Vatican City

There is a Portuguese expression for those who go somewhere and don't visit the main attraction or don't taste a typical dish, that says that is like going to Rome and not seeing the pope. I don't know if the senders of these cards saw the pope but I'm sure they enjoyed the trip

St. Peter's Square and the Basilica

This postcard was sent by Martinha

St. Peter's Square (Italian: Piazza San Pietro) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighbourhood or rione of Borgo.

St. Peter's Square and the Basilica

This postcard was sent by Anna

At the centre of the square is an ancient Egyptian obelisk, erected at the current site in 1586. Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed the square almost 100 years later, including the massive Tuscan colonnades, four columns deep, which embrace visitors in "the maternal arms of Mother Church". A granite fountain constructed by Bernini in 1675 matches another fountain designed by Carlo Maderno in 1613. - in: wikipedia

St. Peter's Square and the Basilica

This postcard was sent by José "PilotOne"

The Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply St. Peter's Basilica, is an Italian Renaissance church in Vatican City, the papal enclave within the city of Rome.

Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and one of the largest churches in the world. While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, St. Peter's is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world" and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom". - in: wikipedia

Kizhi Pogost

These churches in an island of the lake Onega are amazing and were built without the use of a single nail! They are one of the landmarks of Russia.

Kizhi Pogost

This postcard was sent by Yulia and Vlad

The architectural ensemble of the Kizhi Pogost is located on a narrow spit in the southern part of Kizhi Island, a small island of the Kizhi Archipelago in Lake Onega. The architectural ensemble includes two 18th-century wooden churches: the Church of the Transfiguration and the Church of the Intercession and an octagonal wooden bell tower built in 1862 and considerably reconstructed in 1874.

Church of the Transfiguration

This postcard was sent by Lidiya

The Church of the Transfiguration is a monument with exceptional architectural and structural features. It has no parallel in either Russian or global wooden architecture. Considered by locals as the true wonder of the world, it gave birth to the legend about Master Nestor, who built the 37m high nail-less church using nothing but an axe. The Church of the Transfiguration was used during the summer, when the faithful journeyed from the outermost regions of the parish to attend services. A dendrochronogical study of the materials sets its construction date after 1713-14. The octagon, which defines the composition of the cruciform church, is extended by oblong bays facing the four cardinal points. The nave, flanked with side aisles, is preceded on the west by a projecting narthex reached via two staircases. 

Church of the Transfiguration

Thhis postcard was sent by Anna

The height of the Church of the Transfiguration, whose central cupola culminates at 37m, is a masterpiece of a multi-storey, multi-cupola, and single-block structure. Here, over a central volume covered with three octagonal frames, the architect placed bochkas (roofs whose peak is shaped like a horizontal cylinder with the upper surface extended into a pointed ridge) topped with 22 bulbous cupolas. Inside, under the so-called 'heaven' - a superb vault shaped like a truncated pyramid - there is a gilded wood iconostasis holding 102 icons from the 17th and 18th centuries. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/544

Kizhi Pogost

This postcard was sent by Natalia