New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands

The New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands consist of five island groups (the Snares, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands and Campbell Island) in the Southern Ocean south-east of New Zealand.

Snares penguins on the Snares Islands

This postcard was sent by Jodine

The Snares Islands (Māori: Tini Heke; officially Snares Islands / Tini Heke), known colloquially as The Snares, is a group of uninhabited islands lying about 200 km (120 mi) south of New Zealand's South Island and to the south-southwest of Stewart Island / Rakiura.

All of the Snares islands and their surrounding waters have been recognised as Important Bird Areas (IBAs) by BirdLife International for their significant seabird breeding populations. The eastern islands are notable for their Snares penguins, Buller's albatrosses, sooty shearwaters, mottled petrels and common diving petrels, as well as of Snares snipe. The Western Chain hosts colonies of Snares penguins, Salvin's, Buller's and Chatham albatrosses. The islands also provide a home to the endemic Snares tomtit, as well as to several endemic invertebrates such as Grypotheca horningae. - in: wikipedia

New Zealand Subantarctic Islands

This postcard was sent by Javier

The New Zealand Subantarctic Islands comprise the five southernmost groups of the New Zealand outlying islands.

Most of the islands lie near the southeast edge of the largely submerged continent centred on New Zealand called Zealandia, which was riven from Australia 60–85 million years ago, and from Antarctica 85–130 million years ago.  - in: wikipedia

Moidams – the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty

Inside these Maidams there are underground vaults or chambers for different purposes, one for keeping the body of the departed king with all the necessary things for afterlife, and others for the servants, care-takers, horses, and elephants.

Maidam of Ahom Kings

This postcard was sent by Sriram

Set in the foothills of the Patkai Ranges in eastern Assam, the property contains the royal necropolis of the Tai-Ahom. For 600 years, the Tai-Ahom created moidams (burial mounds) accentuating the natural topography of hills, forests and water, thus forming a sacred geography. Banyan trees and the trees used for coffins and bark manuscripts were planted and water bodies created. Ninety moidams – hollow vaults built of brick, stone or earth – of different sizes are found within the site. They contain the remains of kings and other royals together with grave goods such as food, horses and elephants, and sometimes queens and servants. The Tai-Ahom rituals of “Me-Dam-Me-Phi” and “Tarpan” are practiced at the Charaideo necropolis. While moidams are found in other areas within the Brahmaputra Valley, those found at the property are regarded as exceptional. - in: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1711/

The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and its Historic Landmarks

The axis is positioned to link Mount Merapi and the Indian Ocean, with the Kraton at its centre, embodies key beliefs about the cosmos in Javanese culture.

Kraton Yogyakarta

This postcard was sent by Serise

The Royal Palace of Yogyakarta is a palace complex in the city of Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia. It is the seat of the reigning Sultan of Yogyakarta and his family. The complex is a center of Javanese culture and contains a museum displaying royal artifacts.

The complex was built in 1755–1756 (AJ 1682) for Hamengkubuwono I, the first Sultan of Yogyakarta.^[1] It was one of the monarch's first acts after the signing of the Treaty of Giyanti, which recognized the creation of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta under the Dutch East India Company. - in: wikipedia

Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara

Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784. Seven temples and shrines of the old capital are listed as part of this site.

Tōdai-ji Temple

This postcard was sent from the United States by Jelly

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex, that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall, houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu. 

The beginning of building a temple where the Tōdai-ji complex sits today can be dated to 728, when Emperor Shōmu established Kinshōsen-ji (金鐘山寺) as an appeasement for Prince Motoi (ja:基王), his first son with his Fujiwara clan consort Kōmyōshi. Prince Motoi died a year after his birth.

Great Buddha in Tōdai-ji Temple

This postcard was sent by Jennifer

The Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden) has been rebuilt twice after fire. The current building was finished in 1709, and although immense—57 metres (187 ft) long and 50 metres (160 ft) wide—it is actually 30% smaller than its predecessor. Until 1998, it was the world's largest wooden building. (...) The Great Buddha statue has been recast several times for various reasons, including earthquake damage. The current hands of the statue were made in the Momoyama Period (1568–1615), and the head was made in the Edo period (1615–1867). - in: wikipedia

Five Storied Pagoda of Kofukuji Temple

This postcard was sent by Chiemi

Kōfuku-ji (興福寺, Kōfuku-ji) is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples in the city of Nara, Japan. 

Kōfuku-ji has its origin as a temple that was established in 669 by Kagami-no-Ōkimi (鏡大君), the wife of Fujiwara no Kamatari, wishing for her husband’s recovery from illness. Its original site was in Yamashina, Yamashiro Province (present-day Kyoto). In 672, the temple was moved to Fujiwara-kyō, the first planned Japanese capital to copy the orthogonal grid pattern of Chang'an. In 710, the temple was dismantled for the second time and moved to its present location, on the east side of the newly constructed capital, Heijō-kyō, today's Nara. - in: wikipedia

Kasuga Grand Shrine

This postcard was sent by Kate with a stamp of a Swiss UNESCO site!

Kasuga Grand Shrine is a Shinto shrine in the city of Nara, in Nara Prefecture, Japan. Established in 768 AD and rebuilt several times over the centuries, it is the shrine of the Fujiwara family. The interior is famous for its many bronze lanterns, as well as the many stone lanterns that lead up the shrine.

The architectural style Kasuga-zukuri takes its name from Kasuga Shrine's honden (sanctuary).

Kasuga Shrine, and the Kasugayama Primeval Forest near it, are registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara".

