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

The Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape

This could perfectly be the home of Shaun the Sheep :)

Return of the Sheepfold

The upland landscapes of the Causses have been shaped by agro-pastoralism over three millennia. In the Middle Ages, the development of cities in the surrounding Mediterranean plains, and especially the growth of religious institutions, prompted the evolution of a land structure based on agro-pastoralism, the basis of which is still in place today. Too poor to host cities, too rich to be abandoned, the landscape of Causses and Cévennes are the result of the modification of the natural environment by agro-pastoral systems over a millennium. 

Cévennes

This postcard was sent by Marie-Claire

The Causses and Cévennes demonstrate almost every type of pastoral organisation to be found around the Mediterranean (agro-pastoralism, silvi-pastoralism, transhumance and sedentary pastoralism). The area has by a remarkable vitality as a result of active renewal of the agri-pastoral systems. This area is a major and viable example of Mediterranean agro-pastoralism. Its preservation is necessary to deal with threats from environmental, economic and social issues that such cultural landscapes are facing globally. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1153/

La Couvertoirade

This postcard was sent by Paula

La Couvertoirade is a commune in the southern French department of Aveyron.

This well-preserved fortified town was owned by the Knights Templar, under orders from the Commandery of Sainte-Eulalie, from the twelfth century. The Templars built the fortress there during the 12th and 13th centuries; its two upper floors have since been removed. Following their dissolution in 1312, the Templars' property in the causses was taken by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem who were responsible for building the curtain wall at La Couvertoirade between 1439 and 1450.

Like other Larzac villages, the population fell rapidly in the 19th century, to as few as 362 by 1880. Today, it is largely inhabited by craftsmen working with enamel, pottery, weaving and similar crafts. - in: wikipedia

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