Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe

This site used to be shared by three countries but recently UNESCO extended it to a total of 18 countries! As if it wasn't already hard enough to get postcards of the previous three...

Kalkalpen National Park

This postcard was sent by Marco

Kalkalpen National Park (in English literally Limestone Alps National Park) is a national park within the Northern Limestone Alps mountain range, located in the state of Upper Austria, Austria. The park was established in 1997. The ancient beech forests within the national park were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, because of their undisturbed nature and testimony to the ecological history of Europe since the Last Glacial Period. - in : wikipedia

Sonian Forest

This postcard was sent by Javier

The Sonian Forest or Sonian Wood (Dutch: Zoniënwoud, French: Forêt de Soignes) is a 4,421-hectare (10,920-acre) forest at the southeast edge of Brussels, Belgium.

Today the forest consists mainly of European beeches and oaks. Several trees are more than 200 years old, dating from the Austrian period. - in: wikipedia

Velebit National Park

This postcard was sent by Antonella

The Northern Velebit National Park (Croatian: Nacionalni park Sjeverni Velebit) is a national park in Croatia that covers 109 km² of the northern section of the Velebit mountains, the largest mountain range in Croatia. Because of the abundant variety of this part of the Velebit range, the area was upgraded from a nature reserve in 1999, and opened as a national park in September the same year. - in: wikipedia

Paklenica National Park

This postcard was sent by Steffi

The Paklenica karst river canyon is a national park in Croatia. It is near Starigrad, northern Dalmatia, on the southern slopes of Velebit mountain, not far from Zadar. It contains two canyons, Mala (Small) and Velika (Big) Paklenica. Today there is no water flowing through Mala Paklenica.

The wealth of flora is reflected in the list of 1,000 plant species and subspecies recorded to date, 79 of them endemic. The great diversity, the presence of relict, endemic, rare, statutorily protected species make the Park a very valuable floristic area, not just in Croatia, but in Europe and the world as well.

The forest phenomenon is one of the main reasons why the South Velebit area was proclaimed a national park. Areas of oak and oriental hornbeam forests, beech forest, black pine forests, and fern forest, can all be found in the park. In 2017, the beech forests within the national park were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe because of their testimony to the ecological history of forest dynamics within Europe since the last Ice Age. - in: wikipedia

Jasmund National Park

This postcard was sent by Gerald

The Jasmund National Park (German: Nationalpark Jasmund) is a nature reserve on the Jasmund peninsula, in the northeast of Rügen island in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is famous for containing the largest chalk cliffs in Germany, the Königsstuhl (German = "king's chair").

Jasmund National Park

This postcard was sent by Shoni

These cliffs are up to 161 m (528 ft) above the Baltic Sea. The beech forests behind the cliffs are also part of the national park.

Wissower Klinken in Jasmund National Park

This postcard was sent by Michèle

The chalk cliffs face constant erosion. With every storm, parts of the cliffs fall, including rocks and fossils of sponges, oysters and sea urchins.

The most majestic part of the cliffs is the Königsstuhl (English: king's chair) which stands at 118 m (387 ft). One of the most scenic and best known of the chalk outcrops, the Wissower Klinken, collapsed into the Baltic Sea on February 24, 2005, in a landslide caused by spring-thaw weather conditions. - in: wikipedia

Grumsin Forest

This postcard was sent by Carola

Buchenwald Grumsin World Heritage Natural Site - the largest nature development area of the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve. What is special about the 670-hectare nature reserve between the A 11 motorway Berlin-Prenzlau and the city of Angermünde is not only that there are old beech trees, but also a typical landscape shaped by glaciers dating back to the last glacial period (about 10,000 to 15,000 years ago) with deep valleys and rugged heights, resembling mountains with numerous lakes and marshlands. - in: http://www.brandenburg-tourism.com/detail/id/17724/theme/a-z.html

Parco Nazionale delle Casentinesi

This postcard was sent by Sini

The Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona, Campigna is a national park in Italy. Created in 1993, it covers an area of about 368 square kilometres (142 sq mi), on the two sides of the Apennine watershed between Romagna and Tuscany, and is divided between the provinces of Forlì Cesena, Arezzo and Florence.

A large part of the park is woodland. In the park are areas the mountain vegetation, all types of woodland of the lower sub-mountain belt vegetation. In the forest dominated by hornbeams, turkey oaks and sessile oaks, chestnut woods (especially in the Camaldoli area and at Castagno d’Andrea on the Florentine side). In rocky places there are some of remaining rare cork oaks . - in: wikipedia

Połonina Wetlińska, Bieszczady Mountains

This postcard was sent by Sebastian

Bieszczady National Park (Polish: Bieszczadzki Park Narodowy) is the third-largest national park in Poland, located in Subcarpathian Voivodeship in the extreme southeast corner of the country. In 2021, the national park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The park was created in 1973. At the time it covered only 59.55 square kilometres (22.99 sq mi), but over the years it was enlarged four times. - in: wikipedia

Carpathians in Slovakia

This postcard was sent by Javier

The Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians include ten separate massifs located along the 185 km (115 mi) long axis from the Rakhiv mountains and Chornohora ridge in Ukraine over the Poloniny Ridge (Slovakia) to the Vihorlat Mountains in Slovakia. - in: wikipedia

