Pannonhalma Abbey - Hungary

There are eight World Heritage Sites in Hungary. The Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment were added to the WHS list in 1996. 

Both these cards have been sent by Joanna. 

The monastery of the Benedictine Order at Pannonhalma was founded in 996 in Western Hungary and had a major role in the diffusion of Christianity in medieval Central Europe. The monastery shows a stratification of different architectural styles and various buildings.

 

Among these buildings: a school (the first ever school founded in the country), the monastic complex – home to the monks whose life is still based on St. Benedict’s Rule ‘Ora et labora’ -, the tourist welcome points and hospitality facilities, the Chapel of Our Lady, the Millennium Chapel and the botanical and herbal gardens.
The monastery’s library also preserves the oldest surviving document in Hungarian language, the Charter of the Tihany Benedictine Abbey, dating back to 1055. The surrounding area, covered by forests with rare and protected floral species and home to many songbirds, complements in an aesthetic way the man-made millenary monastery.

 

The Archabbey of Pannonhalma and its environment (...) are the living testimony of the thousand-year history of the Benedictine monastery, who has become a place of education, culture, ecumenism and encounter. The community of monks still functions today and sustains with continuous dedication one of the living centres of European culture. -in: https://www.comece.eu

Buda Castle - Hungary

Hungary must be one of the European countries from which I receive the least postcards. It was a bit of a surprise to receive an official card from there last week., only my 3rd offcial from this country. 

When I received my 1st cards from Budapest back in 2007, I I was far from imagining that 11 years later I would visit Budapest and see these views. The city is one of the cities that I would like to visit again. 

 

The Castle District stands as one of the capital's most significant historical and cultural hubs. Perched 70 meters above the Danube on the Castle Hill, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.
Since the 13th century, Buda Castle has served as the residence of Hungarian kings. The strategically defensible Buda Castle Hill has seen a succession of rulers from Hungarian monarchs to Turkish, Habsburg, German, and Soviet hands, each leaving behind a tapestry of captivating and diverse tales. 

 

HU-229655, sent by Maria.

Buda Castle is one of the most iconic landmarks in Hungarian history, with its distinctive dome visible from afar atop Castle Hill. Over the centuries, this palace has been rebuilt and expanded multiple times, serving not only as a royal residence but also as the backdrop for significant historical events.
During the Ottoman occupation, the castle was almost entirely destroyed, but Habsburg rulers made efforts to restore it to its original splendor. However, World War II once again inflicted severe damage. In the second half of the 20th century, an extensive restoration brought the castle back to life. Today, the complex thrives as a modern cultural hub.

Within Buda Castle, visitors will find the Hungarian National Gallery, the Budapest History Museum, the Saint Stephen’s Hall, and the National Széchényi Library. The terrace in front of the palace offers breathtaking panoramic views of the Hungarian capital. - in: https://www.budapestinfo.hu

Matthias Church - Budapest

Both these cards arrived in 2010 and 7 years later I finally got to see these beautiful church in Budapest. Matthias Church is the most visited Roman Catholic temple in the city. 

The Church of the Assumption of the Buda Castle, more commonly known as the Matthias Church is located in the Holy Trinity Square, in front of the Fisherman's Bastion at the heart of Buda's Castle District. According to church tradition, it was originally built in Romanesque style in 1015, although few references exist. The current building was constructed in the florid late Gothic style in the second half of the 14th century and was extensively restored in the late 19th century. It was the second largest church of medieval Buda and the seventh largest church of the medieval Hungarian Kingdom.

It is a historic building with an important history. Two Kings of Hungary were crowned within its walls: Franz Joseph I of Hungary and Elisabeth, and Charles IV of Hungary and Zita of Bourbon-Parma.

The church was also the location of the "Mary-wonder." In 1686 during the siege of Buda city by the Holy League a wall of the church collapsed due to cannon fire. It turned out that an old votive Madonna statue was hidden behind the wall. As the sculpture of the Virgin Mary appeared before the praying Muslims, the morale of the muslim garrison collapsed and the city fell on the same day. - in: wikipedia

In front of the church there's the Trinity Statue built in 1713.

Europe RR - Group 136 * Churches

Churches from Torun, Poland and Budapest, Hungary. 

Fot. Dariusz Krakowiak

On the center of this card sent by Kamilla, there's the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was erected in the second half of the 14th century by Franciscan friars. 

It is one of the most outstanding artistic and architectural achievements of sacral architecture in Poland. In the 14th century it was the highest hall church in Central Europe with the naves and aisles 26.8 metre (88 feet) high. 

