Monticello - USA

We all know that Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) was a president of the United States, the third one. Some of us might know that he was the principal author of the American Declaration of Independence but probably only a few know that he was also a talented architect of neoclassical buildings. I definitely didn't know that, not before getting these cards. He designed Monticello (1769–1809), his plantation home and his ideal 'academical village' (1817–26), which is still the heart of the University of Virginia. 

In 1987 Monticello and the nearby University of Virginia, also designed by Jefferson, were together designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Monticello was largely finished when Jefferson left for France in 1784 as the American minister to that country. During his five years there his ideas about architecture changed drastically, as he was influenced by the work of contemporary Neoclassical architects and by ancient Roman buildings.

Jefferson began drawing up plans for altering and enlarging Monticello in 1793, and work began in 1796. Much of the original house was torn down. The final structure, completed in 1809, is a three-story brick and frame building with 35 rooms, 12 of them in the basement; each room is a different shape. - in: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Monticello-building-Virginia

Photographer: R. Lautman

US-5697011, sent by Rick.

On the back of the card: Dining Room with dumbwaiter.

The Dining Room received family members and guests for two meals each day, breakfast and dinner. While waiting for his family to gather, Jefferson often sat reading in one a pair of small french armchairs. Two dumbwaiters, installed on either side of the fireplace, carried bottles of wine from the wine cellar below. 

São Paulo Meetup - Brazil

The date on this card stamp is december 13 and I got it this week. 

It was sent by Valéria, also signed by Luzia and the other brazilian postcrossers who attended the last postrcrossing meet up of 2018 in São Paulo. 

Photo by Sandra Tiemu Konishi * Designed by Paloma Miranda * Postcrossing logo is a registered trademark

This cute angel can be found in one of the ruined buildings of Vila Maria Zélia, a residential complex for textile workers, many of them immigrants of european origin. It was inaugurated in 1907. 

Currently, the remains of the complex are listed as historical patrimony. 

Aparecida - Brazil

The town of Aparecida lies in the state of São Paulo. It is known as the most important religious city in the country, the point onto which pilgrims from all over the country converge. It is seat of the Basilica de Aparecida, dedicated to the Official Patron Saint of Brazil, Nossa Senhora Aparecida (Our Lady Aparecida).

In Portuguese, the word Aparecida means "appeared". It's a reference to the fact that a statue of Our Lady "appeared" in the river, without nobody dropping it there.
It all began in the 18th century, when some fishermen hauled up a headless statue with their catch. When they re-cast their nets, they brought up the head of the statue: it then appeared to be a Black Virgin.

Walter sent me the first 2 cards and Luzia the last one.

Photo by Erasmo Ballot

The old basilica is a modest church in the colonial style built between 1834 to 1888. The Basilica is known to the pilgrims as the former home of Our Lady of Aparecida.
This basilica is connected to the new basilica by a pedestrian bridge.

Estúdio Casal Fotografia

The construction of this new basilica started in 1955. With its 100 metre high tower, its 70 meter dome, its nave, 173 meters long and 168 meters wide in the shape of a Greek Cross, covering a surface area of around 18,000 m², this romanesque basilica is huge. 

It can hold up to 45,000 worshippers! In size, Our Lady of Aparecida is the second largest Basilica in the world, after St. Peter’s in Rome. John Paul II gave it the name of “Minor Basilica” in 1980.

TW-2650426 & TW-2650428

Officials from Taiwan. 

TW-2650426, sent by Peilin.

The Baishajia Lighthouse is located in Taoyuan City. The lighthouse was established in 1901 as the third lighthouse built in Taiwan under Japanese rule with an original height of 38 meters. However, the upper portion was destroyed during World War II. After the war, the tower was repaired to its current height, 37 meters.

After more than a hundred years, it was selected as one of the "One Hundred Historical sites in Taiwan" by the Ministry of Culture in 2001. 

TW-2650428, sent by Charlotte.

 Beimen Crystal Church, an open air church which is floating on water in Tainan, opened in 2014. 

RU-6920400

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is a city in Sakhalin island, and the administrative center of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. It is located in the Far East part of Russia, situated north of Japan.

RU-6920400, sent by Irina.

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Military Museum is dedicated to the regional military history since 1905. The primary focus lies in the battle for the island in 1945.

Kizhi Pogost - Russia

Russia has a lot of UNESCO sites, most of them are great and worth to visit but if I had the chance to visit just one, Kizhi Pogost would probably be my choice. 

Two of these cards are officials and the others were sent by "poncha", (don't remember her name), and Lydia. 

RU-5816372, sent by Irene.

The architectural ensemble of the Kizhi Pogost is located on a narrow spit in the southern part of Kizhi Island, a small island of the Kizhi Archipelago in Lake Onega. The architectural ensemble includes two 18th-century wooden churches: the Church of the Transfiguration and the Church of the Intercession and an octagonal wooden bell tower built in 1862 and considerably reconstructed in 1874.

The churches on Kizhi Island were mentioned for the first time in chronicles of the 16th century. They burned down after being struck by lightning in 1693 and the currently existing churches were built on the very site of the former ones.

The ensemble bears evidence of the highly developed carpentry skills of the Russian people. Nowadays it is the only ensemble with two multi-domed wooden churches preserved in Russia. 

The Church of the Transfiguration is a monument with exceptional architectural and structural features. It has no parallel in either Russian or global wooden architecture. Considered by locals as the true wonder of the world, it gave birth to the legend about Master Nestor, who built the 37m high nail-less church using nothing but an axe. 

RU-6925772, sent by Julia.

The Church of the Transfiguration was used during the summer, when the faithful journeyed from the outermost regions of the parish to attend services. A dendrochronogical study of the materials sets its construction date after 1713-14. The octagon, which defines the composition of the cruciform church, is extended by oblong bays facing the four cardinal points. 

 The nave, flanked with side aisles, is preceded on the west by a projecting narthex reached via two staircases. The height of the Church of the Transfiguration, whose central cupola culminates at 37m, is a masterpiece of a multi-storey, multi-cupola, and single-block structure. Here, over a central volume covered with three octagonal frames, the architect placed bochkas (roofs whose peak is shaped like a horizontal cylinder with the upper surface extended into a pointed ridge) topped with 22 bulbous cupolas. Inside, under the so-called 'heaven' - a superb vault shaped like a truncated pyramid - there is a gilded wood iconostasis holding 102 icons from the 17th and 18th centuries. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/544

BY-2416851

New year, new cards, new posts. 

It has been awhile since I last received officials cards from Belarus, actually, last year I didn't receive any officials from there. 2019 only has 1 week and I already received 2 cards, both from Minsk. 

BY-2416851, sent by Yulia.

Saints Peter & Paul Cathedral, a baroque Russian Orthodox church, is officially the oldest in Minsk and the only Renaissance building in the city, dating back to 1612. The cathedral is officially listed on the Republic of Belarus' Architectural Monuments of National Importance. Throughout its history the church has been closed several times, including in 1933 when members of the church's clergy were arrested and shot on the spot. After the war the church was also closed for a prolonged period, and was used as an archive of scientific and technical documents. - in: https://www.local-life.com/minsk/articles/churches