covers the beech forest area and is an easy walk. It is about 125 kilometres from the cities of Oviedo and León. - in: https://www.spain.info/en/que-quieres/naturaleza/espacios-naturales/hayedos-patrimonio-mundial-espana.html#

Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine

This postcard was sent by Balyna

The Carpathian Mountains are a mountain range system forming an arc roughly 1,500 km (932 mi) long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe.

Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine 

This postcard was sent by Marco

They provide the habitat for the largest European populations of brown bears, wolves, chamois and lynxes. in: wikipedia

I'm still missing postcards from Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia

Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata

This site is shows how insignificant we can be against nature's wrath

Pompeii - The Civil Forum

This postcard was sent from Austria by Ingrid

Pompeii was an ancient Roman city near modern Naples in the Campania region of Italy, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Volcanic ash typically buried inhabitants who did not escape the lethal effects of the earthquake and eruption.

Largely preserved under the ash, the excavated city offers a unique snapshot of Roman life, frozen at the moment it was buried and providing an extraordinarily detailed insight into the everyday life of its inhabitants. Organic remains, including wooden objects and human bodies, were entombed in the ash and decayed away, making natural molds; and excavators used these to make plaster casts, unique and often gruesome figures from the last minutes of the catastrophe. - in: wikipedia

Villa dei Misteri

This postcard was sent from Poland by Ania

The Villa of the Mysteries (Italian: Villa dei Misteri) is a well-preserved suburban Roman villa on the outskirts of Pompeii, southern Italy, famous for the series of frescos in one room, which are usually thought to show the initiation of a young woman into a Greco-Roman mystery cult. These are now probably the best known of the relatively rare survivals of Ancient Roman painting. Like the rest of the Roman city of Pompeii, the villa was buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 and excavated from 1909 onwards (long after much of the main city).

There are many different interpretations of the frescoes, but they are commonly believed to depict a religious rite. Another common theory is that the frescoes depict a bride initiating into the Dionysian Mysteries in preparation for marriage. In this hypothesis, the elaborate costume worn by the main figure is believed to be wedding apparel. - in: wikipedia

The seven inscribed areas (in red what I have)

• Pompeii
• Villa dei Misteri (Pompei)
• Herculaneum
• Villa dei Papiri (Herculaneum)
• Theatre of Herculaneum
• Torre Annunziata: Villa A
• Torre Annunziata: Villa B

Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh

I love castles and I wouldn't mind, nothing at all, to visit this one at Belarus!

Nesvizh Castle

This postcard was sent by Natalia

Nesvizh Palace is considered the country’s most beautiful palace by the people of Belarus. Its richly diverse architecture and attractive gardens make it one of the most popular tourist attractions in Belarus.

Nesvizh Palace is on the Nesvizh Estate, one of the oldest settlements and most famous places in Belarus. Nesvizh is in the Minsk region of Belarus, approximately 120km south-west of Minsk.

Nesvizh Castle

This postcard with a Postcrossing stamp was sent by Marina

The estate and town was acquired by the Radziwil family in the middle of the 16th century, and they stayed there until 1939 when they were expelled by the invading Red Army.
The foundation stone of Nesvizh Palace was laid in 1584. It was rebuilt many times and as a consequence has features of many architectural styles.

Nesvizh Castle

This postcard with a great stamp showing UNESCO sites from Belarus was sent by Natalia

In the late 19th century Nesvizh Palace was restored by the Radziwil family who also designed one of largest landscape gardens in Europe on the estate.
After World War 2 Nesvizh Palace was used as a Sanatorium and the gardens became neglected.
In 1994 the estate was designated the national historical and cultural reserve and in 2006 it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. - in: https://www.belarus.by/en/travel/belarus-life/nesvizh-palace

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