Monthly Fav. Surprise RR - July '23

Lets continue with this marathon of monthly surprise cards. In July they were from the Netherlands, Italy, Russia and Cuba but most of them were sent from somewhere else. The Dutch card was sent from Germany, the Italian from Finland and the Cuban also from Germany.

If you ever visited Amsterdam you probably noticed that the houses along the canals are narrow, tall and a bit skewed. Why is that? Back in the 15th century the the land planning laws were strict. Planning required that facades be built of lightweight materials with large windows to reduce weight.  Most of the older buildings have been built on wooden poles, which over time have become less sturdy. Combined with the wet conditions of the soil, the houses are simply sinking over time. Most of the houses are attached to each other, so it looks like they sort of lean on each other and keep their balance together. 

Taxes were charged according to the width of the frontage which explains why most Amsterdam houses are narrow. So the wider facade, the more tax you pay. Despite that the houses are actually rather deep.

Card sent by Helen.

Mina found me a volcano card. 

Even though Mount Etna is one of the world’s most active volcanoes, it is considered to be a safe volcano - most eruptions do not endanger those visiting or living in the area. Often, the biggest inconvenience is the ash that carpets surrounding towns during eruptions. 

If you’re thinking of booking a holiday to Catania and eastern Sicily, you can visit the volcano even during an eruption. There are plenty of hiking routes that steer well clear of the summit and craters where explosions take place. Visiting during an eruption is a thrilling experience and some guides organise tours at night especially to marvel at the fiery light show. - in: https://www.euronews.com

 

Nadezhda sent me autumn on a card. When I saw it I thought it was from Manteigas, a town in my region where there's a beautiful beech forest that at this time of the year looks pretty much like this. But no, this card is from Russia, don't know exactly where from though.

Cuba Imagen

A Cuban card sent from Germany by Grace, an Italian lady living in Switzerland!! 

Grace has never been to Cuba but her Cuban sister-in-law is her supplier of Cuban cards. 

The Museo de la Revolución (Revolution Museum) of Havana is hosted in the old Presidential Palace, built between 1913 and 1920, and used by several presidents of Cuba, the last of them Fulgencio Batista. 

This monumental construction in Centro Habana houses one of the most interesting museums in all Cuba. The museum exhibits several collections of photographs, flags, documents, weapons, and other objects related to the revolutionary fighting against Batista, and the history of Cuba, in chronological order, from the pre-Columbian culture in Cuba (on the top floor), to the current society. In here stand out the exhibitions about the assault of Moncada in 1953, and about the life of Che Guevara, in the bottom rooms.
In the entrance of the museum there is a fragment of the former wall of the city, as well as a SAU-100 tank used by Castro during the invasion of Cochinos Bay in 1961. - in: https://www.tripcuba.org

San Pedro de la Roca Castle - Cuba

Two cards of the San Pedro de la Roca Castle in Santiago de Cuba. The 1st was sent by Zé Pombal and I forgot who sent the other one. 

 mcphoto.blogspot.es

This 17th-century fortress, situated on a rocky promontory at the coast of Santiago city, is the best-preserved monument of Spanish-American military architecture.

Giovan Battista Antonelli, a member of a Milanese family of military engineers, designed it in 1637, inspired by Italian and Renaissance design principles.

It was primarily established to guard against commercial and political rivals in the Caribbean region, European colonies, and raiding pirates. It features a strong defensive series of forts, barricades, citadels, armories, and batteries.

Photo by A. Cavalli

Due to sporadic construction work, completion of the citadel took nearly 42 years. Despite many overseas attacks and natural disasters like earthquakes, this massive historical complex of fortifications still stands.

