Neratov

A Baroque church built between 1723 and 1733. Destroyed at the end of the Second World War and renewed at the turn of the millenium. The church has a unique roof made of glass in the shape of a cross.

Source: www.hkregion.cz

Thanks to PAvel via Postcrossing for the nice card from Neratov :)

Sent: 16 May 2016    Received: 26 May 2016   Travelled: 10 days

Krakow

Church of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven (also known as St. Mary's Church) is a Brick Gothic church re-built in the 14th century (originally built in the early 13th century), adjacent to the Main Market Square in Kraków, Poland. Standing 80 m (262 ft) tall, it is particularly famous for its wooden altarpiece carved by Veit Stoss (Wit Stwosz).

On every hour, a trumpet signal—called the Hejnał mariacki—is played from the top of the taller of St. Mary's two towers. The plaintive tune breaks off in mid-stream, to commemorate the famous 13th century trumpeter, who was shot in the throat while sounding the alarm before the Mongol attack on the city. The noon-time hejnał is heard across Poland and abroad broadcast live by the Polish national Radio 1 Station.

Source: Wikipedia

Thanks to Bartek via PostcardUnited for this beautiful view from Krakow!

Sent: 20 April 2016   Received: 5 May 2016   Travelled: 15 days

St Francis Xavier Church

The Chapel of Saint Francis Xavier is located just opposite the legendary Eduardo Marques Square in Coloane, some 30 kms from Macau. The chapel has a cream and white facade with oval-shaped windows and a bell tower. Built in 1928, the chapel carries some of the most sacred relics of Christian Asia.

Baroque style of architecture and Portuguese color scheme of mustard and white are some of the major highlights of the Chapel of Saint Francis Xavier. A classic monument immortalizing the victory of locals over pirates in 1910 is also situated in the vicinity of the chapel. A wall at the Chapel of Saint Francis Xavier is adorned with an interesting painting of Kum Lam, which is compared with that of Virgin Mary.

In a silver casket lies a bone from the arm of St. Francis Xavier, who came to the China coast following his missionary successes in Japan, and died in 1552 on Sanchuan Island, 50 miles from Macau. The remnant was destined for Japan but religious persecution out there forced the church to keep the relic in Macau’s St. Paul’s. It was first moved to St. Joseph’s and then to the chapel in 1978. Some of the most sacred relics of several other martyrs and rebels are also stored in the chapel. 

 Source: Wikipedia

Thanks to Bella who was in Macau recently for this postcard from her trip :)

Sent: 11 March 2016   Received: 18 March 2016   Travelled: 7 days

Aviles,Spain

Avilés is a city in Asturias, Spain. Avilés is with Oviedo and Gijón, one of the main towns in the Principality of Asturias.
The town occupies the flattest land in the municipality, in a land that belonged to the sea, surrounded by small promontories, all of them having an altitude of less than 140 metres. Situated in the Avilés estuary, in the Northern Central area of the Asturian coast, west of Peñas Cape, it has a national seaport and is an industrial city. It is close to popular beaches such as Salinas.
The area experiences an oceanic climate, warm summers with both overcast and sunny days. In winter the weather is moderate, with significant rains and wind, although sometimes the cold climate of Asturias results in snowfall at sea level. The temperature is rarely below zero or over 30 °C (86 °F). Summer highs are exceptionally low by Spanish standards due its heavy maritime features and northerly position in the country.
Source: Wikipedia

Thanks to Olga for this nice view of Aviles :)

Sent: 10 December 2015   Received: 26 January 2016   Travelled: 47 days

Cathedral of St. James, Innsbruck

Innsbruck Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of St. James , is an eighteenth-century Baroque cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Innsbruck in the city of Innsbruck, Austria, dedicated to the apostle Saint James, son of Zebedee. Based on designs by the architect Johann Jakob Herkomer, the cathedral was built between 1717 and 1724 on the site of a twelfth-century Romanesque church. The interior is enclosed by three domed vaults spanning the nave, and a dome with lantern above the chancel. With its lavish Baroque interior, executed in part by the Asam brothers, St. James is considered among the most important Baroque buildings in the Tyrol.

