0234 FRANCE (Île-de-France) - La dame de fer

The Eiffel Tower (La Tour Eiffel) was built in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, on the Champ de Mars in Paris, and it has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. It's named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower, which has 320m and was the tallest man-made structure in the world for 41 years.

Is know very well all these things. Is less known that it would have to recover the cost of construction in 20 years, and after this it had to be dismantled. But the cost was recovered in a year, and the tower wasn’t removed even today. If it wasn't dismantled, but instead was sold in 1925 by Victor Lustig, a con artist born in Hostinné, today a town in Czech Republic. How did this? Very simple.

Lustig invited six scrap metal dealers to a confidential meeting at the one of the most prestigious hotels of the Paris, to discuss a possible business deal. There, Lustig introduced himself as the deputy director-general of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs, and told the group that the upkeep on the Eiffel Tower wanted to sell it for scrap. Finally he collected the money (plus a large bribe) from one dealer, Andre Poisson, who wanted to enter in the inner circles of the Parisian business community. After that, the con took a train for Vienna with a suitcase full of cash. A month later, Lustig returned to Paris and tried to sell the Tower once more, but this time hasn't succeeded.

Today no one thinks to sell or demolish the Eiffel Tower, which is placed in the succession of masterpieces located to the banks of the Seine, became in 1991 an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

About the stamp, blue Marianne et l'Europe, I wrote here.


sender: Dragoş Cioroboiu
sent from Paris (France), on 12.04.2012

0233 RUSSIA (Krasnodar Krai) – A lighthouse on the shore of the Black Sea

In this postcard is a lighthouse and a little church on the rock in Bolshoy Utrish (Big Utrish), south Russia, on the shore of the Black Sea. Between the seaside village of Bolshoy Utrish and Sukko, a rural locality serving as a resort, sprawls the Bolshoy Utrish protected area (zakaznik), which stretches for 12km along the coastline and is closed on the north ridge Navagir. Sukko lies in the north of the Abrau Peninsula, in the valley of the small Sukko River, wedged between the westernmost spurs of the Caucasus Mountains, otherwise known as the Markotkh.

At Utrish is the only well preserved in the Northern Black Sea area of typical Eastern Mediterranean landscapes. More then 60% of plant species belongs to the Mediterranean flora, and the oak-hornbeam forests of these species make up 40%. About 60 species are listed as endangered, many of them endemic, and in the forests can found trees aged about 1000 years.

In terms of fauna, it's worth mentioning striped mantis, saga pedo, rare species of Mediterranean butterflies, spur-thighed tortoise, aesculapian snake, nesting serpent eagle, short-toed snake eagle, white-tailed eagle, black vulture, egyptian vulture, peregrine falcon, and during spring and autumn migration along the coastline a great variety of birds species, as mute swan, loons, podiceps, and many others. These places are part also of the migration path and feeding of the mackerels hamsa, and bottlenose dolphin.

About the lighthouse, I can say that is located on a island and appears to be abandoned and deteriorating. The date when it was put into use is unknown, but probably is 1920, because the station was established in 1911. It's a round cylindrical masonry tower with gallery and a band of sculptured faces around it at about a quarter of the height, and a small red lantern in top. The picture was taken before 2008, because in this year it was placed a new lighthouse, on the metallic structure, which don't appears here.

The stamp, issued on May 26, 2011, depict the coat of arms of Irkutsk, which dates from 1690 and represented a babr (the Siberian word for tiger) carrying a sable in his teeth.


sender: Andrei / Abramovsky (postcrossing)
sent from Arkhangelsk (Arkhangelsk Oblast / Russia), on 06.03.2012

0232 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (FBiH) - A bridge like a rainbow arch

Very few cities in the world are so connected to a single construction as is Mostar (the political and cultural center of Herzegovina) and its Stari Most (Old Bridge). Basically, the city grew around this stone bridge, which link the two banks of the Neretva River at the narrowest point of the river gorge, and gave the name to the city (mostari mean the bridge keepers). It replaced a wooden bridge that marked the center of the settlement in the 15th century. From the middle of the next century, the settlement had grown significantly, making Mostar the main regional connection between the Adriatic Sea and the interior, linking cities to the north, south and west. Its strategic location led the Ottomans to build a permanent and solid crossing.