According to the Franciscan rule, the church does not have a tower but three rather small ave-bell towers instead. - in: http://www.visittorun.pl/386,l2.html

Photos by www.photodecor.hu

Some cards bring me good memories and this is one of them. I've been to Budapest last year and loved the city.

Ferenc sent a card with . St. Stephen’s Basilica, the largest church of Budapest. The building was finished in Neo-classicist style in 1905, following 54 years of planning. Similarly to the Parliament, it is 96 meters high, which makes it the highest building of Budapest. 

This place of Catholic worship was named after St. Stephen, the first Christian king of Hungary, whose mummified body is buried in the undercroft. His intactly preserved right hand, the Holy Dexter, is kept as a relic in the Basilica’s main aisle. The Basilica is also a significant musical venue, where various concerts are held. - in: https://welovebudapest.com/en/venue/st-stephens-basilica-2/

Europe RR - Group 119 * Castles & Palaces

For this group of the Europe RR, Ferenc and Gerald sent me new palaces from Hungary and Germany. 

The Festetics Palace is a Baroque palace located in the town of Keszthely, Zala, Hungary. The building now houses the Helikon Palace Museum.

The palace's construction, started by Kristóf Festetics in 1745, lasted more than a century. During this time, the palace, built at first on the foundations of a ruined castle, was tripled in size in two subsequent building campaigns, most recently in the 1880s, to designs by Viktor Rumpelmayer, living in Vienna.

When Rumpelmayer died in 1885, the work was carried to completion by architects Gusztáv Haas and Miksa Paschkisch. The result is one of the three largest country houses in Hungary.

Unlike the surrounding area, the palace was not damaged during World War II. The palace has housed an independent museum (Helikon Palace Museum) since 1974; it is visited by 200,000 people each year. - in: wikipedia

Photography by Ulrike Romeis

Meersburg Castle in Meersburg on Lake Constance in Baden-Württemberg, Germany is the oldest inhabited castle in Germany. 

Parts of it do date back to AD 630 and its foundation by Dagobert I, last of the great Frankish Merovingian kings. Most of it, however, only dates back as far as the 12th century and from the 13th century on it served as a seat for the Prince-Bishops of Konstanz. 

The castle is privately owned. It has been open to the public as a museum since 1878.

HU-122276

Getting an unexpected postcard from a missing UNESCO site is the ultimate and supreme joy of every UNESCO collectors. The Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs (Sopianae) was the only hungarian site I was still missing. Many, many thanks Éva.

The Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs (Sopianae) were added to the WHS list in 2000. 

Foto: Tám László

HU-122276, sent by Éva.
These are the ruins of a Late Roman Tomb Chapel.

Originally the entire building functioned as a burial chamber, however, it was rebuilt around 390 AD, when a stone altar was erected in its sanctuary, after which it was used exclusively as a chapel. Burials took place outside the building in tombs erected from stone or bricks. Over a hundred graves were uncovered during the excavation. Some of these can be viewed here, among them the grave of a mother with her child as well as a child's separate tomb. - in: http://www.iranypecs.hu/en/info/attractions/unesco-world-heritage/late-roman-tomb-chapel.html

Budapest's Great Synagogue - Hungary

I really, really want to visit Budapest, I just need someone to go with me. Any candidates? 

There are many interresting attractions in Budapest, one of them is the Great Synagogue in Dohány Street (also known as Dohány Street Synagogue). This is the largest Synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world. 

Foto: Simon László

It was built between 1854 and 1859 in Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish style, in the wake of Romanticism. Originally, there was a residential block next to the synagogue. In fact, Theodor Herzl, founder of the Zionist movement, was born in one of the houses located there. This site is now part of the complex and home to the Jewish Museum.

During the inter-war years, anti-Semitism grew quickly in Hungary. A series of anti-Jewish policies were passed, and fascist groups like the Arrow Cross Party started to attract more followers. Hungary became an ally of Germany and the Arrow Cross Party damaged the Synagogue in 1939. During World War II, the Great Synagogue served as a stable and as a radio communication center for the Germans. Today, the compound serves as the main center for the Jewish community.

The buildings and the courtyards of the Synagogue include the Jewish Museum, the Heroes' Temple, the Jewish Cemetery and the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park. - in: http://visitbudapest.travel/guide/budapest-attractions/great-synagogue/

Budapest - Hungary

It was in January that Ara visited Budapest. She said it's a beautiful city and I believe her, it's one of the cities on my must visit list. 

© Photo Huber Pál Kolozs

The card shows the Parliament Building and the Fisherman's Bastion.

