Helsinki's Cathedral - Finland

I didn't buy any cards of the cathedral when I visited Helsinki because I already had a few. Last week arrived another. Besides these ones, I've 2 or 3 more. All these cards are officials, except the 2nd one that it was sent by Heidi.

FI-297468 sent by "peramuru".

The impressive green-domed Lutheran Cathedral (Tuomiokirkko in Finnish) dominates Senate Square and the skyline of Helsinki.

 Helsinki is famed for its architects, but it was a German, Carl Ludvig Engel, who laid out Senate Square and designed the Lutheran Cathedral. 

FI-3392622, sent by Kaisa. 

The Tuomiokirkko was built to replace a smaller church on the site dating from 1727. Construction of the Lutheran Cathedral was overseen by Engel from 1830 until his death in 1840, when it was taken over by Ernst Lohrmann.

FI-2199913, sent by Anna.

The cathedral was built as a tribute to the Grand Duke, Nicholas I, the Tsar of Russia, and was called St. Nicholas' Church until the independence of Finland in 1917. In 1959, it became a cathedral of the Evangelical Lutheran denomination.

Photographed and Published by Janne harala Tmi, Lahti

FI-1661784, sent by Arja.

Extensive renovations, both to the cathedral and to its crypt, brought the Lutheran Cathedral back to its original beauty in 1998. 

 

FI-4648434, sent by Katriina.

One of Helsinki's most popular tourist attractions, it receives more than 350,000 visitors each year. - in: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/finland/helsinki-lutheran-cathedral

Viru Gate, Tallinn - Estonia

Anne sent me a great card, no doubt about that, but one of the 1st things I noticed was the price of the stamp, 2.60€!!! No wonder I hardly get cards from Estonia.

 

Photo: Valeri Sepp

The barbican of Viru Gate was part of the defence system of the Tallinn city wall built in the 14th century. A couple of centuries later, it already had 8 gates that consisted of several towers and curtain walls connecting them. The main tower of a gate was always square and the barbicans were equipped with one or two small round towers.

As the entrances to the Old Town were widened, several gates were demolished. The Viru Gate had to pay its dues to a horse-drawn tram route that connected the Old Market with Kadriorg. However, the corner towers were preserved. - in: https://www.visitestonia.com

Gdansk - Poland

Gdansk was, for a few years, the city in Europe that I wanted to visit the most. Imagine how happy I was when I finally visited it last month. Loved it!! The streets, the buildings, the colors, definitely one of the most beautiful and charming cities in Europe!! 

The only things that it didn't go so well was the weather and some construction works along Dlugie Pobrzeze. It gives me a reason to go back ;)

 

Dlugie Pobrzeze, the Long embankment Street of Gdansk, stretches almost 1/3 mile along the Motlawa River. Until the 19th century the piers and quays on the embankment served as the port of Gdansk and the river Motlawa provided easy sheltered access to the sea. Not many of the old port facilities remain. The medieval heavy lift crane is now a museum piece.

The pedestrianized area along the west riverfront originated in the 14th century. A series of mostly wooden goods platforms were replaced in the 17th century with a unified walkway. In the rebuilding of the city after World War II the area was refinished with concrete and marble.
The buildings along the promenade were utterly destroyed in the war. The ancient crane and water gates were rebuilt following medieval styles and plans. New underwater walls were installed. A new lower level quayside extended from the Green Gate to the old Crane Gate to accommodate passenger vessels. - in: https://www.gpsmycity.com

Frauenkirche, Dresden - Germany

Since October, 30th 2005 the steeple of the Frauenkirche overtops the Dresden skyline again. The reconstruction of the Frauenkirche is an impressive symbol of international reconciliation after World War II.

 

DE-14411070, sent by Manuela.

The sacred building was erected between 1726 and 1743, following the designs of George Bähr. Its characteristic dome, called the "stone bell" owing to its shape, collapsed on February 15th, 1945 under the rain of bombs. The remaining ruins were left as a war memorial, following decisions of local East german leaders. The church was rebuilt after the reunification of Germany. The reconstruction of its exterior was completed in 2004 and its interior in 2005.

 

 The Frauenkirche is a symbol of conciliation, largely with donations from German and international foundations. The Neumarkt quarter around the church is also to regain its status as the historical heart of the city.

 

DE-3275953, sent by Olaf.

 Its barroque interior with five semi-circular galleries represents an impressive architectural unit of great beauty. It combines the concept of a centralized structure, focused on the pulpit, baptismal font and organ. 

Cáceres - Spain

Last month I was on holidays and spend a weekend in Cáceres. I really liked the city and want to go back to the region to visit other cities nearby. 

There're plenty of reasons to visit this city. Narrow cobbled streets, mansions, Renaissance palaces, churches crowned by storks’ nests and much more. Cáceres was declared a World Heritage City by UNESCO in 1986 because of the city's blend of Roman, Moorish, Northern Gothic and Italian Renaissance architecture.

