Russia - Komi Republic - State Opera and Ballet Theatre

State Opera and Ballet Theatre at Syktyvkar, Komi Republic.

Sent by Sveta from Syktyvkar, Komi Republic, Russia.

Syktyvkar (/sɪktɪfˈkɑːr/, Russian: Сыктывка́р, IPA: [sɨktɨfˈkar]; Komi: Сыктывкар, IPA: [sɨktɨvˈkar]) is the capital city of the Komi Republic in Russia, as well as its largest city. It is also the administrative center of the Syktyvkar Urban Okrug. Until 1930, it was known as Ust-Sysolsk after the Sysola River (read more).

Ramadan Kareem - Morocco

Ramadan wishes from Morocco.

Sent by my friend Bouchra from Tangier, Morocco.

Diego Rivera - The Detroit Industry Murals

Diego Rivera - THE DETROIT INDUSTRY MURALS
Diego Rivera and dog on scaffolding in front of the north wall automative panel, 1932
Photograph by W.J. Stettler
@ Detroit Institute of Arts

Sent by Marc from Detroit, USA.

Diego Rivera (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈdjeɣo riˈβeɾa]; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the mural movement in Mexican and international art.
Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted murals in, among other places, Mexico City, Chapingo, and Cuernavaca, Mexico; and San Francisco, Detroit, and New York City. In 1931, a retrospective exhibition of his works was held at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. That was before he completed his 27-mural series known as Detroit Industry Murals.

Rivera had four wives and numerous children, including at least one illegitimate daughter. His first child and only son died at the age of two. His third wife was fellow Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, with whom he had a volatile relationship that continued until her death. His previous two marriages, ending in divorce, were respectively to a fellow artist and a novelist, and his final marriage was to his agent.

Due to his importance in the country's art history, the government of Mexico declared Rivera's works as monumentos históricos. As of 2018, Rivera holds the record for highest price at auction for a work by a Latin American artist. The 1931 painting The Rivals, part of the record-setting collection of Peggy Rockefeller and David Rockefeller, sold for US$9.76 million (read more).

Germany - Lower Saxony - Oldenburg

Oldenburg

Sent by Ines from Oldenburg, Germany.

Oldenburg (German pronunciation: [ˈɔldn̩bʊʁk] ^ⓘ; Northern Low Saxon: Ollnborg) is an independent city in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. The city is officially named Oldenburg (Oldb) (Oldenburg in Oldenburg) to distinguish from Oldenburg in Holstein.

During the French annexation (1811–1813) in the wake of the Napoleonic war against Britain, it was also known as Le Vieux-Bourg in French. The city is at the rivers Hunte and Haaren, in the northwestern region between the cities of Bremen in the east and Groningen (Netherlands) in the west. According to Germany's 2022 census, the city's population is 172,759. Oldenburg is part of the Northwest Metropolitan Region, which is home to approximately 2.8 million people.

The city is the place of origin of the House of Oldenburg. Before the end of the German Empire (1918), it was the administrative centre and residence of the monarchs of Oldenburg (read more).

Japan - Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art

Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art in Sakura, Japan.

Sent by Dora from Saitama, Japan.

The Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art (DIC川村記念美術館, DIC Kawamura Kinen Bijutsukan) (often shortened to Kawamura Memorial Museum) was an art museum in Sakura, Japan, designed by Ichiro Ebihara (海老原一郎, Ebihara Ichiro).

The museum opened in 1990 and its collection now contains more than 1000 works collected by the Japanese resin and ink manufacturer DIC Corporation. The project was largely the brainchild of Katsumi Kawamura, the former president of DIC, founder and first director of the museum, who had been collecting art since the 1970s. The Kawamura Memorial Museum contains artwork by a wide selection of American, European and Japanese artists, including special exhibitions of the works of Mark Rothko and Frank Stella. The museum is set in a 30-hectare park with over 200 kinds of trees, 500 kinds of plants and inhabited by many wild birds and insects (read more).

USA - Virginia - The Pentagon

The Pentagon - Arlington County - VA

Sent by Jennifer from Virginia, USA.

The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase The Pentagon is often used as a metonym for the Department of Defense and its leadership.