Designed by the architect Mimar Hajrudin the Younger, a pupil of the Mimar Sinan, the chief architect for sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, and erected between 1557 and 1566 by Dalmatian craftsmen, the bridge, built in local tenelija stone, a limestone known for its endurance, had 29m long and 4m wide, and the vault supporting the roadway had 77cm thick. The stones were fastened together with iron clamps and then joined with molten lead. The bridge was later fortified at either end with a tower where stationed the guards, on the east bank (the Tara, or Hercegusa Tower) in 16th century, and on the west bank (the Halebinovka or Celovina Tower) in the 17th century.

"The bridge is like a rainbow arch soaring up to the skies, extending from one cliff to the other", wrote the well-traveled Evliya Çelebi in the 17th century "...I, a poor and miserable slave of Allah, have passed through 16 countries, but I have never seen such a high bridge. It is thrown from rock to rock as high as the sky."

With the old bridge at the center, new mahalas (quarters) began to spring up on both sides of Neretva River, Mostar quickly becoming a key trading partner with the Adriatic's coastal cities and experienced a long period of cultural, political and economic growth. Many beautiful mosques and medresas (religious schools) were constructed in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. All three ethnic / religious communities (the bosniaks / muslims, the croats / roman catholic, and the serbs / orthodox) lived in harmony for centuries, the Ottomans having a high level of religious tolerance.

When the Ottoman Empire started to decline, Austria-Hungary included Bosnia and Herzegovina in its administrative region, building railroad, bridges, and schools. After WWI much of Bosnia and Herzegovina experienced harsh economic and political struggles, and Mostar wasn't a exception, but after WWII the city enjoyed great prosperity.

The things changed rapidly in 1992, when began the Bosnian War. Mostar experienced its worst part of history, the town being subject to an 18 month siege, and most of the city being completely devastated. On November 9, 1993, the bridge, which crossed more than four centuries without problems, even surviving two world wars, being an enduring symbol of the region's multiculturalism, was purposefully destroyed by Bosnian Croat tank shells.

The bridge was rebuilt and inaugurated on July 23, 2004, but what seems to me very interesting and significantly is that International Stari Most Foundation, the World Bank, UNESCO, the Council of Europe Development Bank and various governments - including Italy, Croatia and Turkey - offered financial and technical support for the reconstruction process, together with the local and national governments of Mostar and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moreover, Stari Most was reconstructed by ER-BU Construction and Trade, a Turkish company specializing in the reconstruction of Ottoman stone bridges. On 2005 the Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar was included among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The first two stamps are part of the Domestic Animals definitive series, issued on January 31, 2007, and containing 6 stamps:
• Sheep  (0.10 BAM) – it’s on the postcard
• Goat (0.20 BAM)
• Cow (0.30 BAM) – it’s on the postcard
• Donkey (0.40 BAM)
• Horse (0.70 BAM)
• Cat (1.00 BAM)

The last stamp have as motive Nature park – Hutovo blato, was issued on September 20, 2011, and was designed by Tamer Lučarević .

 
sender: Snježana Makaš (direct swap)
sent from Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina), on 20.04.2012

0231 CHILE (Antofagasta) – In the land of the Atacameño

We all learned in school that the Atacama Desert is the driest place on earth. Maybe also the fact that it has an area about as a third of Poland. The average rainfall in the region of Antofagasta is just 1mm per year (for comparison, in Rome is 834 mm per year). It seems that the Atacama may not have had any significant rainfall from 1570 to 1971, and in a region about 100km south of Antofagasta, which averages 3,000m height, the soil is comparable to that of Mars.

