0484 TRANSNISTRIA - Fortress of Tighina (Bender)

The first traces of a settlement on the site of the present city Tighina (Bender) dates from 1st-2nd centuries AD, during the Dacians. Subsequently, mentions about a city appear in the early Middle Ages, the shoal from Tighina being protected by a fortress from the 9th-11th centuries. During Cuman domination (11th-13th centuries), the city is already named Tighina (in Cuman language means "pass"). The city was first mentioned as an important customs post in a commerce grant issued by the Moldavian voivode Alexandru cel Bun to the merchants of Lviv in 1408. Later, Ştefan cel Mare builts a fortress of earth and wood (a palanca), conquered by the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1538. The Ottomans rename the city Bender, meaning "transient enhanced", and build here, within a year, under the supervision of the architect Koji Mimar Sinan, a fortress of stone.

0483 JAPAN (Chūgoku) - Itsukushima Shinto Shrine (UNESCO WHS)

From the misty beginnings of Japanese history, Miyajima Island (official known as Itsukushima Island), located in the northwest of Hiroshima Bay, in the Inland Sea of Japan, has been classified as one of the most scenic places in Japan. Out of respect for the Miyajima Gods, no one dared to live there, for more than a thousand years visitors, who were mainly fishermen, leaving the Island at the end of each day. Even today there are no hospitals or cemeteries on Miyajima Island.

0482 LITHUANIA (Panevėžys) - Traditional costumes from Panevėžys

This postcard belongs to the series Lietuviu tautiniai drabuziai (which means Lithuanian Folk Clothes - thanks Google Translate) and show (as explained Vaida - thanks a lot, I think I wouldn't have managed without these explanations) a traditional costume from 19th century from Aukštaitija (Highlands), one of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania, in the northeast part of the country, which up to the 13th century corresponded to the Duchy of Lithuania.

0481 IRAQ - The lyre of Princess Shub-Ad of Ur

Is known that, as part of the Fertile Crescent, Tigris-Euphrates river system, named Mesopotamia ([land] between rivers) by Ancient Greeks and corresponding mostly to modern-day Iraq, was one of the cradles of civilization. The rise of the first cities in southern Mesopotamia dates from ca. 5300 BC (Uruk period), but only on the middle of the 4th millennium BC there established the Sumerians, who developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis with the Akkadians. Ur was one of the important Sumerian city-state, located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar, now an inland settlement, but in the ancient period a coastal city near the mouth of the Euphrates. It dates from ca. 3800 BC, and is recorded in written history as a City State from the 26th century BC.

0480 SWITZERLAND (Schaffhausen) - The Rhine Falls

Located on the Upper Rhine, near the town of Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland, Rheinfall (The Rhine Falls) is the largest plain waterfall in Europe, with 150 m wide and 23 m high. Between the 17th century and the first half of the 19th century in the north side of the falls operated a blast furnace for smelting iron, but after closing it all industrial use projects of the falls met a strong opposition from the citizens.

0479 UNITED STATES (California) - California map

With a name derived from a fictional paradise (peopled by Black Amazons and ruled by Queen Calafia), California is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third most extensive (after Alaska and Texas), having diverse geography ranges, from the Pacific Coast in the west, to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east, from the Redwood-Douglas-fir forests of the northwest, to the Mojave Desert areas in the southeast. Also its climate varies from Mediterranean to subarctic, which determines the existence of numerous and very different ecoregions. No wonder, therefore, that California has many natural wonders, shown on the map postcard above.

0304, 0478 AUSTRIA (Lower Austria) - Wachau Cultural Landscape - Melk Abbey (UNESCO WHS)

0304 Melk Abbey seen from Danube

In 976, Leopold I, the first Margrave of the area of present-day southwestern Lower Austria from the House of Babenberg, made the castle in Melk (situated on an isolated rock commanding the Danube, adjoining the Wachau valley) his residence. In 1089, Leopold II gave the castle to Benedictine monks from Lambach Abbey, who founded Stift Melk (Melk Abbey). Since then, monks have lived and worked there without interruption following the rule of Saint Benedict, managing to survive to the numerous threats arising in the about 1000 years, the main being the reign of Joseph II (who dissolved many Austrian abbeys), the Napoleonic Wars, and the Nazi Anschluss.