The building was designed by American architect George Bergstrom and built by contractor John McShain. Ground was broken on 11 September 1941, and the building was dedicated on 15 January 1943. General Brehon Somervell provided the major impetus to gain Congressional approval for the project. Colonel Leslie Groves was responsible for overseeing the project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which supervised it (read more).

Germany - North-Rhine Westphalia - Gruiten

Gruiten Village - Vullage Green and Haus am Quall

Sent by Heiner from Haan, Germany.

The historic centre of Gruiten-Dorf, a district of Haan in neanderland, impresses with its well-preserved half-timbered and slate houses from the 17th and 18th centuries. The cobbled streets and the idyllic location in the valley of th.e Düssel give the village a special charm. Sights such as the Evangelical Reformed Church from 1721 and the Romanesque church tower of the old St. Nicholas Church from the 12th century bear witness to the long history of the place. Surrounded by hiking trails such as the NeanderlandSTEIG and the Kalkroute, Gruiten-Dorf is a popular destination for culture and nature lovers (read more).

United Kingdom - England - Angel of The North

Angel of The North, Gateshead, United Kingdom.

Sent by Anne from Darlington, England.

The Angel of the North is a contemporary sculpture by Antony Gormley, located in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Completed in 1998, it is seen by an estimated 33 million people every year due to its proximity to the A1 and A167 roads and the East Coast Main Line. The design of the Angel, like many of Gormley's works, is based on Gormley's own body. The COR-TEN weathering steel material gives the sculpture its distinctive rusty, oxidised colour. It stands 20 metres (66 ft) tall with a wingspan of 54 metres (177 ft). The vertical ribs on its body and wings act as an external skeleton which direct oncoming wind to the sculpture's foundations, allowing it to withstand wind speeds of over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).

The sculpture was commissioned and delivered by Gateshead Council who approached Gormley to be the sculptor. Although initially reluctant, Gormley agreed to undertake the project after visiting and being inspired by the Angel's proposed site, a former colliery overlooking the varied topography of the Tyne and Wear Lowlands National Character Area (read more).

Chile - Huaso

Chilean countryman (huaso).

Sent by Nat from Santiago, Chile.

A huaso (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈwaso]) is a Chilean countryman and skilled horseman, similar to the American cowboy, the Mexican charro (and its northern equivalent, the vaquero), the gaucho of Argentina, Uruguay and Rio Grande Do Sul, and the Australian stockman. A female huaso is called a huasa, although the term china is far more commonly used for his wife or sweetheart, whose dress can be seen in cueca dancing. Huasos are found all over Central and Southern Chile while the Aysén and Magallanes Region sheep raisers are gauchos. The major difference between the huaso and the gaucho is that huasos are involved in farming as well as cattle herding (read more).

Morocco - Tangier

Tangier

Cap Spartel

Sent by Bouchra from Tangier, Morocco.

Tangier (/tænˈdʒɪər/ tan-JEER; Arabic: طنجة, romanized: Ṭanjah, [tˤandʒa], [tˤanʒa]) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Morocco.

Many civilisations and cultures have influenced the history of Tangier, starting from before the 10th century BCE. Starting as a strategic Phoenician town and trading centre, Tangier has been a nexus for many cultures. In 1923, it became an international zone managed by colonial powers and became a destination for many European and American diplomats, spies, bohemians, writers and businessmen. That status came to an end with Moroccan independence, in phases between 1956 and 1960 (read more).

Singapore - Panoramic View

View from City Hall.

Sent by Ravindra of Sri Lanka who traveled to Singapore.

Germany - Augsburg

Views of Augsburg City Center.

Sent by Ute from Augsburg, Germany.

Augsburg (UK: /ˈaʊɡzbɜːrɡ/ OWGZ-burg, also US: /ˈɔːɡz-/ AWGZ-; German: [ˈaʊksbʊʁk]  Swabian German: Ougschburg) is a city in the Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and the regional seat of the Regierungsbezirk Swabia with a well preserved Altstadt (historical city centre). Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is the third-largest city in Bavaria (after Munich and Nuremberg), with a population of 304,000 and 885,000 in its metropolitan area (read more).

Japan - Tōhoku History Museum

Tōhoku History Museum in Tagajō, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.

Sent by Ayako from Tagajō, Japan.

