29th June 2023: La Rochelle, France

La Rochelle is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. In the 16th century La Rochelle adopted Protestant ideas and soon became a centre of the Huguenots. Due to this La Rochelle was besieged for 14 months by Cardinal Richelieu in 1627/28 after which the Huguenots lost most of their privileges. The siege forms much of the backdrop to the later chapters of Alexandre Dumas' novel The Three Musketeers.

Thank You very much William!

24th May 2023: Kabuki-za, Japan

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese theatre mixing dramatic performance with traditional dance. It is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Thought to have originated in the early Edo period, the art form later developed into its present all-male theatrical form. Kabuki reached its zenith in the mid-18th century. In 2008 Kabuki Theatre was inscribed in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Kabuki-za in Ginza is the principal theater in Tokyo for this traditional art form.

Thank You very much Keiko!

16th May 2023: Syracuse, Italy

Syracuse is a historic city on Sicily. The city is notable for its rich Greek and Roman history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace and home of the pre-eminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in ancient times, when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean World. The city was founded by Ancient Greek Corinthians and Teneans and became a very powerful city-state. Described by Cicero as "the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all", it equaled Athens in size during the fifth century BC. It later became part of the Roman Republic and the Byzantine Empire. Under Emperor Constans II, it served as the capital of the Byzantine Empire (663–669). Palermo later overtook it in importance, as the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily. Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica are since 2005 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Thank You very much William!

5th July 2022: Edo period Writing Box from the Tokyo National Museum, Japan

The Tokyo National Museum was founded in 1872 and is the oldest and largest museum in Japan as well as one of the largest and most visited museums in the World. The museum collects, preserves and displays a comprehensive collection of artwork and cultural objects from Asia with a focus on ancient and medieval Japanese art and Asian art along the Silk Road. It holds about 10% of the works of art and crafts designated as National Treasures.

One of the wonderful Pokemon stamps were used on the card. The Butterfree on the stamp, the postmark and the design on the writing box form a nice combination. 

 Thank You very much Simon!

10th June 2022: Vytautas the Great War Museum in Kaunas, Lithuania

The Vytautas the Great War Museum was opened in 1921, but moved to its current location in the 1930s. The current building was erected in Art Deco and early functionalism style during the time of the First Lithuanian Republic, when Kaunas was the country's temporary capital, as Vilnius had been occupied by Poland in 1920. At the interwar period Kaunas became the only European city representing large scale urbanization and versatile modernism architecture. As part of Modernist Kaunas: Architecture of Optimism, 1919-1939, is the museum since 2023 on the UNESCO World Heritage List, back in 2015 it was already one of 44 objects in Kaunas to receive the European Heritage Label.

I got this postal card celebrating the museum's centenary as part of a stamp order from Lithuania.

Turkey: Dolmabahçe Palace

On 27th April I got nine postcards: three from Turkey, four from Germany and two from Austria.

One of the cards from Turkey shows the Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul. The Dolmabahçe Palace was built between 1843 and 1856 at the behest of Sultan Abdülmecid I. It replaced the medieval Topkapı Palace as official residence, which according to the sultan was lacking in contemporary style, luxury, and comfort, as compared to the palaces of the European monarchs. The construction however placed an enormous burden on the state purse and contributed to the deteriorating financial situation of the Ottoman Empire. Between 1856 and 1924 the palace was home to six sultans and afterwards Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey, used the palace as a presidential residence during the summers, enacted some of his most important works there and even died in the palace in 1938.

Three stamps were used on the card. Two identical ones are from a set of six about Postal Buildings (issued 22-02-2016) and show the Post Office of Izmir. The other stamp is from a souvenir sheet with three stamps about Traditional Gastronomy (issued 13-07-2020). It is an Euromed issue.

Thank You very much Marcel!

Turkey: Derinkuyu Underground City

On 27th April I got nine postcards: three from Turkey, four from Germany and two from Austria.

One of the cards from Turkey shows the Derinkuyu Underground City. The Derinkuyu Underground City is an ancient multi-level underground city extending to a depth of approximately 85 metres. It is large enough to have sheltered as many as 20000 people together with their livestock and food stores. Most likely the underground city was first created in the 8th and 7th century BC. After the Christianisation of the population it was used until as late as the 20th century as an refuge from persecutions. It is the largest excavated underground city in Turkey and is one of several underground complexes found throughout Cappadocia, some of which are linked by tunnels. As part of the Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia it is since 1985 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Three stamps were used on the card. Two identical ones are from a set of six about Postal Buildings (issued 22-02-2016) and show the Post Office of Izmir. The other stamp is from a souvenir sheet with three stamps about Traditional Gastronomy (issued 13-07-2020). It is an Euromed issue.

Thank You very much Marcel!

Sun Science, TV Early Memories and UNESCO in Mexico

Well, once again I am three months behind with uploading my mail. I hope to get back on track at least a bit, but I do not think it will happen soon. After finishing my studies last year, I have moved and started a job that keeps me busy, so I have basically stopped everything connected to postcards and stamps. But to post at least once (or hopefully a bit more soon) this month after a hiatus since January, let's look at this set of five covers from the USA. The first four arrived on the last two days of 2021 and the last took until the 12th January. Two complete stamp sets are used here and they all got hand cancelled. The first is the brilliant set called Sun Science (issued 18-06-2021). These stamps were created in cooperation with NASA and show images of the sun from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, a spacecraft launched in February 2010 to keep a constant watch on the sun from geosynchronous orbit above Earth. They are printed with a foil treatment to make them glimmer. A wonderful stamp set to look at! The other set is called TV Early Memories (issued 11-08-2009) and shows some of the most famous TV shows of all time. Many of these still have a big impact on popular culture although they first screened decades ago. 

In the covers was this complete set of cards with of Mexico's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Yes, you read right, ALL of them. Just by looking at them you can get an impression about what a diverse country Mexico is. You can see cultural remnants of multiple centuries as well as striking nature. 

Thank You very much Sam-Quito!