Birka and Hovgården

This site from Sweden reminds me that I still have to watch the tv series Vikings, recommended by several friends of mine 

Keys from the Viking Age at Birka

This postcard was sent by Doris

During the Viking Age, on the island of Björkö in present-day Sweden, was an important trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as Central and Eastern Europe and the Orient. Björkö is located in Lake Mälaren, 30 kilometers west of contemporary Stockholm, in the municipality of Ekerö. The archaeological sites of Birka and Hovgården, on the neighbouring island of Adelsö, make up an archaeological complex which illustrates the elaborate trading networks of Viking Scandinavia and their influence on the subsequent history of Europe. Generally regarded as Sweden's oldest town, Birka (along with Hovgården) has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. A silver ring from a Viking-era grave in Birka is the first ring with Arabic inscription from that era found in Scandinavia. - in: wikipedia

Historic Centre of Oporto, Luiz I Bridge and Monastery of Serra do Pilar

Porto is one of my favorite places. I love this city and when I lived in Portugal, my wife and I used to go there often. I have a lot of postcards of Porto, so I will post only a few in here and if you want to see them all you can go to my album of postcards

Porto

The city of Oporto, built along the hillsides overlooking the mouth of the Douro river, is an outstanding urban landscape with a 2,000-year history. Its continuous growth, linked to the sea (the Romans gave it the name Portus, or port), can be seen in the many and varied monuments, from the cathedral with its Romanesque choir, to the neoclassical Stock Exchange and the typically Portuguese Manueline-style Church of Santa Clara. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/755

Luiz I Bridge

The Luís I (or Luiz I) Bridge (Portuguese: Ponte Luís I or Luiz I) is a metal arch bridge that spans the Douro River between the cities of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia in Portugal. At the time of construction its span of 172 m was the longest of its type in the world.

Luiz I Bridge

The government held a competition for the construction of a metallic bridge over the Douro River on a site that was adjacent to an existing bridge that it would replace. Téophile Seyrig had engineered the D. Maria Pia Bridge project nearby, whilst working as a partner of Gustave Eiffel. He now took sole responsibility for the new, major Luís I Bridge. The construction was begun in 1881 and the bridge opened on 31 October 1886 (the upper deck; the lower deck opened in 1887) - in: wikipedia

Luiz I Bridge

• Total length 385.25 m
• Weight 3045 tons
• The arch measures 172 m in length and 44.6 m in height

Rabelo Boats

The Rabelo boat is a traditional Portuguese cargo boat that for centuries was used to transport people and goods along the Douro River.

Rabelo Boats and the City

Native from the Douro region, it does not exist in any other place of the world. Its history is closely linked to the production and trade of port wine. Before the arrival of the railway, the rabelo was the fastest and the most efficient means of transport between the Douro Valley, where port wine is produced, and the city of Porto, where it was traded and exported world wide. - in: wikipedia

Arrábida Bridge

The Arrábida Bridge is an arch bridge over the Douro River that connects Porto to Vila Nova de Gaia, in Portugal. It is the most downstream bridge across the Douro River, just a few kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean.

At the time of its completion in 1963, the bridge's main span of 270m was the largest of any concrete-arch bridge in the world. The total length of the deck is 493.2m, having a width of 26.5m. The arch has a rise of 52m, and the maximum clearance above river level is 70m above. The engineer responsible for its project and construction was Edgar Cardoso. - in: wikipedia

Porto Cathedral

The Porto Cathedral (Portuguese: Sé do Porto), located in the historical centre of the city of Porto, Portugal, is one of the city's oldest monuments and one of the most important Romanesque monuments in Portugal

Porto Cathedral

The current Cathedral of Porto underwent construction around 1110 under the patronage of Bishop Hugo and was completed in the 13th century, but there is evidence that the city has been a bishopric seat since the Suevi domination in the 5th-6th centuries.
The cathedral is flanked by two square towers, each supported with two buttresses and crowned with a cupola. The façade lacks decoration and is rather architecturally heterogeneous. It shows a Baroque porch and a beautiful Romanesque rose window under a crenellated arch, giving the impression of a fortified church. -in: wikipedia

Churches of Carmo and Carmelitas

These two churches are located near Clérigos Tower. The Church of Carmelitas was built between 1616 and 1628. The Church of Carmo was built between 1756 and 1768.

