Mission of Concepcion . Bolivia

Telma knows I collect cards from UNESCO sites and she did her best to find my bolivian missing sites. With the help of her friend, she got me this card of the Mission of Concepcion, one of the six Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990.

The six World Heritage Site settlements are located in the hot and semiarid lowlands of Santa Cruz Department of eastern Bolivia. 

In this place Jesuit reductions (settlements of Christianized Indians) were settled in the second half of the XVII century (from 1691 until 1760). They remain in time as an extraordinary legacy because they are the only Jesuit missions in South America which were not destroyed after the Jesuits were expulsed from the Spanish colonies. They are not ruins but villages full of life, with people who still go to mass in the same majestic churches or to enjoy the same baroque music concerts, in the same way they used to do when the Jesuit ruled these missions three centuries ago. 

Fotografia: Eric Bauer

Mission of Concepcion is a Jesuit baroque style church built between 1752 and 1753, restored and reopened in1982. It is built with 3 main structures, row of columns carved in wood, altars and paintings made by the local native people. This church is considered as the jewel of the region. - in: http://www.rutaverdebolivia.com/jesuit-missions-bolivia.php

La Paz - Bolivia

Isn't it great when our friends travel and send or bring you some cards?! Of course it is. My friend Telma traveled to Bolivia and she brought me some nice cards from there. These ones are from La Paz. 

FATTO Ediciones y Publicidad

 La Paz, officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz, is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 789,541 residents as of 2015, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bolivia (after Santa Cruz de la Sierra and El Alto).

 The city, located in west-central Bolivia, 68 km (42 mi) southeast of Lake Titicaca, is set in a canyon created by the Choqueyapu River and sits in a bowl-like depression surrounded by the high mountains of the altiplano. Overlooking the city is towering triple-peaked Illimani, which is always snow-covered and can be seen from many parts of the city. At an elevation of roughly 3,650 m (11,975 ft) above sea level, La Paz is the highest capital city in the world. - in: wikipedia

FATTO Ediciones y Publicidad

Mi Teleferico, La Paz’s Cable Car System, is the highest cable car ride in the world. Operating at a height of 4000 m (13,000 ft) above sea level, the cable car connects La Paz to neighboring El Alto.

The Teleférico – constructed in just 2 years with the help of 1,200 full-time workers – provides spectacular views from each of the lines, enabling its passangers to grasp just how big the city truly is.

The cable car railway is able to transport 3000 passengers per hour between the two cities, in just 10 minutes (currently land transport between the two cities takes approximately 1hr). - in: https://www.lapazlife.com/the-worlds-highest-cable-car-ride/

Potosí - Bolivia

This is another card from my UNESCO missing list sent by Stefanie. 

Potosí is a city and the capital of the department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world by elevation at a nominal 4,090 metres. 

The City of Potosí was founded in 1546 as a silver mining town, which soon produced fabulous wealth, becoming one of the largest cities in the Americas and the world. The site consists of the industrial monuments of the Cerro Rico, where water is provided by an intricate system of aqueducts and artificial lakes; the colonial town with the Casa de la Moneda; the Church of San Lorenzo; several patrician houses; and the barrios mitayos, the areas where the workers lived.

The card shows La Casa de la Moneda, Mint House. 

Foto Pacheco

The Casa de la Moneda (House of the Mint), in the centre of the city close to Republic Square, was constructed between 1753 and 1773. The house today is a numismatic museum. It possesses more than 100 colonial pictures and various archaeological and ethnographic collections. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/420

Don Francisco de Toledo, Viceroy of Peru ordered the construction of the first Mint in 1572 which proved to be insufficient for the coinage of the massive quantity of silver proceeding from Cerro Rico. It is for construct another Mint capable of meeting the needs of coinage.

This important building, built of stone, brick, tiles and cedar wood, has a surface area of 7570 squared meters. One can gain access to it through a beautiful entrance of mannerist style.

The Mint House of Potosi is considered as the most important civil building of Latin America. From the outside, the building looks like a virtual fortress. On the inside, the patios are decorated with arches, wooden balconies and ample eaves. - in: http://www.hotelpotosi.com/potositravelguide.html

FI-1369573

This card was a really great surprise. Is not that often that we receive official cards from someone we know, and i mean, personally know. The card is from Bolivia but it was sent from Finland by Heidi aka dollart.