3 IN 1 RR - Special Surprise * group 01

To celebrate Christmas, Staša created this special surprise group. In this group we had to send 10 surprise cards to one person but we couldn't mention to whom. I've received this cards from Staša but my envelope is still travelling and I'm getting worried about it. I hope it arrives in the next days. 

Photo © Bernie Jungkind/Woods Bros., 1989

The Ozark Mountains are a physiographic and geologic highland region of the central United States. It covers much of the southern half of Missouri and an extensive portion of northwestern and north central Arkansas. The region also extends westward into northeastern Oklahoma and extreme southeastern Kansas. - in: wikipedia

www.tkv.at

View from Bergisel stadium towards the Nordkette. 

The Nordkette is a range of mountains just north of the city of Innsbruck in Austria. It is the southernmost of the four great mountain chains in the Karwendel. - in: wkipedia

Copyright und Verlag: Studio Tanner

Breitachklamm gorge, in Bavaria, Germany, is the deepest and one of the most impressive rocky gorges in middle Europe. 

Formation of the Breitachklamm started approximately 10,000 years ago when the melting Breitach glacier began to saw its way through the chalk of the Engenkopf and the water slowly eroded the stone.

In 1905, this natural wonder of attractive beauty and dimension became accessible with the help of the priest Johannes Schiebel from Tiefenbach. Today, the Breitachklamm fascinates more than 300,000 visitors per year. - in: http://www.breitachklamm.com/en/history/

Photos, layout, printing and sales FIN©RIGINAL

The Suomenlinna Church in Finland was built as an Eastern Orthodox garrison church for the Russian troops of Suomenlinna sea fortress.

The Orthodox church was converted into an Evangelical Lutheran church during the 1920s.

Today its central dome doubles as a lighthouse making it one of only a few churches in the world that double as a lighthouse. The signal blink is the Morse code for the letter "H" for Helsinki. It is a very popular wedding church and one of the first landmarks for people arriving in Helsinki by sea. - in: wikipedia

Foto: M. Sükrü Denizkuslari

Alanya is a beach resort city and a component district of Antalya Province in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey. 

The Mediterranean climate, natural attractions, and historic heritage makes Alanya a popular destination for tourism, and responsible for nine percent of Turkey's tourism sector and thirty percent of foreign purchases of real estate in Turkey. - in: wikipedia

Ars Una Studio

The Chain Bridge was the first permanent stone-bridge connecting Pest and Buda, and only the second permanent crossing on the whole length of the river Danube. It is one of the symbolic buildings of Budapest, the most widely known bridge of the Hungarian capital. - in: http://www.bridgesofbudapest.com/bridge/chain_bridge

Foto: Dariusz Krakowiak 

The Roman-Catholic Cathedral in Przemyśl was erected in Gothic style in the 15th and 16th centuries and then rebuilt in the 18th century in a Baroque style.

Tokaj Wine Region - Hungary

Some time ago I tagged Malgosia on a UNESCO tag and she sent me 3 cards, one of them was from the Tokaj Wine Region in Hungary, one of my missing sites. 

Tokaj wine region is a historical wine region located in northeastern Hungary and southeastern Slovakia. It is also one of the seven larger wine regions of Hungary. 

The region consists of 28 named villages and 11,149 hectares of classified vineyards, of which an estimated 5,500 are currently planted. Tokaj has been declared a World Heritage Site in 2002 under the name Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape. - in: wikipedia

Foto: Jacques Guillard

The cultural landscape of Tokaj graphically demonstrates the long tradition of wine production in this region of low hills and river valleys. The intricate pattern of vineyards, farms, villages and small towns, with their historic networks of deep wine cellars, illustrates every facet of the production of the famous Tokaj wines, the quality and management of which have been strictly regulated for nearly three centuries. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1063

Fishermen's Bastion - Budapest

Raquel has been to Budapest last April and i hope i can visit the city too one day. 

I've a few cards from Budapest and i'm glad Raquel sent me this one, because since i've joined postcrossing, i've been waiting to receive a card from this place. I finally got it. 

The bastion is located right behind the Matthias Church in the Castle District. It is one of the city's biggest tourist draws and functions as some sort of ornate viewing platform. 

The Fisherman's Bastion was built at the site of an old rampart that, during the Middle Ages, was defended by the guild of fishermen, who lived nearby in Vízívaros (watertown), at the foot of the hill. Thus the name of the bastion. An old fish market also sat at this location during medieval times.

SIMIX PRINT

Designed by architect Frigyes Schulek and built between 1899 and 1905, the white-stoned Fisherman's Bastion is a combination of neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque architecture and consists of turrets, projections, parapets, and climbing stairways. 