Spain's Beech Forests

This postcard was sent by Javier

Beech forest of Castilla – La Mancha: the Tejera Negra beech forest is 150 kilometres from Madrid, and you will need to reserve a parking space in advance. There are two circular walking routes and a visitors’ centre.Beech forest of the Community of Madrid: the Montejo beech forest, about 100 kilometres from Madrid, includes part of the Sierra del Rincón Biosphere Reserve. Booking is essential, and you can do it up to three months in advance.Beech forests of Navarre: the Lizardoia beech forest is part of the popular Irati Forest, and close to its visitors’ centre (Casa de Irati, in Ochagavía), which organises guided tours and offers information on mountain bike routes. The Aztaparreta beech forest is part of the Roncal Valley and very close to the Larra-Belagua ski resort, in the heart of the Pyrenees.Beech forests of Castilla y León: the beech forests of Cuesta Fría and Canal de Asotín are in León’s share of the Picos de Europa National Park. The park hiking route “Through the villages of Sajambre” covers the beech forest area and is an easy walk. It is about 125 kilometres from the cities of Oviedo and León. - in: https://www.spain.info/en/que-quieres/naturaleza/espacios-naturales/hayedos-patrimonio-mundial-espana.html#

Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine

This postcard was sent by Balyna

The Carpathian Mountains are a mountain range system forming an arc roughly 1,500 km (932 mi) long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe.

Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine 

This postcard was sent by Marco

They provide the habitat for the largest European populations of brown bears, wolves, chamois and lynxes. in: wikipedia

I'm still missing postcards from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia and Switzerland

Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region

This site used to be located only in Macedonia but this year was extended to Albania

Ohrid

This postcard was sent by Anita

Ohrid is a city in North Macedonia, the seat of Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with over 42,000 inhabitants as of 2002. Ohrid once had 365 churches, one for each day of the year, and has been referred to as a "Jerusalem of the Balkans". The city is rich in picturesque houses and monuments, and tourism is predominant. It is located southwest of Skopje, west of Resen and Bitola. In 1979 and in 1980 respectively, Ohrid and Lake Ohrid were accepted as Cultural and Natural World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. - in: wikipedia

Pogradec

This postcard was sent by Boris

Pogradec (definite Albanian form: Pogradeci) is a city and municipality in central Albania, situated on the shores of the Ohrid lake. The lake is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes. It is located in the County of Korçë.

This city is surrounded by hills on the southern and western side. The lake is in the eastern and northern side of the city. The highway linking to Tirana, Elbasan and Korçë passes through the city. It is located southeast of Elbasan, southwest of Ohrid in North Macedonia, north of Korçë and northwest of Florina in Greece. - in: wikipedia

Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra

Berat and Gjirokastra are two fortified historic centres in Albania remarkably well preserved.

Bachelors' Mosque in Berat

This postcard was sent by Christina

The Bachelors' Mosque, formerly the Sylejman Pasha Mosque, is a Cultural Monument of Albania, located in Berat. It became a Cultural Monument in 1961.

The mosque is located in the lower Mangalem neighborhood. It has two floors and arcades on three sides of it. The minaret of the mosque is low. The paintings inside the mosque date from the years 1927-1928.

Berat is a city and a municipality located in south-central Albania, and the capital of the County of Berat and also one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities.

The town is still renowned for its historic architecture and scenic beauty and is known as the "Town of a Thousand Windows", due to the many large windows of the old decorated houses overlooking the town. - in: wikipedia

Gjirokastra

This postcard arrived from Austria sent by Christina

Gjirokastër is a town and a municipality in southern Albania. Lying in the historical region of Epirus, it is the capital of Gjirokastër County. Its old town is a World Heritage Site described as "a rare example of a well-preserved Ottoman town, built by farmers of large estate." Gjirokastër is situated in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea level. The city is overlooked by Gjirokastër Fortress, where the Gjirokastër National Folklore Festival is held every five years. Gjirokastër is the birthplace of former Albanian communist leader Enver Hoxha and notable writer Ismail Kadare. It hosts the Eqrem Çabej University. 

Many houses in Gjirokastër have a distinctive local style that has earned the city the nickname "City of Stone", because most of the old houses have roofs covered with flat dressed stones. A very similar style can be seen in the Pelion district of Greece. The city, along with Berat, was among the few Albanian cities preserved in the 1960s and 1970s from modernizing building programs.- in: wikipedia

Butrint

On a trip to Greece, Sini from Finland took a day to go to Albania and visited Butrint

Amphitheatre of Butrint

Buthrotum (Albanian: Butrint) was an ancient Greek and later Roman city in Epirus. In modern times it is an archeological site in Vlorë County, Albania, some 14 kilometres south of Sarandë and close to the Greek border. It was known in antiquity as Βουθρωτόν (Bouthrōton) or (Βουθρώτιος) Bouthrōtios in Ancient Greek and Buthrotum in Latin. It is located on a hill overlooking the Vivari Channel and part of the Butrint National Park. Inhabited since prehistoric times, Buthrotum was a city of the Greek tribe of the Chaonians, later a Roman colony and abishopric. It entered into decline in Late Antiquity, before being abandoned during the Middle Ages after a major earthquake flooded most of the city. - in: wikipedia