Etna Eruption

I am aptly posting this as my friend is getting a volcano tattoo later today :) I have visited the Silvestri Crater twice but the very top (which is a WHS) was not on the schedule. And here is yet another 'special stamp'! GPS (Global Postal Service) puts 'no Italy' on the stamp, which probably means it is international postage but still, looks funny. If you try googling it, there are tons of advice not to use it, and again because it's too darn slow to arrive. I really have no idea as I wasn't home to receive them...and again sadly no cancellation. But there is always an up-side, and in this case its the matching theme :) I have posted about Etna before so here is just a photo in addition.

Asino Amiatino, Italy

And good morning to you on this fine drizzly sunday morning, perfect for celebrating the International Sweatpants Day :D And for posting this cutie :) Grazie goes to Luca and Raffaella, who got this card on their holiday in Tuscany.

The Amiatina or Italian: Asino dell'Amiata is a breed of donkey from Tuscany in central Italy. It is one of the eight autochthonous donkey breeds of limited distribution recognised by the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, the Italian ministry of agriculture and forestry. It is a strong and rustic breed, capable of foraging on harsh marginal terrain. 

UNESCO - Syracuse, Italy

The full name of this UNESCO site would be Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica which therefore consists of two separate elements, but I have only a postcard showing one of them.

Ancient Syracuse includes the nucleus of the city’s foundation as Ortygia by Greeks from Corinth in the 8th century BC. The site of the city, which Cicero described as ‘the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of all’. Many remains bear witness to the troubled history of Sicily, from the Byzantines to the Bourbons, interspersed with the Arabo-Muslims, the Normans, Frederick II of the Hohenstaufen dynasty (1197–1250), the Aragons and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Historic Syracuse offers a unique testimony to the development of Mediterranean civilization over three millennia.

Even though this postcard was swapped for, I have been lucky enough to visit Syracuse while we were in port in Catania (this was a turbulent cruise due to bad weather conditions, the route pretty much changed as we went - we had to skip Venice, Kotor and Ravenna (three UNESCO spots right there!) and got an overnight in Catania instead) as I had enough free time to catch a train and have a walk around town - though I could have easily spent many more hours roaming the streets of this lovely place. In the end I was still in a sort of a rush...here is the cathedral square, so spacious and neat :)

Piazza Dei Miracoli, Pisa, Italy

The name Piazza dei Miracoli was coined by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele d'Annunzio who, in his novel Forse che sì forse che no (1910), described the square as the "prato dei Miracoli," or "meadow of miracles".

 It is better known as Piazza Del Duomo, and I have already written about it here. As I have been here while working on the ship here is a little reminder - as a tour escort I had access to the cathedral but not the tower. There was a tiny bit of free time but not enough to explore the rest of Pisa - and there was a lot to see, judging from what could be glimpsed from onboard a tourist train.

Grazie Chiara :) 

Castelsardo, Sardinia

A beautiful little town on the northwest coast of Sardinia, Castelsardo is situated within the Province of Sassari, at the east end of the Gulf of Asinara. Archaeological excavations have showed the human presence in the area of Castelsardo since pre-Nuragic and Nuragic times, as well as during the Roman domination in Sardinia. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the monastery of Nostra Signora di Tergu was founded nearby, but the current town originates from the castle built here, in 1102 (or 1270), by the Doria family of Genoa.

Gorgeous, grazie Margherita!

 

Piazza San Marco In Venice

I am starting work in a few weeks and I am trying to think of a short route to travel before then...One idea is Venice, so close and so popular and yet I haven't managed to go there yet! As inspiration, a view of the famous San Marco Square, sent by Ellis, grazie :)

Buon Appetito From Piedmont!

The Xmas and New Year's celebrations are behind us, the time when we inevitably gain a few pounds because of all the fine foods we treat ourselves with...But we shall continue with at least a visual immersion into the world's gourmet delights :) Here represented the Langhe wine region in northern Italy's Piedmont. Cheese and wine, mmmm....thank you Gianluca :)

UNESCO - Historic Centre Of San Gimignano, Italy

'San Gimignano delle belle Torri' is in Tuscany, 56 km south of Florence. It served as an important relay point for pilgrims travelling to or from Rome on the Via Francigena. The patrician families who controlled the town built around 72 tower-houses (some as high as 50 m) as symbols of their wealth and power. Within the walls, the well-preserved buildings include notable examples of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with outstanding examples of secular buildings as well as churches.

