This is a project of collecting postcards from all over the world. Please send me postcards of your beautiful countries, states, islands, regions and subjects of interesting places, so I can feature them here.
Monday, December 2, 2024
Russia - Rimskaya
Friday, November 15, 2024
Russia - Moscow - Manege Square
City Panorama
View of the Manege Square
Sent by myself during my travel to Moscow in July this year.
Manezhnaya (Russian: Манежная площадь, IPA: [mɐˈnʲeʐnəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ], lit. 'Manege Square') is a pedestrian open space in the Tverskoy District, at the heart of Moscow. It is bound by the Hotel Moskva to the east, the State Historical Museum and the Alexander Garden to the south, the Moscow Manege to the west, and the 18th-century headquarters of the Moscow State University to the north (read further).
Russia - Moscow - House of The Government of the Russian Federation
MOSCOW. House of The Government of the Russian Federation
Sent by myself during my travel to Moscow in July this year.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Russia - Moscow - Mayakovskaya (Moscow Metro)
Vestibule of the metro station Mayakovskaya. 1938.
Sent by Misha, a postcrosser from Moscow, Russia.
This is from Wikipedia : Mayakovskaya (Russian: Маяковская), is a Moscow Metro station on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line. Considered to be one of the most beautiful in the system, it is a fine example of pre-World War II Stalinist Architecture and one of the most famous Metro stations in the world. The name as well as the design is a reference to Futurism and its prominent Russian exponent Vladimir Mayakovsky.
The station was built as part of the second stage of the Moscow Metro expansion, opening on 11 September 1938. If the first stage was more focused on the building of the system itself, both architecturally and when it comes to the engineering, the stations appear modest in comparison to those that the second stage brought to the system. For the first time in the world, instead of having the traditional three-neath pylon station layout, the engineers were able to overlap the vault space and support it with two sets of colonnades on each side. This gave birth to a new column type design and Mayakovskaya was the first station to show this.
Located 33 meters beneath the surface, the station became famous during World War II when an air raid shelter was located in the station. On the anniversary of the October Revolution, on 7 November 1941 Joseph Stalin addressed a mass assembly of party leaders and ordinary Muscovites in the central hall of the station.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Russia - The Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin
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Moscow - The Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin.
Sent by Maria, a postcrosser from Mosocw, Russia.
This is from Wikipedia : The Spasskaya Tower (Russian: Спасская башня, translated as "Savior Tower") is the main tower with a through-passage on the eastern wall of the Moscow Kremlin, which overlooks the Red Square.
The Spasskaya Tower was built in 1491 by an Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari. Initially, it was named the Frolovskaya Tower after the Church of Frol and Lavr in the Kremlin (it is no longer there). The tower's modern name comes from the icon of Spas Nerukotvorny (Divine Savior), which was placed above the gates on the inside wall in 1658 (no longer there since 1917) and the wall-painted icon of Spas Smolensky (Smolensky Savior), which was created in the 16th century on the outside wall of tower (plastered in 1937, reopened and restored in 2010). The Spasskaya Tower was the first one to be crowned with the hipped roof in 1624–1625 by architects Bazhen Ogurtsov and Christopher Galloway (a Scottish architect and clockmaker). According to a number of historical accounts, the clock on the Spasskaya Tower appeared between 1491 and 1585. It is usually referred to as the Kremlin clock (Кремлёвские куранты).
On top of the gates of the tower there was inscribed the following inscription: IOANNES VASILII DEI GRATIA MAGNUS DUX VOLODIMERIAE, MOSCOVIAE, NOVOGARDIAE, TFERIAE, PLESCOVIAE, VETICIAE, ONGARIAE, PERMIAE, BUOLGARIAE ET ALIAS TOTIUSQ(UE) RAXIE D(OMI)NUS, A(N)NO 30 IMPERII SUI HAS TURRES CO(N)DERE F(ECIT) ET STATUIT PETRUS ANTONIUS SOLARIUS MEDIOLANENSIS A(N)NO N(ATIVIT) A(TIS) D(OM)INI 1491 K(ALENDIS) M(ARTIIS) I(USSIT) P(ONERE).
