3238 LATVIA (Riga) - Riga

With 639,630 inhabitants (2016), Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states, home to one third of Latvia's population and one tenth of the Baltic states' population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga, at the mouth of the Daugava. About the Historic Centre of Riga, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, I writed something here. On the postcard are depicted the silhouettes of the main sights of the city, among which are (from left to the right): Freedom Monument, House of the Blackheads, St. Peter's Church, Riga Castle, Riga Dom, Latvian National Opera, the Railway Bridge and Riga Radio and TV Tower.

3237 UNITED STATES (Ohio) - Cincinnati

Founded in 1788 at the north side of the confluence of the Licking River to the Ohio, Cincinnati was an American boomtown in the heart of the country, rivaling the larger coastal cities in size and wealth. Throughout much of the 19th century it was listed among the top 10 U.S. cities by population, and between 1840 and 1860 was the sixth-biggest. As it was the first city founded after the American Revolution as well as the first major inland city in the country, it is thought of as the first purely "American" City.

3236 GERMANY (Saxony) - Moritzburg Castle

Located at about 13km northwest of the Saxon capital, Dresden, Moritzburg Castle is a Baroque palace named after Duke Moritz of Saxony, who had a hunting lodge built there between 1542 and 1546. Elector John George II of Saxony had the lodge extended; the chapel, designed by the architect Wolf Caspar von Klengel, was added between 1661 and 1671. Between 1723 and 1733, Augustus II the Strong had the castle remodelled as a country seat by architects Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann and Zacharias Longuelune, adding a formal park, several ponds and a game preserve.

0671, 3235 RUSSIA (Moscow) - The towers of Moscow Kremlin - part of Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow (UNESCO WHS)

0671 Spasskaya Tower

Posted on 07.06.2013, 06.01.2018
The Spasskaya Tower is the main tower with a through-passage on the eastern wall of the Moscow Kremlin, which overlooks the Red Square. It was built in 1491 under the supervision of the architect Pietro Antonio Solari (Pyotr Fryazin), and was initial named Frolovskaya, later being renamed the Spasskaya (Savior's), in honor of the Icon of the Savoir Not Made by Hands, which crowned the gateway. Originally it had half of its present height (71m with the star mounted in 1935), in 1624-1625 being built a multi-tiered top with a stone tent roof.

3235 Towers Konstantino-Eleninskaya,
Nabatnaya and Spasskaya

 

It was the first one to be crowned with the hipped roof in 1624-1625 by architects Bazhen Ogurtsov and Christopher Galloway (a Scottish architect and clockmaker). The first clock was mounted in 1491, and the present Kremlin chimes were installed in 1851-1852 by the Butenop brothers. The tower gate was once the main entrance into the Kremlin. In tsarist times, anyone passing through the gates had to remove their headgear and dismount their horses. This tradition was broken in the Soviet era. In 1935, the Soviet government installed a red star instead of a two-headed eagle on top of the tower.

2463 UNITED STATES (Michigan) - The lighthouses in Michigan

2463-1

2463-2

Posted on 16.04.2016, 06.01.2018
Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas, separated from the Straits of Mackinac, a 8km channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The state has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world (almost 5,000 km), being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus  Lake Saint Clair. It has also more lighthouses than any other state (about 150). The first lighthouses in Michigan were built between 1818 and 1822, to project light at night and to serve as a landmark during the day to safely guide the ships traveling the Great Lakes.

3234 CHRISTMAS (Czech Republic) - Veselé Vánoce

"Veselé Vánoce a šťastný nový rok" means in Czech language "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" For many Czechs, December 24 (Štědrý den) is the most enjoyable day of Christmas holidays. Its Czech name literally means "Generous Day", probably for the wealth of food that is traditionally served then. It is also Adam and Eve's name day. The Christmas tree is decorated with traditional ornaments in many households and preparations are made for the most festive dinner of the year.

1270, 3233 THAILAND - Thai Classical Dance

1270 Thai Classical Dance

Posted on 05.10.2014, 05.01.2018
The present Thai classical dance (natasin) probably developed during the Ayutthaya period (1350-1767), although very little is known about the process. Its possible origins may be found in the Khmer tradition as depicted in the Khmer reliefs of Angkor and the Khmer-related reliefs of the Phimai temple. One possible transmission route for this clearly Indian-influenced dance technique could also have been South Thailand with its connections with Sri Lanka and the Srivijaya Empire. There may also be the possibility that the tradition was brought from India by Indian Brahman gurus.

3233 A Khon performance

The formulation of the present style took place during the reign of Rama I (1782-1809), and the standardisation of the dance technique happened simultaneously with the rewriting of the Ramakien, Thailand's national epic, derived from Ramayana. As a result, the sub-techniques of classical Thai dance are classified according to the characters portrayed in this epic poem. The first group, the noble humans, are divided into major heroes (Phra Ram), minor heroes (Phra Lak), major heroines (Nang Sida), and finally to minor heroines (Montho).

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.

3231 VIETNAM (Red River Delta) - Hoàn Kiếm Lake in Hanoi

Hoan Kiem Lake (meaning "Lake of the Returned Sword" or "Lake of the Restored Sword") is located in the historical center of Hanoi. According to the legend, in early 1428, Emperor Lê Lợi was boating on the lake when a Golden Turtle God (Kim Qui) surfaced and asked for his magic sword, Heaven's Will. Lợi concluded that Kim Qui had come to reclaim the sword that its master, a local God, the Dragon King (Long Vương) had given Lợi some time earlier, during his revolt against Ming China. Later, Emperor Lợi gave the sword back to the turtle after he finished fighting off the Chinese.

