Burgos - Spain

 Burgos os probably the spanish city I want to visit the most, mostly because of it's beautiful cathedral. Jesús has been there a few weeks ago sent me this nice snowy view. 

 

Burgos was the capital city of the unified kingdom of Castile and Leon for five centuries, and boasts one of the masterpieces of Spanish Gothic, its Cathedral, declared a World Heritage Site.

At the foot of the walled castle hill, offering one of the best views of the city, unfolds the old medieval quarter. - in: https://www.spain.info

Alicante - Spain

I know nothing about Alicante but this card, sent by Óscar, made me google about it. 

Located in the heart of the Costa Blanca, Alicante is one of the most important tourist destinations on the east coast of Spain. The many golf courses and the calm waters of the Mediterranean are just some of the attractions offered by this beautiful port city located at the foot of the Castle of Santa Barbara (...).

 

Foto: Hans Hansen * Triangle Postals

The location on Monte Benacantil gives the castle great strategic value. It acquired its name because Prince Alfonso de Castilla took it from the Islamic forces on St. Barbara's day. In the time of Philip II the castle was remodelled. Over the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, the castle was bombarded many times. It was opened to the public in 1963, and the same year the two lifts inside the mountain were opened. The castle was divided into three areas: the Torreta, including the former Keep; the intermediate area with the most important apartments, including the Hall of Philip II, the parade ground, etc.; and the lower area, built in the 18th century, including the Revellín del Bon Repós. - in: https://www.spain.info

Toledo - Spain

I've been to Toledo many, many years ago and I don't remember much of the city. It is on my list of places to visit again. 

The 1st of these cards was sent by Heidi and the others were probably bought by me when I visited the city. 

 

 

Toledo is truly one of Spain's most magnificent cities. Dramatically sited atop a gorge overlooking the Río Tajo, it was known as the ‘city of three cultures’ in the Middle Ages, a place where – legend has it – Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities peacefully coexisted. Unsurprisingly, rediscovering the vestiges of this unique cultural synthesis remains modern Toledo’s most compelling attraction. Horseshoe-arched mosques, Sephardic synagogues and one of Spain’s finest Gothic cathedrals cram into its dense historical core. But the layers go much deeper. Further sleuthing will reveal Visigothic and Roman roots. - in: https://www.lonelyplanet.com

 

"Toledo is a municipality located 70 km south of Madrid. It is the capital of the province of Toledo and of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 for its extensive cultural and monumental heritage as one of the former capitals of the Spanish Empire and place of coexistence of Christian, Jewish and Moorish cultures.

The Puente de San Martín (English: San Martin Bridge) is a medieval bridge across the river Tajo in Toledo. The bridge was constructed in the late 14th century by archbishop Pedro Tenorio to provide access to the old town from the west, complementing the older Puente de Alcántara linking to the east. Both sides of the bridge were heavily fortified with towers, the more recent dating from the 16th century.
The Puente de San Martín features five arches, with the largest in the middle reaching an impressive span length of 40 m. Only very few bridges in the world had reached that mark until then.

The Cathedral of Toledo was built between 1226-1493 and modeled after the Bourges Cathedral, though it also combines some characteristics of the Mudejar style. It is remarkable for its incorporation of light and features the Baroque altar called El Transparente, several stories high, with fantastic figures of stucco, paintings, bronze castings, and multiple colors of marble, a masterpiece of medieval mixed media by Narciso Tomé topped by the daily effect for just a few minutes of a shaft of light from which this feature of the cathedral derives its name." - in: wikipedia

PT RR - Surprise Group * February 25

 PT RR February's cards.

 

Eric found this postcard at a flea market. I also like going to these fairs, every now and then you find some nice cards. Sintra is one of our main tourist attractions and has been classified as a World Heritage Site since 1995. The UNESCO website says:

 In the 19th century Sintra became the first centre of European Romantic architecture. Ferdinand II turned a ruined monastery into a castle where this new sensitivity was displayed in the use of Gothic, Egyptian, Moorish and Renaissance elements and in the creation of a park blending local and exotic species of trees. Other fine dwellings, built along the same lines in the surrounding serra , created a unique combination of parks and gardens which influenced the development of landscape architecture throughout Europe. - in: https://whc.unesco.org

 

I've been to Alcácer do Sal but I don't remember seeing this sanctuary. The card was sent by Celeste. 