The bastion is made up of seven towers - each one symbolizing one of the seven Magyar tribes that, in 896, settled in the area now known as Hungary. The structure looks straight out of some fairy-tale and conjures up thoughts of Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. Still, it seems to be in sync with the style of the Church of Our Lady and nicely complements the church, which was the intention of the architect. 

A monumental double stairway, decorated with reliefs of coats-of-arms and various motifs, connects the bastion with the streets below. - in: http://www.aviewoncities.com/budapest/fishermansbastion.htm

Fertö/Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape

Thanks to Natalie "roverandom" i've got these cards from the joint Unesco site between Austria and Hungary, Fertö/Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape.

Lake Neusiedl, also known as Neusiedlersee in German or Fertö in Hungary, is the second biggest steppe lake in central Europe. It covers an area of 315 square kilometers, of which 240 square kilometers are located in Austria while the remaining 75 square kilometers are in Hungary.

Photos by Pellinger Attila

 Fertö/Neusiedler Lake was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2001. This is because the site is an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement and land use representative of a culture. The site has seen human habitation that goes back to the Neolithic period. It was densely populated as early as the 7th century BC. In 454 AD the King of the Ostrogoths, Theodoric the Great, was born near Neusiedler Lake.

© Verlag Fasch

Lake Neusiedl is an important wildlife sanctuary for migratory birds. It has also become increasing popular as a sports recreation destination offering sailing and windsurfing. This attracts visitors in nearby Austria and Hungary. There is an annual freestyle swimming competition held at the lake where participants swim from Mörbisch to Illmitz. - in: http://www.the-world-heritage-sites.com/ferto-neusiedlersee_austria-hungary.htm

Budapest - Hungary

Budapest is one of the european capitals that i would like to visit.

Joaquim "kosta28" son is studying in Budapest and he went there to visit him. This beautiful card is a surprise from him.

The card shows some of the most recognizable symbols of the city, the Parliament Building, the Buda Castle, the Széchenyi Chain Bridge and the Liberty Statue.

Caves of Aggtelek Karst - Hungary

This is one of the hungarian unesco cards Joanna sent me, Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst.

 

The variety of formations and the fact that they are concentrated in a restricted area means that the 712 caves currently identified make up a typical temperate-zone karstic system. Because they display an extremely rare combination of tropical and glacial climatic effects, they make it possible to study geological history over tens of millions of years.

This Unesco World Heritage site includes seven components. They are Aggtelek, Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill, and Esztramos Hill in Hungary, and Dobsinská Ice Cave, Koniar plateau, Plešivec plateau, and neighbourhood of Silica and Jasov in Slovakia.

 

Rákóczi Cave is located in the spur of Esztramos Hill which is part of the Szalonna Karst, this is about 20km east of Jósvafo in north eastern Hungary. Here, iron mining operations opened up dozens of caves and a few years ago this cave was incorporated into the Aggtelek National Park and was renamed Rákóczi Cave. 

Rákóczi Cave contains peculiar dissolution pockets, rock pendants and avens ending in spherical niches. This demonstrates that this cave has been dissolved below the karst water table and that warm waters ascending here in the past have also dissolved part of the speleothems. Today, most of the cave is located well above the water table but Rákóczi Cave still has considerable portions underwater. The mineralisation is characteristic of a hydrothermal cave most of the formations are coralloids, resembling grapes or popcorn. 

The present entrance is an old mine adit which leads to a series of chambers developed along a major fault. There is almost as much vertical development as horizontal development. - in: http://www.showcaves.com/english/hu/showcaves/Rakoczi.html

Szentendre - Hungary

I wasn't expecting this card but Edit just felt like sending a card to someone because she couldn't request more official addresses. We traded some cards not so long ago and now she surprised me with this beautiful Szentendre card.

"Szentendre is a riverside town in Pest county, Hungary, near the capital city of Budapest. Szentendre is known for its museums (most notably the Open-Air Ethnographic Museum), galleries, and artists. Due to its picturesque appearance and easy rail and river access, it has become a popular destination for tourists staying in Budapest and there are many shops and restaurants catering for these visitors.

