#1741 Serbia

Stećak (Cyrillic: Стећак; plural: Stećci, Стећци) is the name for monumental medieval tombstones that lie scattered across Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the border parts of Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. An estimated 60,000 are found within the borders of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina and the rest of 10,000 are found in what are today Croatia (4,400), Montenegro (3,500), and Serbia (2,100), at more than 3,300 odd sites with over 90% in poor condition.

Appearing in the mid 12th century, with the first phase in the 13th century, the tombstones reached their peak in the 14th and 15th century, before disappearing during the Ottoman occupation in the very early 16th century. They were a common tradition amongst Bosnian, Catholic and Orthodox Church followers alike, and are often related to the autochthonous Vlach population, however the original ethnic and religious affiliation is still undetermined. The epitaphs on them are mostly written in extinct Bosnian Cyrillic alphabet. The one of the best preserved collection of these tombstones is named Radimlja, west of Stolac in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Stećci were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016. It includes a selection of 4,000 stećci at 28 necropolises – of which 22 from Bosnia and Herzegovina, two from Croatia, three from Montenegro, and three from Serbia.

Wikipedia.org

Property No #1405

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 2016

Thank you, Martina !

Sent on: May 6, 2019

Received on: May 20, 2019

#1721 Estonia

The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through ten countries and over 2,820 km, which yielded the first accurate measurement of a meridian.

The chain was established and used by the German-born Russian scientist Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve in the years 1816 to 1855 to establish the exact size and shape of the earth. At that time, the chain passed merely through two countries: Union of Sweden-Norway and the Russian Empire. The Arc's first point is located in Tartu Observatory in Estonia, where Struve conducted much of his research.

In 2005, the chain was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a memorable ensemble of the chain made up of 34 commemorative plaques or built obelisks out of the original 265 main station points which are marked by drilled holes in rock, iron crosses, cairns, others.

Estonia

• "Woibifer" (Võivere) in Väike-Maarja Parish
• "Katko" (Simuna) in Väike-Maarja Parish
• "Dorpat" (Tartu Old Observatory) in Tartu (received card #229)

Wikipedia.org

Property No #1187

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO: 2005

Aitäh !

Sent on: April 9, 2019

Received on: April 10, 2019

#1497 Slovakia

Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe is a transnational composite nature UNESCO World Heritage Site, encompassing forests in 12 countries of Europe. The Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians include ten separate massifs located along the 185 km (115 mi) long axis from the Rakhiv mountains and Chornohora ridge in Ukraine over the Poloniny Ridge (Slovakia) to the Vihorlat Mountains in Slovakia. The Ancient Beech Forests of Germany include five locations in various parts of Germany.

The Carpathian site covers a total area of 77,971.6 ha (192,672 acres), out of which only 29,278.9 ha (72,350 acres) are part of the actual preserved area, while the rest is considered a "buffer zone". Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians cover areas of Zakarpattia and Prešov Regions. Over 70% of the site is located in Ukraine. The area includes two national parks, a biosphere reserve, and a few habitat controlled areas (mostly in Slovakia). Both national parks, along with a neighboring area in Poland, compose a separate biosphere reserve, the East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve.

Wikipedia.org

Property No #1133

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 2007

Thank you, Andrea !

Received on: January 16, 2018

#1212 Italy

Vatican City (Italian: Città del Vaticano; Latin: Civitas Vaticana), officially Vatican City State or the State of Vatican City (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), is a walled enclave within the city of Rome. With an area of approximately 44 hectares (110 acres), and a population of 842, it is the smallest State in the world by both area and population, but formally it is not sovereign, sovereignty being held by the Holy See, the only entity of public international law that has diplomatic relations with almost every country in the world.

Wikipedia.org

Property No #286

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1984

Also part of the Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura.

Property No #91

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1980

Thank you !

Sent on: January 10, 2017

Received on: January 31, 2017

#1051 Chișinău, Moldova

The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through ten countries and over 2,820 km, which yielded the first accurate measurement of a meridian.

The chain was established and used by the German-born Russian scientist Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve in the years 1816 to 1855 to establish the exact size and shape of the earth. At that time, the chain passed merely through two countries: Union of Sweden-Norway and the Russian Empire. The Arc's first point is located in Tartu Observatory in Estonia, where Struve conducted much of his research.

In 2005, the chain was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a memorable ensemble of the chain made up of 34 commemorative plaques or built obelisks out of the original 265 main station points which are marked by drilled holes in rock, iron crosses, cairns, others.

