0833-0836 ROMANIA (Braşov) - Traditional wedding at Rupea

0833 Bride from Rupea in traditional clothes

 

Moment with deep resonances in the universe of Romanian village, the wedding is one of the most important ritual thresholds that the human being must pass to fulfill its existence. The formation of the new family (intrarea tinerilor în rândul lumii - the entry of the young in line with the rest of the world) was and continues to be an event for the entire community, to which all the villagers bring their contribution. The weddings weren't held at random, but in those times when the works were appeased. Câşlegile de toamnă (between the Cross Day and shrovetide for the Christmas Fasting), along with Câşlegile de iarnă (between Christmas and Shrove Tuesday for Lent), represented once the time for the weddings.

0834 Godmother from Rupea in traditional clothes

 

Of course there are differences between the customs of various regions of the country, but the main thread and the meanings are the same. Below I will try to do a synopsis of a wedding in Rupea, a settlement located halfway between Braşov and Sighişoara. From Thursday until Tuesday, with the peak on Sunday, at the homes of the bride and of the bridegroome, take place many ceremonial scenarios. Virtually every gesture, word, song, garment, jewel, loses its original function, becoming a sign with symbolic value of the ceremonial ranks of bridegroom, bride, couple's parents, godparents, heralds, horsemen, wedding guests etc.

0835 Bride, godmother and guests
 at a traditional wedding in Rupea

 

Friday, before the wedding, chemătorii (the heralds) walks through the village to invite people to the wedding. Saturday was carried cinstea (the foods from which will be prepared the dishes for wedding), and the bridegroom received as gift from the bride cârpa de pus la brâu (the cloth for put to the waist), woven from cotton with alesături (ornamentation of fabrics by separating and combining, by hand, after a pattern, of the yarns of warp and weft).

0836 Bride from Rupea
in the day after the wedding

Sunday, at the groom's house, were gathered călăraşii (the horsemen), and one of them takes the bridegroom's flag, then he climbed into his wagon and headed to the godfather's house, accompanied by the young men on horseback. There, one of the horsemen received the godfather's flag, and the godparents, the lad of godfather, and the girl of godfather join to the procession, in another wagon, on their way to the bride's house. Of course, didn't lacked the musicians.

0832 VENEZUELA (Nueva Esparta) - The Basílica of Our Lady of the Valley

Located on the Margarita Island (Isla de Margarita - situated off the northeastern coast of Venezuela, in the Caribbean Sea), at halfway between the cities of Porlamar and La Asunción, El Valle del Espíritu Santo was founded as the capital of the island in 1529. In the village there is one of the most visited temples of the island and from whole Venezuela, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Valley, built in the late 19th century, and decreed Basilica Menor by Pope John Paul II in 1995.

0831 UNITED KINGDOM (England) - Winter light over Oxford

Even if in nowadays has a diverse economic base, Oxford is known worldwide mainly as a university town and home of the University of Oxford, the oldest in the country and in the English-speaking world. Its buildings demonstrate examples of every English architectural period since the arrival of the Saxons, being known as the "city of dreaming spires", a term coined by Matthew Arnold in reference to the harmonious architecture of Oxford's university. This postcard illustrates well what wanted to say the poet.

0830 VIETNAM (Red River Delta) - Khám Thiên Street in Hanoi during rush hours

In 2010, when officially marked 1000 years since the establishment, Hanoi ("Between Rivers" or "River Interior") exceeded six and a half million of inhabitants, being the second largest city in Vietnam, after Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Besides, from 1010 until 1802 it was the most important political centre of the country, from 1802 until 1945 imperial capital, from 1954 until 1976 the capital of North Vietnam, and since 1976 is the capital of a reunified Vietnam.

0827-0829 TURKEY (Aegean Region) - Ephesus (UNESCO WHS)

0827 Ephesus - The Library of Celsus

Founded as an Attic-Ionian colony in the 10th century BC, on the site of the Bronze Age city Apasa, Ephesus was famed for the Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Around the year 650 BC it was conquered by the Lydians, and in the middle of the 6th century BC was incorporated into the Achaemenid Empire, but in 479 BC the Ionians, together with Athens, overthrew the Persians. In 356 BC the temple was burned down, according to legend, by a lunatic, being restored by inhabitants.