Atacama is an area sparsely populated, with most cities located along the Pacific coast, but also in oases and some valleys, which were the seat of the most advanced Pre-Columbian societies found in Chile. San Pedro de Atacama, at about 2,000m elevation, is a typical example in this regard, being built around an oasis in the Puna de Atacama, an arid high plateau. In pre-Hispanic era, even before the Inca empire, it was inhabited by the Atacameño tribe, noted for the construction of fortified towns called pucarás. Around the town there are 12 ayllus, territorial, productive and social units, typical of the traditional organizing way of the Atacameño. San Pedro de Atacama was included in 1998 on the tentative lists of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

In this almost unearthly image can be seen, in fact, hills of salt in the Sico Pass (4,079m), located on the main divide of the Andes, on the border between Chile and Argentina, connecting San Pedro de Atacama with Catua, on the Argentinian side.

As always, Hernán used many stamps, namely four. The first is part of the series Universidad de Talca, about which I wrote here (I have now two of four). The second belong to the Valparaíso, Patrimonio de la Humanidad set, about which I wrote also here.

The third is part of a very special series, issued on March 26, 2008, containing not less than 27 stamps, divided into three sets of nine, each set forming a 3x3 block of stamps and illustrating a painting by Roberto Matta, one of Chile's best-known Painters. The three paintings are:
• Espejo de Cronos / 1981 (9x$410)
• Foyer du moi / 1995 (9x$410)
• Ensenar la eternidad / 1990 (9x$280) - one of this stamp is on the postcard

The last stamp is part of the Fiestas Nacionales (National Holidays) series, issued on October 30, 2008, and containing five values:
• Cuasimodo ($10) - it’s on the postcard
• La Vendimia ($200)
• La Tirana ($1,000)
• Fiestas Patrias ($2,000)
• El Rodeo ($5,000)


sender: Hernán (direct swap)
sent from Santiago (Chile), on 07.04.2012

0230 IRAQ (Baghdad) - The Two who swallow their anger

2007.06.06 - A twin car bombs killed 7 people
2007.06.27 - A car bomb killed at least 14 people and injured 22 others
2008.12.27 - A car bomb killed at least 24 people and wounded 46 others
2009.01.04 - A suicide bomber killed 38 and injured 72 pilgrims

...and so on. Too many dead for a place of pilgrimage where you have to say, according to tradition:
Peace be upon thee, O Friend of God!
Peace be upon thee, O Proof of God!
Peace be upon thee, O Light of God!
O Light in the dark place of the earth!

It's about Al-Kādhimiya Mosque, a shrine located in the holy city Kādhimayn (literally The Two who swallow their anger), a suburb of Baghdad, which contains the tombs of the Two Imāms, Imām Mūsā al-Kādhim (745-799) and Imām Muhammad at-Taqī (811-835), but also the famous historical scholars Shaykh Mufīd (948-1022) and Shaykh Nasīr ad-Dīn Tūsi (1201-1274). Is said that this Shrine with its twin domes of gleaming gold is one of the most beautiful sights in Baghdad, and its history affords a thrilling resume of the changing fortunes of the famed city of Arabian Nights. Not rare are the days when the shrine is visited by about 30,000 pilgrims.

The present building, which incorporates two large gilded domes and four minarets, represents the restoration of the Shah of Azerbaijan and of Iran, lsmail I (1502-1524). On the other hand, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520-1566), who captured Baghdad and remained there for four months in 1534, visited this place, and is said to have contributed to the ornamentation of the shrine. The tiles for the double cupola were provided in 1796 by the Shah of Persia, Agha Muhammad Khan. In 1870, Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar, the Shahanshah of Iran, had these golden tiles repaired on one of the domes and on the minarets. After the fall of the regime of Saddam Hussein were repairs done to the outer wall and to the gate Bāb al-Qiblah, and the dome over the grave of Muhammad at-Taqī was re-gilded.

The stamp is part of the FIFA South Africa 2009 Football set, consists of three values, 100 (on the postcard), 250 and 500 dinars.


sender: Ahmed Al-Hilaly (direct swap)
sent from Tikrit (Iraq), on 22.12.2011

0229 FALKLAND ISLANDS – The southernmost Anglican cathedral in the world

It took me six months to get this postcard, but I'm not sorry at all. Since only slightly more than 3,000 people live in this archipelago located in South Atlantic, rarely visited by tourists because of its isolation, but also because of the Maritime subarctic climates, this postcard can be considered a very important piece of my collection, for which I must thank Vanesa. Random or not, yesterday were 30 years from the Battle of Goose Green, one of the most important engagement of the Falklands War, so it's an appropriate moment for this post.
 
