FOTW Spain

 I finally have the Spanish flag! Getting these FOTW cards is more difficult that I thought it would be but as this collection isn't a priority, I'm happy to just get cards every now and then. 

Gracias Patricia.

 

www.postcardsmarket.com

Spain has an area of 505.990 km², a population of 46.423.064 and its capital is Madrid. 

Unique: 

* World Biggest Stamps Mosaic -In 2014, 230.000 stamps were used to cover a 220.28 m² mosaic construction in Malaga;  

* Most meningful Book of All Time - Don Quixote, written by M. Cervantes in 1605, was voted 1st in 2002 by a panel of 100 top authors;  

Famous:  

* La Sagrada Familia - Designed by Gaudi, the construction began in 1882 and is still not finished;

* Land of many Festivals -La Tomatina - an - hour - long tomato food-fight on the streets of Bunyol; History:

* Formation - 23 Jan. 1516 (Dinastic: 20 Jan. 1479);

* First Monarch - Charles V or Charles I (1500 - 1558), Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, King of the Romans, King of Italy, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy.

Impérios - Terceira Island

One of the things I liked the most on Terceira island, were the impérios, cute and colorful structures used as a place to store the reliquaries, penants, symbols; to cook and/or distribute the offerings; and to perform some of the religious services associated with the cult of the Empire of the Holy Spirit.

Anabela sent me the 1st card with 5 of the more 70 impérios on the island. And Tiago sent the 2nd depicting the Charity Império.

On the left side:

* Império of the Holy Body: located in the parish of Our Lady of the Conception and was inaugurated at the end of century XIX, year of 1895;

* Império of the Holy Spirit in Vila Nova: located in the parish of Vila Nova, in the municipality of Praia da Vitória. It was founded in the 19th century more precisely in 1888;

* Império of Serreta: located in the parish of Serreta, in Angra do Heroísmo and it was founded in 1922;

On the right side:

* Império of Charity: located the parish of Santa Cruz, municipality of Praia da Vitória. The date of its construction dates back to the 20th century, to the year 1941;

* Império of Rua da Igreja: located in the parish of Ribeirinha, in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo.

 

The Charity império is one of the most famous and colorful of the Terceira Island.
It is characterized as a rectangular building with one floor, whose structure resembles a small chapel, dedicated to the Cult of the Holy Spirit, a religious manifestation deeply rooted in Terceira Island and the Azores. Its colorful and ornate facade deserves special mention, displaying some characteristic elements of this cult, such as a white dove.

The Amphitheatre of El Djem - Tunisia

 I already had an interior view of El Djem Amphitheatre, sent by Boguslaw in 2011, and now I also have an exterior view that shows all its grandeur.

El Djem is home to the second-largest colosseum in the Roman world (after Rome's). UNESCO classified it as a WHS in 1979. 

It was 149m long by 124m wide, with three tiers of seating 30m high. Its seating capacity has been estimated at up to 35,000 – considerably more than the population of the town itself. Built entirely of stone blocks, with no foundations, its facade comprises three levels of arcades. Inside, most of the supporting infrastructure for the tiered seating has been preserved.

The colosseum is believed to have been built between AD 230 and 238, and is generally attributed to the African proconsul Gordian, a local landowner and patron. Stone for construction had to be hauled all the way from the quarries at Sullectum (modern Salakta), 30km away on the coast, and water was brought 15km by underground aqueduct from the hills northwest of town.

The colosseum later doubled as a last line of defense. The Berber princess Al Kahina was besieged here by Arab forces at the end of the 7th century. According to legend, the colosseum was linked by tunnel to the coastal town of Salakta, enabling Al Kahina to torment her besiegers by waving fresh fish from the top of the walls.

When you enter the colosseum for the first time, you’ll be struck by the indulgent grandeur of the Roman vision. The south side of the amphitheater is the most intact, allowing a sense of how the seats swept down from the upper tiers to the marble-walled arena, beneath which ran arched corridors. 

You can still climb to the upper seating levels and gaze down on the arena. It’s also possible to explore the two long underground passageways that were used to hold animals, gladiators and other unfortunates in their last moments before they were thrust into the arena to provide entertainment for the masses. It was here that many spent their final lonely minutes, listening to 35,000 people baying for their blood. - in: https://www.lonelyplanet.com

Sousse - Tunisia

Located 140 km south of the capital, Sousse is one of Tunisia's most popular holiday resorts, blending  resort comforts with historic and cultural sites. It is known as the "jewel of the coast" that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and enjoys a charming nature.