The Sanctuary of the Lord of the Martyrs, in Alcácer do Sal, is one of the oldest Christian temples in the country. Construction began in the 13th century by the Knights of Santiago at the time of the Reconquista, then it was expanded and enlarged in the 14th century and transformed from the 16th century onwards.

 Pedro sent a card of a palace-museum in Vigo, Spain.

 Located in the 17th-century Castrelos pazo, the museum is surrounded by beautiful gardens with 19th-century fountains and ponds.
Work began on the construction of this palace in 1670. It is one of Vigo's most beautiful buildings. The building was restored at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. It is currently home to the Quiñones de León Municipal Museum, where you can see an exhibition of archaeological remains found in the city and surrounding areas, as well as an interesting collection of paintings from Galicia. The manor house is situated in Castrelos Park, beautiful surroundings that include stunning French-style gardens - a must-see for visitors. - in: https://www.spain.info

Salamanca's Cathedral - Spain

Last month's meeting  was not the first meeting between the Portuguese and Spanish in Salamanca. In October 2009 the city was invaded by a small group of Portuguese, myself included, and 2 Spanish girls, who mercilessly attacked all the souvenir shops with postcards in sight :) 

This year's meeting was on November 23rd, my birthday, and Miguel sent me a postcard of the beautiful cathedral to wish me a happy birthday. The other card, with the river view, was sent by me in 2009.

 

IMAGEN SA. 17 * Fotografia: Carlos Santiago

 

When we speak of the Cathedral of Salamanca in fact we are referring to two churches joined together. First, there is the old cathedral dating from the 12th-13th centuries; and then the new one from the 16th century. 

 The Old Cathedral is in the Romanesque style with the outstanding Gallo Tower. Inside this temple, the construction of which began at the end of the 12th century, is the San Martín or Oil Chapel. The main reredos, which dates from the 15th century and was created by several painters with Dello Delli at the head, is also worthy of note. 

 The mural painting which covers the vault is the work of Nicolás Florentino. In this great pictorial work it is possible to see the image of Christ at the Last Judgement. The Old Cathedral attracts the eye of the visitor due to the beautiful tombs of the bishops' and members of the nobility to be found inside. 

 

 The New Cathedral, built in the 16th century and completed in the 18th century by Churriguera, houses the image of the Virgin of the Assumption, carved in 1624 by the sculptor Esteban de Rueda. In the New Cathedral, the choir stalls designed by Joaquín Churriguera in 1727 are of particular notice. The temple's baroque choir screen is beautiful, featuring Renaissance images such as the Virgin of Loreto and those of Saint John the Baptist. - in: https://www.spain.info

Christmas Meeting in Salamanca - Spain

A month ago postcrossers from Portugal and Spain met in Salamanca to celebrate Christmas, postcards, postcrossing and the Iberian Peninsula.

 

The Postcrossing logo is a registred trademark * by pensilcard

I didn't attend this meeting but someone remembered me. Thank you Miguel.

Formentor - Mallorca

 Last month I traveled to my 1st Spanish island, Mallorca. To be honest, the island was never on the top of my must visit list but it seemed a nice and a safe place for a solo trip. It was a good decision. I've been to some nice places but Formentor was definitely one of m favs, totally worth the 3 buses that I took to get there!!

 

Formentor is loctaed on the northernmost point of Mallorca.

To see this view you need to visit Es Colomer viewpoint. Located at 232 meters high, it is one of the best-known and most popular viewpoints in Mallorca. Throughout the viewpoint there are different paved paths that allow us to enjoy the best views. At the end of the main path, we will find a small esplanade with the best view of the Mirador des Colomer. Right in front of us we will see the beauty of the entire Formentor peninsula that extends to Cape Formentor.

Winner of the Month * July '24

In July I've received these cards as a prize for being the winner of the month.
 

Ice cream is probably my favorite dessert, there's always ice cream in my freezer, no matter the season of the year. My favorite flavors are hazelnut and walnut. 

This card was sent by Celeste.

 

Last June I've been to Spain and visited Plasencia, which I thought it was Maritere's hometown. Then in July I got this card and realized I was wrong. Her hometown is Palencia not Plasencia. The names are quite similar, I'm sure I'm not the 1st to get confused with the cities names. 