Consists of East Falkland, West Falkland, and 776 lesser islands, this archipelago is a self-governing British Overseas Territory, with the United Kingdom responsible for their defence and foreign affairs. The islands were uninhabited when were discovered by Europeans, be they French, Portuguese, Spanish or British, who while more than two hundred years just visited them, the first settlement being founded by the French in 1764. The French named them the Îles Malouines, because them were briefly occupied by fishermen from Saint Mal, a port city in Brittany. The Spanish name, las Islas Malvinas, is derived from the French name. The English name came from Falkland Sound, the channel between the two main islands, which was in turn named after Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount of Falkland, by Captain John Strong, who landed on the islands in 1690.

Claimed by the French, Spaniards, British and (since 1820) Argentinians, the archipelago was took under control by British Empire in 1833. In December 1914 took place the Battle of the Falkland Islands, and during WWII Stanley served as a Royal Navy station and serviced ships which took part in the 1939 Battle of the River Plate. I first heard about the archipelago in 1982, with the occasion of the Falklands War, about which I understood what was understandable, even though I wasn't yet 18 years old: the military junta that ruled then Argentina wanted to distract people from domestic problems of the country by occupying this territory (always a sensitive topic for Argentinians), and the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher wanted to send a strong and clear message about the UK position on the world's stage and about how it's prepared to respond when this position is in doubt.

The capital of the Falkland Islands is Stanley (also known as Port Stanley), actually the only true city in the archipelago, with a population of 2,115. Founded in 1843 and named after Lord Stanley, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies at the time, it was a major repair stop for boats travelling through the Straits of Magellan before the construction of the Panama Canal. Since the Falklands War, Stanley has developed greatly, with the building of many residential housing, being now more than a third bigger than it was in 1982.

In picture is the centre of Stanley, with Christ Church Cathedral, the southernmost Anglican cathedral in the world and also the parish church of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the British Antarctic Territories. Designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield in gothic revival style, it was built on the site of Holy Trinity Church (destroyed by a peat slip in 1886), and was consecrated in 1892. Interesting on this church is the collection of 55 hassocks (cushions used while the congregation kneels on while the prayer), knitted by locals and depicting a design or picture that has a connection with the islands.

In the front of the church stands Whalebone Arch, an original monument made from the jaws of two blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), the largest mammals of the world. The bones were brought from South Shetland islands in 1922, and the monument was erected in 1933 to commemorate the centenary of the British rule in Falkland Islands.

On the postcard appears also the Falkland Islands coat of arms, granted on September 29, 1948. The ship represents the Desire, the vessel in which the British sea-captain, John Davis, is reputed to have discovered the Falkland Islands in 1592. The motto "Desire the Right" also refers to the ship's name. The Ram represents sheep-farming, until recently the principal economic activity of the Islands and the tussac grass shows the most notable native vegetation.

The wonderful four stamps are the complete commemorative series named Islands, Stacks and Bluffs - Part 3, designed by Tony Chater and issued on April 11, 2011:
• Bird Island 52°10’S 60°55’ W 125 metres (3p) – It’s on the postcard
• Eddystone Rock 51°11’S 59°03’W (27p) – It’s on the postcard
•Round Island and Sail Rock 51°35’S 60°43’W (70p) – It’s on the postcard
• Direction Island 51°53’S 58°21’W (£1.71) – It’s on the postcard

As you probably noticed, on the postcard aren’t my name and my address, because the sender sent it in an envelope, after she sticking the stamps and cancelled them.