Grazie mille Chiara :)

 

Long-Ears From Sardegna

A beautiful donkey from the italian island, received a while ago while i was still active on the PC forum. In fact, I've decided today to check again what is happening there, and already arranged a few swaps :) On the other hand, still the same people participating in tags :/ Not to be mean, but so much going on in the no-view-cards department I often have no means to participate. In any case, this fella came to me through a wishlist tag, good times! Isabella used an interesting kind of stamp too, grazie :)

UNESCO - Su Nuraxi Di Barumini, Italy

During the late 2nd millennium B.C. in the Bronze Age, a special type of defensive structure known as nuraghi (for which no parallel exists anywhere else in the world) developed on the island of Sardinia. The complex consists of circular defensive towers in the form of truncated cones built of dressed stone, with corbel-vaulted internal chambers. The complex at Barumini, which was extended and reinforced in the first half of the 1st millennium under Carthaginian pressure, is the finest and most complete example of this remarkable form of prehistoric architecture.

I love learning about such unique places, perhaps it would take me much longer to even hear about them if it wasn't for (unesco)postcrossing...grazie Selina :)

UNESCO - Mount Etna, Italy

Mount Etna is the highest Mediterranean island mountain (Sicily) and the most active stratovolcano in the world. World Heritage Site (19,237 ha) comprises the most strictly protected and scientifically important area of Mount Etna, and forms part of the Parco dell’Etna Regional Nature Park. The eruptive history of the volcano can be traced back 500,000 years and at least 2,700 years of this activity has been documented, making its notoriety, scientific importance, and cultural and educational value of global significance.

I love the contrast between the constructive and destructive force of nature, with very feeble line to divide them. I think it shows just how fragile and uncertain this world is. Great matching stamp, was so thrilled to get this for my collection! Grazie Daniele:))

Detail From Damanhur Temple

The Federation of Damahunr, often called simply Damanhur, is a commune, ecovillage, and spiritual community situated in the Piedmont region of northern Italy about 30 miles (50 km) north of the city of Turin. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the Chiusella Valley, bordering on the Gran Paradiso National Park. The community has its own constitution and currency, the Credito.

On the photo is a detail of the glass dome in the Hall of Mirrors. Great colours!

A dear friend went there and gave me an insight into this interesting world :)

UNESCO - Historic Centre Of Florence, Italy

Firenze is the symbol of the Renaissance, a city that rose to economic and cultural pre-eminence under the Medici in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its 600 years of extraordinary artistic activity can be seen in the work of great masters such as Giotto, Brunelleschi, Botticelli and Michelangelo.

 

The spiritual focus of the city is the Cathedral Piazza of Santa Maria del Fiore, begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi.

 

Basilica Of Saint Anthony Of Padua, Italy

To fill up the void of the days off, an oldie showing an aerial view of the grand basilica in Padua.

Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto region, northern Italy - and its Pontifical Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua is a place of pilgrimage by people from all over the world. The construction of the Basilica probably began around 1232, just one year after the death of St. Anthony, and was completed in 1310. I visited on a school trip some...18 years ago, ouch. Difficult to even remember! :)

Sirmione, Italy

My niece sent me a surprise card from a trip to Italy's largest lake Lago di Garda - a little town Sirmione boasts a 13th century castle with a rare example of medieval port fortification. I hope this is just one of many trips she'll take in the future xD

Trajan's Forum In Rome, SMOM Stamps

 

Sure any view of the ancient remains in Rome is splendid, but the reason why I love this postcard are the stamps and cancellation(s) - the Sovereign Military Order of Malta issues its own, and I am thankful to Luca that he added them to my collection! xD

UNESCO - Sacri Monti of Piedmont And Lombardy, Italy

 

Sacro Monte di Ghiffa is a Roman Catholic devotional complex in the comune of Ghiffa, overlooking the Lake Maggiore. It is one of the nine Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy. The postcard shows the Crowning of Mary Chapel on the left and the St. John the Baptist Chapel and Sanctuary in the background.

This is one of those cases when it just feels wrong to cross a Unesco site off the list, because I have only one of the nine included sites..! Maybe one day I will extend my list to include all the 'sub-sites' but for now I will leave it as it is, as I have many more of the 'ordinary' ones to collect...

Thank you Gosia :)

Piazza di Spagna, Rome, Italy

I have many great views of Rome but this one is probably one of the most stunning ones - an aerial view of the Spanish Steps, the widest stairway in Europe built in the 18th century. Now I was ready to put this under Unesco, but I am not sure it qualifies. A surprise card from a friend who was visiting her family in Rome :)

Isle Of Capri, Italy

Capri is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. It has been a resort since the time of the Roman Republic, and became most popular in the 1950's.

The picture shows Faraglioni, the three stacks located off the island's south coast. Their names are Stella Mezzo and Scopolo (the outermost one). Fantastic blue sea eh?! Thank you sis :))

Mount Vesuvius, Italy

Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in Italy about 9 kilometres east of Naples. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years - the last major eruption happening in 1944 when it destroyed the villages of San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, Massa di Somma and Ottaviano. Its most famous eruption is surely the one from 79 AD, one of the most cathastrophic ones of all time - when the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum were obliterated by the pyroclastic flows.

I remember being so envious of my sister (well i still am actually..!) when she talked of walking the rim of the mighty crater. One day, yes, one day...:)