Dutch Water Defence Lines

This year UNESCO added the New Dutch Water Line to the site Defence Line of Amsterdam. The Dutch Water Line was a series of water-based defences combined with natural bodies of water that could be used to transform Holland, the westernmost region of the Netherlands and adjacent to the North Sea, almost into an island. 

Fort Pampus

This postcard was sent by Kim

Pampus is an artificial island and late 19th-century sea fort located in the IJmeer near Amsterdam. It now belongs to the municipality of Gooise Meren and is open to visitors.

The fort is built of bricks and concrete. The fort has an oval shape and the main building has three floors. On the ground floor were the troops' quarters, kitchen, laundry, two coal-fired steam engines of 20 hp, two dynamos, telegraph, first aid station, and magazines. in: wikipedia

Loevestein Castle

This postcard was sent from Australia by Helen

Loevestein Castle (Dutch: Slot Loevestein) is a medieval castle in the municipality of Zaltbommel, Gelderland, the Netherlands.

The castle was built by the knight Dirc Loef van Horne (hence "Loef's stein" (stone) house) between 1357 and 1397. Until World War II Loevestein Castle was part of the Hollandic Water Line, the main Dutch defense line that was based on flooding an area of land south and east of the western provinces. Currently the castle is used as a medieval museum and function centre. - in: wikipedia

Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape

Pergamon was an ancient Greek city. Today is Turkish territory.

Red Basilica

This postcard was sent from Poland by Natalia

The "Red Basilica" (Turkish: Kızıl Avlu), also called variously the Red Hall and Red Courtyard, is a monumental ruined temple in the ancient city of Pergamon, now Bergama, in western Turkey. The temple was built by the Roman Empire, probably in the time of Hadrian and possibly on his orders. It is one of the largest Roman structures still surviving in the ancient Greek world. The temple is thought to have been used for the worship of the Egyptian gods – specifically Isis and/or Serapis, and possibly also Osiris, Harpocrates and other lesser gods, who may have been worshipped in a pair of drum-shaped rotundas, both of which are virtually intact, alongside the main temple. - in: wikipedia

Trajaneum

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On the highest point of the citadel is the Temple for Trajan and Zeus Philios. The temple sits on a 2.9-metre-high (9.5 ft) podium on top of a vaulted terrace. The temple itself was a Corinthian peripteros temple, about 18 metres wide with 6 columns on the short sides and 9 columns on the long sides, and two rows of columns in antis. To the north, the area was closed off by a high stoa, while on the west and east sides it was surrounded by simple ashlar walls, until further stoas were inserted in Hadrian's reign. - in: wikipedia

Aqueduct of Pergamon

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The inhabitants of Pergamon were supplied with water by an effective system. In addition to cisterns, there was a system of nine pipes (seven Hellenistic ceramic pipes and two open Roman channels. The system provided around 30,000-35,000 cubic metres of water per day.

The Madradağ aqueduct was a ceramic pipe with a diameter of 18 cm which already brought water to the citadel from a source over 40 kilometres away in the Madradağ mountains at 1174 m above sea level in the Hellenistic period. - in: wikipedia

Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site

 This was the site of landing and trading of enslaved Africans for more than 20 years

Cais do Valongo

This postcard was sent by Silvia

Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site is located in central Rio de Janeiro and encompasses the entirety of Jornal do Comércio Square. It is in the former harbour area of Rio de Janeiro in which the old stone wharf was built for the landing of enslaved Africans reaching the South American continent from 1811 onwards. An estimated 900,000 Africans arrived in South America via Valongo. The site is composed of several archaeological layers, the lowest of which consists of floor pavings in pé de moleque style, attributed to the original Valongo Wharf. It is the most important physical trace of the arrival of African slaves on the American continent. - in: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1548/