Paris, Banks of the Seine

I'm always divided about Paris: on the one hand I don't like that much of crowded cities but on the other hand I would love to visit some of the monuments of the French capital. Who recently visited some of the monuments of Paris was my wife while she was there for work.

Eiffel Tower

This postcard was given to me by José and Fátima who celebrated their silver wedding anniversary in Paris

The Eiffel Tower (French: Tour Eiffel) is a wrought iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.

Eiffel Tower

This postcard was brought from Paris by my wife

Constructed in 1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair, it was initially criticized by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but it has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015.

Eiffel Tower

This postcard was given to me by my mother-in-law who visited Paris a few years ago

The tower is 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring 125 metres (410 ft) on each side. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was finished in 1930. Due to the addition of a broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres (17 ft). Excluding transmitters, the Eiffel Tower is the second-tallest structure in France after the Millau Viaduct. - in: wikipedia

Notre-Dame Cathedral

This postcard was also given to me by my mother-in-law

Notre-Dame de Paris (French for "Our Lady of Paris"), also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral or simply Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. The cathedral is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, and is among the largest and most well-known church buildings in the world. The naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture.

Notre-Dame Cathedral

This postcard arrived from Portugal, sent by José "Pombal"

The Notre-Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress. The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave but after the construction began, the thinner walls grew ever higher and stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern. The total surface area is 5,500 m² (interior surface 4,800 m²). - in: wikipedia

North Rose Window, Notre-Dame

This postcard was brought by my wife

Sitting directly opposite the south rose window, the north rose window was crafted in the middle of the 13th century around 1250. It is the only rose window to retain its original glass, with most of the 13th century glasswork still intact.

The central image of the north rose window depicts Mary enthroned holding the Christ Child. Surrounding them are images of kings and prophets of the Old Testament, with 16 prophets in the inner circle of medallions and 32 kings and judges in the outer circle. - in: https://www.friendsofnotredamedeparis.org/cathedral/artifacts/rose-windows/

The Conciergerie and Notre Dame Towers

This postcard was sent by Marco

The Conciergerie (English: Lodge) is a former courthouse and prison in Paris, France located on the west of the Île de la Cité below the Palais de Justice. It was originally part of the former royal palace, the Palais de la Cité, which also included the Sainte-Chapelle. Two large medieval halls remain from the royal palace. During the French Revolution, 2,781 prisoners, including Marie Antoinette, were imprisoned, tried and sentenced at the Conciergerie then sent to different sites to be executed by the guillotine. It’s now a national monument and museum. - in: wikipedia

The Louvre

This postcard was sent by Marco

The Louvre, or the Louvre Museum, is a national art museum in Paris, France.

he Louvre, a former royal palace, is known for its collection of celebrated paintings collected by the French kings, including The Mona Lisa of Leonardo Da Vinci.

It is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement (district) and home to some of the most canonical works of Western art, including the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built in the late 12th to 13th century under Philip II. Remnants of the Medieval Louvre fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to urban expansion, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function, and in 1546 Francis I converted it into the primary residence of the French kings. - in: wikipedia

Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay

This is one of the most visited sites in France. And no wonder, it's a wonderful architecture in an outstanding natural setting 

Mont Saint-Michel

This postcard was sent by Ulla

Perched on a rocky islet in the midst of vast sandbanks exposed to powerful tides, at the limit between Normandy and Brittany, stands “Wonder of the West”, a Gothic-style Benedictine abbey dedicated to the Archangel St Michel, and the village that grew up in the shadow of its walls. Built between the 11th and 16th centuries, the abbey is a technical and artistic tour de force, having had to adapt to the problems posed by this unique natural site. Thus, the practical and aesthetic solutions inscribed in the stones of the edifice are henceforth inseparable from its natural environment.

Mont Saint-Michel

This postcard was sent by Marco

This Benedictine abbey, founded in 966, was erected on a sanctuary dedicated to the Archangel Michel since 708 and conserves some vestiges of the Romananesque period. The older part of the present abbey, the small pre-Romanesque church with a double nave, Notre-Dame-sous-terre, in granite masonry and flat bricks, dates back undoubtedly to the 10th century. The contribution of the Romanesque period is still visible in the nave of the abbey church, whose crossing is supported by the rock summit, and in a group of conventual staggered buildings (the chaplaincy or gallery of Aquilon, the covered gallery of the monks of which the vault, constructed after 1103, would be one of the earliest examples of ribbed vaulting).