Innsbruck Cathedral is notable for two important treasures. The painting Maria Hilf (Mary of Succor) by Lucas Cranach the Elder from c. 1530 is displayed above the main altar. It is considered among the most venerated Marian images in Christendom. The cathedral also contains in the north aisle the canopied tomb of Archduke Maximilian III of Austria, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, dating from 1620. The cathedral was heavily damaged during World War II, but was fully restored within a few years.

Source: Wikipedia

Thank you to Lesly for this interior view of Innsbruck Cathedral

Sent: November 2015   Received: 7 December 2015

Monserrate, Colombia

Monserrate (after Catalan homonym mountain Montserrat) is a mountain that dominates the city center of Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia. It rises to 3,152 metres above the sea level, where there is a church (built in the 17th century) with a shrine, devoted to "El Señor Caído" (Fallen Lord).

The hill is a pilgrim destination, as well as a tourist attraction. In addition to the church, the summit contains restaurants, cafeteria, souvenir shops and many smaller tourist facilities. Monserrate can be accessed by aerial tramway, a funicular or by climbing, the preferred way of pilgrims.

All downtown Bogotá, south Bogotá and some sections of the north of the city are visible facing west, making it a popular destination for watching the sun set over the city.

The history of Monserrate can be considered to begin in the 1620 to 1630, where the Cofradia de la Vera Cruz (Brotherhood of Vera Cruz) began using the Monserrate's hill top, then known as the Snow hill top for religious celebration. As time passed, many devoted residents of Bogota began participating in the climb to the hill top, it wasn't until 1650 that four gentlemen met with the Archbishop as well as Juan de Borga the head of the Tribunal of Santafe in order to secure permission to build a small religious retreat on the mountain top. The founders of the retreat. The founders decided to establish the hermitage retreat in the name of Monserrat's Morena Virgin whose sanctuary was located in Catalonia, near Barcelona, giving the entire mountain the name Monserrate. Some people believe Montserrat was chosen to be the patron saint, due to one of the founders, Pedro Solis having an uncle whom had previously served as abbot in the Montserrat sanctuary.

Source: Wikipedia

Finally found some time to blog some of my cards that arrived this week.

So happy to have Colombia stamped and written arrive to my mailbox. 

My one other Colombian card was sent from Germany. I have visited the original

Monserrate and the Morena Virgin in Spain so it was interesting to receive a 

different Monserrate. Thank you very much Lando for this postcard from your

travels ^_^

Sent: 14 August   Received: 17 November 2015   Travelled: 95 days

Nikolo-Vyazhishchskii, Veliky Novgorod

The Nikolo-Vyazhishchskii Stavropegial Women's Monastery also known as the Vyazhishche or Vyazhishschky Monastery is a convent located in the village of Vyazhishche, 12 km NNW of Veliky Novgorod.

The monastery was founded in by the monks Efrosiny, Ignaty, and Galaktion and the hieromonk Pimen at the end of the fourteenth century (a charter from 1391 mentions it), with Pimen becoming the first hegumen of the monastery. It was first mentioned in the chronicle under the year 1411. The monastery was patronized by Archbishop Evfimy II (r. 1429-1458), who was hegumen of the monastery before his election as archbishop of Novgorod in 1429, and was buried there (he is known as St. Evfimy of Vyazhishche). His sarcophagus is now in the Church of St. Evfimy of Vyazhishche, built in 1685. The monastery was one of the greatest landowners in the Novgorodian land, holding in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, some 2,000 hectares of land. Much of its lands were confiscated during secularization under Catherine II (r.1762-1796) at which time it was classified a 2nd Class Monastery.

Following confiscation by the Soviets, the monastery was closed in 1920. It became part of a collective farm and the buildings were used to store yams, as well as a threshing floor, a forge, and a metalshop. From the 1950s, there were efforts to restore the monastery and it was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1989. On March 31, 1990, then Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod Alexius (later the Patriarch of Moscow) reconsecrated the main church to St. Evfimy.

The convent has the status of a stauropegic monastery (as of a grant from the Holy Synod of 7 October 1995), that is, it is under the direct control of the Patriarch of Moscow rather than of the Archbishop of Novgorod. The current hegumenia is Antonia (Korneeva). There are at present some 15 nuns living at the monastery. Of four churches in the Monastery (St. Evfimy, St. Nicholas, St. John the Divine, and The Church of the Ascension), only one is now a working church, that of St. Evfimy. The rest are still being restored.