The Tōhoku History Museum (東北歴史博物館, Tōhoku Rekishi Hakubutsukan) is a museum in Tagajō, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It houses finds from excavations at the site of Tagajō as well as from other archaeological sites in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan.
These include a Jōmon period jade axe excavated in Kizukuri, Aomori Prefecture, and designated an Important Cultural Property; and another Jōmon jade, excavated in Niisato, Iwate Prefecture, also designated an Important Cultural Property (read more).

Taiwan - Tunghai University

Tunghai University.

Sent by WSH from Taipei, Taiwan.Tunghai University (THU; traditional Chinese: 東海大學; simplified Chinese: 东海大学; pinyin: Dōnghǎi Dàxué; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tang-hái Tāi-ha̍k; lit. 'East Sea University') is a private university in Xitun District, Taichung, Taiwan, established in 1955. It was founded by the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA). The university is known for its liberal arts education.

Located at the foothills of Dadu Mountain, Tunghai University spans over a hundred hectares, making it the largest private university campus in Taiwan by land area. Its early campus architecture, which embodies both architectural aesthetics and historical significance was built to include modernism, traditional Chinese architecture along with locally indigenous elements. As a result, it has been designated as a cultural landscape by the Taiwan.
On the campus, the Luce Memorial Chapel (designed by architects Chen Chi-kwan and I. M. Pei) is a local landmark.

The university shares its name with Tokai University in Japan. The two universities have since entered a partnership agreement (read more).

Classic Rock Bands - #1 KISS

KISS - THE REUNION TOUR
DETROIT, MICHIGAN, JUNE 28th 1996

Sent by Lucy from Poole, England.

Kiss (commonly styled as KISS) was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1973 by Paul Stanley (vocals, rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (vocals, bass guitar), Ace Frehley (lead guitar, vocals) and Peter Criss (drums, vocals). Known for their face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-1970s with shock rock–style live performances which featured fire-breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits and pyrotechnics. The band went through several lineup changes, with Stanley and Simmons remaining the only consistent members. The final lineup consisted of them, Tommy Thayer (lead guitar, vocals) and Eric Singer (drums, vocals).

With their makeup and costumes, the band members took on the personas of comic book-style characters: the Starchild (Stanley), the Demon (Simmons), the Spaceman or Space Ace (Frehley), and the Catman (Criss). During the second half of the 1970s, Kiss became one of America's most successful rock bands and a pop culture phenomenon. Due to creative differences, Criss departed the band in 1980, followed by Frehley's departure in 1982. They were replaced by Eric Carr (the Fox) and Vinnie Vincent (the Wiz), respectively. The band's commercial success had declined during the early 1980s before experiencing a resurgence in 1983, when they began performing without makeup and costumes, marking the beginning of the band's "unmasked" era that would last until 1996. The first album of this era, 1983's platinum-certified Lick It Up, successfully introduced them to a new generation of fans, and its music videos received regular airplay on MTV. Vincent left the band in 1984, being replaced briefly by Mark St. John before Bruce Kulick joined the band for the next twelve years. Eric Carr died in 1991 of heart cancer and was replaced by Eric Singer (read more).

Mailbox #1 - Australia

Timeless Magic of The Post
Drawn by Christina.

Sent by Jack from Queensland, Australia. Thanks for the UPU 150 Years stamp.

Swimwear #10 - Vogue May 15th, 1952

Irving Penn, May 15th. 1952.

Sent by Katja from Munster, Germany.

Swimwear #9 - Beach Girls

Beach Girls by Paste in Place

Insta : @pasteinplace

Sent by Alina from Herne, Germany.

China - Bei Hai Silver Beach

Bei Hai SIlver Beach, Beihai City, Guangxi Province.

Sent by Jack from Shanghai, P.R. China.

All the sands here are high quality quartz sands, the silver shining light shows when it is under the sunlight, therefore, it’s like a beach of silvers.  

The sands on the beach are fine and pure and the beach itself is long and flat, the sea water is clean and of agreeable average temperature of 23.7℃. The Silver Beach is the best coastal resort and place for sea sports in the southern part of China. The air of the beach is extremely clean which makes the Silver Beach of Beihai a perfect place for leisure lives and medical treatments. It is hailed as the ‘Beidai he River in the south’ (Beidai he is one beautiful River in Hebei province of China, in city of Qinghuan dao)(read more).

Germany - The German Rhine (From Koblenz to Mainz)

Greetings From The Rhine.

Sent by Carola from Künzelsau, Germany.

The Rhine (/raɪn/ RYNE) is one of the major European rivers. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Swiss-Austrian border. From Lake Constance downstream, it forms part of the Swiss-German border. After that the Rhine defines much of the Franco-German border. It then flows in a mostly northerly direction through the German Rhineland. Finally in Germany, the Rhine turns into a predominantly westerly direction and flows into the Netherlands where it eventually empties into the North Sea. It drains an area of 9,973 km².

Its name derives from the Gaulish Rēnos. There are two German states named after the river, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, in addition to several districts (e.g. Rhein-Sieg). The departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin in Alsace (France) are also named after the river. Some adjacent towns are named after it, such as Rheinau, Stein am Rhein, Rheineck, Rheinfelden (Switzerland) and Rheinfelden (Germany) (read further).

USA - California - Muir Woods National Monument

MUIR WOODS NATIONAL MONUMENT

One of the Golden Gate National Parks

The world's famous redwoods grow in Muir Woods, a cool, foggy canyon a short drive north of the Golden Gate. These tall tress, some more than 1,000 years old, are a spectacular remnant of the vast redwood forests that once covered the hillseides around San Francisco Bay.

Sent by Patricia from Napa Valleyin California, USA.

Muir Woods National Monument (/mjʊər/ MURE) is a United States National Monument managed by the National Park Service and named after naturalist John Muir. It is located on Mount Tamalpais near the Pacific coast in southwestern Marin County, California. The Monument is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and is 12 miles (19 km) north of San Francisco. It protects 554 acres (224 ha), of which 240 acres (97 ha) are old growth coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests, one of a few such stands remaining in the San Francisco Bay Area (read more).

Mali - Timbuktu

Timbuktu (Tombouctou), Mali.

Sent by Jean-Joseph Diarra from Bamako, Mali,

Home of the prestigious Koranic Sankore University and other madrasas, Timbuktu was an intellectual and spiritual capital and a centre for the propagation of Islam throughout Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its three great mosques, Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahia, recall Timbuktu's golden age. Although continuously restored, these monuments are today under threat from desertification. 

Located at the gateway to the Sahara desert, within the confines of the fertile zone of the Sudan  and in an exceptionally  propitious site near to the river, Timbuktu is one of the cities of Africa whose name is the most heavily charged with history.

Founded in the 5th century, the economic and cultural apogee of Timbuktu came about during the15th and 16th centuries. It was an important centre for the diffusion of Islamic culture with the University of Sankore, with 180 Koranic schools and 25,000 students. It was also a crossroads and an important market place where the trading of manuscripts was negotiated,  and salt from Teghaza in the north, gold was sold, and cattle and grain from the south.

The Djingareyber Mosque, the initial construction of which dates back to Sultan Kankan Moussa, returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, was rebuilt and enlarged between 1570 and 1583 by the Imam Al Aqib, the Qadi of Timbuktu, who added all the southern part and the wall surrounding the cemetery located to the west. The central minaret dominates the city and is one of the most visible landmarks of the urban landscape of Timbuktu (read more).

Serbia - Ripalijka Waterfall

Sent by Sara from Serbia.

Here the water doesn’t fall down, it ‘jumps’.

Ripaljka is located near the leasure area Grudno, around 5km away from the centre of Sokobanja. It originated on the river Gradašnica and is one of the highest waterfalls in Serbia. It consists of 11 sections, the total height of which is around 40 m. The height of the highest section is 11 m. It was named after a local expression ‘ripati’ which means ‘to jump’ (read more).

Finland - Old Rauma (3)

Sent by Outi from Helsinki, Finland.

Situated on the Gulf of Botnia, Rauma is one of the oldest harbours in Finland. Built around a Franciscan monastery, where the mid-15th-century Holy Cross Church still stands, it is an outstanding example of an old Nordic city constructed in wood. Although ravaged by fire in the late 17th century, it has preserved its ancient vernacular architectural heritage (read more).

My other two postcards of Old Rauma are here and here.