0478 Melk Abbey

In the 12th century was founded a monastic school, the Stiftsgymnasium Melk, the monastery becoming quickly renowned for its manuscripts collection, but also for its scriptorium, a major site for the production of manuscripts. In the 15th century, the abbey, which had close ties with the Humanists at the University of Vienna, was the starting point of one of the most important medieval monastic reforms, the Melk Reform. Also it was a place of pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Coloman and to its great relic of the Holy Cross.

0211, 0477 UNITED KINGDOM (England) - London

0211 Views of London (1)

Posted on 18.05.2012, 19.01.2013
I don't know what I could say about London without make me feel embarrassing, so I will mention only that from about 1831 to 1925, The City was the world's largest city, thing absolutely natural, considering that was the capital of the largest empire that ever existed, covering 22.63% of world land area. The postcards contains the following:
● Buckingham Palace - Located in the City of Westminster, it became the principal royal residence in 1837, after the accession of Queen Victoria.

0477 Views of London (2)

● London Buses - The red double-decker buses have become a national symbol of England. The majority of the 7,500 buses in London are double-deckers.
● Covent Garden - A popular shopping and tourist site, former fruit and vegetable market, located on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane.
● Sherlock Holmes Pub - A split level establishment, close by Trafalgar Square, with a bar on the ground floor and on the first floor, an intimate, covered roof garden and restaurant, with a lot of Sherlock Holmes memorabilia.

0471 BAHRAIN - North Gate of Hamad Town

0471 North Gate of Hamad Town

This postcard don't depicts a landscape on Mars after the colonization of the planet, as it seems at first glance, but two of the 22 roundabouts for which is famous Hamad Town (Madinat Hamad), a city in northern Bahrain, located at 18 km South of Manama, the capital of the kingdom, which name refers to the current king, Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah.

0470 Baltic Sea map

Bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands, Baltic Sea is a brackish sea, mostly enclosed, which has a limited exchange of water with outer oceans. Is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via Kattegat, Skagerrak and North Sea, but also by man-made waterways to the White Sea via the White Sea Canal, and to the North Sea via the Kiel Canal. It has 1,600 km long, an average of 193 km wide, and an average of 55 m deep, with the maximum depth 459 m.

0298, 0469 SPAIN (Catalonia) - Barcelona Cathedral

0298 Barcelona Cathedral (1)

Posted on 05.08.2012, 15.01.2013
In the 4th century, so before the invasion of Germanic tribes in Iberian Peninsula, Barcelona already had an Christian cathedral. This building was destroyed in 985 by Al-Mansur, better known as Almanzor, whose reign marked the peak of power for Moorish Iberia. In 1058 (after Mis Geribert, Viscounts of Barcelona, sold the site to Bishop Guislebert) was consecrated the second cathedral, in Romanesque style, and work on the present day Gothic building began in 1298.

0469 Barcelona Cathedral (2)

Named the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulàlia (in Catalan, Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia, or more commonly La Seu), the Barcelona Cathedral is a hall church, vaulted over five aisles, the outer two divided into chapels. The neo-Gothic façade was constructed over the nondescript exterior that was common to Catalan churches in the 19th century (was finished in 1890), and the roof is notable for its gargoyles.

0468 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / Overijssel) - Staphorst traditional clothes and the crocheted wheel protectors

Located in the province Overijssel (that means "Lands across the river Issel"), the villages Staphorst and Rouveen were founded in the 13th century, when monks started to bring the swamps into culture. All the farms were built (in the traditional Low Saxon style, with green doors and window shutters) along the long road through the bog area, forming the 10 kilometres long village of Staphorst-Rouveen, phenomenon called in Dutch lintbebouwing (ribbon urbanization).

0467 CHINA (Macau) - Macau Tower and Sai Van Bridge

After two postcards with historical sights in Macau (Ruins of St. Paul's and the Senate Square), behold now one which shows the modern image of the city, namely Sai Van Bridge (Ponte de Sai Van) and Macau Tower (Torre de Macau). The bridge, the third one which connects Taipa Island and Macau Peninsula, is a cable-stayed bridge and measures 2.2 kilometers long. Inaugurated in 2004, it features a double-deck design, with an enclosed lower deck to be used in the event of strong typhoons when the other two bridges , namely Ponte Governador Nobre de Carvalho and Ponte de Amizade, are closed.

