Tag: UNESCO

Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu, Mali

The Djinguereber Mosque is a famous learning center of Mali. It was built in 1327, and it is UNESCO World Heritage Site. Timbuktu, where the mosque is located, is an ancient city in the Republic of Mali. It not the capital city, but is one of the regional centers in the country. The city is located on the southern edge of the Sahara desert. Once a major trade center and a known academic spot of the medieval world, today Timbuktu is in uneasy situation because of regional crisis.

Check out the Postcards From Timbuktu project if you’d like a postcard from this special city.

Mali postcard

Mali stamps postmark

Mali postmark

Lake Malawi

Malawi is rather small country in southeastern Africa, and is known as the “Warm Heart of Africa” for its friendly people. Its defining feature is Lake Malawi — the world’s first freshwater national park, Lake Malawi National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The lake takes up 1/5 of country’s area. The country’s landscape showcases the breathtaking Great Rift Valley and majestic Mount Mulanje. Malawi achieved it’s independence from British rule in 1964.

Malawi Postcard

Malawi stamps

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Luxembourg (or The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg) is a small European country, surrounded by Belgium, France and Germany. Here are some cool facts I learned about it: Luxembourg has the lowest population of all the EU countries, but it’s not the smallest one (it is larger that 6 other European countries); the minimum wage is €2,571 per month (2023) (wow), and there are there are over 70 castles there.

Some of the attractions pictured on this postcard are:

  • Grand Ducal Palace
  • Cathedral “Notre-Dame de Luxembourg”
  • The Neumünster Abbey
  • Town Hall and William Square
  • Adolphe Bridge

Luxembourg-postcard

Luxembourg Postmark and Stamp

Qusayr ‘Amra, Jordan

Qusayr ‘Amra was built between 730 – 740 AD. This desert establishment was both a fortress with a garrison and a residence/pleasure palace that comprises a reception hall and hammam, all richly decorated with figurative murals, which depict hunting and dancing scenes as well as craftsmen at work, and represent the transition between Byzantine culture and the new Islamic era. It is located in present-day eastern Jordan.

Qusayr ‘Amra was placed on the World Heritage List in 1985.

Jordan postcard

Jordan stamp postmark

 

The Monastery in Petra, Jordan

Petra is a historic and archaeological city in Jordan, and is famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system. It was inhabited by the Nabataeans, nomadic Arabs, and became their capital by second century BC. UNESCO has described Petra as “one of the most precious cultural properties of man’s cultural heritage”. The Monastery, or Ad Deir, pictured on this postcard, is a monumental building carved out of rock.

Petra Jordan

Jordan postage

Mount Fuji, the sacred symbol of Japan

Mount Fuji has become famous throughout the world and is considered to be the symbol of Japan. It is 3,776 meters tall active volcano located 100 km southwest of Tokyo and is visible from there on clear days. Mount Fuji’s exceptionally symmetrical cone is frequently depicted in art and photography. It is a UNESCO World Heritage List site since 2013.

Japan Mt FujiJapan stamp postmark

Borobudur, Indonesia – the largest Buddhist temple

Borobudur is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Central Java, Indonesia. The temple consists of nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular, topped by a central dome. It is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. The central dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues, each seated inside a perforated stupa. It is the world’s largest Buddhist temple, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Indonesia postcard

Indonesia stamp

The Palace of the Shirvanshahs – Azerbaijan

The Palace of the Shirvanshahs is a 15th-century palace built by the Shirvanshahs – rulers of Shirvan, located in modern Azerbaijan. It is located in the Inner City of Baku, Azerbaijan and, together with the Maiden Tower, forms an ensemble of historic monuments inscribed under the UNESCO World Heritage List of Historical Monuments.

Built on a site inhabited since the Palaeolithic period, the Walled City of Baku reveals evidence of Zoroastrian, Sasanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman, and Russian presence in cultural continuity. The Inner City (Icheri Sheher) has preserved much of its 12th-century defensive walls. The 12th-century Maiden Tower (Giz Galasy) is built over earlier structures dating from the 7th to 6th centuries BC, and the 15th-century Shirvanshahs’ Palace is one of the pearls of Azerbaijan’s architecture.

Azerbaijan postcard

Azerbaijan stamps