Plaza Mayor is the traditional meeting point of the people of Cáceres. This space started to be used after the Reconquista as a city market centre, being urbanized starting in the fifteenth century.

The Town Hall presides over it, built in 1869 by Ignacio María de Michelena. In it, you can see  emblematic monuments like the La Hierba Tower, one of the Pulpits, and, especially, the Tower of   Bujaco next to the La Paz Hermitage. - in: https://turismo.caceres.es

 

Fotógrafo: Modesto Galán

The church of San Francisco Javier is a Baroque-style Jesuit church built in the 18th century with the fortune of a Jesuit from the Figueroa family. The works began in 1698 and concluded in 1755.

 

© Fotógrafo: Modesto Galán

St. Matthew Church was built on the ruins of an Arab mosque in the 16th century.  It was built in  late Gothic style, called Spanish Plateresque.

 Ed. Pergamiño

Right next to St. Matthew's Church, there's the Torre de Las Cigüeñas - Stork Tower, an example of a Renaissance building in the city. It was built in the late 15th century by Diego de Cáceres. The tower offers spectacular views over the city.

Photo by: Modesto Galán

I'm pretty sure Óscar chose this card because of the old lady. She's walking along one of the adarves, which are the streets adjacent to the wall. In Cáceres five streets retain the name of Adarves (Father Rosalío, Santa Ana, Estrella, Bishop Álvarez de Castro and Christ), although when speaking of "the adarves", usually refers to the first three. This one on the image is, I believe, Estrella.

PT RR - Surprise Group * June 24

No surprise groups in April and May but in June the postcards written in Portuguese returned to the mailbox.

Old ladies in Piódão washing clothes as it was done in the past. 

Card sent by Tiago.

Fotografia: Oswaldo Santos

Arte xávega in one of the Costa de Prata beaches. 

Card sent by Nídia.

 

And when you least expect it, a postcard arrives from a new UNESCO site. Atalí is from Uruguay and after some time without being in Postcrossing, she has now returned and has participated in the Portuguese community, including in this RR. She saw that I still didn't have postcards from Fray Bentos and sent me this one. The Fray Bentos Industrial Landscape was added to the World Heritage list in 2015.

Located on land projecting into the Uruguay River west of the town of Fray Bentos, the industrial complex was built following the development of a factory founded in 1859 to process meat produced on the vast prairies nearby. The site illustrates the whole process of meat sourcing, processing, packing and dispatching. It includes buildings and equipment of the Liebig Extract of Meat Company, which exported meat extract and corned-beef to the European market from 1865 and the Anglo Meat Packing Plant, which exported frozen meat from 1924. Through its physical location, industrial and residential buildings as well as social institutions, the site presents an illustration of the entire process of meat production on a global scale. - in: https://whc.unesco.org

Wengji Blang Village - China

 China adds new sites to the UNESCO WHS list almost every year and last year was no exception. The Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests on the Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er was inscribed last september, bringing the total number of the country's UNESCO World Heritage sites to 57. With this card, also sent by Johnson, I've cards from all the Chinese sites!!

The heritage site consists of five old tea forests covering an area of 1,180 hectares, nine ancient villages with a population of about 5,000 and three protective partition forests. One of those nine ancient villages is the Wengji Blang Village.

Located on Jingmai Mountain in southwestern China, this cultural landscape was developed over a thousand years by the Blang and Dai peoples following practices that began in the 10th century. The property is a tea production area comprised of traditional villages within old tea groves surrounded by forests and tea plantations. The traditional understorey cultivation of old tea trees is a method that responds to the specific conditions of the mountain’s ecosystem and subtropical monsoon climate, combined with a governance system maintained by the local Indigenous communities. Traditional ceremonies and festivities relate to the Tea Ancestor belief that spirits live in the tea plantations and in the local fauna and flora, a belief that is at the core of this cultural tradition.- in: https://whc.unesco.org

Quanzhou - China

It took me 3 years to finally have a card from Quanzhou. It was worth to wait, this card sent by Johnson is great.

 

 Quanzhou, a coastal city in southeast China's Fujian Province, is renowned for its long history and rich culture. It was once the starting point of the ancient Maritime Silk Road and a global maritime trade center back in the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties.
In July 2021, UNESCO listed 22 sites in the city on its World Heritage List for its role as the "Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China." - in: https://www.fujian.gov.cn

 

The serial site of Quanzhou illustrates the city’s vibrancy as a maritime emporium during the Song and Yuan periods (10th - 14th centuries AD) and its interconnection with the Chinese hinterland. Quanzhou thrived during a highly significant period for maritime trade in Asia. The site encompasses religious buildings, including the 11th century AD Qingjing Mosque, one of the earliest Islamic edifices in China, Islamic tombs, and a wide range of archaeological remains: administrative buildings, stone docks that were important for commerce and defence, sites of ceramic and iron production, elements of the city’s transportation network, ancient bridges, pagodas, and inscriptions. - in: https://whc.unesco.org