3341 ROMANIA (Braşov) - Prejmer fortified church - part of Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania (UNESCO WHS)

Located in Burzenland, Prejmer fortified church was initially Roman Catholic, but became Lutheran following the Reformation. Around 1211, King Andrew II of Hungary permitted the Germanic Teutonic Knights to settle around Prejmer, where they began constructing a church in 1218, in Gothic style. They were responsible for the Greek cross plan, the only one of its kind in Transylvania, but found in a few churches in northeast Germany. Following their expulsion in 1225, the Cistercians, who took over in 1240, finished the church.

3261 ROMANIA (Bucharest) - Postcrossing Meetup, Bucharest, 20 January 2018

3261 The second postcard of the series
"100 years since the Great Union of Romania" (2/12)
- The interior of the Romanian Athenaeum

The previous postcard of the series "100 years since the Great Union of Romania" (1/12)

The second meeting of the Romanian postcrossers in the year of the Centenary of the Great Union (the 34th in total) took place on January 20, 2018 at the premises of the Philatelic Association of Bucharest. Since around this date the Romanians had other two reason to celebrate, these were also mentioned on the postcard. The first one was the National Culture Day, celebrated on January 15, the day in which in 1850 was born Mihai Eminescu, the Romanian national poet.

2702-2704, 3232 UNITED STATES (New York) - Manhattan

2702 Manhattan (1)

Posted on 21.08.2016, 02.01.2018
Manhattan is the most densely populated borough of New York City, its economic and administrative center, and the city's historical birthplace. It consists mostly of Manhattan Island, bounded by the East, Hudson, and Harlem Rivers, and also includes several small adjacent islands and Marble Hill, a small neighborhood on the U.S. mainland. It is often described as the cultural and financial capital of the world and hosts the United Nations Headquarters.

2703 Manhattan (2)

Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City has been called both the most economically powerful city and the leading financial center of the world. Historically documented to have been purchased by Dutch colonists from Native Americans in 1626, for 60 guilders (1050 USD today). Manhattan real estate has since become among the most expensive in the world, with the value of Manhattan Island, including real estate, estimated to exceed 3 trillion USD in 2013.

2704 Manhattan (3)

Many districts and landmarks in Manhattan have become well known, as New York City received a record of nearly 60 million tourists in 2015, and Manhattan hosts three of the world's 10 most-visited tourist attractions in 2013: Times Square, Central Park, and Grand Central Terminal. The borough hosts many world-renowned bridges and skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building. The City of New York was founded at the southern tip of Manhattan, and the borough houses New York City Hall, the seat of the City's Government. 

3232 Bird's-Eye View of Manhattan / 1891 

The skyscraper, which has shaped Manhattan's distinctive skyline, has been closely associated with New York City's identity since the end of the 19th century. From 1890 to 1973, the world's tallest building was in Manhattan, with nine different buildings holding the title. The former Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were located in Lower Manhattan. At 417 and 415m, the 110-story buildings were the world's tallest from 1972, until they were surpassed by the construction of the Willis Tower in 1974. One World Trade Center is currently the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

3230 UNITED STATES (New York) - Ellis Island Portraits by Augustus Frederick Sherman

3230 Ellis Island Portraits
by Augustus Frederick Sherman
- Dutch Siblings from the Island of Marken

The first big wave of immigrants arrived in America between 1847 and 1860. A larger wave of immigrants from a larger range of countries sailed to America between the late 1800s and 1920. Most of them passed through the immigration station at Ellis Island in New York Harbor, which processed more than 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954. In other words, more than 100 million of today's Americans - a third of the population - can trace their ancestry back to an individual who immigrated through Ellis Island.

3227 MOLDOVA (Chişinău) - National Theater "Mihai Eminescu" in Chişinău

 

 

The National Theater in Chişinău, the first stable theater of Romanian expression in Bessarabia, began its history on October 10, 1920, on the initiative of a group of leaders of local public life. Oficial inaugurated on October 6, 1921, with the play Răsvan şi Vidra by Bogdan-Petriceicu Hasdeu, it suspended its activity in 1935, "for financial reasons." Although it didn't enjoy a long life, its existence was of enormous importance for culture of Bessarabia.

0174, 0352, 2349 LITHUANIA (Vilnius) - Vilnius Historic Center (UNESCO WHS)

0174 Vilnius Historic Center - St. Anne's Church

Posted on 17.04.2012, 05.10.2012, 05.03.2016
Raised in the late 13th century around a castle, Vilnius, situated at the confluence of the rivers Neris and Vilnia, became capital of Grand Duchy of Lithuania under Gediminas (r. 1316-1341), and increased in importance along with the expansion of the Duchy, which at its height it covered the territory of modern-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and portions of Poland and Russia. After the formation of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569), it was one of the state capitals (together with Warsaw), opening its doors to migrants and reaching a real Babylon, where are spoke a variety of languages, from Lithuanian, Polish, Ruthenian, Russian and Old Slavonic, to Latin, German, Yiddish, Hebrew and even Turkic.

0352 Vilnius Historic Center - The tower and the monument of Gediminas

Following centuries proved to be malefic for the city. During the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667), Vilnius was pillaged and burned by Russians, and its population was massacred, during the Great Northern War it was looted by the Swedish, in 1710 the bubonic plague killed about 35,000 residents, and devastating fires occurred repeatedly. In 1795 Vilnius was annexed by the Russian Empire, and in 1812 it was taken by Napoleon, for a short period. The numerous uprisings of the population were harshly suppressed by the Russians, who eventually banned the use of the Polish and Lithuanian languages. Disputed after WWI by Lithuanians, Poles and Russians, the city passed from one hand to another, eventually being won by Poland.

2349 Vilnius Historic Center - The Cathedral and its bell tower

Occupied by Soviet Union in 1939, was given to Lithuania, again annexed by the soviets, then by the Germans, and again by the soviets. Only in 1991 Lithuania became again independent. Despite the whole devastation that the city suffered over time, Vilnius is one of the largest surviving medieval old towns in Northern Europe, an impressive Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and classical complex, with 70 streets and lanes numbering 1487 buildings.As political centre of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, it has had a profound influence on the cultural and architectural development of much of eastern Europe.

0062, 0451 ANDORRA - Romanesque churches of Andorra (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

0062 Sant Miquel d'Engolasters Church

It is known, the buffer zones located between the great powers were constantly exposed to invasions and excesses of all kinds. Principality of Andorra is a rare and happy exception, its borders remaining virtually unchanged since 1278, when the conflict between Count of Foix and the Bishop of La Seu d'Urgell was resolved by the signing of a paréage, which provided that its sovereignty will be shared between these two. The period which preceded this agreement (between 9th and 13th centuries) was one intense from political point of view, but also artistic. Among the major achievements of this period are several Romanesque churches, eight of them being included on the Tentative List of UNESCO WHS.

0451  Sant Joan de Caselles Church

Sant Miquel d'Engolasters Church, built before the 12th century in a strategic spot with a fabulous panoramic view out over the capital Andorra la Vella, the church invites visitors to head to Engolasters Lake or the valley of Madriu-Perafita-Claror, a UNESCO WHS since 2004. The rectangular design houses a nave, a semi-circular apse, a gable roof, a belfry and a later arcade porch. The building is characterised by the disproportion between the nave and the 17m high belfry. The top floor of the belfry preserves one of the few Romanesque sculptural pieces in Andorra - carved heads in the centre of the double window arches - and the interior houses reproductions of the Romanesque mural paintings by the master artist of Santa Coloma (12th century), now held by the National Art Museum of Catalonia.