Source: Wikipedia

Thanks to Yulia via Postcard United for this  beautiful convent postcard of

Nikolo-Vyazhishchskii and the beautiful stamps!

Sent: 21 Oct   Received: 4 November 2015   Travelled: 14 days

Biserica Neagră

Biserica Neagră or Black Church is a church in Brașov, a city in south-eastern Transylvania, Romania. It was built by the German community of the city and stands as the main Gothic style monument in the country, as well as being the largest and one of the most important Lutheran (Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession in Romania) places of worship in the region.
Completed during the 15th century (soon after 1476), the church belongs to the final stages of Gothic architecture. The result was a three-nave basilica, all the same height, as was preferred during the 15th and 16th centuries in the German lands, where most of the architects and masons originated. Many parts of the building show similarities with the church in Sebeș and St. Michael Church of Cluj-Napoca, as well as with the Dominikánsky kostol in Košice.The design was itself an inspiration for other religious buildings in the region, and it is possible that a stonemason originally employed on the site later worked on the church in Ghimbav.

The structure was partially destroyed during a great fire set by invading Habsburg forces on the April 21, 1689 (during the Great Turkish War). Afterwards, it became known as the Black Church. A large part of the inner structure was modified during the 18th century, breaking with the original design.
Following the fire of 1689, Biserica Neagră was repaired with the help of masons coming from Danzig, as local craftsmen had not mastered the craft of completing the enormous vaults; these were to be completed in Baroque style.
Source: Wikipedia

Thanks to Mihnea for this interior view of the Black Church.

I only saw the outside of the church as I got back only in the evening and 

the church had already closed. The outside was already quite an enjoyable

marvel! Thanks for a trip down memory lane.

Sent: 19 Oct   Received: 3 November 2015   Travelled: 15 days

Granada cathedral

Unlike most cathedrals in Spain, construction of this cathedral had to await the acquisition of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada from its Muslim rulers in 1492; while its very early plans had Gothic designs, such as are evident in the Royal Chapel of Granada by Enrique Egas, the construction of the church in the main occurred at a time when Spanish Renaissance designs were supplanting the Gothic regnant in Spanish architecture of prior centuries. Foundations for the church were laid by the architect Egas starting from 1518 to 1523 atop the site of the city's main mosque; by 1529, Egas was replaced by Diego de Siloé who labored for nearly four decades on the structure from ground to cornice, planning the triforium and five naves instead of the usual three. Most unusually, he created a circular capilla mayor rather than a semicircular apse, perhaps inspired by Italian ideas for circular 'perfect buildings' (e.g. in Alberti's works). Within its structure the cathedral combines other orders of architecture. It took 181 years for the cathedral to be built.

Thanks to Estibaliz for the amazing interior view of Granada Cathedral

Sent: 4 June 2015   Received:18 June 2015   Travelled: 14 days

The Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul

 The Peter and Paul Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox cathedral located inside the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia. It is the first and oldest landmark in St. Petersburg, built between 1712 and 1733 on Zayachy Island along the Neva River. Both the cathedral and the fortress were originally built under Peter the Great and designed by Domenico Trezzini. The cathedral's bell tower is the world's tallest Orthodox bell tower. Since the belfry is not standalone, but an integral part of the main building, the cathedral is sometimes considered the highest Orthodox Church in the world. There is another Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul Church in St. Petersburg, located in Petergof.

Thanks to Svelana via Postcardunited for this lovely night view of the cathedral

and the Europa CEPT Russia Musical Instrument stamp

Sent:7 June 2015   Received: 22 June 2015   Travelled:15 days

Novodevichy Convent

Novodevichy Convent, also known as Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery , is probably the best-known cloister of Moscow. Its name, sometimes translated as the New Maidens' Monastery, was devised to differ from an ancient maidens' convent within the Moscow Kremlin. Unlike other Moscow cloisters, it has remained virtually intact since the 17th century. In 2004, it was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Thanks to Rezeda for this beautiful postcard and stamps from Moscow

Sent: 15 April 2015   Received: 6 May 2015   Travelled: 21 Days

Yosemite

The Yosemite Valley Chapel was built in the Yosemite Valley of California in 1879. It is the oldest standing structure in Yosemite National Park.
The wooden chapel was designed by San Francisco architect Charles Geddes in the Carpenter Gothic style. It was built by Geddes' son-in-law, Samuel Thompson of San Francisco, for the California State Sunday School Association, at a cost of three or four thousand dollars.