Populated for well over a millennium, under the Romans it was called Ulcisia Castra, meaning Wolf Castle. Since the 1500s it was considered the center of the Hungarian Serb community. At one point it had as many as eight Serbian Orthodox church buildings and 3 chapels, and only one each Roman-Catholic and Evangelical. It is still the see of the Buda Diocese of the Serb Orthodox Church. Szentendre and the surrounding villages were also inhabited by Bulgarians ever since the Middle Ages. In the 1700s, after liberation from the Turks, Szentendre enjoyed a rebirth with Mediterranean leanings, as Serbian, Croatian, Slovak, German and Greek newcomers moved in and lived alongside the Magyar inhabitants. According to the 1720 data, 88% of the population of the town were South Slavs (mostly Serbs, but also some South Slavic Catholics). The town to this day is characterised by a south European atmosphere with much baroque architecture, churches of various faiths, narrow sidestreets, and cobblestone roads." - in: wikipedia

Hollókó - Hungary

New card in my unesco collection, Old Village of Holloko and it's surroundings in Hungary.

I got this card throught the "you choose unesco tag" and it was sent by Lilia "childish" from Bulgaria.

"Hollokö is an outstanding example of a deliberately preserved traditional settlement. This village, which developed mainly during the 17th and 18th centuries, is a living example of rural life before the agricultural revolution of the 20th century." - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/401

Edit's cards

After a few days without any updates, i'm back with new cards all received this week.

The 1st envelope arrived monday or tuesday with 4 bueautiful cards, 3 from Spain and 1 from Hungary, sent by Edit.

I already had a night view of the St. Martin Bridge in Toledo but seen from the opposite side. This view is exactly what i remember from Toledo when i visited the city a few years ago.

I've been to Ávila 4 times, i think, i liked it very much and took a few pictures in this square. I've bought some cards there and old of them kind of old, this is looks really great. Ávila is most known for the medieval city walls, that were constructed of brown granite in 1090: surmounted by a breastwork, with eighty-eight towers and nine gateways, they are still in excellent repair, but a large part of the city lies beyond their perimeter.

Old Town of Ávila with its Extra-Muros Churches is an world heritage site since 1985.

Edit sent cards from different spanish cities and this one shows the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, a famous bullring in Madrid. "Situated in the barrio of Guindalera, it was inaugurated on June 17, 1931. It has a seating capacity of 25,000 and is regarded as the home of bullfighting in Spain.
This bullring was designed by an architect called Espeliú. Its style is Neo-Mudéjar (Moorish) with pottery incrustations. The price of the seats depends upon how close they are to the "arena" and whether they are in the sun or the shade (the latter being more expensive). The bullfighting season starts in March and ends in December; bullfights are held every day during the San Isidro Fiesta, and every Sunday or holiday during the season. Bullfights start at 6 or 7pm and last for two to three hours." - in: wikipedia

Edit lives in Spain but her home country is Hungary. This is the Heroes Square with the Millenary Monument in Budapest. This monument is a "spectacular ensemble of statues erected to commemorate the thousandth anniversary of the Magyar Conquest is situated at the end of Budapest's most beautiful avenue (Andrássy Street). The monument was designed by Albert Schickedanz and Fülöp Herczog. Many of the statues representing Hungarian Monarchs and Princes of Transylvania were made by György Zala. At the center of the Monument there is a column surrounded by seven figures - leaders of the seven Hungarian tribes." - in: http://cityguide.budapestrooms.com/sights/sights2.htm

Daniel's cards

Today is an holiday, that means no cards in the mailbox. This week i got some nice cards but i still have these cards that Daniel from Hungary sent me. Daniel, if you see this, thank you so much, the cards are great.

"Pécs is the fifth largest city of Hungary, located in the south-west of the country, close to its border with Croatia. Pécs has been selected to be the European Capital of Culture in 2010 sharing the title together with Essen and Istanbul." - in: wikipedia

On this card is possible to see the Széchenyi-Square with the mosque of Gázi Kászim pasha and and the statue of Hunyadi János,Szechenyi Square with the fount of Zsolnay, the cathedral of the 4 Towers, a far-view of the Mecsek hill and the County Hall.

Another multiview of Pécs with the cathedral, the turkish temple, the fount of Zsolnay like on the first card. Out of these on the right-bottom side you can see the hebrew temple of the Kossuth Square (it is next to Szechenyi square), the statue of Zsolnay is the left-top side, and the other three pics you can see something about the life of this city on some places of the towncentral.

A beautiful reproduction how Pécs looked like a few years ago.

Szeged is the fourth largest city of Hungary, the regional centre of South-Eastern Hungary and the capital of the county of Csongrád.
Here there's the Votive Church, Ferenc Móra Museum and the Water Tower.

Now a card from Baja, a city in southern Hungary.
The images from right to left. A statue at the Béke square, the Town Hall, the Sugovica river, a Franciscan Monastery, Hotel Danube, the statue of András Jelky - an adventurer and explorer in the 18th century and "Halászlé", a fish soup.