Photo by Peter McFarren

FI-1369573, sent by Heidi.

The card shows a woman and an Aymara kid in Huayna Potosí, a mountain located about 25 km north of La Paz.

Huayna Potosí is the closest high mountain to La Paz, a city which is surrounded by high mountains, and itself is the highest capital city in the world. Huayna Potosí is roughly fifteen miles due north of the city, which makes this mountain the most popular climb in Bolivia.
The official height it's 6088m but almost all summiteers report an high around 6110m.

The Aymara are an indigenous ethnic group in the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America; about 2 million live in Bolivia, Peru and Chile. They lived in the region for many centuries before becoming a subject people of the Inca, and later of the Spanish in the 16th century. - in: wikipedia

La Paz - Bolivia

Nuestra Señora de La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia and the second largest city in the country. It is located in the western part of the country in the department of the same name at an elevation of roughly 3,650 m (11,975 ft) (the city is built on steep hills) above sea level, making it the world's highest "de facto" capital city, or administrative capital.

Photo by Jimenez-Montero

As it grows, the city of La Paz climbs the hills, resulting in varying elevations from 3,000 meters to 4,100 meters (9,840 ft to 13,450 ft). Overlooking the city is towering triple-peaked Illimani, which is always snow-covered and can be seen from several spots of the city, including from the neighbor city of El Alto. - in: wikipedia

Laguna Verde - Bolivia

No more favorites today but i'm waiting for some new ones.

This last week i've only received 3 cards, i really hope to get more in the next few days, that includes favorites, unesco and official cards.

This is one of my favorite favorites ;) Look at all the green water, really great. Laguna Verde, Green Lagoon, is located in Bolivia but the card was sent from Finland by Helena "pihka".

"Laguna Verde (Green Lagoon) is a salt lake in the southwest of the altiplano of Bolivia, in the Potosí Department, Sur Lípez Province, on the Chilean border at the foot of the volcano Licancabur. Visitors may find some flamingoes dancing in the salt.

Its colour is caused by sediments, containing copper minerals. It is elevated some 4,300 m (14,000 ft) above sea level.

The laguna verde is well known for its spectacular scenery and hot springs." - in: wikipedia

Veronika's cards

It's almost 4 am here but i want to finish upding because i don't know when i'll be able to make more updates. Lets end for today with the 3 cards Veronika "clarividence" sent me.

"Chavín de Huántar is an archaeological site containing ruins and artifacts originally constructed by the Chavín, a pre-Inca culture, around 900 BC. The site is located 250 kilometers (160 mi) north of Lima, Peru. Chavín de Huántar has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Chavín de Huántar was initially built around 900 BC. While the fairly large population was based on an agricultural economy, the city's location at the headwaters of the Marañón River, between the coast and the jungle, made it an ideal location for the dissemination and collection of both ideas and material goods. This archeological site is a large ceremonial center that has revealed a great deal about the Chavín culture. Chavín de Huántar served as a gathering place for people of the region to come together and worship. The transformation of the center into a valley-dominating monument had a complex effect; it became a pan-regional place of importance, such that being at Chavin de Huantar had value in itself: for witnessing ritual, consulting an oracle, or entering a cult.
Findings at Chavín de Huántar indicate that social instability and upheaval began to occur between 500 and 300 BC, at the same time that the larger Chavín civilization began to decline. Large ceremonial sites were abandoned, some unfinished, and were replaced by villages and agricultural land. At Chavín de Huántar, no later than 500 BC, a small village replaced the Circular Plaza. The plaza was occupied by a succession of groups, and building stones and stone carvings were salvaged for use in house walls. Multiple occupation floors indicate the village was continuously occupied through the 1940s." - in: wikipedia

"The city of Tiwanaku, capital of a powerful pre-Hispanic empire that dominated a large area of the southern Andes and beyond, reached its apogee between 500 and 900 AD. Its monumental remains testify to the cultural and political significance of this civilisation, which is distinct from any of the other pre-Hispanic empires of the Americas. The ruins of Tiwanaku bear striking witness to the power of the empire that played a leading role in the development of the Andean prehispanic civilization.

The buildings of Tiwanaku are exceptional examples of the ceremonial and public architecture and art of one of the most important manifestations of the civilizations of the Andean region." - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/567

La Paz (Full name : Nuestra Señora de La Paz) is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of La Paz Department.
Located at an altitude of 3,660 metres (12,008 ft), it is the world's highest capital city.

Surprise cards

Today i didn't receive cards but yesterday, besides Américo's envelope i've also received an envelope from Brazil with these cards. They were sent by Mauro in Água Branca, Piauí state - Brazil. The envelope was supposed to be a surprise but he got worried because of the delay and told me he had sent it. Luckly, after 1 month, the envelope arrived.

When Mauro told me he had sent me some cards, he mentioned a card from Bolivia and i was happy to know that because i only had 1 card from there. But when i saw the card i was really happy because the card is from Sucre, an unesco whs. Really, really a good surprise.

On the back of the card: Tarabucos. Dance for the tarabucos race is not just mystical, but a euphoric demonstration of how people defende theur native customs.
"In 1991, Sucre became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The city attracts thousands of tourists every year thanks to its well-conserved downtown with buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries. Nestled at the foot of the twin hills of Churuquella and Sika Sika, Sucre is the gateway to numerous small villages that date from the colonial era, the most well-known of which is Tarabuco, home of the colorful "Pujllay" festival held each March. Most of these villagers are members of one of the indigenous ethnicities. Many dress in clothing distinctive to their respective villages." - in: wikipedia

"The Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, commonly called Estádio do Maracanã ("Maracanã stadium"), is an open-air stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Owned by the Rio de Janeiro State Government, it is named after the Maracanã neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. It was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup. Since then, it has mainly been used for football matches between the major football clubs in Rio de Janeiro, including Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo and Vasco da Gama. It has also hosted a number of concerts and other sporting events. Although the paid attendance at the final game of the 1950 FIFA World Cup was 199,500, the stadium currently seats 95,000 spectators. Despite the reduction in capacity it remains the largest stadium in South America, and the twelfth largest in the world." - in: wikipedia

While i was out

After a few days in the north of the country with a friend, i'm back. From the trip i've brought around 30 new cards and when i got home i had more 6, including a new country and new unesco whs.

This an used card from Bolivia but sent from Germany by Gabriela "zimtschneck". This is a card from a new country and a new unesco whs. The card shows the Fuerte de Samaipata in Santa Cruz.
"The archaeological site of Samaipata consists of two parts: the hill with its many carvings, believed to have been the ceremonial centre of the old town (14th–16th centuries), and the area to the south of the hill, which formed the administrative and residential district. The huge sculptured rock, dominating the town below, is a unique testimony to pre-Hispanic traditions and beliefs, and has no parallel anywhere in the Americas." - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/883

And now a card sent by Lingkong "lingmusic". The Wannian Temple located in Mt. Emei of Sichuan Province. Mt. Emei is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996 The temple was built in the Jin Dynasty. Originally named Puxian Temple, it was renamed "Baishui Temple" in the Tang Dynasty, and again changed into "Wannian Temple" during the Wanli Period of the Ming Dynasty.

I won this card on the portuguese community and it was sent by Juan "almenara".
The Colosseum or Roman Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering. Occupying a site just east of the Roman Forum, its construction started between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign (81–96). Originally capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. It remained in use for nearly 500 years with the last recorded games being held in the 6th century. As well as the gladiatorial games, other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.
It has been estimated that about 500,000 people and over a million wild animals died in the Colosseum games. - in: wikipedia

A RAS card sent by Ana "ninocas" :D "Ericeira is a fishing and seaside resort town on the west coast of Portugal about 35 km north-west of the centre of Lisbon. Its name originates from Ouriceira, which derives from Ouriço, the Portuguese name for a sea urchin, as seen on the coat of arms." - in: wikipedia

A new official card - HU-12940, my 1st official from Hungary. It was sent by Gábor.
"Kazincbarcika is the third largest city of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary. It lies in the valley of the river Sajó, 20 km (12 mi) away from the county capital, Miskolc." - in: wikipedia.