The first stamp on the anvelope is part of the Petrels and Shearwaters commemorative series, designed by Tony Chater and issued on July 8, 2010:
• Sooty Shearwater / Puffinus griseus (27p)
• White-chinned Petrel / Procellaria aequinoctialis (70p)
• Southern Giant Petrel / Macronectes giganteus (95p) - It's on the postcard
• Greater Shearwater / Puffinus gravis (£1.15)

The following three stamps are part of the definitive series named Aircraft 2008, designed by Ross Watton and issued on August 1, 2008:
• Taylorcraft Auster MK 5 (1p) - It's on the postcard
• Boeing 747 (2p)
• De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter (5p) - It's on the postcard
• De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver (27p)
• Lockheed C-130 Hercules (10p)
• Airbus A320 (55p)
• Lockheed L-1011-385-3 Tristar C2 (65p)
• Avro Vulcan B2 (90p) - It's on the postcard
• Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander (£1)
• Panavia Tornado F.3 (£2)
• De Havilland Canada DHC-7-110 Dash 7 (£3)
• Bae Sea Harrier (£5)

The last one is part of the commemorative series named Islands, Stacks and Bluffs - Part 3, about wich I wrote before.


sender: Vanesa
sent from Stanley (Falkland Island), on 07.05.2012
photo: Nick Bonner

0228 SPAIN (Catalonia) - 28 inhabitants and a 12 centuries-old church

The most beautiful holiday of my life I spent it in Catalonia, so whenever I hear something about this region my heart leaps glad. This happened when I received this postcard. The church of the image is located in El Pont de Bar - a municipality in the comarca (county) Alt Urgell - which now has only 197 inhabitants. The municipality was formed in 1970 by merging of the towns of Toloríu and Aristot, and includes Ardaix, Els Arenys, Aristot, Els Banys de Sant Vicenç, Bar, Castellnou de Carcolze and Toloríu.

Initially called Aristot i Toloriu, finally was adopted like name the one of the municipal head located in El Pont de Bar (literally The Bridge of Bar). The baron of Toloriu, Joan Grau, was one of the first conquistadores arrived at Tenochtitlán, next to Hernán Cortés. He married with one of the daughters of Moctezuma, Xipaguazin, that died in Toloriu on January 10, 1537, and was buried in the church of San Jaime.

The church of the image is the parish church of St. Stephen (esglesia de Sant Esteve), and is located at the top of Bar, a village with 28 inhabitants. Near are the few remains of the ancient castle of Bar, which together with the neighboring castles and Aristot and Toloríu served to defend the entrance to the Cerdanya, a historical region now divided between France and Spain. Probably the church was build in the first half of the 9th century, if the act of consecration of the Cathedral of 839 is true. However the building doesn't allow to establish a chronology before the end of the Middle Ages, because it's the result of later interventions, reflected in its structure and hinder their classification within the framework of a unified style, although it seems that there were traces of a Roman scaffolding.

Moreover, in the 19th century the building was affected by fire, in which it seems he also burned the Romanesque image of the Virgin of Tor. With regard to building's plan, it exceeds the idea of a symmetrical façade, above the roof's height rising a bell tower, that transforms the plan in octagon with unequal sides.

The stamp, having the Spanish tourism as a subject, was issued on January 2, 2012. 


sender: Luis / luiseme (postcrossing)
sent from Barcelona (Catalonia / Spain), on 21.02.2012.
photo: Joan Oliva

0227 NETHERLANDS (South Holland) - Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout

The windmill in the picture is a variant of smock mill (I wrote here about this type of mill), namely grondzeiler (ground sailer). These mills can be operated from the ground, and because the sails reach almost down to the ground, being a great danger to people and animals, are surrounded by a fence. This type of mill was built in locations with little wind barrier, for example in the barren western polders of the Netherlands. The best known example of such mills is the Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout, an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. The mill in the image is part of this group, which is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands.

Located in Alblasserwaard (-waard = "land in or along the water), a polder at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers, about 15km east of Rotterdam, this network, consists of 19 windmills built around 1740 and very well preserved, had the purpose to drain the polder. In Alblasserwaard, problems with water was always apparent, so when the large canals dug in the 13th century weren't sufficient anymore, were built this windmills, which pump the water into a reservoir at an intermediate level between the soil in the polder and the river, and from there into the river, by other windmills. Although some of the windmills are still used, the main works are provided by two diesel pumping stations.

The legend about the name Kinderdijk (Children's dike) is very nice. During the Saint Elizabeth flood of 1421, one of the worst floods in history, the Grote Hollandse Waard was flooded, but the Alblasserwaard not. It's said that someone who went on to the dike between these two areas to see what could be saved, saw a wooden cradle floating on the waters, and on the cradle a cat, trying to keep it in balance by jumping back and forth. When the cradle reached close enough, he saw a baby who sleeping inside it.

