Big Unesco RR - Group 41 I

A few months ago i've joined this Unesco RR. I've been waiting for the last card but apparently, it got lost in the mail. Instead of 9 cards, i've received 8 and 4 of them were from new places.

Rita "rita_simões" sent this card of the Royal Palace of Caserta, a former royal residence in Caserta, southern Italy, constructed for the Bourbon kings of Naples. It was the largest palace and one of the largest buildings erected in Europe during the 18th century. In 1997, the Palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, described in its nomination as "the swan song of the spectacular art of the Baroque, from which it adopted all the features needed to create the illusions of multidirectional space". - in: wikipedia
Sara "zasa" from Switzerland, sent me one of my swiss missing sites, Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona, on the Unesco WHS list since 2008.
The Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona in the north-eastern part of the country covers a mountainous area of 32,850 ha which features seven peaks that rise above 3,000 m. The area displays an exceptional example of mountain building through continental collision and features .excellent geological sections through tectonic thrust, i.e. the process whereby older, deeper rocks are carried onto younger, shallower rocks. The site is distinguished by the clear three-dimensional exposure of the structures and processes that characterize this phenomenon and has been a key site for the geological sciences since the 18^th century. The Glarus Alps are glaciated mountains rising dramatically above narrow river valleys and are the site of the largest post-glacial landslide in the Central Alpine region. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1179

Photo by Keuning Photo

When Heather sent me this card, it was new in my collection, but a few days later i've received another one from one of my penpals in the US. I didn't realize immediately it was from the Mammoth Caves National Park. It was a nice surprise.

Mammoth Cave National Park, located in the state of Kentucky, has the world's largest network of natural caves and underground passageways, which are characteristic examples of limestone formations. The park and its underground network of more than 560 surveyed km of passageways are home to a varied flora and fauna, including a number of endangered species. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/150

This National Park was added to the Unesco list in 1981.

Photo by Erick Schnabel

Like the previous card, when i received this one from Zacatecas, Mexico, it was a card from a new site, but i was already waiting for another one, which i already posted here.

This one, sent by Steffi, shows the former Temple of San Francisco. It was founded in 1568 as first monastery in Zacatecas, the monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe, with the primary function of evangelization. It was inaugurated on 12 January 1707, but some parts of the buildings (such as the south tower) were not really completed until the nineteenth century. Today the monastery complex houses a museum but the church is in ruins. The vault of the central nave has fallen and many of its rooms and corridors are in ruins. - in: wikipedia