Church of São Francisco

The Igreja de São Francisco (Church of Saint Francis) is the most prominent Gothic monument in Porto, Portugal, being also noted for its outstanding Baroque inner decoration. 

The Franciscan Order was established in Porto around 1223. Initially, the order was antagonised by the secular and clergy of other religious institutions, particularly by the bishop of Porto. It took a papal bull, the Bulla Doelentis accepimus by Pope Innocent V, to restore to the Franciscans the plot of land previously donated to them. They began building the convent and a first, small church dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi around 1244.

Church of São Francisco

In 1383, under the patronage of King Ferdinand I, the Franciscans began to build a more spacious church. This new structure was finished around 1425 and followed a relatively plain Gothic design, typical for the mendicant orders in Portugal. The general structure of the church has not been extensively altered, making São Francisco the best example of Gothic architecture in Oporto.

Church of São Francisco

In the early 18th century the lateral aisles and apse chapels were extensively decorated with exuberant gilt wood work (talha dourada) by several Portuguese wood carvers. This decorative richness is the most notable feature of the Franciscan church, covering almost completely the roofs of the aisles, pillars, window frames and chapels and hiding the underlying mediaeval architecture. Even though the Baroque gilt work does not completely harmonise with the Gothic structure of the church, it is considered one of the most outstanding of Portugal. - in: wikipedia

Clérigos Church and Tower

The Clérigos Church (Portuguese: Igreja dos Clérigos; "Church of the Clergymen") is a Baroque church in the city of Porto, in Portugal. Its tall bell tower, the Torre dos Clérigos, can be seen from various points of the city and is one of its most characteristic symbols.

Clérigos Tower

The church was built for the Brotherhood of the Clérigos (Clergy) by Nicolau Nasoni, an Italian architect and painter who left an extense work in the north of Portugal during the 18th century - in: wikipedia

Church of Massarelos

The Church of Massarelos was built in 1776. On the back of the church there's a façade of tilework depicting Infante D. Henrique

Church of Congregados

The Igreja dos Congregados is located in the Almeida Garret Square and it was built in 1703.

Church of Santo Ildefonso

The Igreja de Santo Ildefonso is an eighteenth-century church in Porto, Portugal, situated near Batalha Square. Completed in 1739, the church was built in a proto-Baroque style and features a retable by the Italian artist Nicolau Nasoni and a façade of azulejo tilework. The church is named in honour of the Visigoth, Ildephonsus of Toledo, bishop of Toledo from 657 until his death in 667. - in wikipedia

Monastery of Serra do Pilar

Part of the area classified by UNESCO as World Heritage in December 1996, the Monastery of Serra do Pilar is the architectural landmark of Gaia. The interesting church and cloisters are laid out according to a circular design unique in Portugal.

The convent built in the 16th century belonged to the Order of Saint Augustine. The church is characterised by a circular shape, a replica of the Church of Santa Maria Redonda in Rome, and is covered by a hemispheric vault with a narrow balcony running its full extent. It took 72 year to complete due to the lack of funding and the political turmoil of those times – with the kingdom of Portugal having fallen to neighbouring Spain. One legacy of that event was the adoption of a Spanish saint for the monastery, Our Lady of Pilar.

In 1832, during the Siege of Oporto, its military value was made use of with the convent swiftly turned into an improvised fort. At the beginning of the 20th century, the monastery was used for military barracks and remains under the tutelage of the Serra do Pilar Artillery Regiment.

Within, the Church features some impressive carved gold leaf altars with Solomonic columns. There are also 18th century, polychrome wooden carvings of the saints Eulalia, Apollonia and Augustine.

In front of the church, there is a wonderful view point taking in the full splendour of the city of Oporto and the river Douro below. - in: https://www.visitportugal.com/en/NR/exeres/C8D59E5F-88CE-4311-BA22-9B829204C47D

Acropolis, Athens

This is for sure the most well-known place of Greece 

Acropolis

This postcard was sent by Elena

The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on an extremely rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. 

