1147 HONDURAS - Maya Site of Copan (UNESCO WHS)

Discovered in 1570 by Diego García de Palacio, the ruins of Copán, one of the most important sites of the Mayan civilization (located now on western Honduras, near to the border with Guatemala) were not excavated until the 19th century. The first evidence of population in the Copan Valley dates back to 1500 B.C., but the first Maya-Cholan immigration from the Guatemalan Highlands is dated around 100 A.D. The Maya leader Yax Kuk Mo, coming from the area of Tikal (Petén), arrived in the Copan Valley in 427 A.D., and started a dynasty of 16 rulers that transformed Copan into one of the greatest Maya cities during the Classic Maya Period. The great period of Copán occurred during the Classical period, AD 300-900.

1146 POLAND (Lublin) - Old City of Zamość (UNESCO WHS)

Founded in the 16th century by the chancellor Jan Zamoysky on the trade route linking western and northern Europe with the Black Sea, Zamość is, in the view of UNESCO, "a unique example of a Renaissance town in Central Europe, consistently designed and built in accordance with the Italian theories of the "ideal town," on the basis of a plan which was the result of perfect cooperation between the open-minded founder, Jan Zamoyski, and the outstanding architect, Bernardo Morando. Zamość is an outstanding example of an innovative approach to town planning, combining the functions of an urban ensemble, a residence, and a fortress in accordance with a consistently implemented Renaissance concept. The result of this is a stylistically homogeneous urban composition with a high level of architectural and landscape values. A real asset of this great construction was its creative enhancement with local artistic architectural achievements."

1145 BARBADOS - Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison (UNESCO WHS)

1145 Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison

Bridgetown, the capital and largest city of Barbados, is located along the Carlisle Bay, on the southwestern coast of the island. The present day location of the city was established by English settlers in 1628 following a prior settlement under the authority of Sir William Courten at St. James Town. Historic Bridgetown is an outstanding example of British colonial architecture consisting of a well-preserved old town built in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, which testifies to the spread of Great Britain's Atlantic colonial empire. The property also includes a nearby military garrison which consists of numerous historic buildings.

1144 SWAZILAND - Mswati III

1144 King Mswati III and the Reed Dance

The Swazi are a Bantu Nguni-speaking people in southeastern Africa, chiefly in Swaziland and South Africa. The term bakaNgwane (Ngwane's people) is still used as an alternative to emaSwati, to refer to the Swazi people. They originated in South-east Africa in the 15th century, moved into southern Mozambique, and then into present-day Swaziland (sometimes called kaNgwane or Eswatini), a small, land-locked country, bordered by South Africa and by Mozambique. The first king of modern Swaziland was Ngwane III (1745-1780). In the 1840s, a substantial portion of Swazi territory was ceded to the Transvaal Boers, instead the remaining territory of Swaziland, and their king, Mswati II, were recognized by both the Transvaal and by Britain. The Pretoria Convention for the Settlement of the Transvaal in 1881 recognized the independence of Swaziland and defined its boundaries. Britain claimed authority over Swaziland in 1903, and independence was regained in 1968. Today, the number of Swazis in South Africa is slight larger than that of Swazis in Swaziland, which is approximately 1.1 million people.

1143 BAHAMAS - St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Church in Nassau

 

The capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Nassau is located on the island of New Providence, and was formerly known as Charles Town. Burned by the Spanish in 1684, was rebuilt and renamed Nassau in 1695 in honour of the Dutch Stadtholder. By 1713, it had become a haven for pirates, who proclaimed Nassau a pirate republic, which survived only 5 years.

1141 ALGERIA - Women from the south of Algeria in traditional clothes

As in other Maghreb countries, the majority of people from Algeria are Berbers in origins, and many of them identifies with an Arabic-based culture. Even if nine out of ten algerians live along the northern coastal region, in the Saharan regions of the south there are still some nomadic or semi-nomadic communities. Most people speak a North African dialect of Arabic known as darja, but education and the written language are in classical Arabic.

