This breathtaking sunset view is Kyōōgokoku-ji, the five storied pagoda of Kyoto, also known as Tō-ji ("East temple"). It is one of the historic monuments of ancient Kyoto that were declared World Heritage Site by the UNESCO. They are part of the Japanese history from the times when Kyoto was the capital of the country. The temple is located in the ward of Minami.

As a note side, I love Japanese Western handwriting. It has an unique air! I would show it here if it weren't so unpolite towards the sender.

Archs from the Alhambra and Albayzín

Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain, constructed during the mid 14th century. Stylistic elements used include the Calliphal horseshoe arch, the Almohad sebka (a grid of rhombuses), the Almoravid palm, and unique combinations of them, as well as innovations such as stilted arches and muqarnas (stalactite ceiling decorations).

Through the arches of the Alhambra, on the other side of the Darro river, you can see the houses of the disctrict of Albayzín.

Alhambra and Sierra Nevada

Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín were declared UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.

I have only been once to Navarre -- a mountainous region in the North of Spain -- and forgot to buy some postcards for my collection. Thankfully, there is people willing to send me some cards who help me correct my past oversight.

The Way of St. James is a pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, in Northwestern Spain. Pilgrims on the Way of St. James walk for weeks or months and they follow many routes (any path to Santiago is a pilgrim's path). However, we Spaniards consider the Pyrenees our starting point. Although there are more roads crossing the French border, the two most important starting points are Roncesvalles (French Way) or Jaca (Aragonese Way), which are joined into one path in Puente la Reina.

On the flip side of the card you can see the route in Spanish territory with the most remarkable towns. The small village where I spent those holidays, Sansol, isn't on the map. It has a population of only 100!☺

The Route of Santiago de Compostela was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.

Postcard from: Pamplona, Navarre, Spain.

Received: June 2012.

Language: Spanish.

Envelope: yes.

Stamps: one 0.36€ from the Todos con Lorca series, Palacio de Guevara (Guevara's Palace).

This fabulous flower shaped card came from a small town in the Andalusian mountain range. Thanks to its four petals divided by half, it contains the eight provinces of the region. On them, you can see their most notable features. From top, clock-wise:

♪ Córdoba: Cathedral and former Great Mosque, UNESCO World Heritage Site.

♪ Granada: Court of the Lions in the Alhambra, UNESCO World Heritage Site.

♪ Cádiz: beach.

♪ Jaén: Cathedral, UNESCO World Heritage Site aspirant.

♪ Huelva: Castle of Cortegana, National Monument.

♪ Sevilla: Cathedral & Giralda, UNESCO World Heritage Site.

♪ Málaga: aerial view of the city.

♪ Almería: beach.

On the centre, a scene of bullfighting and the name of the region. Many topics related to Spain (like flamenco & bullfighting) are actually from Andalusian origin and not common in other areas of the country.

Isn't it simply gorgeous?! ♥

A postcard of the Old Town Hall Square of Riga, UNESCO World Heritage Site along with all the buildings preserved in the Historic Centre of Rīga (Vecrīga) from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. On the right side, there is the Blackheads House, a medieval building for the Brotherhood of Blackheads, a guild for unmarried German merchants, that was destroyed during WWII and recently restored. On the backround, St. Peter's Church. Built in Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque style, the church was also burned down during the war and restored between in the 60's-90's. It has seven rooster figures (one of them can be seen at the top of the steeple).

Out of sight there will be the Town Hall, whose shadow can be seen on the picture.

Needless to say, the kind of card that makes my day!

A card with a postbox from the Republic of Bashkortostan came to my own postbox. It is an old Russian box and the photo was taken by Denis Demkov. If you are interested in it, it is sold online at PostcardID.ru. The back side of the card is printed too: it has a coloured politic world map. Spain is cream coloured and Russia peach. Matvei is a 5 years old boy who sent this card with the help of his mom, but he didn't forget to sign the card! So sweet.

Two lovely stamps and a peek on the world map. On the left, the Moscow Kremlin, UNESCO World Heritage Site and the most famous of Russian Kremlins. On the right, the 2010 stamp for Europa series themed Children's books. Very happy to get both of them!

