Lefkoşa, the capital of Northern Cyprus

Postcard

North Nicosia, Lefkoşa in Turkish, is the capital and largest city of the 'de facto' state of Northern Cyprus. Divided between the Republican South and the Turkish-occupied North, the city is the world's last divided capital.

The main square in the centre of Lefkosa is Atatürk Square.

Stamp

2015 Europa stamp, Old Toys is this year’s theme. 

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Guia lighthouse | Macau

Postcard

The Guia Fortress in Macau is a 17th-century colonial military fort, chapel, and lighthouse complex. The 90 metres tall lighthouse is over 150 years old and is still functioning today.

The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Macau. 

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Lighthouses in South Australia

Postcard

Seven lighthouses are featured on this postcard: Cape Spencer, Cape du Couedic, Cape Willoughby, West Cape, Port Adelaide, Cape Borda and Corny Point. All located in South Australia.

 

The lighthouse in the centre of the card is Cape du Couedic Light, located on Kangaroo Island, Australia’s third largest island after Tasmania and Melville.  

Stamps

100 Years of Commonwealth Management of Lighthouses. The stamp issues feature four historic and architecturally diverse Australian lighthouses.  

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Australian lighthouses

Postcard

These are actually four different postcards (maxicards) depicting the following lighthouses. Clockwise: North Reef lighthouse (1878) off the Queensland coast, Cape Byron lighthouse (1901), Cape Leeuwin lighthouse (1896) and Tasman Island lighthouse (1906).

It is estimated that there are over 350 'light houses' in Australia - all built in the last 200 years.

Stamp

A matching stamp on the front of each card.

                                                                                                                 Thx Steve!

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The tallest water fountain in the world | Saudi Arabia

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King Fahd's Fountain is the tallest of its type in the world. The fountain ejects water to a height of 300 meters! The fountain is located on the coast of the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

On the left you see Jeddah’s water tower. 

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The Spanish Steps in Rome | Italy

Postcard

The Spanish Steps is a monumental stairway of 135 steps you have to climb to reach the Trinità dei Monti church. 

The square at the bottom of the steps is the Piazza di Spagna.

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The last divided capital in the world: Nicosia | Cyprus

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Nicosia is the capital and largest city on the island of Cyprus. 

The city is the capital of both North and South Cyprus. Divided between the Republican South and the Turkish-occupied North, the city is the world's last divided capital.

Stamp

2015 Europa stamp, Old Toys.

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North Korea Postcard

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Propaganda: the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.

"North and South Korea on Alert Over Loudspeakers Blaring Propaganda

AUG. 21, 2015

After a period of calm — or relative calm, at least — along the heavily militarized border between North and South Korea, both sides were back on alert Friday. The unlikely cause: Loudspeakers.

 North Korea said Friday morning that its leader, Kim Jong-un, had ordered military units to be ready to attack loudspeakers near the border that the South has used in recent days to blare propaganda messages."

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Birgu Waterfront | Malta

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Birgu, also known as Vittoriosa, is an old fortified city in Malta. Together with the two other fortified cities Senglea and Cospicua known as the Three Cities.

 

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World War 1 Centenary 2014, Floriana Hospital. Part of a set of three stamps depicting military hospitals.

During that war a total of 27 hospitals and camps were set-up across Malta to accommodate thousands of wounded Allied servicemen. This activity earned Malta the title: ‘Nurse of the Mediterranean.’

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The Mausoleum of Mauretania | Algeria

Postcard

Tipasa, a city near the Algerian coast, was an ancient Punic trading-post conquered by the Romans and turned into a strategic base for the conquest of the kingdoms of Mauritania.

The mausoleum of the Mauritanian Royal Family is an archaeological site located in the surroundings of Tipasa. The Mausoleum is the tomb where king and queen of Mauretania are buried. Tipas is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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Château d'If | France

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Château d'If is a fortress located on the French island of If, the smallest island in the Frioul archipelago situated in the Mediterranean Sea, near Marseille. The Chateau d'If was used to imprison political dissidents from 1580 until 1871. 

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Tai O Village on Lantau Island | Hong Kong

Postcard

Tai O Village is home to the Tanka people, a community of fishermen who have built their houses on stilts above the tidal flats of Lantau Island for generations. These unusual structures are interconnected, forming a tightly-knit community that literally lives on the water.  

Stamps

The stamp on the left is part of a large set of definitives, issued 2014. Hong Kong is known as an international metropolis of skyscrapers. The stamps showing the countryside. This stamp is about the special features of Hong Kong’s Port Island.

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Lofoten Islands | Norway

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Lofoten is an archipelago in northern Norway, located within the Arctic Circle. The archipelago is known for a distinctive scenery with mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. Winter scenery right out of a fairy tale, as you can see on the postcard picturing Hamnøy village.