While there is evidence that the hill was inhabited as far back as the fourth millennium BC, it was Pericles (c. 495 – 429 BC) in the fifth century BC who coordinated the construction of the site's most important buildings including the Parthenon, the Propylaia, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike. The Parthenon and the other buildings were seriously damaged during the 1687 siege by the Venetians in the Morean War when the Parthenon was being used for gunpowder storage and was hit by a cannonball. - in: wikipedia

Parthenon

This postcard arrived from China sent by Sheremy

The Parthenon is a former temple, on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their patron. Construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the peak of its power. It was completed in 438 BC although decoration of the building continued until 432 BC. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered the zenith of the Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece, Athenian democracy and western civilization, and one of the world's greatest cultural monuments. - in: wikipedia

Archaeological Area of Agrigento

Like in Paestum, also in Agrigento is possible to find some well-preserved ancient Greek temples

Temple of Concordia

This postcard was sent by Isabella

The Temple of Concordia is an ancient Greek temple located in the Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples) in Agrigento on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy. It is the largest and best-preserved Doric temple in Sicily and one of the best-preserved Greek temples in general, especially of the Doric order.

The temple was built c. 440–430 BC. The well-preserved peristasis of six by thirteen columns stands on top of acrepidoma of four steps (measuring 39.42 m × 16.92 m (129.3 ft × 55.5 ft), and 8.93 m (29.3 ft) high) The cella measures 28.36 m × 9.4 m (93.0 ft × 30.8 ft). The columns are 6 m (20 ft) high and carved with twenty flutes and harmonious entasis (tapering at the tops of the columns and swelling around the middles). - in: wikipedia

Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archeological Sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula

In this Italian site can be found some of the most well-preserved ancient Greek temples of the world!

Temple of Hera II in Paestum

 This postcard was sent by Natalia

Paestum was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 600 to 450 BC, which are in a very good state of preservation.

The second Temple of Hera was built around 460–450 BC. It was once thought to be dedicated to Poseidon. The columns do not have a normal 20 flutes on each column but have 24 flutes. The Temple of Hera II also has a wider column size and smaller intervals between columns. The temple was also used to worship Zeus and another unknown god. There are visible on the east side the remains of two altars, one large and one smaller. The smaller one is a Roman addition, built when they cut through the larger one to build a road to the forum. It is also possible that the temple was originally dedicated to both Hera and Poseidon; some offertory statues found around the larger altar are thought to demonstrate this identification. - in: wikipedia

Velia

This postcard was sent by Edoardo

Velia was the Roman name of an ancient city of Magna Graecia on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was originally founded by Greeks from Phocaea as Hyele around 538–535 BC. The name later changed to Ele and then Elea before it became known by its current Latin and Italian name during the Roman era. Its ruins are located in the Cilento region near the modern village Velia, which was named after the ancient city.

Remains of the city walls, with traces of one gate and several towers, of a total length of over three miles, still exist, and belong to three different periods, in all of which the crystalline limestone of the locality is used. Bricks were also employed in later times; their form is peculiar to this place, each having two rectangular channels on one side, and being about 1.5 in. square, with a thickness of nearly 4 in. They all bear Greek brick-stamps. There are some remains of cisterns on the site, and, various other traces of buildings. - in: wikipedia

Bourges Cathedral

This is one of the many Gothic cathedrals of France listed in the UNESCO World Heritage list and it was the last one that I received

Bourges Cathedral

This postcard arrived from Spain sent by Jordi

The Cathedral of St Etienne of Bourges, built between the late 12th and late 13th centuries, is one of the great masterpieces of Gothic art and is admired for its proportions and the unity of its design. The tympanum, sculptures and stained-glass windows are particularly striking. Apart from the beauty of the architecture, it attests to the power of Christianity in medieval France. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/635

Khangchendzonga National Park

This is one of the three sites that India inscribed in 2016 in the UNESCO World Heritage List

Mount Khangchendzonga

This postcard was sent by Prashant Alex

Located at the heart of the Himalayan range in northern India (State of Sikkim), the Khangchendzonga National Park includes a unique diversity of plains, valleys, lakes, glaciers and spectacular, snow-capped mountains covered with ancient forests, including the world’s third highest peak, Mount Khangchendzonga. Mythological stories are associated with this mountain and with a great number of natural elements (caves, rivers, lakes, etc.) that are the object of worship by the indigenous people of Sikkim. The sacred meanings of these stories and practices have been integrated with Buddhist beliefs and constitute the basis for Sikkimese identity. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1513