1140 KAZAKHSTAN - Mosque Khazret Sultan in Astana

In 1997, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Kazakhstan's leader since 1989, but found in the circles of power long before the separation of the country from Soviet Union, moved the capital from Almaty in the southeast, in the north, to the steppe town of Akmola, to which changed also the name in Astana. On 6 july 2012, to commemorate the 14th anniversary of this event, was opened in the city the biggest mosque not only in Kazakhstan, but even in the whole Central Asia. Kazakhstan is the largest economy in Central Asia, and is predominantly Muslim (followers of the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam), so nothing strange this far, but was it a coincidence that July 6th was also Nazarbaev's 72nd birthday? The mosque, called Khazret Sultan, is big enough to take 5,000 worshippers and stands on a 27 acre site, roughly the size of 18 football pitches. Each of its domes is fitted with Barrisol sheets, printed with oriental patterns. The biggest dome is 28m wide and 51 m high, and the four minarets have 77m hight.

0432, 1139 JORDAN - Wadi Rum Protected Area (UNESCO WHS)

Posted on 26.12.2012, 10.07.2014
Placed between Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria and Israel, sharing control of the Dead Sea with the latter two, and its only port, at the Gulf of Aqaba, with Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, Jordan consists of an arid plateau in the east and an highland area in the west, with arable land and Mediterranean evergreen forestry, part of the region considered to be "the cradle of civilization", the Levant region of the Fertile Crescent. Controlled by the ancient empires of Persians and Macedonian Greeks, and later by the Nabatean kingdom and Roman Empire, it became a heartland for the Arabic Islamic Empire, and in 1516 was incorporated in the Ottoman Empire. During WWI, the Transjordanian tribes fought against the Ottoman Empire as part of the Arab Army of the Great Arab Revolt, supported by the Allies. The chronicle of the revolt was written by T. E. Lawrence (in the picture, on the first postcard) who, as a young British Army officer, played a liaison role during the revolt, and become the basis for the iconic movie Lawrence of Arabia. In 1922 Transjordan came under the British Mandate, which ended in 1946.

Located at 60km to the east of Aqaba, Wadi Rum (transcribed by archaeologists as Wadi Ramm), also known as The Valley of the Moon, is the largest wadi (a dry riverbed, that contains water only during times of heavy rain) in Jordan, cut into the sandstone and granite rock. Due to its iconic desert landscape, renowned for its spectacular series of sandstone mountains and valleys, natural arches, and the range of narrow gorges, towering cliffs, massive landslides, and dramatic cavernous weathering forms displayed, but also due to the evidence of long-term patterns of pastoral, agricultural and urban human activity (25,000 petroglyphs, 20,000 inscriptions, and 154 archaeological sites, stretched over a period of at least 12,000 years), Wadi Rum Protected Area became an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011. In the West, Wadi Rum is best known for its connection with T. E. Lawrence, who based his operations here during the Arab Revolt of 1917-1918, so in the 1980s one of the rock formations in this wadi (in the picture) was named The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, after Lawrence's book with the same name.

1138 DENMARK (Faroe Islands) - Kamarið Cliff in Suðuroy

Covering 163.7 square kilometres and being inhabited by 4,678 people, Suðuroy (literally South Island) is the southernmost of the Faroe Islands. It is the island which has the most islets and skerries (263), and also the only of the 18 islands of the Faroes which has a coalmine still active. The highest point of Suðuroy is the mountain Gluggarnir (610m), but the most famous peak is definitely the mountain of Beinisvørð north-west of the village of Sumba. The Beinisvørð and its scenery have been praised by the local poet Poul F. Joensen (1898–1970), as well as other Faroese poets. The western side of the island has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because of its significance as a breeding site for seabirds, especially Northern Fulmars, European Storm Petrels, European Shags, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Atlantic Puffins, Common Guillemots and Black Guillemots. On the postcard is Kamarið (The Chamber), near the village Vágur, situated on the east coast of the island on the Vágsfjørður fjord.