Mont Saint-Michel

This postcard was sent by Marco

But it is the masters of the Gothic period who, benefiting as best they could from the restricted area, invented the high walls, the soaring masses, the open volumes, the airy pinacles and the sharp silhouette of the rock. The new body of the conventual buildings, built from 1204, merits the name of “Merveille” (Marvel) for the elegance of its conception. Above the chaplaincy of the 12th century, it comprises the celebrated rooms known as the ‘Hôtes’ and the ‘Chevaliers’ and, on the uppermost floor, in addition to the vast body of the refectory, the cloister with colonnettes grouped in five, open on one side to the sea. Among the many later additions, mention should be made of the flamboyant choir of the abbey church, begun in 1448 to replace the Romanesque choir which had previously collapsed. - in: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/80/

Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura

Italy might be my next holiday destination, but Rome probably won't be on the itinerary.

Rome

This postcard was sent by Pasquale

Founded, according to legend, by Romulus and Remus in 753 BC, Rome was first the centre of the Roman Republic, then of the Roman Empire, and it became the capital of the Christian world in the 4th century. The World Heritage site, extended in 1990 to the walls of Urban VIII, includes some of the major monuments of antiquity such as the Forums, the Mausoleum of Augustus, the Mausoleum of Hadrian, the Pantheon, Trajan’s Column and the Column of Marcus Aurelius, as well as the religious and public buildings of papal Rome. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/91

Colosseum

This postcard was sent from Portugal by Joana who visited Rome about 15 years ago.

The Colosseum or Coliseum is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Built of concrete and stone, it is the largest amphitheatre ever built and is considered one of the greatest works of architecture and engineering.

The Colosseum could hold, it is estimated, between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators, having an average audience of some 65,000; it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. - in: wikipedia

Trevi Fountain

This postcard was sent from Slovenia by Stasa

The Trevi Fountain (Italian: Fontana di Trevi) is a fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Pietro Bracci. Standing 26.3 metres (86 ft) high and 49.15 metres (161.3 ft) wide,^[1] it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world. - in: wikipedia

Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

This postcard was sent from the Netherlands by Moniek who visited the Holy See in 2014.

The Papal Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura), commonly known as St. Paul's outside the Walls, is one of Rome's four ancient, Papal, major basilicas: the Basilicas of St. John in the Lateran, St. Peter's, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul outside the Walls.

The Basilica is within Italian territory and not the territory of the Vatican City State. However, the Holy See fully owns the Basilica, and Italy is legally obligated to recognize its full ownership thereof and to concede to it "the immunity granted by International Law to the headquarters of the diplomatic agents of foreign States". - in: wikipedia

Site of Palmyra

I thought I'd received a new UNESCO site but I realized I already had it, because the postcard I had identified as being from Damascus is actually also from Palmyra. I hate it when the information on postcards is wrong. I hate it even more that most of the monuments on this site were destroyed by war.

Palmyra

This postcard was sent from UK by Alisha

An oasis in the Syrian desert, north-east of Damascus, Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world. From the 1st to the 2nd century, the art and architecture of Palmyra, standing at the crossroads of several civilizations, married Graeco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences. - in: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/23

Tetrapylon

This postcard was sent by Marta

The Tetrapylon was erected during the renovations of Diocletian at the end of the third century. It is a square platform and each corner contains a grouping of four columns. Each column group supports a 150-ton cornice and contains a pedestal in its center that originally carried a statue. Out of sixteen columns, only one is original while the rest are from reconstruction work by the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities in 1963, using concrete. The original columns were brought from Egypt and carved out of pink granite. - in: wikipedia

Town of Bamberg

Bamberg is the kind of town that I like to visit. I hope to do it one day

Bamberg

This postcard was sent by Michèle

Bamberg is located in southern Germany in the north of Bavaria. It is a good example of a central European town with a basically early medieval plan and many surviving ecclesiastical and secular buildings of the medieval period. When Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, became King of Germany in 1007 he made Bamberg the seat of a bishopric, intended to become a 'second Rome'. Of particular interest is the way in which the present town illustrates the link between agriculture (market gardens and vineyards) and the urban distribution centre.

From the 10th century onwards, Bamberg became an important link with the Slav peoples, especially those of Poland and Pomerania. During its period of greatest prosperity, from the 12th century onwards, the architecture of this town strongly influenced northern Germany and Hungary. In the late 18th century Bamberg was the centre of the Enlightenment in southern Germany, with eminent philosophers and writers such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and E.T.A. Hoffmann living there. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/624

Bamberg Cathedral

This postcard was sent by Wolfgang

Bamberg Cathedral (German: Bamberger Dom, official name Bamberger Dom St. Peter und St. Georg) is a church in Bamberg, Germany, completed in the 13th century. Since 1993, the cathedral has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Town of Bamberg".