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.

3229 ROMANIA - George I Rákóczi (1593-1648)

George I Rákóczi (8 June 1593, Szerencs - 11 October 1648) was Prince of Transylvania from 1630 until his death in 1648. He was the eldest son of Baron Sigismund Rákóczi and his second wife, Anna Gerendi. Sigismund, who was a successful military commander in Royal Hungary, was the first member of the Rákóczi family to rise to prominence. During the reign of George I Rákóczi, as during the reign of the princes Gabriel Bethlen or George II Rákóczi, the Principality of Transylvania, under Ottoman suzerainty, experienced an epoch of economic blossoming and political and cultural affirmation, reinforcing the central power.

0711, 3228 FRANCE (Grand Est) - Strasbourg, Grande-Île and Neustadt (UNESCO WHS)

0711 Strasbourg - Little France; The covered bridges; Boating on the Ill 

Posted on 30.06.2013, 30.12.2017
Located on the Ill River, close to the border with Germany, actually historically German-speaking, as the entire Alsace, Strasbourg was built on the site of an ancient Celtic settlement (Argentorate), where Romans established a military outpost (Argentoratum). The town was occupied successively by Alemanni, Huns and Franks, and in the 9th century it was already known as Strazburg (the town at the crossing of roads). As major commercial centre, it came under control of the Holy Roman Empire in 923, in 1262 became an Imperial Free City, in 1681 was annexed by France, in 1871 by the German Empire, and after WWI reverted back of France.

3228 Strasbourg - Little France

Strasbourg's historic city centre, the Grande Île (Grand Island), surrounded by two arms of the River Ill, was designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre. The cathedral, the four ancient churches and the Palais Rohan - former residence of the prince-bishops - form a district that is characteristic of a medieval town and illustrates town's evolution between 15th and 18th centuries, being simultaneously the eastward vector of the Gothic art movement.

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.

1111, 1901, 2063, 2945, 3216, 3226 ROMANIA - The map and the flag of the country

1111 The map and flag of Romania

Posted on 23.06.2014, 18.09.2015, 22.11.2015, 11.02.2017, 12.11.2017, 29.12.2017
Located on the Lower Danube, at the north of the Balkan Peninsula (in which it is often framed, because of the historical and cultural similarities), on the western shore of the Black Sea, between Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine, and having a border (which wouldn't have to exist) with Moldova, Romania forms a complex geographic unit centred on the Transylvanian Basin, around which the peaks of the Carpathian Mountains form a crescents. Beyond this zone, the plains of the south and east of the country, their potential increased by the Danube River and its tributaries, form a fertile outer crescent extending to the frontiers.

2063 The flag of Romania

 

Romania comprises a number of geographic regions, corresponding, completely or partially, to the historic regions whose names they share: Wallachia (consisting of Muntenia and Oltenia), Moldavia (only western Moldavia - the Hertza region is today in Ukraine, and eastern Moldavia, or Bessarabia, is divided between Moldova and Ukraine), Bukovina (only southern Bucovina - the north is today in Ukraine), Dobruja (only the north - the south of Dobruja, or Cadrilater, is today in Bulgaria), Transylvania, Banat (shared with Serbia and Hungary), Crişana (shared with Hungary), and Maramureş (only the south - the northern part is currently in Ukraine).

1901 Greetings from Romania (unofficial)

In Romania were discovered the Europe's oldest known remains they may have been among the first modern humans to have entered the continent (42,000-year-old, in the Cave With Bones). The Neolithic-Age Cucuteni area was the western region of the earliest European civilization, known as the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture. The earliest written evidence of people living in the territory of present-day Romania, the Getae, comes from Herodotus (c. 440 BC). Territories located north of the Danube were inhabited by Dacians, considered to have belonged to the Getae tribes, a branch of Thracians.

2945 Coat of arms of all county seats in Romania

After two devastating wars (101-102 and 105-106 AD), the Emperor Trajan annexed the southwestern parts of Dacia to the Roman Empire. During the 3rd century AD, with the invasions of migratory populations, the Roman Empire was forced to pull out of Dacia around 271 AD, the territory being invaded successively by Goths, Huns, Slavs, Gepids, Avars, Bulgars, Pechenegs, and Cumans. In the Middle Ages, Romanians, mostly known as Vlachs, lived in three distinct principalities: Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania. By the 11th century, Transylvania had become an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Hungary, and from the 16th century until 1711 was independent.

3226 The flag of the Kingdom of Romania,
with the greater coat of arms (1922-1947)

 

In 16th century, after the Balkan peninsula and Hungary had become Ottoman provinces, Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania entered under Ottoman suzerainty, preserving partial or full internal autonomy. In 1699, Transylvania became a territory of the Habsburgs' Austrian empire, and in 1775 the Habsburgs include in their empire the northwestern part of Moldavia, later called Bukovina. The eastern half of the Moldavia (Bessarabia) was occupied in 1812 by Russia. In 1859 Moldavia and Wallachia united under the name United Principalities.

3216 The greater coat of arms of the
Kingdom of Romania (1922-1947)

In 1866 Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen became Prince of the Romanian Principate, and in 1881 he was crowned as King Carol I. Independence from the Ottoman Empire was declared in 1877. At the end of WWI, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the Kingdom of Romania, but in 1940 it lost most of the territory gained, only some of which being later recovered. Occupied by Red Army at the end of 1944, Romania forcibly became a People's Republic (1947-1965), then Socialist Republic of Romania (1965-1989). The dictatorship of Nicolae Ceauşescu was toppled in December 1989, and Romania joined NATO in 2004, and the European Union in 2007.