0466 GREECE (Thessaly) - Meteora (UNESCO WHS)

Even since the dawn of Christianity there were faithful who renounced to the worldly pursuits to fully devote one's self to spiritual work, but individually, not in an organized way. The first lavras appeared on the territory of Byzantine Empire, and Saint Pachomius was the one who organized his followers in what was to become the first Christian cenobitic monastery. The father of monasticism (which come from the greek monachos, derived from monos - alone) was Saint Basil the Great, bishop of Caesarea, who established the first rules for monastic communities, the Rule of Saint Basil.

0465 NEW YEAR (Russia) - A postcard from 1910 (reissued)

As soon as I saw this postcard I was convinced that belongs to the Soviet period. Two were the arguments. The first was that on it write "Happy New Year", which means it is a postcard for the New Year, a feast completely eclipsed by the Christmas in Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution. The second was the heroic attitude of the boy (ready for action, with chin high, the neck rigid and the chest bulging), which I always considered a Soviet attitude, not a Russian one.

0464 TAIWAN - Here is Taiwan

Usually I write much or very much about the postcard that I share with you. This time I don't have much to say, especially because I talked about Taiwan when I presented a map of the island of Formosa from 1856. I would only add that I believe it will not be long until People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) will give up their reciprocal territorial claims, become obsolete, and they will see each of his way.

0128, 0462 RUSSIA (Moscow) - Saint Basil's Cathedral - part of Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow (UNESCO WHS)

0128 Saint Basil's Cathedral in nowadays

Posted on 20.02.2012, 12.01.2013
Followed the example of Vasili III, his father, Ivan IV, the first Tsar of Russia, known to posterity as Ivan the Terrible, has built several churches with oriental features after the conquest of Kazan (1552), most famously being Saint Basil's Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow (in the pictures). Erected between 1555 and 1561, the Cathedral of the Protection of Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat marks the geometric centre of the city and the hub of its growth since the 14th century. It was the tallest building in Moscow until the completion of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in 1600.

0462 Saint Basil's Cathedral in 1890

The original building, known as Trinity Church, contained 8 side churches arranged around the 9th, central church of Intercession; the 10th church was erected in 1588 over the grave of venerated local saint Basil Fool for Christ. After every victory of the Russo-Kazan War, Ivan IV erected a wooden church next to the walls of Trinity Church, so at the end of his Astrakhan campaign it was shrouded within a cluster of 7 churches. In 1554 he ordered also the construction of the Church of Intercession on the same site, and one year later began the construction of a new stone cathedral on the site.

0132 & 0461 PORTUGAL (Lisbon) - Cultural Landscape of Sintra (UNESCO WHS)

Posted on 26.02.2012 and completed on 12.01.2013
In this palace spent her last night before leaving the country in exile the last Queen consort of Portugal, Queen Amélia, princess of Orléans by birth, wife of King Carlos I since 1886 until his assassination in 1908, and mother of Manuel II, last king of Portugal. In passing be said, the sorrows didn't spared the daughter of  Prince Philippe, Count of Paris, and of Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans (in her full name Maria Isabel Francisca de Asis Antonia Luisa Fernanda Cristina Amelia Felipa Adelaide Josefa Elena Enriqueta Carolina Justina R de Orléans y Borbón). One child died at birth in 1887 (Maria Anna), the eldest son (Luís Filipe) was assassinated in 1908, when it wasn't yet 21 years old, together with his father, and the last child, Manuel II (in his full name Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Bragança Orleães Sabóia e Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha), was forced to abdicate in 1910 and died in 1932 in bizarre circumstances, with 19 years before she did.

0460 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - The map of the country

According to the Dayton accord (signed in Paris on 14 December 1995), which put an end to the war in Bosnia, one of the armed conflicts in the former Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the borders that appear in this map, is formed from two entities: Republika Srpska (49% of the total area) and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (51% of the total area). In 2000 was created also, in the north of the country, the Brčko District (officially belonging to both entities, but being governed by neither), which separating in two sides (or connects the two parts of) Republika Srpska (depending on how you look at it).

0459 GREECE - An Orthodox Christian priest riding on a donkey

Today, Greece is the only country in the world where an Eastern Orthodox Church is clearly recognized as a state religion, being appreciating, in general, that the identity of modern Greek nation is ethnoreligious. Given that the Greece was an early center of Christianity, and the Byzantine Empire was the result of the synthesis between Hellenistic culture, Christianity and the Roman state structure, no wonder that often is put the equal sign between "Greek" and "Christian Orthodox". So this picture with a priest riding on a donkey is representative for Greece, at least for the rural areas.