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