Measurement of the triangulation chain comprises 258 main triangles and 265 geodetic vertices. The northernmost point is located near Hammerfest in Norway and the southernmost point near the Black Sea in Ukraine. This inscription is located in ten countries, the most of any UNESCO World Heritage.

The Rudi Geodetic Point (Romanian: Punctul Geodezic Rudi) is a point of the Struve Geodetic Arc in Rudi, Moldova. There is also an obelisk.

Rudi Geodetic Point was set up in 1847 and is a World Heritage Site (2005). The obelisk was opened on June 17, 2006.

Wikipedia.org

Property No #1187

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 2005

Thank you, Mihnea !

Sent on: March 29, 2016

Received on: April 4, 2016

#664 Germany

The Jasmund National Park is a nature reserve in the Jasmund peninsula, in the northeast of Rügen island in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is famous for the largest chalk cliffs of Germany, the so-called Königsstuhl (German = "king's chair"). These cliffs are up to 161 m high above the Baltic Sea. The undisturbed beech forests behind the cliffs are also part of the national park.

Consisting of only 30 km², this is the smallest national park of Germany. The park was founded in 1990 by the last government of the GDR prior to the German reunification.

On June 25, 2011 the beech forest in Jasmund National Park was added to UNESCO World Heritage List as an extension to the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany.

The chalk cliffs face constant erosion. With every storm, parts of the cliffs fall, including rocks and fossils of sponges, oysters and sea urchins.

The most majestic part of the cliffs is the 118-metre-high Königsstuhl (English: king's chair). One of the most scenic and best known of the chalk outcrops, the Wissower Klinken, collapsed into the Baltic Sea on February 24, 2005 in a landslide caused by spring-thaw weather conditions.

Because of the special geological characteristics of the Jasmund National Park, it is home to many rare plants and animals.

There are many swamp-like ponds in the forest behind the cliffs. In the woods of the Stubnitz there are numerous water-filled, undrained dells and hollows, most of which came into existence as ice-age dead ice holes. This is the place to see many plants, e.g. Black Alder, Malus sylvestris, Wild Service Tree, Taxus and types of orchids, for instance Cypripedium calceolus.

Ornithologists can find a variety of birds, for example the White-tailed Eagle, Kingfisher, House Martin and the Peregrine Falcon.

Wikipedia.org

Property No #1133

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 2007

Thank you, Melly !

Received on: June 20, 2014

#569 Kyiv, Ukraine

Wooden Tserkvas of Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine are a group of wooden Eastern Catholic / Orthodox churches located in Poland and Ukraine which were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013.

This card shows the Church of St. Archangel Mykhailo, Uzhok.

Wikipedia.org

Property No #1424

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 2013

Thank you, Darya !

Sent on: April 19, 2014

Received on: April 23, 2014

#545 Fulda, Germany

The Wadden Sea (Dutch: Waddenzee, German: Wattenmeer, Low German: Wattensee or Waddenzee, Danish: Vadehavet, West Frisian: Waadsee) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands. It is rich in biological diversity. In 2009, the Dutch and German parts of the Wadden Sea were inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List.

According to C. Michael Hogan, the Wadden Sea is one of the world's seas whose coastline has been most modified by humans, via systems of dikes and causeways on the mainland and low lying coastal islands. The Wadden Sea stretches from Den Helder in the Netherlands in the southwest, past the great river estuaries of Germany to its northern boundary at Skallingen north of Esbjerg in Denmark along a total length of some 500 km and a total area of about 10,000 km². Within the Netherlands it is bounded from the IJsselmeer by the Afsluitdijk.

The islands in the Wadden Sea are called the Wadden Sea Islands or Frisian Islands, named after the Frisians. However, on the westernmost Dutch island, Texel, the Frisian language has not been spoken for centuries. The Danish Wadden Sea Islands have never been inhabited by Frisians. The outlying German island of Helgoland, although ethnically one of the Frisian Islands, is not situated in the Wadden Sea.

Wikipedia.org

Property No #1314

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 2009

Thank you, Inge !

Sent on: March 18, 2014

Received on: March 20, 2014

#339 Bruges, Belgium

Bruges (Dutch: Brugge, French: Bruges, German: Brügge) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country.

Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam, it is sometimes referred to as "The Venice of the North". Bruges has a significant economic importance thanks to its port. At one time, it was the "chief commercial city" of the world.