0828 Ephesus - Hadrian Temple

 

A few decades after Alexander the Great liberated the city, the river Cayster silted up the harbor and the inhabitants were forced to move to a new settlement, 2km further on. In the next period Ephesus became part of the Seleucid Empire, then came under Egyptian rule, and finally under the one of the king of Pergamon, later being one of the largest cities of Roman Asia Minor. The city and temple were destroyed by the Goths in 263 AD, and this marked the decline of its splendor.

0829 Ephesus - Heracles Gate

Rebuilt by Constantine I, it remained the most important city of the Byzantine Empire in Asia after Constantinople in the 5th and 6th centuries, till was again partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614. Its importance declined when the harbor was silted up (today, it is 5km inland). Sacked by the Arabs several times, and conquered by Seljuk Turks in 1090, it returned in 1097 under the control of Byzantine Empire, which kept it until 1308. Incorporated into the Ottoman Empire for the first time in 1390, and for the second in 1425, it was completely abandoned in the 15th century. Nearby Ayasuluğ was renamed Selçuk in 1914.

Entrance ticket to Ephesus (2013)

Entrance ticket for children (free) to Ephesus (2013)

Built in honor of the Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, an Ancient Greek who served as governor of Roman Asia (105-107) in the Roman Empire, Library of Celsus was completed in 135 AD by Celsus' son, consul Gaius Julius Aquila. Celsus paid for the construction of the library with his own personal wealth, and is buried in a sarcophagus beneath it. It once held nearly 12,000 scrolls. The interior of the library and all its books were destroyed by fire in the devastating earthquake that struck the city in 262.

0826 ECUADOR - Tungurahua - part of Sangay National Park (UNESCO WHS)

The stratovolcano Tungurahua (from Quichua tunguri - throat, and rahua - fire), located in the Cordillera Oriental of the Andes of central Ecuador, 140km south of Quito, has restarted its activity on August 19, 1999, and is ongoing as of 2013, with several major eruptions since that period, the last starting on 15 July 2013. With its elevation of 5,023 m, Tungurahua just over tops the snow line, so its top is snow covered and did feature a small summit. Its eruptions are strombolian, accompanied by strong explosions, pyroclastic flows and sometimes lava flows.

0381, 0825 AUSTRALIA (Queensland) - Great Barrier Reef (UNESCO WHS)

0381  Great Barrier Reef  Australia (1)

Located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef is composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands, stretching for over 2,600 km and over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres, and can be seen from outer space. Therefore it is not only the largest coral reef ecosystem on earth, but also the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. The first recorded discovery of the reef by europeans occurred when James Cook crashed into it in 1770.

0825  Great Barrier Reef  Australia (2)

Cook's quick-thinking crew was able to repair the ship and sail on, but in the coming decades the reef has caused many shipwrecks, until it was mapped in th­e 1800s. Now, a large part of The Great Barrier Reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (the largest marine protected area in the world), and since 1981 was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Great Barrier Reef supports a diversity of life, including many vulnerable or endangered species, some of which may be endemic to the reef system.

0824 FRANCE (Brittany) - Saint-Malo

Once a feared base of corsairs, French privateers and even pirates, heavily fortified against Norman (or English) attack, Saint-Malo, located at the mouth of the Rance River, and controlling not only the estuary, but the open sea beyond, is today one of the top tourist draws in Brittany. The star of the show is the atmospheric walled city (intramuros), largely destroyed in the WWII but painstakingly reconstructed.

The promontory fort of Aleth, placed in what is now the Saint-Servan district, commanded approaches to the Rance even before the Romans, but modern Saint-Malo traces its origins to a monastic settlement founded by Saint Aaron and Saint Brendan early in the 6th century. Its name is derived from a Welsh monk, probably a follower of Brendan, Saint Malo or Maclou. The corsairs of Saint-Malo not only forced English ships passing up the Channel to pay tribute, but also brought wealth from further afield. Jacques Cartier, who is thus credited as the discoverer of Canada, lived in and sailed from Saint-Malo, as did the first colonists to settle the Falklands.