1137 GRENADA - The carnival in Island of Spice

Located in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, and known as the Island of Spice, Grenada, a former colony of Britain and France, was built on the labour of enslaved Africans, so the vast majority of the population are of African descent (about 90%), and its culture is a combination of French and African cultures. For Christians, Carnival is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent (the word "carnival" comes from the Latin carne levare - farewell to meat). In colonies, the slaves were left out of their owners' fun and fanfare, so they organized their own parties, puting together costumes with what little they had. Grenada's Carnival (Spice Mas) has been celebrated on the island since the Europeans occupied it, each year before Lent, but because since 1975 in february is also celebrated the independence, it was moved several times, until it came to be celebrated in August (for 2014 it starts on the 10th of August and ends on the 14th). After months of preparation, there are many events to attend at the National Stadium: the National Queen show, the SMC/LIME Soca Monarch Competition, the Panorama Night of Pan and Soca. The pre-Carnival festivities culminates with Dimanche Gras. After four days of music and competition, the party is ready to get started with the three main events of Spice Mas.

1030, 1134 ITALY (Tuscany) - Historic Centre of Siena (UNESCO WHS)

Posted on 12.03.2014, 09.07.2014
Settled for the first time by Etruscans (c. 900-400 BC), Siena was founded, according to legend, by Senius, son of Remus. Anyway, it didn't prospered under Roman rule, because it wasn't sited near any major roads. After the Lombard occupation, the situation was changed, and the city developed as a trading post. Conquered by Charlemagne in 774, the city became republic in 12th century, which existed for over 400 years. In the Italian War of 1551-1559, the republic was defeated by the rival Duchy of Florence in alliance with the Spanish crown, and that ceded it to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, to which it belonged until the unification of Italy in the 19th century. In 1995, its historic centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, because "the whole city of Siena, built around the Piazza del Campo, was devised as a work of art that blends into the surrounding landscape."

The Siena Cathedral, dedicated on its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta (Holy Mary, Our Lady of the Assumption), begun in the 12th century, and is one of the great examples of Italian Romanesque-Gothic architecture. Its main façade was completed in 1380. After the completion of the transept and the building of the east wall the money ran out and the rest of the cathedral was abandoned. In the interior the pictorial effect of the black and white marble stripes on the walls and columns strikes the eye. Black and white are the colours of the civic coat of arms of Siena. The capitals of the columns in the west bays of the nave are sculpted with allegorical busts and animals. The horizontal moulding around the nave and the presbytery contains 172 plaster busts of popes dating from the 15th and 16th centuries starting with St. Peter and ending with Lucius III. The spandrels of the round arches below this cornice exhibit the busts of 36 emperors.

1133 SPAIN (Balearic Islands) - The traditional Ibiza women dress

Placed at 79km off the coast of the city of Valencia, Ibiza (Catalan: Eivissa), the third largest of the Balearic Islands, is well known in our days for its summer club scene which attracts very large numbers of tourists. Colonized by Phoenicians in 654 BC, then ruled successively by Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Moors, Norwegians, and Aragoneses, became part of Spain, maintaining its own self-government in several forms until 1715, when King Philip V of Spain abolished the local government's autonomy.

1131 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / North Holland) - An orange Amsterdam

I searched long time on the Internet this postcard, but I couldn't find it, so I don't know why gathered all these people on this canal in Amsterdam. Anyway, it must be something with national spirit, because so many wears orange shirts. For those who don't know, orange is the color of the Dutch Royal Family, but today it symbolizes a broader pride in the country and in being Dutch. The lineage of the current dynasty - the House of Oranje-Nassau - dates back to Willem van Oranje (William of Orange). It is possible that the photograph to have been done with the ocasion of Koningsdag (King's Day), celebrated on 27 April (26 April if the 27th falls on a Sunday) to mark the birth of King Willem-Alexander. This day is an opportunity for "orange madness" or oranjegekte, for the national colour, when the normally strait-laced Dutch let down their hair, often dyed orange for the occasion.

1128 GREECE (South Aegean) - The traditional architecture of Oia, in Santorini

Located in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200km southeast of Greece's mainland, Santorini, classically Thera, and officially Thira, is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name. It is essentially what remained after an enormous volcanic eruption (which occurred some 3600 years ago) that destroyed the earliest settlements on a formerly single island, and may have led indirectly to the collapse of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, 110km to the south, through a gigantic tsunami. A giant central, rectangular lagoon, which measures about 12 by 7km, is surrounded by 300m high, steep cliffs on three sides.