The castle went through a massive restoration project in the 1960’s. Today it is one of the best preserved castles in the America’s, as well as the best example of a renaissance fortress. Since 1997, it is a World UNESCO heritage site too. - in: http://www.everycastle.com/Castillo-de-San-Pedro-de-la-Roca.html

UNESCO WHS from Cuba

In the last two trades with Emerich I've got two missing UNESCO sites from Cuba, Historic Centre of Camagüey and Desembarco del Granma National Park. Camagüey was added to the list in 2008 and the park in 1999. 

© BARON

One of the first seven villages founded by the Spaniards in Cuba, Camagüey played a prominent role as the urban centre of an inland territory dedicated to cattle breeding and the sugar industry. Settled in its current location in 1528, the town developed on the basis of an irregular urban pattern that contains a system of large and minor squares, serpentine streets, alleys and irregular urban blocks, highly exceptional for Latin American colonial towns located in plain territories. The 54 ha Historic Centre of Camagüey constitutes an exceptional example of a traditional urban settlement relatively isolated from main trade routes. The Spanish colonizers followed medieval European influences in terms of urban layout and traditional construction techniques brought to the Americas by their masons and construction masters. The property reflects the influence of numerous styles through the ages: neoclassical, eclectic, Art Deco, Neo-colonial as well as some Art Nouveau and rationalism. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1270

© BARON

Desembarco del Granma National Park, with its uplifted marine terraces and associated ongoing development of karst topography and features, represents a globally significant example of geomorphologic and physiographic features and ongoing geological processes. The area, which is situated in and around Cabo Cruz in south-east Cuba, includes spectacular terraces and cliffs, as well as some of the most pristine and impressive coastal cliffs bordering the western Atlantic. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/889

Trinidad & Cienfuegos - Cuba

Trinidad and Cienfuegos are two cuban cities, which historic centers are classified as Unesco World Heritage Sites. Both of these are have been sent by Lídia.

Trinidad is a town in central Cuba. Together with the nearby Valle de los Ingenios, it has been one of UNESCOs World Heritage sites since 1988.

On the card there's the San Francisco Convent bell tower and the Cantero Palace, located in the Plaza Mayor.

The buildings surrounding this central square date from the 18th and 19th centuries when trade in sugar from the nearby Valle de los Ingenios and slaves, brought great riches to the area. Many of the buildings surrounding the central square belonged to the wealthy landowners of the city. When the trade in sugar diminished and the slave trade ended in the mid-19th century, Trinidad became a backwater and because little building work was carried until the 1950s many of the historic buildings and streets were preserved, especially the grand constructions in the immediate vicinity of the Plaza Mayor. Today, most of the houses surrounding the square are home to museums. - in: wikipedia

The colonial town of Cienfuegos was founded in 1819 in the Spanish territory but was initially settled by immigrants of French origin. It became a trading place for sugar cane, tobacco and coffee. Situated on the Caribbean coast of southern-central Cuba at the heart of the country’s sugar cane, mango, tobacco and coffee production area, the town first developed in the neoclassical style. It later became more eclectic but retained a harmonious overall townscape. Among buildings of particular interest are the Government Palace (City Hall), San Lorenzo School, the Bishopric, the Ferrer Palace, the former lyceum, and some residential houses. Cienfuegos is the first, and an outstanding example of an architectural ensemble representing the new ideas of modernity, hygiene and order in urban planning as developed in Latin America from the 19th century. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1202
On the card there's the Tomas Terry Theatre, built in 1889.

Alejandro Humboldt National Park - Cuba

These last days UNESCO added new sites to the World Heritage List. That means the list is bigger again but at least i've got new unesco cards lately. This cuban card sent by Sylwia from Poland, arrived today.

"Parque Nacional Alejandro de Humboldt is a national park in the Cuban provinces of Holguín and Guantánamo. It is named after the german scientist Alexander von Humboldt who visited the island in 1800 and 1801. The park was inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage Site
in 2001 for of its size, altitude range, complex lithology, landform diversity, and wealth of endemic flora and fauna.

