Old Town of Ávila with its Extra-Muros Churches

Ávila is known as the Town of Stones and Saints because of the large number of Romanesque and Gothic churches

Ávila

The city of Ávila is located in the centre of Spain, in the Autonomous Community of Castile and León. Founded in the 11th century to protect the Spanish territories from the Moors, this 'City of Saints and Stones' has maintained its medieval austerity, and is the birthplace of St Teresa and burial place of the Grand Inquisitor, Torquemada. This purity of form can still be seen in the Gothic cathedral and fortifications that, with their 87 semi-circular towers and nine gates, is the most complete found in Spain. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/348

Walls of Ávila

This postcard was sent from Portugal by Joana

The Walls of Ávila in central Spain, completed between the 11th and 14th centuries, are the city's principal historic feature.

The work was started in 1090 but most of the walls appear to have been rebuilt in the 12th century. The enclosed area is an irregular rectangle of 31 hectares with a perimeter of some 2,516 meters,including 88 semicircular towers. The walls have an average breadth of 3 metres and an average height of 12 metres. The nine gates were completed over several different periods. The Puerta de San Vicente (Gate of St Vincent) and Puerta del Alcazar (Gate of the Fortress) are flanked by twin towers, 20 metres high, linked by a semicircular arch. The apse of the cathedral also forms one of the towers. in: wikipedia

Plaza de Santa Teresa and Church of San Pedro

This postcard was sent by José

The church of Saint Peter is located outside the town walls in the Plaza de Mercado Grande at the door of the Alcazar. Presents analogous with that of San Vicente. - in: wikipedia

Plaza de Santa Teresa

This postcard was sent by Marco

Wachau Cultural Landscape

I always prefer my postcards written, even if they are sent in an envelope. If they come unwritten I don't mind, the problem is that sometimes I don't remember who sent them. It's the case of the last two. The first was sent this last Christmas by Marco.

Wachaw

The Wachau is an Austrian valley with a picturesque landscape formed by the Danube river. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations of Lower Austria, located midway between the towns of Melk and Krems that also attracts "connoisseurs and epicureans" for its high-quality wines. It is 40 kilometres (25 mi) in length and was already settled in prehistoric times. A well-known place and tourist attraction is Dürnstein, where King Richard the Lion-Heart of England was held captive by Duke Leopold V. The architectural elegance of its ancient monasteries (Melk Abbey and Göttweig Abbey), castles and ruins combined with the urban architecture of its towns and villages, and the cultivation of vines as an important agricultural produce are the dominant features of the valley. - in: wikipedia

Melk

Melk is a city of Austria, in the federal state of Lower Austria, next to the Wachau valley along the Danube. Melk has a population of 5,257 (as of 2012). It is best known as the site of a massive baroque Benedictine monastery named Melk Abbey. - in: wikipedia

Krems/Stein

Krems an der Donau is a town in Austria, in the federal state of Lower Austria. It is the fifth-largest city of Lower Austria and is approximately 70 kilometres (43 miles) west of Vienna.

Krems is located at the confluence of the Krems and Danube Rivers at the eastern end of Wachau valley, in the southern Waldviertel. - in: wikipedia

Kinabalu Park

This was one of the first national parks of Malaysia and the first Malaysia's world heritage site designated by UNESCO

Kinabalu Park

This postcard was sent by Zoe

Kinabalu Park, in the State of Sabah on the northern end of the island of Borneo, is dominated by Mount Kinabalu (4,095 m), the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea. It has a very wide range of habitats, from rich tropical lowland and hill rainforest to tropical mountain forest, sub-alpine forest and scrub on the higher elevations. It has been designated as a Centre of Plant Diversity for Southeast Asia and is exceptionally rich in species with examples of flora from the Himalayas, China, Australia, Malaysia, as well as pan-tropical flora. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1012

Mount Kinabalu

This postcard was sent by Mary

Mount Kinabalu (Malay: Gunung Kinabalu) is a mountain in Sabah, Malaysia. It is protected as Kinabalu Park, a World Heritage Site. Kinabalu is the highest peak in Borneo's Crocker Range and is the highest mountain in the Malay Archipelago as well as the highest mountain in Malaysia. - in: wikipedia

Mount Kinabalu

This postcard was sent by Faiza

Historic and Architectural Complex of the Kazan Kremlin

The Kazan Kremlin is a historic citadel built on the ruins of a castle

Kazan Kremlin

Built on an ancient site, the Kazan Kremlin dates from the Muslim period of the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate. It was conquered by Ivan the Terrible in 1552 and became the Christian See of the Volga Land. The only surviving Tatar fortress in Russia and an important place of pilgrimage, the Kazan Kremlin consists of an outstanding group of historic buildings dating from the 16th to 19th centuries, integrating remains of earlier structures of the 10th to 16th centuries. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/980/

Cathedral of the Annunciation

This postcard was sent by Max

Annunciation Cathedral of Kazan Kremlin was the first Orthodox church within the walls of the Kazan Kremlin. Initially, a wooden church was quickly built under direction of Tsar Ivan IV in 1552, before it was replaced by a stone cathedral. The cathedral became the center of religious and educational life and missionary efforts in the province of Kazan. - in: https://orthodoxwiki.org/Annunciation_Cathedral_(Kazan_Kremlin,_Russia)