The stamp is part of Green Progress set, about which I wrote here.


sender: Marion / patmar (postcrossing)
sent from Nijmegen (Netherlands), on 14.02.2012

0226 GERMANY – As if the time would keep standing

A very appropriate name for this artistic photo by Ingo Quake. As for colors, I like this combination of red and green, both intense. The photo provides too little detail to can indicate if it's made in Germany or elsewhere. The building is certainly old, not because the plaster is eaten by time, but rather because the windows are placed quite low. A little odd is that the plaster is unkempt, but the exterior shutters seem to be recently painted. The curtains suggests 19th century on the one hand, and on the other that the house is probably inhabited by older people.

A brief parenthesis about the shutters. Technically a shutter is either a solid or slated window cover. Probably that the first shutters originated from ancient Greece, and that they were originally designed for light control, ventilation and protection from the elements. Until the 20th century it have been used widely, both in urban and rural areas, both inside and outside windows, both functional and decorative purposes. Functional shutters have traditionally been constructed from solid woods, to endure outside elements. In many European countries were brightly coloured , creating a contrast with the rest of the façade. Almost all the architectural styles used shutters, in one form or another.

In my childhood, by 1960-1970, in Ploieşti, the city where I was born, only few small and old stores (prăvălii) had shutters, which remained as before the war. The goal of these shutters was only to protect against theft, and they were closed when the stores finish their program. From there survived the Romanian ironic slang expression, rarely used now, "a trage obloanele" (literally "to pull the shutters"), meaning, "to close, temporarily or permanently", or (for human beings), "to die".

About the stamp, illustrating St. Peter's Cathedral of Regensburg, I wrote here.


sender: Kristin / SuperTINE (postcrossing)
sent from Hanover (Germany), on 08.05.2012
photo: Ingo Quak

0225 LITHUANIA (Vilnius) – Rise and decay of Trakai Island Castle

This is the second postcard with Trakai which I receive, but I'm not sorry, for that is another picture, and the castle is really beautiful. If in the first post I wrote more about the history of the castle, I will insist now a little on its construction. I'm referring to Trakai Island Castle (the one shown in the picture), and this clarification is necessary, because, as I said in previous post, there is a castle also on the shores of the Lake Galvė, Trakai Peninsula Castle.

Trakai Island Castle was built in several phases. During the first one, in the second half of the 14th century, the castle was constructed on the largest three islands by the order of Grand Duke Kęstutis, who moved here his main residence and his treasury. After the castle suffered major devastation during an attack by the Teutonic Knights in 1377, a second phase of construction started and continued until 1409. Were added two wings, and on the southern side a 6 story donjon, which was linked to the Ducal Palace. The southern wing was used for the Ducal Hall.

The principal construction material was red Gothic bricks, stone blocks being used only in the foundations and the upper parts of buildings. Its style after the second phase could be described as Gothic, with some Romanesque features. The expansion in the early 15th century marked the third phase. The walls were strengthened to a thickness of 2.5m and raised with additional firing galleries. Three major defensive towers were constructed on the corners, and also a main gatehouse, with a movable gate. The water level of the lake was then several metres higher than today, so the builders separated the Ducal Palace and the forecastle with a moat.

The castle lost its military importance after the Battle of Grunwald, being transformed into a residence and newly decorated from the inside. During the rule of Sigismund Augustus (r. 1548–1569), the castle was redecorated in a Renaissance style, and it served as the royal summer residence for a short period of time. Later the castle served as prison. During the wars with Muscovy in the 17th century, the castle was damaged and was not reconstructed until 1905. The major portion of the reconstruction (in a 15th century style) was finished in 1961, and in 1962 a museum was opened here.

About the stamp, depicting Pope John Paul II in front of the cathedral in Vilnius, I wrote here.


sender: Žymantas / Marionete (postcrossing)
sent from Vilnius (Lithuania), on 02.04.2012
photo: Antanas Varanka