1127 FIJI - Natadola Beach

Located in the South Pacific Ocean, at about 2,000 km northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and comprising 332 islands and 522 islets, Fiji is endowed with forest, mineral, and fish resources, being a developing country with a large subsistence agriculture sector. Tourism has expanded rapidly since the early 1980s and is the leading economic activity in the islands. The largest island and also the site of the nation's capital, Suva, is Viti Levu, home to 70% of the population (about 600,000) and the hub of the entire Fijian archipelago. Its size is comparable with The Big Island of Hawaii or slightly smaller than Connecticut.

1124 TURKEY (Aegean Region) - Miletus

Situated on the western coast of Asia Minor, near the mouth of the Maeander River (from which come the word "meander") in ancient Caria, Miletus was considered the greatest and wealthiest of Greek cities before the Persian invasion in the middle of the 6th century BC. After a period of decline, it reached its greatest wealth and splendor during the Hellenistic era (323-30 BC) and later Roman times.

1059, 1123 NEPAL - Faces of Nepal

Posted on 14.04.2014, 29.06.2014
Nepali society is multiethnic and multilingual, Nepalese people (or Nepali or Gurkha) being the descendants of three major migrations from India, Tibet, and North Burma and the Chinese province of Yunnan via Assam. Even though Indo-Nepalese migrants were latecomers to Nepal relative to the migrants from the north, they have come to dominate the country not only numerically, but also socially, politically, and economically. Nepal's 2001 census enumerated 102 castes and ethnic groups. There are three main ethnicities: Khas (Bahun, Chhetri, Damai, Kami etc.), Mongoloid (Tamang, Gurung, Magar, Sherpa, Thakali and Kirat) and mixed (Newar). Nepali, a derivative of Sanskrit, is the official language; Newari, a language of the Tibeto-Burman family, and numerous other languages are spoken. About 90% of the population is Hindu, and the remaining Buddhist.

1122 PERU (Puno) - Lake Titicaca (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List) and its floating islands

Located in the Andes, on the border of Peru and Bolivia, Titicaca (Titiqaqa in Quechua) covers 8,300 square km and is the largest lake in South America, and also the highest navigable lake in the world, with a surface elevation of 3,812m. Its waters are limpid and only slightly brackish, and the surface temperatures average is 14°C. The lake averages between 140 and 180m in depth, reaching its greatest recorded depth of 280 m off Isla Soto in the lake's northeast corner. It holds large populations of water birds and was designated as a Ramsar Site on August 26, 1998. Several threatened species are largely or entirely restricted to the lake. In addition, approximately 90% of the fish species in the basin are endemic.

1119 FRANCE (Occitania) - Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne (UNESCO WHS)

Situated in the Aude plain between two great axis of circulation linking the Atlantic to the Mediterranean sea and the Massif Central to the Pyrénées, Carcassonne has about 2,500 years of history and is famous for its medieval fortress, located on a hill on the right bank of the River Aude, and restored by the theorist and architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in 1853 and added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997. At the beginning of its history it was a Gaulish settlement then in the 3rd century A.D., the Romans decided to transform it into a fortified town. The main part of the lower courses of the northern ramparts dates from these times. Visigoths had occupied Carcassonne in 453, and built more fortifications. In 725 Saracens from Barcelona took the citadel, but King Pepin the Short drove them away in 759-60.

1118 BARBADOS - A traditional chattel house

1118 A traditional chattel house in Barbados

In 1625 Barbados was claimed by England, and the first settlement in the island was founded in 1627 by Henry Powell, who arrived with 80 settlers and 10 slaves (kidnapped or runaway English or Irish youth). In 1640 was introduced the sugarcane from Dutch Brazil, and this completely transformed the society and the economy, Barbados becoming one of the world's biggest sugar industries (in 1660 it generated more trade than all the other English colonies combined).