Thank you, Marie !
Received on: December 2018
Showing posts with label 2018. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2018. Show all posts
28 January 2019
#1679 Brazil
Ouro Preto (Black Gold), formerly Vila Rica, is a city in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, a former colonial mining town located in the Serra do Espinhaço mountains and designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO because of its outstanding Baroque architecture.
Ouro Preto is located in one of the main areas of the Brazilian Gold Rush.
Officially, 800 tons of gold were sent to Portugal in the eighteenth century, not to mention what was circulated in an illegal manner, nor what remained in the colony, such as gold used in the ornamentation of the churches. The municipality became the most populous city of Latin America, counting on about 40 thousand people in 1730 and, decades after, 80 thousand. At that time, the population of New York was less than half of that number of inhabitants and the population of São Paulo did not surpass 8 thousand.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1980
Thank you, Joao !
Sent on: November 30, 2018
Received on: December 2018
#1677 USA
St. Mary's Church is a historic Roman Catholic church complex at 14 William Street (Spring Street at Memorial Boulevard) in Newport, Rhode Island within the Diocese of Providence.
Thank you, Michele !
Received on: December 2018
#1676 South Korea
Changdeokgung (Hangul, 창덕궁, 昌德宮; literally, "Prospering Virtue Palace"), also known as Changdeokgung Palaceor Changdeok Palace, is set within a large park in Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the "Five Grand Palaces" built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897).As it is located east of Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeokgung—along with Changgyeonggung—is also referred to as the "East Palace" (동궐, 東闕, Donggwol).
Injeongjeon Hall (National Treasure) – The throne hall of Changdeokgung, it was used for major state affairs including the coronation of a new king and receiving foreign envoys. Originally built in 1405, it was rebuilt in 1610 after being burned down during the 1592 Japanese invasion, and a third time in 1804 after being destroyed by a fire.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1997
Thank you, Daniel !
Sent on: November 30, 2018
Received on: December 2018
#1672 Scotland, UK
Glenfinnan (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Fhionnain) is a hamlet in Lochaber area of the Highlands of Scotland. In 1745 the Jacobite rising began here when Prince Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") raised his standard on the shores of Loch Shiel. Seventy years later, the 18 m (60 ft) Glenfinnan Monument, at the head of the loch, was erected to commemorate the historic event.
Sent on: December 2018
Received on: December 2018
#1671 Canada
North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere; it is also considered by some to be a northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea.
North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 579 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7.5% of the world's population, if nearby islands (most notably the Caribbean) are included.
North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge approximately 40,000 to 17,000 years ago. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago (the beginning of the Archaic or Meso-Indian period). The Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended in 1492, and the transatlantic migrations—the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery and the Early Modern period. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kinds of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants.
Owing to the European colonization of the Americas, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, and their culture commonly reflects Western traditions.
Thank you, Marie !
Sent on: November 14, 2018
Received on: December 5, 2018
#1668 Finland
Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis), sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, is a sweetly scented, highly poisonous woodland flowering plant that is native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia and Europe. Other names include May bells, Our Lady's tears, and Mary's tears. Its French name, muguet, sometimes appears in the names of perfumes imitating the flower's scent.
It is possibly the only species in the genus Convallaria (depending on whether C. keiskei and C. transcaucasica are recognised as separate species). In the APG III system, the genus is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae). It was formerly placed in its own family Convallariaceae, and, like many lilioid monocots, before that in the lily family Liliaceae.
Lily of the valley was the floral emblem of Yugoslavia, and it also became the national flower of Finland in 1967.
In the "language of flowers", the lily of the valley signifies the return of happiness.
Thank you, Tiia !
Sent on: November 23, 2018
Received on: November 28, 2018
#1667 Estonia - Switzerland - Austria - Italy - Netherlands
Kihnu (Swedish: Kynö) is an island in the Baltic Sea. With an area of 16.4 km2 (6.3 sq mi) it is the largest island in the Gulf of Riga and the seventh largest island of Estonia. The length of the island is 7 km (4.3 mi) and width 3.3 km (2.1 mi), the highest point is at 8.9 metres (29.2 ft) above sea level.
The island belongs to the Pärnu County of Estonia. Together with neighbouring islands it forms Kihnu Parish, one of the smallest municipalities of the country with an area of 16.8 km2 (6.5 sq mi).
604 people live on Kihnu as of 2007 of whom 69 are primary school pupils. There are four villages: Lemsi, Linaküla, Rootsiküla and Sääre. One can reach Kihnu by plane from Pärnu (15 minutes) or ferry from either Pärnu (3 hours) or Manilaid (1 hour), and when the sea is frozen in winter it is possible to drive to the island over the ice.
Thank you !
Received on: November 2018
14 January 2019
#1666 Romania
Lake Vidraru (romanian Lacul Vidraru) is an artificial lake in Romania. It was created in 1965 by the construction of the Vidraru Dam on the Argeș River.
Vidraru Lake is a reservoir lake created in 1965 on the Arges River for Hydroelectricity. It has 465 million cubic metres of water, with a length of 10.3 km and a width of 2.2 km, thus accumulating a total area of 870 hectares and maximum depth of 155 metres.
Thank you, Mihnea !
Received on: November 20, 2018
#1665 Italy
The Fountain of Neptune (Italian: Fontana del Nettuno) is a fountain in Rome, Italy, located at the north end of the Piazza Navona. It was once called "Fontana dei Calderari" because it was located close to a small alley with blacksmith's workshops, makers of pots and pans and of other metal based businesses, all of them generating heat.
The restoration of the Roman Aqua Virgo aqueduct in 1570 was immediately followed by the start of work on a continuation water supply pipe towards the district of the old Campo Marzio, which following the diminution of the city's size and importance was left as the most densely populated part of the city. Restoration of a piped water supply in turn permitted the construction of several public fountains. The basin of the Fontana del Nettuno, (without the sculptures), was designed in 1574 by Giacomo Della Porta, who was also responsible for the Moor Fountain at the other side of the square. It was sponsored by pope Gregory XIII. The lower part of the basin consists of white marble and the upper part of the local stone from Pietrasanta. For the next 300 years, the fountain survived without statues.
Nineteenth-century infrastructure developments reduced dependence on urban fountains for drinking and washing purposes but increased their visual and political importance, especially following the creation of the Italian state with Rome as its capital after 1870. The fountain as it exists today was finally completed in 1878 by Antonio della Bitta, who added the imposing sculpture of Neptune fighting with an octopus, and Gregorio Zappalà, who created the other sculptures, based on the mythological theme of the "Nereids with Cupids and walruses". This statuary was added following a competition in 1873, in order to balance that of the Moor Fountain on the south side of the piazza and of the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) at its centre.
Thank you, Chiara !
Sent on: November 14, 2018
Received on: November 19, 2018
#1664 Turkey
For more info about Turkey, see received card no #294.
Thank you, Muhammet !
Sent on: October 9, 2018
Received on: November 16, 2018
07 January 2019
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