Russia - Rock Paintings of Shulgan-Tash Cave (2025)

"Located in the Southern Ural Mountains of Bashkortostan, the Shulgan-Tash Cave contains extensive Late Palaeolithic rock art. Set within a karst massif near the Belaya and Shulgan Rivers, it features large halls and deep chambers across two levels. The paintings depict steppe fauna—mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, bison, horses, and a Bactrian camel—alongside anthropomorphic figures, abstract signs, and geometric motifs like the “Kapova trapezoids.” Archaeological finds offer insights into the artistic process and domestic life of its prehistoric inhabitants."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Shulgan-Tash Cave, Bashkortostan in Southern Urals, Russia. A UNESCO World Heritage Site. Thanks to hidalgo of Spain.

Belgium - Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai

"The Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Tournai was built in the first half of the 12th century. It is especially distinguished by a Romanesque nave of extraordinary dimensions, a wealth of sculpture on its capitals and a transept topped by five towers, all precursors of the Gothic style. The choir, rebuilt in the 13th century, is in the pure Gothic style." 

Source: UNESCO World Heritage.

Postcard 1
Another Belgium UNESCO World Heritage site - Cathedrale Notre-Dame in Tourni. A beautiful nightview card with the UNESCO logo. Thanks to Gilles of Belgium.

Postcard 2
Aerial view of Tournal, Belgium showing the Belfry and the Cathedral. Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Thanks to Gerda of Belgium.

Syria - Ancient City of Damascus

"Founded in the 3rd millennium B.C., Damascus is one of the oldest cities in the Middle East. In the Middle Ages, it was the centre of a flourishing craft industry, specializing in swords and lace. The city has some 125 monuments from different periods of its history – one of the most spectacular is the 8th-century Great Mosque of the Umayyads, built on the site of an Assyrian sanctuary." 

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

Postcard 1
Omayad Mosque of Damascus built in 705 AD. Thanks to Farah of Egypt who was visiting.






Postcard 2
Azem Palace, Damascus, Syria. This is a postcard that I have received a long time ago before I started to collect postcards. Thanks to Tamin for sending me this postcard.

Postcard 3
Umayyad Mosque of Damascus. It is the Great Mosque and part of UNESCO World Heritage Site. This postcard was mailed from Taiwan - thanks to Chiao.

Uzbekistan - Tashkent Modernist Architecture. Modernity and Tradition in Central Asia (2026)

"The property embodies a representative ensemble of ten modernist buildings and urban complexes constructed between the 1960s and early 1990s, a formative period in the reconstruction and transformation of Tashkent following the 1966 earthquake. The series includes museums, exhibition halls, hotels, residential ensembles, cultural institutions, and scientific or infrastructural facilities, reflecting the broad functional spectrum of late‑Soviet architectural production. Nine out of ten component parts are situated along the newly planned urban axes of the reconstructed city centre, as defined in successive masterplans that reshaped Tashkent into a modern socialist metropolis. Together, they articulate the city’s principal public spaces and demonstrate the integration of modernist planning principles with local climatic, seismic, and cultural conditions. Collectively, the serial property illustrates a distinct phase of architectural modernism characterised by industrialised construction, seismic‑resilient engineering, and the adaptation of standardised systems to regional materials, traditions, and environmental constraints."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Chor-Su Bazaar in Tashkent in modernist style architecture that is part of UNESCO World Heritage Site. Thanks to hildago of Spain.

India - Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath (2026)

"The serial property contains the architectural and archaeological remains of Sarnath, the sacred site where the Buddha is believed to have delivered his first sermon in the 6th century BCE and met his earliest disciples. Identified by the Buddha himself as one of the four principal Buddhist pilgrimage sites, Sarnath grew over many centuries through royal, monastic, and lay patronage, resulting in the construction of numerous stupas, temples, and viharas. After flourishing as a major Buddhist centre, Sarnath declined in the 12th century CE and fell into obscurity until its rediscovery in the 18th century. Today preserved as two archaeological zones, it remains both an important tourist destination and a revived pilgrimage site for Buddhists worldwide."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Postcard 1

Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath is India UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 2026. Thanks to Gururaj of India.

Postcard 2
Nice postcard of Buddhist Site of Sarnath - a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Thanks to Tirtha of India.

New Zealand - Sub-Antarctic Islands

"The New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands consist of five island groups (the Snares, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands and Campbell Island) in the Southern Ocean south-east of New Zealand. The islands, lying between the Antarctic and Subtropical Convergences and the seas, have a high level of productivity, biodiversity, wildlife population densities and endemism among birds, plants and invertebrates. They are particularly notable for the large number and diversity of pelagic seabirds and penguins that nest there. There are 126 bird species in total, including 40 seabirds of which five breed nowhere else in the world." 