Spasskaya Tower

This postcard was sent by Maria

The Spasskaya Tower, which anchors the southern end of the Kremlin and serves as the main entrance to the Kremlin, is named after the Spassky Monastery, which used to be located nearby. Among the monastery's buildings were the Church of St. Nicholas (1560s, four piers) and the Cathedral of the Saviour's Transfiguration (1590s, six piers). They were destroyed by the Communists during Joseph Stalin's rule. - in: wikipedia

Kul Sharif Mosque

This postcard was sent by Olya

The Kul Sharif Mosque located in Kazan Kremlin, was reputed to be – at the time of its construction – one of the largest mosques in Russia, and in Europe outside of Istanbul.
Originally, the mosque was built in the Kazan Kremlin in the 16th century. It was named after Kul Sharif, who was a religious scholar who served there. Kul Sharif died along with his numerous students while defending Kazan from Russian forces in 1552 during the Siege of Kazan, and the mosque was destroyed by Ivan the Terrible's forces. It is believed that the building featured minarets, both in the form of cupolas and tents. The current building is a replacement, constructed in the first years of the 21st century and completed in the year 2005. - in: wikipedia

The Archaeological Heritage of Niah National Park’s Caves Complex

This is one of the sites that was inscribed this year

Niah Caves

This postcard was sent by SL

Niah National Park, located within Miri Division, Sarawak, Malaysia, is the site of the Niah Caves which are an archeological site.

The Niah Caves is located on the northern edge of a limestone mountain named Gunung Subis (Mount Subis). The entrance is located at the west mouth of the cave. The location is 15 km from the South China Sea and 50 m above sea level. The west mouth of the Niah Caves is 150 m wide and 75 m high.

The cave is an important prehistorical site where human remains from 40,000 years ago have been found.^[16] This is the oldest recorded human settlement in East Malaysia. More recent studies published in 2006 have shown evidence of the first human activity at the Niah caves from ca. 46,000 to 34,000 years ago. - in: wikipedia

Moravian Church Settlements

Christiansfeld, in Denmark, was already listed as UNESCO World Heritage, but this year the site was extended to Germany, U.K. and U.S.A

Christiansfeld

This postcard was sent from Sweden by Doris

Christiansfeld, with a population of 2,979 (1 January 2024), is a town in Kolding Municipality in Southern Jutland in Region of Southern Denmark. The town was founded in 1773 by the Moravian Church and named after the Danish king Christian VII. Since July 2015 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, highlighting its status as the best-preserved example of the town-planning and architecture of the Moravian Church.

Christiansfeld

This postcard was sent by Christina

The town was constructed around a central Church Square bordered by two parallel streets running east to west. The Hall, Sister's House, fire-house, the vicarage, and the former provost’s house were built directly around the square, and shops, Brother's House, family residences, a hotel, and a school were built along the parallel streets. Many of the residential buildings are communal, which were typical of Moravian settlements and were used by the widows and unmarried women and men of the congregation. The architecture of Christiansfeld is homogeneous, dominated by one or two-story buildings made out of yellow brick and red tile roofs. Many of the buildings in Christiansfeld retain their original uses. - in: wikipedia

Herrnhut

This postcard was sent by Marcel

Herrnhut is an Upper Lusatian town in the Görlitz district in Saxony, Germany, known for the community of the Moravian Church established by Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf, in 1722. In 2024, the town was inscribed on World Heritage List as a part of the serial site of Moravian Church Settlements.

Herrnhut proper was founded in the early 18th century by German-speaking members of the Unity of the Brethren, religious refugees from Margraviate of Moravia. - in: wikipedia

The four properties (in red what I have):

• Christiansfeld, Denmark
• Herrnhut, Germany
• Bethlehem, U.S.A.
• Gracehill, U. K.

ShUM Sites of Speyer, Worms and Mainz

I bought this first postcard in Speyer a few years ago but I didn't visit the Jewish courtyard. At the time it wasn't listed as World Heritage.

Mikvah in Speyer

Speyer in Germany was the hometown of one of the most important Jewish communities in Middle Ages in northern Europe. Bishop Hutzmann and Salic emperor Henry IV encouraged Jewish refugees from Mainz to the foundation of a Jewish community by facilitating them.

The Jewish courtyard was the central area of the Jewish quarter in Speyer and consisted of the synagogues for men and women as well as the Mikvah, for ritual washing. - in: wikipedia

Jewish Cemetery, Worms

This postcard was sent by Claus

The Jewish Cemetery in Worms or Heiliger Sand, in Worms, Germany, is usually called the oldest surviving Jewish cemetery in Europe, although the Jewish burials in the Jewish sections of the Roman catacombs predate it by a millennium. The Jewish community of Worms was established by the early eleventh century, and the oldest tombstone still legible dates from 1058/59.^[2] The cemetery was closed in 1911, when a new cemetery was inaugurated. Some family burials continued until the late 1930s. The older part still contains about 1,300 tombstones, while the newer part (on the wall of the former city fortifications, acquired after 1689) contains more than 1,200. The cemetery is protected and cared for by the city of Worms, the Jewish community of Mainz-Worms, and the Landesdenkmalamt of Rhineland-Palatinate. - in: wikipedia

I'm still missing Mainz