Tuesday, November 12, 2019

PT RR - Group 138 * Surprise September

After a 2 months break, the surprise group of the portuguese RR returned in September. Although I always join with 4 cards, that month I only received 3, one of them got lost. 

verlag johannes oefner
Óscar saw that I already have many cards from Speyer, especially with the cathedral, so he sent me this one with the Jewish Baths. 
Between 1084 and 1349, a rich Jewish community life unfolded in Speyer. Stone witnesses to this past are the ruins of the synagogue and the ritual bath. 
The Jewish ritual bath, a so-called mikveh, was first mentioned in 1126 and has remained almost completely unaltered through the centuries. This is the oldest installation of its kind in central Europe. 
A barrel-vaulted staircase leads through a vestibule to a quadratic bathing shaft located 32 feet below ground. Here the Jews undertook the religious cleansing proscribed by Mosaic law by immersing themselves in cold “natural” water.
The mikveh is decorated with rich Romanesque ornamentation that was coloured in the Middle Ages. A two-part window opens the view into the bathing shaft.
The installation is now covered by a glass structure in order to protect it. - in: https://www.speyer.de

© Fernando Mascarenhas
You know you're addicted to postcards when you go to a wedding and ended up buying postcards. This is basically what happened to Ana. She went to a wedding in a church next to the Fronteira Palace and had the opportunity to buy some cards.
This palace is still inhabited by the descendants of the noblemen who inaugurated it in 1675. The interior is therefore only accessible on a guided tour, but it’s also possible to visit just the magnificent garden. You’re taken through the library, the chapel and several rooms covered with historical Portuguese and Dutch tiles, including panels illustrating the Portuguese Restoration War. 
The garden is another gallery of tiled art, with one of the world’s richest collections. It also shows the busts of all Portuguese kings up to the 1800s. Almost everything has great symbolism, with fountains and statues recalling the arts and mythology. Pieces of Ming porcelain used to serve the king during the palace’s inauguration, which, following tradition, couldn’t be used a second time, now ornament a fountain. - in: https://www.lisbonlux.com

Câmara Municipal de Viana do Alentejo
I've wanted to go to Viana do Alentejo a few times because of the beautiful church of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Aires.
The Baroque sanctuary was built between 1743 and 1804, based on a project by Father João Baptista, in the spot where there was an earlier 16th century hermitage. On the cover, a Latin inscription recounts that after the Moors were expelled from these lands a farmer ploughed the field and found the image seen at the altar inside a clay pot. The building has a Latin cross floor-plan, consisting of a single nave, with vaulted ceiling. Inside is a carved rococo altar.
Also part of the sanctuary is the fountain of Our Lady of Aires, located on the Terreiro dos Peregrinos and houses of the pilgrims. - in: https://www.visitportugal.com/en
This card was sent by Paulo. 

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