0823 CHINA (Anhui) - Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui - Xidi and Hongcun (UNESCO WHS)

The traditional non-urban settlements of China, large extent disappeared during the 20th century, are well preserved in the villages of Xidi and Hongcun, illustrations of a type of feudal settlement based on a prosperous trading economy. First built during the Huangyou era (1049-1053) of Song Dynasty Emperor Renzong, the village Xidi was originally called Xichuan (West River). The rise of the village was closely tied to the fortunes of the Hu family. By 1465, during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), family members had started in business as merchants, leading to construction of major private buildings and a public infrastructure. By the middle of the 17th century, the influence wielded by members of the Hu family expanded from commerce into politics, Xidi peaking the maximum of prosperity in the 18th and 19th centuries, at which time the village comprised about 600 residences.

0822 CROATIA (Dubrovnik-Neretva) - The historic town of Korčula (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

The legend say that Korčula, from the central Dalmatian archipelago, separated from the mainland only by a narrow strait, was founded by Trojan hero Antenor in the 12th century BC, but the archaeologists have found there settlements dating back since Mesolithic. Inhabited by Illyrians, but also by Greeks colonists, the island was subsequent conquered by Romans, and in the 6th century AD it came under Byzantine rule. The Great Migrations brought Slavic and Avar invasions, and finally the Croats seized control of the area. A time Venetian merchants paid tribute to the Neretvian pirates, but in 998 the neighbour Principality of Pagania came under Venetian control.

0821 BRAZIL (Paraná) - Curitiba, the Model City

Capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná, Curitiba is the largest city in the prosperous Southern region, and also a cultural, political, and economic center. Founded in 1693 by the Portuguese on a plateau at 932m above sea level, at 105 km west of the sea port of Paranaguá, between cattle-breeding country and marketplaces, the town has developed quite quickly. Between 1850 and 1950, it grew due to logging and agricultural expansion in the Paraná State, and the waves of European immigrants (mainly Germans, Italians, Poles, Russians and Ukrainians) contributed to its economic and cultural development.

0820 VIETNAM (Southeast) - Saigon Central Post Office

Former capital of the French colony of Cochinchina and later of the independent republic of South Vietnam, Saigon is officially called Ho Chi Minh City (after Hồ Chí Minh, the late North Vietnamese leader) for nearly 30 years, ie since 1976, but the old name is more often used than the new one not only in everyday speech, but also by the authorities. A good example is that on the postmark write Saigon, no Ho Chi Minh. Moreover, the inhabitants of the city weren't named ever otherwise than Saigonese. It seems that in this case, either the mercantilism, or the desire to preserve the tradition defeated the ideology.

0819 FINLAND (Southwest Finland) - Archangel Michael's church in Turku

In 1894, when won the competition for the building of this church, Lars Sonck only just graduated from Helsinki Polytechnic Institute, and had long time to become one of the prominent figures of National Romanticism. Archangel Michael's church is a distinguished example of the neogothic style, built of red brick, with a roof made of grey green slate from Norway. It is a long church with three aisles, galleries and a multifaceted choir. In addition to the main entrance there are also doors at each corner of the church. The main spire rises to a height of 77 meters from the foundations.

0454 HUNGARY (Budapest) - Heroes' Square - part of Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue (UNESCO WHS)

0454  Heroes' Square in Budapest

Located at the end of Andrássy Avenue, next to City Park, Heroes' Square (Hősök tere) is one of the major squares of Budapest, rich with historic and political connotations. The central site of the square is the Millennium Memorial, with statues of the leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary in the 9th century (Árpád, Előd, Ond, Kond, Tas, Huba, and Töhötöm) and other outstanding figures of Hungarian history (on the left colonnade - Stephen I, Ladislaus I, Coloman, Andrew II, Béla IV, Charles I, Louis I; on the right colonnade - John Hunyadi, Matthias Corvinus, István Bocskay, Gabriel Bethlen, Imre Thököly, Francis II Rákóczi, Lajos Kossuth).

