Italy - Villa d'Este, Tivoli

"The Villa d'Este in Tivoli, with its palace and garden, is one of the most remarkable and comprehensive illustrations of Renaissance culture at its most refined. Its innovative design along with the architectural components in the garden (fountains, ornamental basins, etc.) make this a unique example of an Italian 16th-century garden. The Villa d'Este, one of the first giardini delle meraviglie, was an early model for the development of European gardens." 

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

The Fountain of the Ovato or Oval Fountain at Villa d'Este, Tivoli. I visited the Tivoli Gardens before and amazed by the many fountains and man-made waterworks there. Nice old Italy stamps used in the lira period. Thanks to Matteo of Italy.

Italy - Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta

"Ferrara, which grew up around a ford over the River Po, became an intellectual and artistic centre that attracted the greatest minds of the Italian Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries. Here, Piero della Francesca, Jacopo Bellini and Andrea Mantegna decorated the palaces of the House of Este. The humanist concept of the 'ideal city' came to life here in the neighbourhoods built from 1492 onwards by Biagio Rossetti according to the new principles of perspective. The completion of this project marked the birth of modern town planning and influenced its subsequent development." 

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

Postcard 1
A large variety of bird life in Po Delta Park. Thanks to Maggiolino of Italy.






Postcard 2
A black and white reprint of historical postcard of Ferrara downtown. A 1966 stamp used too. Thanks to Matteo of Italy. Grazie.

Italy - Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie with "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci

"The refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie forms an integral part of this architectural complex, begun in Milan in 1463 and reworked at the end of the 15th century by Bramante. On the north wall is The Last Supper, the unrivalled masterpiece painted between 1495 and 1497 by Leonardo da Vinci, whose work was to herald a new era in the history of art." 

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

Postcard 1
Church of Santa Maria dell Grazie, Milan. Thanks to Valentina of Italy.

Postcard 2

This world famous painting of the "Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci. In 1943, a bomb destoyed part of the convent of the church but the painting survived. Thanks to Di of Italy. Grazie.

Italy - Crespi d'Adda

"Crespi d'Adda in Capriate San Gervasio in Lombardy is an outstanding example of the 19th- and early 20th-century 'company towns' built in Europe and North America by enlightened industrialists to meet the workers' needs. The site is still remarkably intact and is partly used for industrial purposes, although changing economic and social conditions now threaten its survival." 

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

Postcard 1
"Abitare" means habitation. Multiview of houses and homes of Crespi d'Adda. Nice stamps used. Thanks to Fabio of Italy.

Postcard 2

Multi-view of Crespi d'Adda. "Lavorare" means work. Nice stamps used. Thanks to Fabio. Grazie.

Italy - Historic Centre of Naples

"From the Neapolis founded by Greek settlers in 470 B.C. to the city of today, Naples has retained the imprint of the successive cultures that emerged in Europe and the Mediterranean basin. This makes it a unique site, with a wealth of outstanding monuments such as the Church of Santa Chiara and the Castel Nuovo." 

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

Postcard 1
A multi-view of Naples - Napoli - City of Art. Postmarked in Napoli in 3-3-11 and arrived in Penang on 3-15-11. Thanks to Jean-Pierre of France.






Postcard 2
Naples is south of Rome in Italy. Multi-view showing on top right - Castel Nuovo. Thanks to Fraucy for sending this nice card.

Italy - Su Nuraxi di Barumini

"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."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

Achaelogical site of Su Nuraxi of Barumini in Sardinia. Nice art stamp. Thanks to Elizabetta of Cagliari, Italy.

Austria , France , Germany , Italy , Slovenia , Switzerland - Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps

"This serial property of 111 small individual sites encompasses the remains of prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from around 5000 to 500 B.C. on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. Excavations, only conducted in some of the sites, have yielded evidence that provides insight into life in prehistoric times during the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Alpine Europe and the way communities interacted with their environment. Fifty-six of the sites are located in Switzerland. The settlements are a unique group of exceptionally well-preserved and culturally rich archaeological sites, which constitute one of the most important sources for the study of early agrarian societies in the region."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

Wanted: I am still looking for this Prehistoric Pile dwelling WHS for France. Anyone can help? Thanks.

Postcard 1A - AUSTRIA _ Pfahlbauten Am Mondsee
Single view. Thanks to Patrick of Estonia who visited Austria.

Postcard 1B - AUSTRIA - Pfahlbaumusem Mondsee

A nice multi-view postcard Pfahlbaumuseum Mondsee. Thanks to Sarah of Austria.

Postcard 2A - GERMANY - Pfahlbauten

Pfahlbauten, Bodensee, Germany. A reconstruction of a Prehistoric Pile Dwelling in Germany. Thanks to Violet of Germany.

Postcard 2B - GERMANY - Unteruhdlingen

Alpine dwellings at Unteruhldingen, Bodensee, Germany. Thanks to Janet of Germany.

Postcard 2C - GERMANY Pfahlbaumuseum
Pfahlbaumuseum is an open air archaeological museum, located on Lake Constance (Bodensee) in Unteruhldingen, Germany. It has reconstructions of stilt houses or lake dwellings from the Neolithic Stone Age and Bronze Age. Thanks to Sabrina for mailing from Switzerland.

Postcard 3 - ITALY - Palafitte

Palafitte di Ledro Alpine Dwellings. Museo dell Palfitte, Molina di Ledro, Italia. Thanks to Sabine of Italy. Grazie.

Postcard 4 - SLOVENIA - Koliscar

An extra long postcard illustrating the UNESCO World Heritage subsite of Alpine Pile Dwellings in Koliscarjev, Slovenia. Thanks to Martin of Celje, Slovenia which was postmarked on July 13, 2020 and arrived in Penang island on August 14, 2020.

 

Postcard 5A - SWITZERLAND - Underwater

Underwater view of prehistoric Alpine dwelling piles, Switzerland. Thanks to Sara of Switzerland.

Postcard 5B - SWITZERLAND -  Cortallilod

Maquette du village lacustre de Cortallilod. Age du Bronze final (1000 av. J.-C.). Museum model of the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings in Switzerland. Thanks to Zasa of Switzerland.