In 1935, the Soviets installed a red star instead of a two-headed eagle on top of the Spasskaya Tower. The height of the tower with the star is 71 m. In August 2010 above the gate the icon of Savior Smolensky was restored.
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Friday, September 30, 2011
Russia - The Cathedral of the Assumption and the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great
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Moscow. The Kremlin. The Cathedral of the Assumption and the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great.
Sent by Anastasia, a postcrosser from Moscow, Russia.
This is from Wikipedia : The Cathedral of the Dormition (Russian: Успенский Собор, or Uspensky sobor) is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos. It is located on the north side of Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia, where a narrow alley separates the north from the Patriarch's Palace with the Twelve Apostles Church. Southwest is Ivan the Great Bell Tower. Separately in the southwest, also separated by a narrow passage from the church, is the Palace of Facets .The Cathedral is regarded as the mother church of Muscovite Russia. In its present form it was 1475-79 at the behest of the Moscow Grand Duke Ivan III by the Italian architect Aristotele Fioravanti. From 1547 to 1896 it is where the Coronation of the Russian monarch was held. In addition, it is the burial place for most of the Moscow Metropolitans and Patriarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Archaeological investigations in 1968 indicated that the site of the present Cathedral was a medieval burial ground, supporting hypothesis that a wooden church existed on the site in the 12th century. This was replaced by a limestone structure in the 13th century, which is mentioned in historical records.
In the 14th century, Metropolitan Peter persuaded Ivan I (Ivan Kalita) that he should build a cathedral to the Theotokos (Blessed Virgin Mary) in Moscow like the Cathedral of the Dormition in the capital city Vladimir. Construction of the cathedral began on August 4, 1326, and the cathedral was finished and consecrated on August 4, 1327. At that time Moscow became the capital of the Vladimir-Suzdal' principality, and later of all Kievan Rus.
Dormition cathedral of Ivan Kalita. Reconstruction by Sergey Zagraevsky.
Groundplan of the original 15th century building.By the end of the 15th century the old cathedral had become dilapidated, and in 1472 the Moscow architects Kryvtsov and Myshkin began construction of a new cathedral. Two years later, in May 1474, the building was nearing completion when it suddenly collapsed because of an earthquake — an extremely rare event in Moscow.
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Friday, August 19, 2011
Russia - Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
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Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
Sent by Anya, a postcrosser from Moscow, Russia.
This is from Wikipedia : The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Russian: Храм Христа Спасителя) is a Church in Moscow, Russia, on the bank of the Moskva River, a few blocks west of the Kremlin. With an overall height of 105 metres (344 ft), it is the tallest Orthodox church in the world.
When Napoleon Bonaparte retreated from Moscow, Emperor Alexander I signed a manifest, 25 December 1812, declaring his intention to build a Cathedral in honor of Christ the Saviour "to signify Our gratitude to Divine Providence for saving Russia from the doom that overshadowed Her" and as a memorial to the sacrifices of the Russian people.
It took some time for actual work on the projected cathedral to get started. The first finished architectural project, by Aleksandr Lavrentyevich Vitberg, was endorsed by Alexander I in 1817. It was a flamboyant Neoclassical design full of Freemasonic symbolism. Construction work was begun on the Sparrow Hills, the highest point in Moscow, but the site proved insecure.
In the meantime Alexander I was succeeded by his brother Nicholas I. Profoundly Orthodox and patriotic, the new Tsar disliked the Neoclassicism and Freemasonry of the project selected by his brother. He commissioned his favourite architect Konstantin Thon to create a new design, taking as his model Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, Turkey. Thon's Neo-Byzantine design was approved in 1832, and a new site, closer to the Moscow Kremlin, was chosen by the Tsar in 1837. A convent and church on the site had to be relocated, so that the cornerstone was not laid until 1839.