It was founded in 1002 by King (and later Emperor) Heinrich II (Henry II) and consecrated in 1012. With the tombs of Henry II and his wife Cunigunde, the cathedral contains the remains of the only imperial couple that was canonized. With the tomb of Pope Clement II (1005–1047) it also contains the only papal grave in Germany, and north of the Alps. - in: wikipedia

San Antonio Missions

This World Heritage site consists of five mission sites, a historic ranch, and related properties.

San Antonio Missions

This postcard was sent by Marco

The site encompasses a group of five frontier mission complexes situated along a stretch of the San Antonio River basin in southern Texas, as well as a ranch located 37 kilometres to the south. It includes architectural and archaeological structures, farmlands, residencies, churches and granaries, as well as water distribution systems. The complexes were built by Franciscan missionaries in the 18th century and illustrate the Spanish Crown’s efforts to colonize, evangelize and defend the northern frontier of New Spain. - in: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1466/

Mission Espada

Mission San Francisco de la Espada (also Mission Espada) is a Roman Rite Catholic mission established in 1690 by Spain and relocated in 1731 to present-day San Antonio, Texas, in what was then known as northern New Spain. The mission was built in order to convert local Native Americans to Christianity and solidify Spanish territorial claims in the New World against encroachment from France. - in: wikipedia

Mission San Juan

Mission San Juan Capistrano (originally christened in 1716 as La Misión San José de los Nazonis and located in East Texas) was founded in 1731 by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order, on the eastern banks of the San Antonio River in present-day San Antonio, Texas. The new settlement (part of a chain of Spanish missions) was named for a 15th-century theologian and warrior priest who resided in the Abruzzo region of Italy. 

Mission San Juan

This postcard was sent by Elizabeth

The mission San Juan was named after Saint John of Capestrano. - in: wikipedia

Mission San José

This postcard was sent by Susan

 Founded in 1720, the mission was named for Saint Joseph and the Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo, the governor of the Province of Coahuila and Texas at the time. It was built on the banks of the San Antonio river several miles to the south of the earlier mission, San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo).

Mission San José

San José, as it became known, was the largest of the missions in the area. At its height, the community contained about 350 Indian neophytes, sustained by extensive fields and herds of livestock. Viewed as the model among the Texas missions, San José gained a reputation as a major social and cultural center. It became known as the "Queen of the Missions." Its imposing complex of stone walls, bastions, granary, and magnificent church was completed by 1782. - in: https://www.nps.gov/saan/learn/historyculture/sanjosehistory1.htm

Mission Concepcion

This postcard was sent by Donna

Franciscan friars established Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña (also Mission Concepcion) in 1716 as Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de los Hainais in East Texas.

Mission Concepcion

Mission Concepcion consists of a sanctuary, nave, convento, and granary. When originally built, brightly painted frescos decorated both the exterior and interior of the building. Traces of the frescoes still exist on the weathered facade of the building. Experts restored some of the artwork on the interior ceilings and walls of the convento in 1988. The Archdiocese of San Antonio completed another restoration of the mission's interior in 2010 which exposed more frescoes in the sanctuary and nave. - in: wikipedia

Mission Valero

This postcard was sent by Susan

The Alamo Mission in San Antonio, commonly called the Alamo and originally known as Misión San Antonio de Valero, is part of the San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Founded in the 18th century as a Roman Catholic mission and fortress compound, it was the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.

Mission Valero

 The Alamo is now a museum in the Alamo Plaza Historic District.

Mission Valero

This postcard was sent by Georgia

The compound was one of the early Spanish missions in Texas, built for the education of area Native Americans after their conversion to Christianity. In 1793, the mission was secularized and then abandoned. Ten years later, it became a fortress housing a military unit, the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras, who likely gave the mission the name Alamo. During the Texas Revolution, Mexican General Martin Perfecto de Cos surrendered the fort to the Texian Army in December 1835, following the Siege of Béxar. A relatively small number of Texian soldiers then occupied the compound for several months. They were wiped out at the Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. When the Mexican army retreated from Texas several months later, they tore down many of the Alamo walls and burned some of the buildings. - in: wikipedia

The missions (in red what I already have):

• Mission Espada
• Mission San Juan
• Mission San José
• Mission Concepcion
• Mission Valero
• Rancho de las Cabras