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

Postcard 1 Enderby Island - Auckland Islads
Coastal vegetation of Enderby Island, Auckland Islands is New Zealand Sub Antarctic Islands UNESCO World Heritage site. Many old NZ stamps used. Thanks to Jodine of Christchurch, New Zealand.

Postcard 2
Postcard received showing a stream and natural vegetation of Auckland Islands.

Postcard 3 - Snares Island
Snares Crested Penguins in Northwest Island, Snares Islands, New Zealand. Thanks to Jodine of South Island, New Zealand.

Postcard 4 - Snares Islands
New Zealand Fur Seal amongst kelp, Northwest Island, Snares Island. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Thanks to Jodine of Christchurch, New Zealand.

Postcard 5 - Campbell Island
Bulbinella and Anisotome megaherbs along Campbell Islad coastline, Sub Antarctic Islands. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Thanks to Jodine of Christchurch, New Zealand.

Albania - Austria - Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Czechia - France - Germany - Italy - North Macedonia - Poland - Romania - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Switzerland - Ukraine Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe

"This transboundary property stretches over 12 countries. Since the end of the last Ice Age, European Beech spread from a few isolated refuge areas in the Alps, Carpathians, Dinarides, Mediterranean and Pyrenees over a short period of a few thousand years in a process that is still ongoing. The successful expansion across a whole continent is related to the tree’s adaptability and tolerance of different climatic, geographical and physical conditions.

The extension of the transnational World Heritage serial site of Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe by ten European countries adds to the outstanding universal value and integrity of the property, which now comprises 94 component parts across 18 countries. The extended property represents an outstanding example of relatively undisturbed, complex temperate forests and exhibit a wide spectrum of comprehensive ecological patterns and processes of pure and mixed stands of European beech across a variety of environmental conditions"

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

Have collected - Albania, Austria, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine 

Missing Countries:

- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria

- Czechia

- France

- North Macedonia

- Serbia
- Slovenia

- Switzerland

Postcard 1 - Albania

Gashi River of Valbone, Albania. Thanks to Boris of Spain who visited Albania and mailed this postcard from Spain with additional Albania stamp.

Postcard 2 - AUSTRIA

Wildnisgebiet Durrenstein, untouched forest of endangered species in eastern Austria. Thanks to Patrik of Estonia.

Postcard 3A - GERMANY - Edersee National Park

Aerial view of the Edersee - old beech forests. Thanks to Marcel of Germany.

Postcard 3B - GERMANY - Jasmund National Park

Jasmund National Park, Rugen Island, Germany. Thanks to Corinna of Germanay.

Postcard 4A - Italy

Foresta Umbra is the Italian site for this European transboundary UNESCO World Heritage of Primeval Beech Forests. Thanks to Irene of Genoa, Italy.

Postcard 4B - Italy

Another different view of Foresta Umbra. Thanks again to Irene of Genoa, Italy.

Postcard 5A - SLOVAKIA - UKRAINE

Primeval Beech Forests of Slovakia and Ukraine. Thanks to Inigo of Spain.

Postcard 5B - SLOVAKIA

'Karpatske Bukove Lesy - Primevel Beech Forests of Caparthians. Thanks to Lubo of Slovakia.

Postcard 6 - SPAIN - Posada De Valdeon Leon

Beech forests of Posada de Valdeon, Leon, Spain. Thanks to Javier of Spain.

Postcard 7 - UKRAINE - Primeval Beech Forest
The Carpathian mountain forests of Ukraine. Thanks to Galyna of Ukraine.

Postcard 8 - POLAND - Westlina Beech Forest

Wetlina, Poland has the ancient beech forest that is insribed as UNESCO World Heritage. Thanks to Bodexs of Poland. Arrived in Penang on October 28, 2021.

Postcard 9 - ROMANIA - Codrul Secular Slatioara
Multi-view of Codrul Secula Slatioara - one of the ancient and primeval beech forests of the Carpathians and other regions of Europe. A transnational UNESCO World Heritage site. Thanks to Elena of Romania.

Postcard 10 - CROATIA - Velebit National Forest
Sjeverni Velebit -Hajdučki i Rožanski Kukovi is part of UNESCO Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests. Thanks to Nikola of Croatia.

Postcard 11 - BELGIUM - Sonian Forest
Gryspensdelle Forest-Sonian Forest in Belgium. A UNESCO World Heritage Site for Ancient and Primeval Beech Forest in Europe. Thanks to Gerda of Belgium.