Tag Archives: Unesco

Київ – Kiev

By ilyani | Published 2 June, 2009

Whoa, suddenly I received many Ukraine postcards lately.. especially from the capital Kiev. I said suddenly because, I got the first Kiev postcard back in 2006, knowing that it’s one of the rare countries in Postcrossing it wouldn’t be surprising not to receive many cards from there.. but after a long break, I received at least 3 Ukraine cards this year!

From Katjafin. This fairytale castle-like monastery is the Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Kiev Monastery of the Caves), built in 1015.. and together with the Saint-Sophia Cathedral, it’s listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The word “lavra” is used to describe high-ranking monasteries for (male) monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church. This monastery is also one of The Seven Wonders of Ukraine.. wow, I wonder if there exists such a list as Seven Wonders of Malaysia :P I will investigate on it soon…

From Meleu. Another view from another side of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.. I can’t really put the two images together.. each gives a different color and atmosphere but at least you can guess this is one of the towers with the golden domes :)

From Anna. This is also part of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra… the Great Lavra Belltower!! This belltower measures 96.5 m tall and was the highest during its construction in 1731–1745.

From Orange_dreamer. More views of Kiev. Small pics from left: 1) Princess Olga monument. 2) Kiev cable railway 3) the Bohdan Khmelnytsky monument. And picture below shows the Mychael’s square.

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Historic bridges in Bosnia-Herzegovina

By ilyani | Published 25 May, 2009

Another new country… at least for this blog. I was meaning to feature Sarajevo postcards for my first entry for Bosnia-Herzegovina, but hmm I had so many things in my mind about Sarajevo I don’t even know where to start. So let’s keep them aside first and have a look at these significant historical bridges in this country, and apparently they’re both listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites of BiH.

From Jasmina. I just love this bridge and and its glory with the old house buildings.. they look really beautiful at night! The Stari Most (“Old bridge”) was built in the 16th century when Mostar became the chief administrative city for the Ottoman Empire in the Herzegovina region. The bridge stood for 427 years, until it was destroyed in 1993 during the Bosnian civil war. Then the bridge was reconstructed to its current from in 2001-2004.

This is the Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad across the Drina River. It was built by by an Ottoman grand vizier, Mehmed Paša Sokolović in 1571 (hence the name). It was severely damaged during both World Wars and got temporary repairs and reconstructed in stone in the early 1950s. Being almost 500 years old, the bridge is fragile and now closed for traffic when it became UNESCO Heritage site.

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South Africa

By ilyani | Published 25 May, 2009

My few postcards from South Africa are rather random so I’m just making a general first entry for this country.

From Sandy. A breathtaking view of the Drakensberg Mountain Park.. which is the highest mountain range in South Africa rising to 3,482 metres. This park is listed among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in this country.

From Chat_Noir. He went to Cape Town in 2006 and brough back these great postcards for us! This postcard of Nelson Mandela‘s cell rather gets my attention in a way that it’s related to someone really well-known, especially who has fought his life for a good cause. Mandela spent 19 of this 27 years of imprisonment in this cell number 5 in the Robben Island. And it’s definitely worth it, as he became the first democratically elected President of South Africa afterwards.

From Chat_Noir. Another lovely postcard showing the whole essence of Cape Town: 1) The Cape Point is the most southern tip of the African continent and the point where the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean meets. 2) Beach view with the Table Mountain in sight. 3) The Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and 4) the V&A Waterfront.

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