Teotihuacan, Mexico

The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC, with major monuments continuously under construction until about AD 250.The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD, but its major monuments were sacked and systematically burned around 550 AD. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population estimated at 125,000 or more,making it at minimum the sixth largest city in the world during its epoch.Teotihuacan began as a new religious center in the Mexican Highland around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the New World. Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population.The term Teotihuacan (or Teotihuacano) is also used for the whole civilization and cultural complex associated with the site.

Thanks to Martha for this postcard of Teotihuacan! I love historical places :)

Hope someday to be able to visit this place.

Sent: 25 April 2015   Received: 13 May 2015   Travelled: 18 days

Copan, Honduras

Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It was the capital city of a major Classic period kingdom from the 5th to 9th centuries AD. The city was located in the extreme southeast of the Mesoamerican cultural region, on the frontier with the Isthmo-Colombian cultural region, and was almost surrounded by non-Maya peoples.

Copán was a powerful city ruling a vast kingdom within the southern Maya area. The city suffered a major political disaster in AD 738 when Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil, one of the greatest kings in Copán's dynastic history, was captured and executed by his former vassal, the king of Quiriguá. This unexpected defeat resulted in a 17-year hiatus at the city, during which time Copán may have been subject to Quiriguá in a reversal of fortunes.

Yippee! So happy to have this historical site of Honduras come into my mailbox!

Special thanks to Ale for this great card, from her visit to Copan. Muchas gracias!

Sent: 25 June 2014   Received: 5 August 2014   Travelled: 41 days

Jerusalem

 

Back of card: Jerusalem, the Old City

Jerusalem, located on a plateau in the Judean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, is one of the oldest cities in the world. It is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

 

In this card you can see the Western Wall,which is the last remaining artifact of the temple that was destroyed in 70 BC by the Romans. You can also see the Muslim mosque.

Thank you Hanna for the explanations and the card!

Canal of Amsterdam

 

Amsterdam's name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the city's origin as a dam of the river Amstel. Originating as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age, a result of its innovative developments in trade. During that time, the city was the leading center for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned and built. The 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam

 

Thank you Mari-ar from Amsterdam for this view of the 17th and 18th century buildings! :)

 

Sent: 30 September 2013

Received: 11 October 2013

Travelled: 11 days

Miletus

Miletus was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria. Its ruins are located near the modern town of Balat in Aydin Province, Turkey. Before the Persian invasion in the middle of the 6th century BC, Miletus was considered the greatest and wealthiest of Greek cities.In other sources however it is mentioned that the city was much more modest up until the Peloponnesian War (431 BCE-404 BCE), when the city state of Samos for example on the island of Samos opposite Miletus was considered a larger and more important city and harbor at the time. Miletus's greatest wealth and splendor was reached during the Hellenistic era (323 BCE-30 BCE) and later Roman times.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yay! So happy to have an ancient Greek ruin from Turkey.

The closest to seeing an ancient city was my trip to Rome and Pompeii

last year with my sister. I hope one day to be able to see Turkey in depth

for its ancient history. Thank you Aysin for this amazing card!

Sent: 28 February 2013   Received: 14 March 2013   Travelled: 14 days

Pisa

Yay my first postcard of Italy sent from the US.

I went to Italy last year but did not visit Pisa, (too late in the evening to catch the train so I headed straight to Florence)

 

Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower (the bell tower of the city's cathedral), the city of over 88,332 residents (around 200,000 with the metropolitan area) contains more than 20 other historic churches, several palaces and various bridges across the River Arno. Much of the city's architecture was financed from its history as one of the Italian maritime republics.
The city is also home of the University of Pisa, which has a history going back to the 12th century and also has the mythic Napoleonic Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies as the best[citation needed] Superior Graduate Schools in Italy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisa

 

Thank you Dianna! 

Sent: 24 January 2013
Received: 14 February 2013
Travelled: 21 days