San Miguel Church is an example in its typology of religious constructions that best confirms the transition between the Romanesque and the incipient Gothic. Its most outstanding element is the rough openwork tower located on the main façade, with a height (reaches 70 meters) and appearance that invite the visitor to imagine a defensive or military use. Raised on the remains of an earlier construction, it was built in the early eleventh century. Legend has it that in this place Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar and his wife Doña Jimena got married. The temple of San Miguel is also the scene every January 1 of one of the traditions that best define the cultural heritage of the city. This is the so-called "Baptism of the Child", an interesting and special celebration with status of Festival of National Tourist Interest. - in: https://turismo.aytopalencia.es

I've said a few times before that getting cards from UNESCO tentative sites is almost as good as getting cards from places that already are classified. I've just found out that the Rambla of Montevideo is on the tentative list. I don't know if Atalí knew about this but it makes the card even more interresting.

The Rambla of Montevideo is the coastal avenue that goes along the coastline of the Rio de la Plata in Montevideo, Uruguay. At a length of over 22.2 uninterrupted kilometres (13.7 mi), the promenade runs along the Río de la Plata and continues down the entire coast of Montevideo. - in: wikipedia

The building with a tower, right in the middle of the image, is the Zoological Museum, inaugurated in 1956.

This card is from Norway but it was sent from Portugal by Isabel. 

In winter, much of Norway transforms into a snow-clad paradise. The average temperature is -6.8 degrees Celsius, but the local conditions may vary quite a lot. Around Oslo, snowfall is common and the average winter temperatures are just below zero.
The lower inland areas of Finnmark, Troms, Trøndelag, and Eastern Norway often have very cold winters with lots of snow.
The inland areas of Northern Norway have an Arctic climate with snow and cold temperatures. However, the climate is usually much milder in coastal areas, thanks to the Gulf Stream. Strong winds occur frequently.
The coastal areas of Fjord Norway and Southern Norway also enjoy a milder climate, with temperatures around 0 degrees Celsius at sea level. However, much of the region is snowy and cold, which makes for good skiing conditions, especially in the mountains. - in: https://www.visitnorway.com

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.

Tejera Negra Beech Forest - Spain

 It wasn't easy, it took me some time but I finally have cards from all the Spanish UNESCO sites. I was only missing one from the beech forests and a few weeks ago I received this one, sent by Jordi, from Tejera Negra, a forest in Castilla-La Mancha.

 

The beech trees of Tejera Negra became established in ancient times when the climate was colder and wetter. These trees now find refuge in shady valleys and on northern slopes, with fog, wind, rain and hardly any sun.

 

The Tejera Negra beech forest is one of the southernmost on the continent. It has been awarded the World Heritage designation by UNESCO in 20017.
This unique forest is delimited by the Lillas and Zarzas rivers. The microclimate and isolation of this location have enabled the preservation of the beech groves that give it its name. There are other protected species here in addition to the beech trees, including yew, holly, birch, oak, hazel and pine. The undergrowth consists of heather, broom and thickets. The most iconic fauna of the Tejera Negra beech forest are daytime birds of prey such as golden eagles, red kites and goshawks. Roe deer, foxes, wild cats, martens, badgers, weasels, wild boar and nocturnal birds of prey, such as tawny owls, long-eared owls and little owls, abound. - in: https://www.spain.info

El Puerto de Santa María - Spain

 This a Spanish card but it was signed and sent during the 17th Portuguese Postcrossing Meeting. Vitória knew that a castle card would make me happy. 

El Puerto de Santa María locally known as El Puerto, is located on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia.

 

The castle was erected as a fortified church by King Alfonso X of Castile. It was built on the site of a mosque of which the wall of the qibla survives.

Already in the Modern Era, with the city in the hands of the nobiliary house of Medinaceli, is when another of the great reforms in the building takes place. Specifically during the dukedom of Luis de la Cerda (1479-1501) works were carried out such as the exterior wall or the sacristy of the church; coinciding with a period of splendor for the city of El Puerto due to the discovery and conquest of the American continent.
The Castle of San Marcos was key to this historical event, possibly housing such important personalities as Alonso de Ojeda, discoverer of the mouth of the Amazon River; Juan de la Cosa, who reflected the silhouette of the New Continent for the first time on a map made in the year 1500 or Christopher Columbus himself. - in: https://castillodesanmarcos.com

Torralba d'en Salort - Spain

 Spain has an impressive number of 50 sites inscribed on the UNESCO WHS list and I've cards from 49 of those sites. Last month Jordi sent me this card from Torralba d'en Salort, one of the most beautiful and best preserved prehistoric settlements in Menorca. It is also one of the largest and most complete. This is one of Prehistoric Sites of Talayotic Menorca, classified as World Heritage Site last year.