Wikipedia.org

Property No #996

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 2000

***
On the left you see Belfry of Bruges.

The Belfry of Bruges, or Belfort, is a medieval bell tower in the historical centre of Bruges, Belgium. One of the city's most prominent symbols, the belfry formerly housed a treasury and the municipal archives, and served as an observation post for spotting fires and other danger. A narrow, steep staircase of 366 steps, accessible by the public for an entry fee, leads to the top of the 83-metre-high building, which leans about a metre to the east.

To the sides and back of the tower stands the former market hall, a rectangular building only 44 m broad but 84 m deep, with an inner courtyard. The belfry, accordingly, is also known as the Halletoren (tower of the halls).
Wikipedia.org

Property No #943

It's in the List of UNESCO WHS as a part of Belfries of Belgium and France.

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1999

Aitäh, Mk !

Sent on: September 13, 2013

Received on: September 16, 2013

#279 Antwerp, Belgium

The Cathedral of Our Lady (Dutch: Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Antwerp, Belgium. Today's see of the Diocese of Antwerp was started in 1352 and, although the first stage of construction was ended in 1521, has never been 'completed'. In Gothic style, its architects were Jan and Pieter Appelmans. It contains a number of significant works by the Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens, as well as paintings by artists such as Otto van Veen, Jacob de Backer and Marten de Vos.

 Wikipedia.org

Property No #943

It's in the list of UNESCO as a part of Belfries of Belgium and France.

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1999

Date of Issue: June 25, 2012

Thank you, Nicky !

Sent on: August 8, 2013

Received on: August 12, 2013

#229 Estonia

Postal Stationery No. 67. Date: December 22, 2010.

The Tartu Observatory (Estonian: Tartu Observatoorium) is the largest astronomical observatory in Estonia. It is located on the Tõravere hill, about 20 km south-west of Tartu in Nõo Parish, Tartu County. The old Tartu Observatory is known internationally for its connection to Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve and the Struve Geodetic Arc, of which it is the first reference point.

The Tartu Observatory was founded at the Imperial University of Dorpat as it was reopened in 1802. The observatory building was completed in 1810 on the Toome hill in Dorpat. The instruments were installed in 1814 by von Struve who subsequently started observations. In 1824, a 9" Fraunhofer refractor arrived, the largest achromatic telescope in the world at the time. When von Struve began assembling his Geodetic Arc in 1816, the doorstep of the observatory became its first point.
 Wikipedia.org 

The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through ten countries and over 2,820 km, which yielded the first accurate measurement of a meridian.

The chain was established and used by the German-born Russian scientist Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve in the years 1816 to 1855 to establish the exact size and shape of the earth. At that time, the chain passed merely through two countries: Union of Sweden-Norway and the Russian Empire. The Arc's first point is located in Tartu Observatory, where Struve conducted much of his research.

In 2005, the chain was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a memorable ensemble of the chain made up of 34 commemorative plaques or built obelisks out of the original 265 main station points which are marked by drilled holes in rock, iron crosses, cairns, others.

Measurement of the triangulation chain comprises 258 main triangles and 265 geodetic vertices. The northernmost point is located near Hammerfest in Norway and the southernmost point near the Black Sea in Ukraine. This inscription is located in ten countries, the most of any UNESCO World Heritage.
Wikipedia.org

Property No #1187

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO: 2005

Sent on: April 8, 2013

Received on: April 9, 2013

#210 Saint-Omer, France | FR-272784

This card shows Belfries of France - Nord-Pas de Calais.

1. Belfry of the City Hall in Dunkirk.
2. ??
3. Belfry of the City Hall in Douai.
4. Belfry of the City Hall in Calais.

 Wikipedia.org

Property No #943

It's in the list of UNESCO as a part of Belfries of Belgium and France.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO: 1999

On the stamp: European Capital of Culture 2013 - Marseille (France).

Thank you, Fleur (Fleurdunord) !

Received on: March 25, 2013
Travel time: 6 days
Distance: 1736 km (1,079 miles)

#62 Alaska, USA

Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve is a United States National Park in southeastern Alaska. It was established in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. This protected area is included in an International Biosphere Reserve and is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park and preserve form the largest area managed by the National Park Service in the United States by area with a total of 13,175,799 acres (20,587.19 sq mi; 53,320.57 km²).
 Wikipedia.org

Property No #72

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO: 1979
Extension: 1992, 1994

Thank you, Bryon !

Received on: May 7, 2011