0817 UZBEKISTAN (Tashkent) - Navoi Theatre in Tashkent

The Navoi Theatre (Alisher Navoi State Academic Bolshoi Theatre) in Tashkent, one of the only 3 theatres that were given the status of Grand in the erstwhile Soviet Union, is also one of the leading centers of performing arts in Central Asia. Designed by the acclaimed architect Alexey Shchusev (who also built a mausoleum in Red Square in Moscow), it was named after Alisher Navoi (1441-1501), "the founder of Uzbek literature", and even "the founder of early Turkic literature".

0816 NEW ZEALAND (South Island) - Church of the Good Shepherd

Situated on the shores of Lake Tekapo, in the South Island of New Zealand, amongst the natural beauty of the lake and the mountains, the Church of the Good Shepherd was the first church built in the Mackenzie Basin. The foundation stone was laid by H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester, on January 15th, 1935, and the completed church was dedicated by the Bishop of Christchurch on August 3rd, 1935. Designed by Christchurch architect R.S.D. Harman (1896-1953), and based on sketches by a local artist, Esther Hope (1885-1975), it is arguably one of the most photographed in New Zealand, and features an altar window that frames stunning views of the lake and mountains.

0815 GUATEMALA - Mayan weavers

As also in the south of Mexico, in Guatemala the tapestry of traditional textiles is even today a prominent feature in the indigenous Mayan communities. Since pre-Colombian times, women have hand-spun and hand-woven their families' traje (clothing) using the age-old back-strap loom. According to the Ancient Mayan Quiche (Kee-Chay) tradition, Ixchel, the female moon goddess has been weaving in this method since the beginning of time. In the back-strap loom, the tejedoras (weaver) physically creates the necessary tension to weave strands of dyed-cotton through the suspended threads. Using this loom, women throughout the Western highlands of Guatemala create the fabric panels that compose their intricate traditional clothing, including huipiles (blouses), tzutes (head wraps) and fajas (fabric belts).

Huipil (from the Nahuatl word huīpīlli) is the most common traditional garment worn by indigenous women from central Mexico to Central America. It is a loose-fitting tunic, generally made from two or three rectangular pieces of fabric which are then joined together with stitching, ribbons or fabric strips, which an opening for the head and if the sides are sewn, opening for the arms. Lengths of the huipil can vary from a short blouse-like garment or long enough to reach the floor.

Each region in the Western Highlands of Guatemala exhibits a distinct weaving pattern, color palette, and material composition. Much like a national flag, women wear their traditional traje as a proud representation of their hometown roots despite the fabric’s historical connection to the Spanish conquest. It is widely explained that colonial officials forced each community to wear a certain color and pattern to help in tax collection practices. Furthermore, these community-specific fabrics were used by the central government during the Guatemalan Civil War (1960-1996) to target specific indigenous communities. Rebel-sympathizing villagers throughout the Quiche region were targeted by the Ríos Montt regime. As a result, many women were forced to hide their traditional traje or exchange their huipiles for those of a neighboring region. However the Mayan women survived and  their weaving continued.

0814 INDONESIA (Sulawesi) - A Torajan with a tedong bonga

I wrote about Toraja and their special houses here, but I didn't say anything about the importance of water buffalo in their society, in lives, but also in death. In lives, wealth is counted by the ownership of water buffaloes. Together with pigs, buffaloes are the main animals in Toraja’s culture to be sacrificed in every ceremony, especially in Rambu Solo or Toraja’s funeral ceremony and Rambu Tuka or its thanksgiving ceremony. As a special animal, buffaloes in Toraja can be extremely expensive. One big "white” buffalo can be priced to tens of millions rupiah. In the postcard is a tedong bonga, a local variety, with a unique black and white colouration.

0812 CHINA (Jiangsu) - Zhouzhuang, the Venice of China

Located 30 km southeast of the city of Suzhou, Zhouzhuang, China's oldest water town, known as Zhenfang Lane in ancient times, is noted for its profound cultural background, the well preserved ancient residential houses and the elegant watery views. Called Yaocheng in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), it was part of the King of Wu, and in the mid of Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) became a distribution center of food, silk, ceramics, arts and crafts in the south of China.