The Cathedral took many years to build and did not emerge from its scaffolding until 1860. Some of the best Russian painters (Ivan Kramskoi, Vasily Surikov, Vasily Vereshchagin) continued to embellish the interior for another twenty years. The Cathedral was consecrated on the very day Alexander III was crowned, 26 May 1883. A year earlier, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture debuted there.
The inner sanctum of the church (naos) was ringed by a two-floor gallery, its walls inlaid with rare sorts of marble, granite, and other precious stones. The ground floor of the gallery was a memorial dedicated to the Russian victory over Napoleon. The walls displayed more than 1,000 square meters of Carrara bianca marble plaques listing major commanders, regiments, and battles of the Patriotic War of 1812 (with the lists of awards and casualties appended). The second floor of the gallery was occupied by church choirs.
The giant dome of the cathedral for the first time in history was gilded using the technique of gold electroplating, replacing the older and insecure technique of mercury gilding.
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Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Russia - Cathedral of the Redeemer
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Russia - The "Tsar Bell"
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Moscow, Kremlin. The "Tsar Bell".
Sent by Olga, a postcrosser from Moscow, Russia.
This is from Wikipedia : The Tsar Bell (Russian: Царь–колокол, Tsar-kolokol), also known as the Tsarsky Kolokol, Tsar Kolokol III, or Royal Bell, is a huge bell on display on the grounds of the Moscow Kremlin. The bell was commissioned by Empress Anna, niece of Peter the Great.
The bell is currently the largest bell in the world, weighing 201 tons, with a height of 6.14 m (20.1 ft) and diameter of 6.6 m (21.6 ft). It was founded from bronze by masters Ivan Motorin and his son Mikhail in 1733–1735. Ornaments, portraits, and inscriptions were made by V. Kobelev, P. Galkin, P. Kokhtev, P. Serebryakov and P. Lukovnikov. The bell was never rung — during a fire in 1737, a huge slab (11.5 tons) cracked off while it was still in the casting pit.
After the fire, the bell remained in its casting for a century. In 1836, the Tsar Bell was placed on a stone pedestal next to the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in the Moscow Kremlin. The broken slab is nearly three times larger than the world's largest bell hung for full circle ringing, the tenor bell at Liverpool Cathedral.
There were, in fact, two earlier bells with the same name, cast in the early 17th century and in 1654 (approx. 130 tonnes). The latter shattered during the fire of 1701. Its remnants were used to create the Tsar bell. The present bell is sometimes referred to as Kolokol III (Bell III), because it is the third generation.
For a time, the bell served as a chapel, with the broken area forming the door.
According to a National Public Radio special on the bell, some Old Believers believe that on Judgement Day, it will be miraculously repaired and lifted up to heaven, where it will ring the blagovest (call to prayer).
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Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Russia - Moscow
Monday, November 29, 2010
Russia - Kremlin Embankment
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Russia - Bolshoi Theatre
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State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet of Russia (Bolshoi Theatre).
Architects O. Bove, A. Mikhailov. 1821 - 1824
Restored in 1855 - 1856. Architects A. Kavos, sculptor P. Klodt.
Sent by Marina from Moscow in Russia. And thank you for the beautiful stamps.
This is from Wikipedia : The Bolshoi Theatre (Russian: Большой театр, Bol'shoy Teatr, Large, Great or Grand Theatre, also spelled Bolshoy) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by the architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and greatest ballet and opera companies of the world, respectively. The theatre is the parent company of The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, a world-leading school of ballet.
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Friday, May 21, 2010
Russia - The Pushkin Theatre
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The Pushkin Theater in Moscow, Russia. Sent by Nadya who lives there.
This is from Wikipedia : The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Russian: Музей изобразительных искусств им. А.С. Пушкина) is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
The museum's name is misleading, as it has nothing to do with the famous Russian poet. It was founded by professor Ivan Tsvetaev (father of the poet Marina Tsvetaeva). Tsvetaev persuaded the millionaire and philanthropist Yuriy Nechaev-Maltsov and the fashionable architect Roman Klein of the urgent need to give Moscow a fine arts museum.