The shrine became the object of Imperial patronage during the early Heian period. In 965, Emperor Murakami ordered that Imperial messengers were sent to report important events to the guardian kami of Japan. These heihaku were initially presented to 16 shrines including the Kasuga Shrine.

From 1871 through 1946, Kasuga Shrine was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha, meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines. - in: wikipedia

These are the seven places of this site (in red what I already have):

• Tōdai-ji
• Kōfuku-ji
• Kasuga-Taisha and Kasugayama Primeval Forest 
• Gangō-ji 
• Yakushi-ji
• Tōshōdai-ji
• Nara Palace Site

Flemish Béguinages

The Flemish béguinages are architectural ensembles composed of houses, churches, ancillary buildings and green spaces built for the Béguines, women who dedicated their lives to God

Church of the Béguinage de Hoogstraten

This postcard was sent by Javier

The beguinage of Hoogstraten probably originated around 1380 en prospered in the 17th century, having 160 beguines at its peak. The last beguine left in 1972.

A first chapel was built in 1381. During the 17th century this chapel was replaced by the current baroque church.

The church has a lush interior painted in white. The floor, made of black and white marble, holds several tombstones dating back to the 17th, 18th and 19th century. The paintings in the choir (18th and 19th century) represent the Fathers and Our Lady of La Salette. - in: https://openchurches.eu/en/churches/sint-jan-evangelist-hoogstraten

Grand Béguinage de Mechelen

This postcard was sent by Javier

Around 1560 the beguinage outside the city walls was destroyed. The beguines re-established themselves inside the city walls, where the Large Beguinage grew up. They bought up existing buildings and built new dwellings, which explains why the Large Beguinage is rather different in character from beguinages in other cities.

Because of its typical Flemish character and unique architecture, the Large Beguinage was declared a UNESCO world heritage site. The little houses are listed. Kindly respect the privacy of the residents as you stroll along the quiet, picturesque streets of the beguinages.

Beguinages were small towns within a town. They had their own bakery, brewery, nursing home, church and bleaching fields. Beguinages were founded in the time of the crusades. - in: https://toerisme.mechelen.be/en/large-beguinage

Béguinage of Diest

This postcard was sent Veerle

The beguinage of Diest dates from the 17th century. The first beguines settled from 1245 on the territory of Webbekom, outside the ramparts of Diest. The houses of the beguines were gradually rebuilt to finally form a beautiful group of houses in traditional style, most of them dating from the 18th century. - in: https://religiana.com/beguinage-diest

Béguinage de Bruges

This postcard was sent by Amina

The Princely Beguinage Ten Wijngaerde is the only preserved beguinage in the Belgian city of Bruges. There are no more Beguines living there, but since 1927 it functions as a convent for Benedictines, founded by canon Hoornaert. In the same year the houses at the west side were also reshaped and enlarged into the Monasterium De Wijngaard, a priory of Benedictine nuns.

Béguinage de Bruges

This postcard was also sent by Amina

The complex includes a gothic beguinage church and about thirty white painted houses dating from the late 16th, 17th and 18th century. Practically all of these are built around a central yard. - in: wikipedia

Béguinage de Kortrijk

This postcard was sent by Javier

The Saint Elisabeth Beguinage dates back to the year 1238 and was listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1998, a unique piece of history in the heart of the city.

The beguinage has been destroyed several times over the course of the centuries. It was given its current shape in the 17th century. It features some forty Baroque houses with a private front garden.

In the Saint Anna room visitors find out exactly what a beguinage was through authentic heritage and modern media techniques. The very last beguine in the world, Marcella Pattyn, resided at the Kortrijk beguinage from 1960 to 2005. She passed away in her sleep on 14 April 2013. She was 93 years old. - in: https://www.toerisme-leiestreek.be/en/do/kortrijk-beguinage

The 13 Béguinages (in red what I have):

• Béguinage de Hoogstraten
• Béguinage de Lier
• Grand Béguinage de Mechelen
• Béguinage de Turnhout
• Beguinage de Sint-Truiden 
• Béguinage de Tongeren 
• Béguinage de Dendermonde 
• Petit Béguinage de Gent 
• Béguinage de Sint-Amandsberg / Gent
• Béguinage de Diest
• Grand Béguinage of Leuven 
• Béguinage de Bruges 
• Béguinage de Kortrijk 

Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker

I can only imagine the conversation between Mr. Eisinga and his wife! It must have been something like: "Love, do you know what would really put the living room together?" :D

Eisinga Planetarium

This postcard was sent by Jarina

Built between 1774 and 1781, this property is a moving mechanical scale model of the solar system as it was known at the time. Conceived and built by an ordinary citizen – the wool manufacturer Eise Eisinga – the model is built into the ceiling and south wall of the former living room/bedroom of its creator. Powered by one single pendulum clock, it provides a realistic image of the positions of the Sun, the Moon, the Earth and five other planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). The planets revolve around the Sun in real time and the distance between the planets is at scale. The model fills the entire ceiling of the room, making it one of the earliest predecessors of the ceiling and projection planetariums of the 20th and 21st centuries. - in: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1683

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park

More than half of this park consists of a white coastal dune field with temporary and permanent lagoons.

Lençóis Maranheses National Park

This postcard was sent from Germany by Anni

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses) is a national park in Maranhão state in northeastern Brazil, just east of the Baía de São José. Protected on June 2, 1981, the 155,000 ha (380,000-acre) park includes 70 km (43 mi) of coastline, and an interior composed of rolling sand dunes. During the rainy season, the valleys among the dunes fill with freshwater lagoons, prevented from draining by the impermeable rock beneath. The park is home to a range of species, including four listed as endangered, and has become a popular destination for ecotourists. - in: wikipedia