The chapel was originally built in the "Lower Village" as called then, its site at the present day trailhead of the Four Mile Trail . The chapel was moved to its present location in 1901, as the old Lower Village dwindled.

Thanks Nathan for this beautiful scenery from Yosemite National Park!

Sent: 28 March 2015   Received: 14 April 2015   Travelled: 17 days

Iloilo,Philippines

The Miagao Church also known as the Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Parish Church is a Roman catholic church located in Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines. It was also called the Miagao Fortress Church since it served as defensive tower of the town against Muslim raids. The church was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on December 11, 1993 together with San Agustin Church in Manila; Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion Church in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur; and San Agustin Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte under the collective title Baroque Churches of the Philippines, a collection of four Baroque Spanish-era churches.

Thanks to Tin from swap-bot for this beautiful rococo church card.

Sent: 9 February 2015   Received: 10 March 2015   Travelled: 29days

Mission Santa Inés

 

Mission Santa Inés  is a Spanish mission in the present-day city of Solvang, California, and named after St. Agnes of Rome. Founded on September 17, 1804 by Father Estévan Tapís of the Franciscan order, the mission site was chosen as a midway point between Mission Santa Barbara and Mission La Purísima Concepción, and was designed to relieve overcrowding at those two missions and to serve the Indians living east of the Coast Range.

The Mission was home to the first learning institution in Alta Californiaand today serves as a museum as well as a parish church of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Thanks to Igor for this scenic landmark!
Sent: 11 February 2015   Received:26.2.15
Travelled: 15 days

German church

Thanks to Joanne for this beautiful church near Greifswald.

Sent:8 January 2015   Received: 20 January 2015   Travelled: 12 days

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is the largest Catholic Marian church in Rome, Italy.
Other churches in Rome dedicated to Mary include Santa Maria in Trastevere, Santa Maria in Aracoeli, and Santa Maria sopra Minerva, but the greater size of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major justifies the adjective by which it is distinguished from the other 25.
According to the 1929 Lateran Treaty, the basilica located in Italian territory is owned by the Holy See and enjoys extraterritorial status similar to that of foreign embassies. The building is patrolled internally by police agents of Vatican City State, not by Italian police. It is located on Piazza del Esquilino, number 34, some five blocks southwest of the Stazione Termini.

Thank you Elisabetta for this Basilica card

Received: 5 September 2014

Vitsebsk

There are a lot of legends in the city of Vitebsk related to the Holy Assumption Cathedral. According to one of them there is an underpass in the temple leading to the Western Dvina River. Although, in fact it was not at all an underpass, but a sort of drainage system, built during the construction of the Holy Assumption Cathedral. Thanks to it the ground waters were removed from the basement of the temple to the Western Dvina River. The height of the vaults was such that one could pass to the utmost.

Thank you Anastasia from Belarus for this card

Sent: 17 June 2014   Received: 15 July 2014  Travelled: 28 days

Hello from St Peterburg

Received from Anastasia and Marina

Sent: 18 September 2014 Received: 8 October 2014 Travelled: 20 days

Winchester Cathedral

 

Winchester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and greatest overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe.[1] Dedicated to the Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and Saint Swithun, it is the seat of the Bishop of Winchester and centre of the Diocese of Winchester.

The cathedral was founded in 642 on a site immediately to the north of the present one. This building became known as the Old Minster. It became part of a monastic settlement in 971. Saint Swithun was buried near the Old Minster and then in it, before being moved to the new Norman cathedral. So-called mortuary chests said to contain the remains of Saxon kings such as King Eadwig of England, first buried in the Old Minster, and his wife Ælfgifu, are also housed in the present cathedral.

 Week 21: 52 weeks exchange (one postcard per week project)

Thanks to Tom for the fun ET and beautiful card of Winchester!

Sent: 19 May 2014   Received: 2 June 2014

Archbasilica of St. John Lateran

 

The Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran , commonly known as St. John Lateran's Archbasilica, St. John Lateran's Basilica, and just The Lateran Basilica, is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope.