A mapcard of Finland.
Sent by Jussi, a postcrosser from Kemi in Finland.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Indonesia - Wisma Kuwera
Wisma Kuwera in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. 1986 - 1999.
Sent by Maya from Kalimantan in Indonesia.
Czech Republic - Kingdom of Wallachia
Greetings from Wallachian Kingdom. Only in the Wallachian Kingdom everything is possible :)
Sent by Martina, a postcrosser from Czech Republic.
This is from Wikipedia : "Kingdom of Wallachia" (Czech: Valašské Kralovství), named after the region of Moravian Wallachia, is a tongue-in-cheek micronation that was founded in 1997 by the photographer Tomáš Harabiš as an "elaborate practical joke". The location is in the northeast corner of the Czech Republic, 230 miles from Prague. It has since become one of the Czech Republic's biggest tourist attractions. Since foundation a reported 80,000 Czech citizens have acquired "Wallachian Passports".
After the official proclamation of the Wallachian kingdom in 1997, Bolek Polívka was enthroned as King Boleslav I the Gracious with his coronation occurring at a lavish ceremony in 2000. The "Government" led by Tomáš Harabiš established state institutions and issued passports to around 80,000 officially Czech Citizens. A new currency, the Jurovalsar, was launched which was pegged to the euro at a rate of 1:1. Enthusiastic attempts to forge official ties with other countries have so far proved disappointing and the Kingdom of Wallachia enjoys no formal diplomatic recognition.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Map of Indian Ocean
Map of Indian Ocean by Pieter Goos and Johannes van Kuelen, 18th century.
Sent by Paulien, a postcrosser from Netherlands.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Uruguay - Peninsula De San Gregorio De Polanco
Peninsula De San Gregorio De Polanco, a town in the Tacuarembó Department of northern-central Uruguay.
Sent by Daniela from Uruguay.
Finland - A Karesuvanto Woman
A Lapland woman in Karesuvanto.
Sent by Ana, a postcrosser from Finland.
This is from Wikipedia : Karesuvanto, also Kaaresuvanto, is a village in the Enontekiö municipality of the Lapland region in northern Finland, located on the Muonio River which forms the border with Sweden.
On the Swedish side of the river the village of Karesuando, part of the Kiruna municipality, is located. According to Finnish tradition they are considered one and the same locality (with pop. about 470) and both called Karesuvanto, though officially a national border is in between. Both sides are linked by a road bridge built in 1980. The area is traditionally Finnish and Sami speaking. After the Finnish War in 1809, the border was drawn for political reasons, not because of any cultural or linguistic reasons existing at that time. Later a cultural and language difference has grown because of school and church influence.
The village got its first buildings in 1670, when Måns Mårtensson Karesuando, called "Hyvä Maunu Martinpoika" in Finnish and "Good Maunu, Son of Martin" in English, bought land from Sami Henrik Nilsson Nikkas. The vicar and botanist Lars Levi Læstadius worked in Karesuando where he founded laestadianism movement named after him. In 1944 the area was burnt down by German troops during the Lapland War and had to be rebuilt afterwards.
Karesuando/Karesuvanto is the northernmost point on the major European route E45 to Gela and a stop on the European route E8 from Tromsø to Turku.
United Kingdom - England - Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, and St Martin's Church (2)
Canterbury, Kent
Built on the site on an earlier structure, Canterbury Cathedral attracts pilgrims from across the world. The earliest parts of the building date from 1070, but many additions were made over the next 500 years, including the magnificent central Bell Harry Tower.
Sent by Margaret, a postcrosser from England.
Taiwan - Garden Of Lin Ben-yuan
Garden Of Lin Ben-yuan, Banqiao
Located at the Shimen St. of Banquiao City, this garden was built in 1893. There are a variety of elegant landscapes (e.g. pavilions, towers, attics and bridges) in the garden, where has become the valuable cultural heritage of Taiwanese architecture and landscape.
Sent by Chang, a postcrosser from Taiwan.
Portugal - Historic Centre of Oporto (2)
PORTO
Rabelos Boats
Batalha Square
Port Wine Cellars
Church
Sent by Maria, a postcrosser near Lisbon, Portugal.
Germany - Berlin - Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin
Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin.
Sent by Heidi, a postcrosser from Germany.
The art museum is a social phenomenon that owes its origins to the Age of Enlightenment and its extension to all people to the French Revolution. The Museumsinsel is the most outstanding example of this concept given material form and a symbolic central urban setting, and one that illustrates the evolution of modern museum design over more than a century.
The present importance of the Museumsinsel began when the Altes Museum was built to the designs of Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1824-28. A plan to develop the part of the island behind this museum was drawn up in 1841 by the court architect, Friedrich August Stüler, on the orders of Friedrich Wilhelm IV. The first element of this plan to be built was the Neues Museum (1843-47). The next step did not take place until 1866, when the Nationalgalerie, the work of Johann Heinrich Strack, was built. Another two decades passed before the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (now the Bodemuseum) was built in 1897-1904 to the designs of Ernst von Ihne, and Stüler's plan was completed in 1909-30 with the construction of Alfred Messel's Pergamonmuseum.
The complex of the Museumsinsel consists of five museum buildings:
The Altes Museum is a two-storey structure with a rectangular ground plan on a high base with its exhibition rooms ranged round two inner courts and a central two-storey domed rotunda with skylight. The side and rear elevations are relatively plain, but that facing the site of the former Schloss is a high portico supported on eighteen sandstone Ionic columns and two corner pilasters. Access is by means of a seven-bay wide stairway with broad stringers.
The layout of the Neues Museum is comparable with that of the Altes Museum, but the rotunda of the latter is replaced by the monumental main staircase. Unlike the Altes Museum, to which it was originally linked by a passageway, it is a relatively plain structure, more in the style of the Schinkel School. The richly decorated interior contrasts with the plain exterior. There is an interesting innovative structural feature. The traditional low-vaulted ceilings of timber beams and masonry are replaced on the third floor by an arch-chord construction using cast-iron arches and pairs of wrought-iron chords. This lightweight form of construction was necessitated by the poor foundation parameters.
The Nationalgalerie, a high ashlar block-like base with rectangular windows, is surmounted by a Corinthian pseudo-dipteral temple of in antis type with an open portico. There are also high rectangular windows in the exterior wall set back behind the columns. The rear is in the form of a semi-circular conch. A double-winged open staircase with five flights of steps leads up to the pedimented portico with its Corinthian columns. The building is clad throughout with Nebra sandstone. The four-storey building has a rectangular ground plan with apse-like terminal features. There is a cellar and an exhibition floor in the basement section and two exhibition halls in the superstructure. It is lavishly decorated with symbolic imagery in the form of sculptures, reliefs, and paintings. The upper exhibition floor was originally laid out as a vast banqueting hall, but is now converted for displays.
The Bodemuseum is a neo-Baroque structure in a commanding position on the north-western tip of the island. Clad in sandstone and with a low stone base, it rises to two storeys, linked by Corinthian pilasters and crowned with a balustrade. The rounded entrance frontage is decorated with the same columns and with rounded open arches. The entrance with its impressive staircase is beneath the smaller of the two domes. It gives on to two lateral wings and a centre section which are linked by transverse sections so as to form five inner courtyards.
The three-winged Pergamonmuseum was built to exhibit the greatly expanded collections of antiquities resulting from German excavations at Pergamon and other Greek sites in Asia Minor as well as those from Mesopotamia formerly housed in the Vorderasiatisches Museum. It rises directly from the Spree, like the Bodemuseum, with which it is harmonized in scale and proportions. The centre block and the side wings are windowless, given structure by flat giant pilasters and steep pediments. (Source)
Thailand - Thai Heritage Conservation 1996
Thai Heritage Conservation 1996's Maxicard.
Sent by Tanawan, a postcrosser from Thailand.
France - Mapcard of L'Hérault
L'HERAULT
Sent by Louise, a postcrosser from France.
This is from Wikipedia : Hérault (French pronunciation: [eʁo]; Occitan: Erau) is a department in the south of France named after the Hérault river.
Hérault is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.
At the beginning of the 20th century, viticulture in the region was devastated by a slump in sales combined with disease affecting the vines, and thousands of small scale producers revolted. This revolt was suppressed very harshly by the government of Georges Clemenceau.
The catastrophic frost of the winter of 1956 damaged the olive trees, and the olive-growing regions did not recover until the late 1980s. Many of the olive-industry co-ops closed.
During the second half of the twentieth century the Montpellier basin underwent one of the most rapid population increases experienced anywhere in France.
Hérault is part of the current region of Languedoc-Roussillon and is surrounded by the departments of Aude, Tarn, Aveyron, Gard, and the Mediterranean (Gulf of Lion) on the south.
The department is very geographically diverse, with beaches in the south, the Cévennes mountains in the north, and agricultural land in between.
Finland - Petäjävesi Old Church
Petäjävesi Old Church.
Sent by Kaija, a postcrosser from Finland.
This is from UNESCO : The Petäjävesi Evangelical Lutheran Old Church is a building of considerable global importance as an example of northern timber church architecture. The church is uniquely representative of log construction in the northern coniferous area and of the skills of the peasant population. European architectural trends have influenced the external form and the ground plan of the church, but they have been applied masterfully to traditional log construction. The church combines the layout of a Renaissance central church conception and older forms derived from Gothic groined ceilings. It reflects in an impressive way the architectural beauty of a northern rural Protestant church.
The church is situated on a peninsula where Lakes Jamsa and Petäjävesi meet. The location was determined by the fact that the congregation would be able to reach it by boat or over the ice in the winter. At the present time there is no settlement in the immediate vicinity of the church, since the town of Petäjävesi has developed about 1 km away.
Petäjävesi Old Church was designed and built in 1763-64 by a peasant master-builder, and in 1821 his grandson added the bell tower at the west end. Since a new church was built on the other side of the strait in 1879, the Old Church went out of use and was not maintained for many years, only the bell tower and cemetery being used for their original purpose. Repairs began in the 1920s when an Austrian art historian drew attention to its historical and architectural value.
The ground plan of the church is cruciform, the arms being virtually the same size. This form of church developed first in towns in the later 17th century, and only later spread into the countryside. The model was probably the stone church built in Stockholm in 1656 in a style derived from Italian architecture. The bell tower at the west end of the church is connected to it by a narrow corridor; the vestry is similarly linked with the eastern arm. The main structure is of horizontal log (Blockbau) construction, in the tradition to be found further to the east. The walls were not originally clad with planks, as at the present time. The four arms are covered by high, slightly angular vaults made from reddish pine planks, and there is an octagonal dome at the crossing. The circular design at the top of the dome derives from the classical opaion as interpreted in Renaissance architecture. The masking slats, base and tie-beams of the vaults are decorated in red ochre. The interior largely preserves its original form, as developed during the century (1764-1879) when it was in liturgical use. The distinctive features are the pulpit, pews, balustraded galleries and chandeliers, the elaborate carving of which is entirely the work of local craftsmen and artists.
The exterior is characterized by the steeply pitched roof, reminiscent of Gothic architecture. One of the doorways and the window of the choir have preserved their original triple arches. The lowest tier of the bell tower is in Blockbau construction, the walls and lantern being timber-framed with clapboard cladding. The bell trestle is supported on a sturdy log frame. Unlike the rest of the church, the bell tower is painted a different colour. The church is situated within a graveyard surrounded by a stone wall.
The period of neglect between 1879 and the 1920s was a blessing in disguise. When restoration began the historical importance of the building had been recognized and so interventions for restoration and conservation were kept to a minimum and used traditional techniques and materials. As a result the level of authenticity is exceptionally high.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Italy - Piazza del Campidoglio
Piazza del Campidoglio (Kapitolsplatz) in Rome, Italy.
Sent by Jane, a postcrosser from Germany.
Japan - Maiko Girls of Kyoto
Maiko Girls (apprentice girls of Geisha) of Kyoto.
Sent by Evita, a postcrosser from Japan.
Taiwan - Green Island Light House of Green Island
Green Island Light House of Green Island, Taiwan.
Sent by Antika, a postcrosser from Changhwa, Taiwan.
This is from Wikipedia : Green Island (traditional Chinese: 綠島; pinyin: Lǜ Dǎo; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Le̍k-tó) is a small volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean, about 33 km (20.5 miles) off the eastern coast of Taiwan. In the 19th century it was known as Samasana Island and the Japanese called it Kasho-to (火燒島). The island is 15.092 km² at high tide and 17.329 km² at low tide. Administratively, Green Island is Lüdao Xiang (綠島鄉), a township of Taitung County and one of the county's two offshore areas (the other is Orchid Island, or Lanyu). Green Island is the ROC's fourth-largest island. It is accessible by airplane in eight to 12 minutes from Taitung City. There are also ferries capable of carrying over 250 passengers.
Green Island is now a locally popular scuba-diving destination for both locals and expats residing in Taiwan.
The island is primarily noted as the place of past and current prisons and penal colonies. Green Island first served as an isolated spot and place of exile for political prisoners during the martial law period of Taiwanese history during Kuomintang single-party rule (especially during the White Terror). After their release, many of the prisoners jailed between the late 1940s and the late 1980s went on to establish the Democratic Progressive Party, most notably Shih Ming-teh. Author Bo Yang was also a prisoner here.
The place where most of the political prisoners (such as Shih Ming-teh) were held was the Green Island Lodge (Lǜ Dǎo Shānzhuāng), where conditions were reported to be very bad. Oasis Village was the main penal colony. The prison was later closed, its interior is now opened to the public for visit.
The Green Island Prison (Lǜ Jiānyú) is also located on the island and has housed some prisoners that have been perceived to be amongst Taiwan's most dangerous criminals and gangsters. However, this has changed in recent years.
Greece - Old Town of Corfu
Old Town of Corfu - Unesco's World Heritage Site.
Sent by Shireya from Greece. Terima kasih banyak-banyak (thank you very much).
Corfu, the first of the Ionian Islands encountered at the entrance to the Adriatic, was annexed to Greece by a group of Eretrians (775-750 BCE). In 734 BCE the Corinthians founded a colony known as Kerkyra to the south of where the Old Town now stands. The town became a trading post on the way to Sicily and founded further colonies in Illyria and Epirus. The coast of Epirus and Corfu itself came under the sway of the Roman Republic (229 BCE) and served as the jumping-off point for Rome's expansion into the east. In the reign of Caligula two disciples of the Apostle Paul, St Jason, Bishop of Iconium, and Sosipater, Bishop of Tarsus, introduced Christianity to the island.
Corfu fell to the lot of the Eastern Empire at the time of the division in 336 and entered a long period of unsettled fortunes, beginning with the invasion of the Goths (551).
The population gradually abandoned the old town and moved to the peninsula surmounted by two peaks (the korifi) where the ancient citadel now stands. The Venetians, who were beginning to play a more decisive role in the southern Adriatic, came to the aid of a failing Byzantium, thereby conveniently defending their own trade with Constantinople against the Norman prince Robert Guiscard. Corfu was taken by the Normans in 1081 and returned to the Byzantine Empire in 1084.
Following the Fourth Crusade and the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204, the Byzantine Empire was broken up and, in return for their military support, the Venetians obtained all the naval bases they needed to control the Aegean and the Ionian Seas, including Corfu, which they occupied briefly from 1204 to 1214. For the next half-century, the island fell under the sway of the Despots of Epirus (1214-67) and then that of the Angevins of Naples (1267-1368), who used it to further their policies against both the Byzantine Empire now re-established in Constantinople and the Republic of Venice. The tiny medieval town grew up between the two fortified peaks, the Byzantine Castel da Mare and the Angevin Castel di Terra, in the shelter of a defensive wall fortified with towers. Writings from the first half of the 13th century tell of a separation of administrative and religious powers between the inhabitants of the citadel and those of the outlying parts of the town occupying what is now the Spianada.
In order to assert its naval and commercial power in the Southern Adriatic, the Republic of Venice took advantage of the internal conflicts raging in the Kingdom of Naples to take control of Corfu (1386-1797). Alongside Negropont (Chalcis), Crete, and Modon (Methoni), it would form one of the bases from which to counter the Ottoman maritime offensive and serve as a revictualling station for ships en route to Romania and the Black Sea.
The ongoing work on defining, improving, and expanding the medieval fortified perimeter reflects the economic and strategic role of Corfu during the four centuries of Venetian occupation. In the early 15th century activity concentrated on the medieval town, with the development of harbour facilities (docks, quays and arsenals) and continued with the renovation of the defence works. Early in the following century a canal was dug, cutting off the medieval town from its suburbs.
Following the siege of the town by the Turks in 1537 and the burning of the suburbs, a new programme of works was launched to isolate the citadel further and strengthen its defences. The strip of land (now the Spianada) cleared in 1516 was widened by demolishing houses facing the citadel walls, two new bastions were raised on the banks of the canal, the elevation of the perimeter walls was lowered, and the two castelli were replaced by new structures. The work, based on plans drawn by Veronese architect Michele Sanmicheli (1487-1559), were completed in 1558, bringing the town's defences up to date with the rapid progress made in artillery in recent decades.
Yet another siege by the Turks in 1571 decided the Venetians to embark on a vast project covering the medieval town, its suburbs, the harbour, and all the military buildings (1576-88). Ferrante Vitelli, architect to the Duke of Savoy, sited a fort (the New Fort) on the low hill of St Mark to the west of the old town to command the surrounding land and at sea, and also the 24 suburbs enclosed by a ditched wall with bastions and four gates. More buildings, both military and civil, were erected and the 15th century Mandraki harbour was restructured and enlarged. At the same time, the medieval town was converted to more specifically military uses (the cathedral was transferred to the new town in the 17th century) to become the Old Citadel.
Between 1669 and 1682 the system of defences was further strengthened to the west by a second wall, the work of military engineer Filippo Vernada. In 1714 the Turks sought to reconquer Morea (the Peloponnese) but Venetian resistance hardened when the Turkish forces headed towards Corfu. The support of Christian naval fleets and an Austrian victory in Hungary in 1716 helped to save the town. The commander of the Venetian forces on Corfu, Giovanni Maria von Schulenburg, was inspired by the designs of Filippo Vernada to put the final touches to this great fortified ensemble. The outer western defences were reinforced by a complex system of outworks on the heights of two mountains, Abraham and Salvatore, and on the intermediate fort of San Rocco (1717-30).
The treaty of Campo Formio (1797) marked the end of the Republic of Venice and saw Corfu come under French control (1797-99) until France withdrew before the Russian-Turkish alliance that founded the State of the Ionian Islands, of which Corfu would become the capital (1799-1807). The redrawing of territorial boundaries in Europe after the fall of Napoleon made Corfu, after a brief interlude of renewed French control (1807-14), a British protectorate for the next half-century (1814-64).
As the capital of the United States of the Ionian Islands, Corfu lost its strategic importance. Under the governance of the British High Commissioner Sir Thomas Maitland (1816-24), development activity concentrated on the Spianada; his successor, Sir Frederic Adam (1824-32), turned his attention towards public works (building an aqueduct, restructuring the Old Citadel and adding new military buildings at the expense of the Venetian buildings, reconstruction and raising of the town's dwellings) and the reorganisation of the educational system (the new Ionian Academy was opened in 1824), contributing to the upsurge in intellectual interests sparked during the French occupation. At the same time, the British began demolishing the outer fortifications on the western edge of the town and planning residential areas outside the defensive walls.
In 1864 the island was attached to the Kingdom of the Hellenes. The fortresses were disarmed and several sections of the perimeter wall and the defences were gradually demolished. The island became a favoured holiday destination for the aristocracy of Europe. The Old Town was badly damaged by bombing in 1943. Added to the loss of life was the destruction of many houses and public buildings (the Ionian Parliament, the theatre, and the library), fourteen churches, and a number of buildings in the Old Citadel. In recent decades the gradual growth of the new town has accelerated with the expansion of tourism. (Source)
Friday, July 1, 2011
Panama - Diablico Sucio (Little Dirty Devil)
DIABLICO SUCIO (Little Dirty Devil)
Typical costume of Los Santos province.
Sent by Christina from Panama.
United Kingdom - England - Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, and St Martin's Church (1)
Canterbury, Kent.
Canterbury Cathedral from the south-east.
Sent by Laura, a postcrosser from England.
Canterbury, in Kent, has been the seat of the spiritual head of the Church of England for almost five centuries. St Martin's Church, St Augustine's Abbey and the cathedral are directly and tangibly associated with the history of the introduction of Christianity to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The influence of the Benedictine abbey of St Augustine was decisive throughout the high Middle Ages in England. The influence of this monastic centre and its scriptorium extended far beyond the boundaries of Kent and Northumbria. Christ Church Cathedral, especially the east sections, is a unique artistic creation. The beauty of its architecture is enhanced by a set of exceptional stained glass windows which constitute the richest collection in the United Kingdom.
Within the urban perimeter of Canterbury, three distinct cultural properties are on the World Heritage List: the modest St Martin's Church; the ruins of St Augustine's Abbey; and the superb Christ Church Cathedral, a breathtaking mixture of Romanesque and Perpendicular Gothic, where Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in 1170. These three monuments are milestones in the religious history of the regions of Great Britain before the Reformation.
St Martin's Church, to the east, located outside the walls of Roman Durovernum, existed in 597 when the monk Augustine was sent from Rome by Gregory the Great to bring Christianity to the Saxon kingdom of Kent. The church was built for the most part before the 8th century. It undoubtedly includes a Roman structure from the 4th century. Of the church located within the city walls, which St Augustine made his cathedral (probably at the very spot where Christ Church now stands) nothing has been conserved. However, ruins of the abbey are still visible, halfway between St Martin's Church and the cathedral. The abbey was dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul. In 978 the primitive institution, veritable cradle of Benedictine monasticism in England, was restored following the Scandinavian invasions. The abbey buildings virtually disappeared in their entirety following the dissolution of the Community by Henry VIII in 1538. The Royal Palace that stood in their place was located against the northern side aisle of the nave. It included the gutter wall and a few old portions, but this structure, too, has disappeared.
Two distinct structures seem to appear in Christ Church Cathedral, a major building of medieval architecture. To the east, partially covering a huge Romanesque crypt with admirably carved capitals, is some of the most beautiful architectural space of early Gothic art: the choir, the east transept, an unfinished apse, on either side of which stand Romanesque chapels dedicated to St Andrew and St Anselm, Trinity Chapel and the circular Corona Chapel. The two architects, William of Sens, a Frenchman, and William the Englishman, worked at the site from 1174 to 1184.
To the west the nave and the facade, with their very pure Perpendicular style, provide balance to the constructions on the eastern side. The architecture and remarkable stained glass and furnishings of Canterbury Cathedral thus provide a complete panorama of Gothic art, from its earliest beginnings to its culmination and decline. (Source)
Belgium - Ghent Flower Show
GHENT
The Ghent Flower Show
Sent by Piet, a postcrosser from Belgium.
"Once, every 5 years, the city of Gent bursts into bloom with the Gentse Floralien, The Ghent Flower Show/Floralies of Ghent, earning the city the nickname “City of Flowers.”
This area of Flanders is home to dozens of Europe’s finest gardens, medieval villages and world famous gourmet cuisine, chocolates and beers. We will sample a selection of the area’s best gardens, enjoy the special annual opening of the Royal Glasshouses and the gardens of Groot–Bijgaarden (one of the largest Spring flower displays outside of Holland) each only opened to the public for a few weeks each year.
There's the stunning spectacular that is Keukenhof and Holland’s famed bulb fields. We've the National Botanial Gardens of Belgium, Kalmthout Arboretum and several small, local gardens to discover plus the gems Leuven, Antwerp and Delft.
All of this plus the annual Keukenhof Flower Parade and a full day at the Ghent Flower Show, the Floralies. This certainly is a tour for garden lovers not to miss!"(Source)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Denmark - Fragment Map of Jylland
Fragment Map of Jylland in Denmark.
Sent by Inga from Denmark. Terima kasih.
This is from Wikipedia : Jutland (/ˈdʒʌtlənd/; Danish: Jylland; German: Jütland, Danish: [ˈjyl.anʔ]), historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German border to its south. The German state of Schleswig-Holstein is part of the Cimbrian Peninsula but not part of Jutland.
Today, the Danish parts of Jutland belong to either of the three administrative regions North Jutland, Central Jutland or Region of Southern Denmark. The German parts of Jutland peninsula today form the state of Schleswig-Holstein and the city of Hamburg.
Netherlands - Goes
Images of Goes.
Sent by Aren, a postcrosser from the Netherlands.
This is from Wikipedia : Goes is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands in Zuid-Beveland, in the province Zeeland. The city of Goes has approximately 27,000 residents.
Goes was founded in the 10th century on the edge of a river: de Korte Gos (the Short Gos). The village grew fast and in the early 12th century it had a market square and a church devoted to Maria. In 1405 Goes received city rights, and in 1417 it was allowed to build walls around the city. The prosperity of the city was based upon the cloth industry and the production of salt. In the 16th century Goes declined. Its connection to the sea got bogged down and in 1544 a large fire destroyed a part of the city.
In 1577 the Spanish soldiers who occupied Goes were driven out by Prince Maurits of Nassau. The prince built a defence wall around Goes, which is still partly present. In the centuries thereafter Goes did not play an important role, except as an agricultural centre. In 1868 a railway was constructed through it, but this did not lead to industrialisation. Agriculture remains the most important economic activity.
Although The Netherlands were neutral in the First World War, seven bombs hit Goes and Kloetinge, due to an error by a British airplane. A house in Magdalenastreet in Goes was destroyed and one person killed. Goes did not suffer extensive damage during the Second World War, but was under German occupation until 1944.
Goes did not experience much population growth until the 1970s and 1980s. Then, the city grew fast because of new districts like Goese Meer, Oostmolenpark, Overzuid and Ouverture being constructed. Goes is now the fourth economic centre in Zeeland.
New districts are in preparation, amongst them Goese Schans, Mannee and Aria, where 3,000 new houses are to be built.
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