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Thursday, May 6, 2010
Russia - State Tretyakov Gallery
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State Tretyakov Gallery.
As per design by V. Vasnetsov (1901 - 1903)
Sent by Tatyana from Russia.
This is from Wikipedia : The State Tretyakov Gallery (Russian: Государственная Третьяковская Галерея, Russian: ГТГ) is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world.
The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Moscow merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating a collection, which might later grow into a museum of national art. In 1892, Tretyakov presented his already famous collection to the Russian nation.
The façade of the gallery building was designed by the painter Viktor Vasnetsov in a peculiar Russian fairy-tale style. It was built in 1902–04 to the south from the Moscow Kremlin. During the 20th century, the gallery expanded to several neighboring buildings, including the 17th-century church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi.
The collection contains more than 130,000 exhibits, ranging from Theotokos of Vladimir and Andrei Rublev's Trinity to the monumental Composition VII by Wassily Kandinsky and the Black Square by Kazimir Malevich.
In 1977 the Gallery kept a significant part of the George Costakis collection.
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Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Russia - Ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent
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Sent by Svetlana from Russia. This postcard shows the view of Novodevitchiy Monastery in Moscow, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Novodevichy Convent is an outstanding example of an exceptionally well-preserved monastic complex, representing the Moscow Baroque style in the architecture of the late 17th century Apart from its fine architecture and decorative details, the site is characterized by its high town-planning values.The ensemble integrates the political and cultural nature of the existing World Heritage site of Moscow Kremlin. It is itself closely related to Russian Orthodoxy, as well as with Russian history, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries.
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Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Russia - Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow
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This beautiful Saint Basil's Cathedral postcard was sent by Juliet from Russia.
From the 13th century to the founding of St Petersburg, the Moscow Kremlin was directly and tangibly associated with every major event in Russian history. The Kremlin contains within its walls a unique series of masterpieces of architecture and the plastic arts - religious monuments of exceptional beauty such as the Church of the Annunciation, Cathedral of the Dormition, Church of the Archangel and the bell tower of Ivan Veliki, and palaces such as the Great Palace of the Kremlin, which comprises within its walls the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin and the Teremnoi Palace. On Red Square is Saint Basil the Blessed, still a major edifice of Orthodox art. Russian architecture was clearly affected many times in its history by influences emanating from the Kremlin. A particular example is the Italian Renaissance.
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Friday, February 26, 2010
Russia - Vestibule of The Metro Station Novoslobodskaya
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Sent by Svetlana, a postcrosser from Russia.
This is from Wikipedia : Novoslobodskaya (Russian: Новослободская) is a station on the Koltsevaya Line of the Moscow Metro. Opened on 30 January 1952 as part of the second stage of the line, it is one of the most famous stations on the system for its unique stained glass decoration.
The station's architect, Alexey Dushkin has long wished to unitilise stained glass in decoration of a metro station, and the first drawings date to pre-world war II times. In 1948, with the aid of a young architect Alexander Strelkov, Dushkin came across the reknown artist Pavel Korin, who agreed to compose the artworks for the panels. The rest of the station was designed around the glass panels. Dushkin, taking the standard pylon layout designed the overall impression to resemble that of underground crypt.
It is best known for its 32 stained glass panels, which are the work of Latvian artists E. Veylandan, E. Krests, and M. Ryskin. Each panel, surrounded by an elaborate brass border, is set into one of the station's pylons and illuminated from within. Both the pylons and the pointed arches between them are faced with pinkish Ural marble and edged with brass molding. At the end of the platform is a mosaic by Pavel Korin entitled "Peace Throughout the World." The stained glass panels, the mosaic, the brass trim, and the elegant conical chandeliers were all carefully cleaned and restored in 2003. Novoslobodskaya was designed by Alexey Dushkin and A.F. Strelkov and opened on January 30, 1952.
The vestibule is an imposing structure with a grand portico, located on the northeast corner of Novoslobodskaya Ulitsa and Seleznevskaya Ulitsa.
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