Stamp

The stamp is part of a set of two bird stamps issued 2015 and shows the European Crested Tit. This bird is a widespread and common resident breeder in coniferous forests throughout central and northern Europe.

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Virunga National Park | DR Congo

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Virunga National Park is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The park, founded in 1925, is home to the mountain gorillas living in the forests of the Virunga Mountains.

The park is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1979.

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The President of DR Congo since 2001, Joseph Kabila (1971).

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Fort Jesus, Mombasa | Kenya

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Fort Jesus is a Portuguese fort built between 1593 and 1596 located on Mombasa Island to guard the Old Port of Mombasa. The fort is one of the most outstanding and well preserved examples of 16th-century Portuguese military fortifications. Fort Jesus is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2011.

Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya, with a population of about 1.3 million. The city is built on an island and connected to the mainland by two causeways.

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African Fish Eagle. The stamp is part of a series of bird stamps issued in 2014. 

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Lomé, capital city of Togo

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Lomé, with a population of 840,000 is the capital and largest city of Togo.

“Once known as the Paris of West Africa, Lomé is one of the continent's most charming cities. Attractive and safe, the capital of Togo is loved for its craft markets, broad boulevards, vibrant nightlife and palm-fringed beaches.”

 

The building in the middle is ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development headquarters. In front of that the West African Development Bank. 

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Philipsburg, capital of Sint Maarten

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Philipsburg is the main town and capital of the country of Sint Maarten. The town has a population of about 1,400. Sint Maarten is a ‘constituent country’ of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Sint Maarten and its French counterpart Saint Martin are both sides of the same island.

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Allure of the Seas is the world's largest passenger cruise ship. With a capacity of about 6,000  passengers (16 passenger decks!) and 2,300 crew. 

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Marigot, capital of Saint Martain

Postcard

Marigot is the main town and capital on the French side of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. The town has a population of about 5,800.

 

Originally a fishing village on a swamp for which it was named, Marigot was made capital during the reign of King Louis XVI, who built Fort St. Louis on a hill near Marigot Bay. You can see the fort on top of the hill (bottom left picture on the postcard).

Stamp

Unfortunately no cancellation. 

Thank you Denise!

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Bornholm Island | Denmark

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Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea. The main industries on the island include fishing, arts and crafts like glass making and pottery using locally worked clay, and dairy farming. About 40,000 people live on this island.

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2015 Europa stamp. This year’s theme is Old Toys.

Lego has been around since 1949!    

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Mesa Verde Cliff Palace | USA

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Mesa Verde National Park contains more than 4000 known archeological sites. Mesa Verde, meaning ‘green table’ is a remarkably well-preserved prehistoric settlement landscape of the Ancestral Puebloan culture, which lasted for almost nine hundred years from c. 450 to 1300. 

The Mesa Verde Cliff Palace is the largest and most famous cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park. It has over 150 individual rooms and more than 20 rooms for religious rituals. All made of sandstone, wooden beams and mortar.

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Prehistoric site at Newgrange | Ireland

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Within a few days I received two postcards depicting the 5,000 year old monuments in Newgrange, Ireland. One postcrossing official and one direct swap. (See also previous post). 

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Archaeological Ensemble of the Bend of the Boyne | Ireland

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Newgrange is a Stone Age monument in the Boyne Valley, County Meath, Ireland. The large Passage Tomb was built about 3200 BC during the Neolithic period, which means it is older than Stonehenge and Great Pyramids of Giza.  

Stamps

The 68c stamp is part of a set of two Europa stamps 2015, Old Toys.

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Struve Geodetic Arc | Belarus

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The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through ten countries and over 2,820 km. This helped to calculate the exact size and shape of the planet and marked an important step in the development of earth sciences and topographic mapping. The Struve is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites since 2005.

The 19 topographic points of the Struve Geodetic Arc in Belarus are located in 5 places.

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Postcrossing stamp, issued 2014.

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Jefferson's Little Mountain | USA

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Monticello was the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826), the third President of the United States (from 1801–1809).

Monticello together with nearby University of Virginia is a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

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Auschwitz-Birkenau | Poland

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Konzentrationslager Auschwitz was the largest of the German Nazi concentration camps and extermination centers. Over 1.1 million men, women and children lost their lives here.

Today the camp is a dominant symbol of the Holocaust. Over a million people visited the Auschwitz Memorial in the first seven months of 2015.

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Villa Tugendhat | Czech Republic

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Villa Tugendhat is a historical building in Brno, Czech Republic. The villa was built between 1928 and 1930 for Fritz and Greta Tugendhat, and designed by the German architect Mies van der Rohe. 

He was one of the principal architects in the development of the Modern Movement in architecture, which characterized design and construction in the 1920s and 1930s in Europe and North America. 

Stamps

A matching stamp!

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