Foto: Ricardo Pla

The main features of this site are two talaiots, the taula enclosure, a hypostyle room, some caves dug out of the ground and the remains of other buildings used as dwellings.
The taula and its enclosure are among the largest and most beautiful on the island. The building dates from the 4th-3rd centuries B.C. and was used for worship up until the 2nd century A.D. It is built on a horseshoe-shaped layout with separate areas inside. The T of the taula consists of two huge blocks of stone, one vertical and the other horizontal, beautifully finished and standing nearly 4 metres tall. Various excavation works carried out on the site have revealed the remains of a fire, wine amphorae plus evidence that kid goats and young lambs were ritually killed and eaten. Other finds include ritual objects such as an altar, a terracotta image of the Punic goddess Tanit, the bronze figure of a bull and bronze hooves belonging to the figure of a horse. These items are on display in the Museum of Menorca and provide the most compelling evidence to support the notion that the taula enclosure was a place of worship. The settlement had its heyday during the time of Punic trading expansion, towards the 1st century B.C. - in: https://www.menorca.es

Itálica - Spain

You don't have to send me a Christmas card to wish me happy holidays, a normal touristic card is just fine. Óscar knows that I'll be happy with a unesco card or the second best option, a card from a place on the unesco tentative list. 

 

The Roman ruins of Italica, with remarkable mosaics and an impressive amphitheatre, are located 9 kilometres to the north of the city of Seville, just outside the village of Santiponce.

 

The Roman city of Itálica was founded in 206 BCE by Publius Cornelius Scipio, also known as Africanus. Under the Emperor Augustus, Itálica became a town and was granted the privilege of minting its own money. It is the birthplace of the emperors Trajan and Hadrian. Itálica enjoyed a period of splendour in which its architectural development flourished with the construction of new public buildings such as the amphitheatre, houses with floors decorated with mosaics, and broad streets which connected the various neighbourhoods. The archaeological excavations began between 1751 and 1755, and were led by Francisco de Bruna, and work has continued uninterrupted since that time to the present day. These remains were declared an Archaeological Site by a decree from the Andalusian Regional Government in 1989. - in: https://www.spain.info

ES-760970

I was hoing to get a lot of mail while I was traveling last week but no, when I got home I only had 1 letter and 2 cards waiting for me. One of them was this official from Spain with the most famous avenue in Madrid, Gran Vía.

 

Ediciones A. M. * Fotografía: Noel Benitez

ES-760970, sent Ana.

At over a hundred years old, Gran Vía, in the Sol / Gran Vía area, is one of the city’s main arteries and one of its most iconic avenues. Its construction, between 1910 and 1931, marked the beginning of the modernisation of the city, with the appearance of the country's first skyscrapers and the adoption of modern architectural trends originating in the United States. 

The project was intended to decongest the chaotic centre of the city, formed by a tangle of narrow streets, 22 of which were to disappear. It was carried out in three stages, starting at the point where Gran Vía meets Calle Alcalá. The first stage went as far as Red de San Luis, the second as far as Plaza del Callao and the third up to Plaza de España, each of them reflecting the new architectural styles of the years in which they were completed.

As the project had to respect three religious buildings (the Caballero de Gracia oratory, and the San José and San Francisco de Borja churches, the latter no longer in existence), the line taken by the avenue was less regular than originally planned. The result is a magnificent series of buildings, which include some of the city's best known landmarks: the Metrópolis, the Telefónica building, the Casino, the Capitol building and the Callao cinema. - in: https://www.esmadrid.com

PT RR - Surprise Group * August

 I usually participate in this RR by sending 3 postcards and in return I receive another 3. I only have 2 here, sent by Ana Cláudia and Tiago but Nídia also sent me one, which I already had, the same windmill card that Paulo sent me in June 2019.

Photo by: François Kollar

This is a photo of a miner and his lamp, in a mine in Saint-Etienne, France, in 1931. 

The lamp was not only used for lighting, it was also used to detect the presence of methane which, in contact with oxygen, in closed environments, can form an explosive mixture that detonates easily in the presence of flames or sparks, and constitutes a great danger in coal mining. These safety lamps, in which the flame was protected by a metal screen, served as an indicator of the presence of the explosive mixture, as in this case the flame changed its appearance. The metal screen dissipated the heat of the flame so that the gases outside did not reach the necessary temperature to ignite.

Jaca is a small town in the Spanish province of Huesca and is known as the capital of the Aragonese Pyrenees. It is a tourist center that attracts visitors thanks to its historical heritage, the Camino de Santiago and winter sports.