The rivers that flow off the peaks of the park are some of the largest in the insular Caribbean. The park is said to be the most humid place in Cuba and this causes a high biological diversity. The park has an area of 711.38 km² (274.67 sq mi), of which 685.72 km² (264.76 sq mi) land area and 22.63 km² (8.74 sq mi) marine area. Elevation ranges from sea level to 1,168 m (3,832 ft) on El Toldo Peak.

16 of Cuba's 28 endemic plant species are protected in the park including such fauna as Dracaena cubensis and Podocarpus ekman. Fauna present in the park includes various species of parrots, lizards, hummingbirds, the endangered Cuban Solenodon (endemic), hutia and snails." - in: wikipedia

»NEW« TRAVELLING RR - Group 62 * Churches

I've received a few days ago an envelope with 10 churches card and i chose these 3.

This is the Sabctuary of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre in El Cobre, Santiago de Cuba.

According to legend, the Virgin of Charity appeared over the waters of the Bay of Nipe, and upon recognition of the event by the Catholic Church, the sanctuary was built in 1927.

The Lady of Charity is truly a saint for all the believers in the syncretism of Cuban Catholicism and African religious rites. Her temple stands on a hill overlooking the town.

Thousands of people come to the church to vererate the Lady of Charity, the Holy Patron of Cuba. Some come to keep a promise, others take offerings which are added to the hundreds of pieces and objects that have been dedicated to the Virgin, among which is Hemingway's Nobel Prize medal. Pilgrims often collect copper stones from the mine close to the church.

With Leslie and Sheila's help, i finally know where this postcard is from, and it's from Torzhok, a town in Tver Oblast, Russia, situated on the Tvertsa River, 38 miles northwest of Tver, and 145 miles from Moscow.

After some research i've finally discovered the name of this church and it's location. This is the Dormition Cathedral in Veliky Ustyug, a town in Vologda Oblast, also in Russia.

"According to the Ustyug Chronicles, in 1290 bishop Tarasy from Rostov arrived to Ustyug to consecrate the newly constructed temple in the name of the Dormition of the Virgin. The burned down wooden cathedral was replaced in the middle of the XVI century by a stone one. Built in the style of the main Russia temple – the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, it became the first stone city cathedral in the Russian North.

The present shape of the Dormition Cathedral has developed as a result of numerous reconstructions which it underwent for 450 years. The huge building of the temple, the main part of which is built according to the strict monumental forms typical of the XVI century, looks really majestic. The southern facade of the cathedral is completely hidden behind the constructed in the middle of the XIX century two-storeyed warm side-chapel of Epiphany. A high cathedral belltower (the end of the XVII – XVIII century) with its complex construction, consisting of two incorporated volumes adjoins it from the east." - in: http://www.cultinfo.ru/vologdachudo/page6_en.htm

Viñales Valley - Cuba

"Viñales Valley is a karstic depression in Cuba. Tobacco and other crops are cultivated on the bottom of the valley, mostly by traditional agriculture techniques. Many caves dot the surrounding hillfaces.
Viñales is a major tourist destination offering mainly hiking and rock climbing. The local climbing scene has started to take off in the last few years with many new routes being discovered resulting in an increase in local tourism.
In 1999, the Viñales Valley was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a cultural landscape, both for its natural beauty and for the Vernacular architecture and traditions." - in: wikipedia.

Havana - Cuba

"Havana is the capital city, major port, and leading commercial center of Cuba.
Havana, founded in 1515, is one of the oldest cities founded by Europeans in the Western Hemisphere. The city was protected by walls and fortificaions as it was often attacked by pirates and French corsairs. Its economy first developed on the basis of its location, which made it one of the early great trade centres in the New World. By far is the leading cultural centre of the island, offers a wide variety of features that range from museums, palaces, public squares, avenues, churches, and fortresses (including the largest fortified complex in the Americas dating from the 16th through 18th centuries)." - in wikipedia.

Cuba

A card that a friend of my family bought in Cuba for me.