Founded by the Phoenicians in the first millennium BC, it is considered a destination for tourists in Tunisia and the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, because of its charming beaches. And archaeological areas and places of entertainment, as well as a constellation of the most beautiful hotels and resorts.

I bought this card in Lisbon during the Expo 98 (in full, 1998 Lisbon World Exposition).

At the heart of the city lies its medina, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1988. Well-preserved ramparts surround the medina. It houses iconic monuments such as the Ribat, the Great Mosque, and the Kasbah. These are all fine examples of early Islamic military architecture. - in: https://tunisia-travel-guide.com

The well-maintained ramparts measure nearly two and a half kilometres and enclose the historical centre.

Chenini - Tunisia

 Besides it's beautiful name, Chenini is also considered the most beautiful village in southern Tunisia. The village Like Matmata, Chenini is one of the elements included on the UNESCO tentative list, under the name Cave dwelling and the world of ksour in southern Tunisia.

 

18 km south-west of Tataouine, a crescent-shaped cliff carries an impossible village: houses half-dug into the rock, lined up in terraces along the ridge, a mosque, now painted white, in the middle and, right at the top, the ruins of a ksar founded in the 12th century. Chenini is the most photographed Berber village in Tunisia, and it has lost none of its soul: Amazigh is still spoken here, bread is still baked under the embers, and oil is still pressed in caves. - in: https://djerba.holiday

Matmata - Tunisia

 I've said before that getting cards from places on the UNESCO tentative list is almost as good as getting cards from classified sites. I already have cards from all the Tunisian sites and now I've cards from a few villages, on the tentative list due to their troglodyte houses. 

These are the underground houses of Matmata.

 

 Matmata sits in a hilly landscape of soft sandstone 40 km inland from Gabès, in southern Tunisia.

The Berbers built these over a thousand years ago as an ingenious response to an extreme environment. These underground homes offered protection from the intense summer heat, the cold winters, and even served as shelter in times of possible invasion.

 These houses were built by digging deep circular pits — typically 6–8 metres deep and 10 metres across — and then carving living rooms, kitchens and storerooms horizontally into the pit walls. The result is a cool, naturally air-conditioned dwelling invisible from the surface.

 

Several of these houses are still inhabited. A handful are open to visitors for a small fee, and three have been converted into basic hotels — the most famous being Hotel Sidi Driss, which George Lucas used as the Lars family homestead in the original Star Wars (1977) and revisited for Attack of the Clones (2002).

Sidi Bou Said - Tunisia

Last week I had the (un)fortunate idea of ​​looking for postcards on olx (an online marketplace). I found two lots of super cheap postcards and couldn't resist. One of the lots had dozens of postcards from Africa and the Middle East. Although it was clear that the postcards were a few years old, I thought it was worth buying them. And it was. There are too many postcards to show, but I'll show some in the next few days. 

 

Most of the postcards are from Tunisia, many of them from places listed as World Heritage Sites. I already had postcards from all of them, including Sidi Bou Said, which was added to the UNESCO list this year. Only the middle postcard was part of this lot; the others were sent by Déa and Maïte in 2007 and 2012.

Sidi Bou Said is a town located about twenty kilometers north-east of Tunis. Perched on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

Picturesque white and blue village Sidi Bou Said enchants with the magic of its colors, its streets of bougainvillea and the beauty of its traditional architecture, jealously preserved.

 

 It developed around the tomb of a Sufi master and saint, known as Sidi Bou Saïd, who lived in the 12th-13th centuries. Through its architectural fabric and urban planning in symbiosis with the natural environment, its recognisable aesthetic created by emblematic colours, and a mystic aura associated with the Sufi spirituality that permeates the site, the property brings together geomorphology, architecture, and spirituality. - in: https://whc.unesco.org
 

If there is an attraction not to be missed in Sidi Bou Said is its cafe. They are meeting places for artists for over a century. The most famous are the Café des Nattes, a typical Arabic coffee shop, located in the square at the top of the main street.