Lednice's Minaret

Any scan or photo wouldn't make this postcard justice. It is a lenticular card or 3D. My first! I didn't even know there were postcards like this. This minaret is actually an observation tower located in the middle of Lednice's Gardens.

The Lednice - Valtice Area in South Moravia is the largest artificially created landscape in Europe. Created by the dukes of Liechtenstein on their Moravian domain in the 18th and 19th centuries, it features several chateaus, large parks and various monuments spread around the landscape fashioned in the Romantic and Classical styles.

The minaret is a Moorish Revival structure (62 m high) in the Lednice Castle garden. The construction of the minaret began in 1797 and ended in 1804. The centre of the building is a tower in whose upper gallery 302 stairs lead. Three other ring-like roofed galleries encircle the tower. The first floor of the minaret is formed by eight halls, where the owners kept their collection of oriental items. Floors are made of stone mosaic, the ceiling and walls are decorated with Moorish handwriting. It is one of the typical buildings of the Romantic period when the Orient strongly influenced art and park architecture in Europe.

Lednice was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the twin manor of Valtice in 1996.

Pind'a (left) & Pat and Mat (right)

A multiview from Germany. These are my identified landmarks -- feel free to comment and correct me or add another:

The stamp is for my UNESCO World Heritage collection! It shows Ratisbon's Cathedral in the Old City. Its face value is 0.75€ and was issued in 2011. The special postmark features a graduation tower (Gradierbau), part of Bad Dürkheim's spa facilities. My first special postmark! ♥
Another themed postcard: German landmarks.

Sucevița Monastery

Again travelling to Romania but this time with a postcard. One of the famous monasteries of Moldavia: the Sucevița Monastery (Suceava, Romania). It was built in 1585 by Movilă brothers in Gothic style with all its walls covered by fresco paintings inspired by Byzantine art. It was declared UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. Still in use, the Orthodox nuns have a pleasant life of work and prayer there.

Recently Fabienne showed us her collection of churches of Moldavia. Now I know I have 7 missing postcards to complete my own collection.

Fortified church of Biertan

The stamp also shows another UNESCO WHS! This is the fortified church of Biertan (Transylvania, Romania), UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.

I love how the whole postcard is WHS and church themed. ♥ The sender is the 2nd on most postcards sent range of her country so I guess she knows well how this postcrossing swap works. ♪

These are the Jesuite College and St. Barbara Church in Kutná Hora, a small town in Central Bohemia (Czech Republic) whose centre become an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 for its gothic buildings.

And this is the stamp that made the postcard travel to my letterbox. I am speechless! The famous poster of Alfons Mucha for Victorien Sardou's Gismonda starring Sarah Bernhardt at the Théâtre de la Renaissance in Paris (1894). Just love it. ♥

La Pirámide del Sol

My penpal went on a trip these past Christmas holidays. Living in Greenland the rest of the year must be hard enough! I asked him where he was going and he just said "somewhere sunny and warm". Some days ago I got the answer with this beautiful postcard. This is the Pyramid of the Sun, located in Teotihuacán (Mexico). I wonder if he climbed up all the stairs and reached the top...

The Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and is the most visitated archaelogical site in Mexico.

Mexico (top) & UK (bottom)

The most interesting thing about the card are the stamps. Four stamps and  none of them marked! Three from Mexico and one from the UK. My guess: he took the plane back home before sending the card and finally sent it when he arrived in London airport to change. But I will have to wait for the answer till he writes again. Anyway, when I got it I had the feeling that I was being sent post like in the old times, when letters were stamped and marked in the postoffice of every country they had to cross until they reached their final destination.
A truly travelling card!

From the veeeery cold (sender's own words) Ukraine, this postcard came to my postbox today. Sometimes multiviews are disappoiting to some people. I partly understand that, they don't allow you to see the image clearly because they are too small. But when you don't know the country they are not only usually beautiful (it depends on the design, of course) but helpful too. I like them! Some places from the historic Old Town are featured here. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.

I also learnt the name of the city in several languages: Lviv (Ukranian), Lwów (Polish), Lemberg (German) and Leopolis (Latin & Spanish). It means City of Lions.

This is the second Spanish postcard I send to Greenland. This one is from my hometown and shows three different views of the palm grove (UNESCO World Heritage Site). I didn't take any picture of the other one before I sent it but it was nice too.

Goong (궁)