Flag of Spain

The flag of Spain as it is defined in the Spanish Constitution of 1978, consists of three horizontal stripes: red, yellow and red, the yellow stripe being twice the size of each red stripe. Traditionally, the middle stripe was defined by the more archaic term of gualda, and hence the popular name rojigualda (red-weld).

Sender: Yosinaga,  Sent on: 11 May, 2014, Received on: 13 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 33 days

Historic City of Toledo, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/379

 

Successively a Roman municipium, the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom, a fortress of the Emirate of Cordoba, an outpost of the Christian kingdoms fighting the Moors and, in the 16th century, the temporary seat of supreme power under Charles V, Toledo is the repository of more than 2,000 years of history. Its masterpieces are the product of heterogeneous civilizations in an environment where the existence of three major religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – was a major factor.

 

 

Sender: Alba, Sent on: 23 Apr, 2014, Received on: 29 Apr, 2014, Travel time: 6 days

Route of Santiago de Compostela, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/669

 

Santiago de Compostela was proclaimed the first European Cultural itinerary by the Council of Europe in 1987. This route from the French-Spanish border was – and still is – taken by pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela. Some 1,800 buildings along the route, both religious and secular, are of great historic interest. The route played a fundamental role in encouraging cultural exchanges between the Iberian peninsula and the rest of Europe during the Middle Ages. It remains a testimony to the power of the Christian faith among people of all social classes and from all over Europe.

 

 

Sender: Alba, Sent on: 23 Apr, 2014, Received on: 29 Apr, 2014, Travel time: 6 days

Santiago de Compostela (Old Town), Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/347

 

This famous pilgrimage site in north-west Spain became a symbol in the Spanish Christians' struggle against Islam. Destroyed by the Muslims at the end of the 10th century, it was completely rebuilt in the following century. With its Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque buildings, the Old Town of Santiago is one of the world's most beautiful urban areas. The oldest monuments are grouped around the tomb of St James and the cathedral, which contains the remarkable Pórtico de la Gloria.

 

 

Sender: Alba, Sent on: 23 Apr, 2014, Received on: 29 Apr, 2014, Travel time: 6 days

Tower of Hercules, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1312

 

The Tower of Hercules has served as a lighthouse and landmark at the entrance of La Coruña harbour in north-western Spain since the late 1st century A.D. when the Romans built the Farum Brigantium. The Tower, built on a 57 metre high rock, rises a further 55 metres, of which 34 metres correspond to the Roman masonry and 21 meters to the restoration directed by architect Eustaquio Giannini in the 18th century, who augmented the Roman core with two octagonal forms. Immediately adjacent to the base of the Tower, is a small rectangular Roman building. The site also features a sculpture park, the Monte dos Bicos rock carvings from the Iron Age and a Muslim cemetery. The Roman foundations of the building were revealed in excavations conducted in the 1990s. Many legends from the Middle Ages to the 19th century surround the Tower of Hercules, which is unique as it is the only lighthouse of Greco-Roman antiquity to have retained a measure of structural integrity and functional continuity.

 

 

Sender: Alba, Sent on: 7 Apr, 2014, Received on: 25 Apr, 2014, Travel time: 18 days

Aranjuez Cultural Landscape, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1044

The Aranjuez cultural landscape is an entity of complex relationships: between nature and human activity, between sinuous watercourses and geometric landscape design, between the rural and the urban, between forest landscape and the delicately modulated architecture of its palatial buildings. Three hundred years of royal attention to the development and care of this landscape have seen it express an evolution of concepts from humanism and political centralization, to characteristics such as those found in its 18th century French-style Baroque garden, to the urban lifestyle which developed alongside the sciences of plant acclimatization and stock-breeding during the Age of Enlightenment.

Sender: MissPatitav, Sent on: 10 Feb, 2014, Received on: 24 Feb, 2014, Travel time: 14 days

Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/664

The colony of Augusta Emerita, which became present-day Mérida in Estremadura, was founded in 25 B.C. at the end of the Spanish Campaign and was the capital of Lusitania. The well-preserved remains of the old city include, in particular, a large bridge over the Guadiana, an amphitheatre, a theatre, a vast circus and an exceptional water-supply system. It is an excellent example of a provincial Roman capital during the empire and in the years afterwards.

Postcard 1 : Multiview, Merida

1- Roman Theatre, 2- Temple of Diana

3- Arab Citadel 4- Roman Amphitheatre

Sender: JoaoNogueira, Sent on: 17 Feb, 2014, Received on: 24 Feb, 2014, Travel time: 7 days

Old Town of Cáceres, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/384

The city's history of battles between Moors and Christians is reflected in its architecture, which is a blend of Roman, Islamic, Northern Gothic and Italian Renaissance styles. Of the 30 or so towers from the Muslim period, the Torre del Bujaco is the most famous.

Sender: JoaoNogueira, Sent on: 17 Feb, 2014, Received on: 24 Feb, 2014, Travel time: 7 days

Roman Walls of Lugo, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/987

The walls of Lugo were built in the later part of the 3rd century to defend the Roman town of Lucus. The entire circuit survives intact and is the finest example of late Roman fortifications in western Europe.

Sender: aechmay, Sent on: 6 Feb, 2014, Received on: 24 Feb, 2014, Travel time: 18 days

Mudejar Architecture of Aragon, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/378

The development in the 12th century of Mudejar art in Aragon resulted from the particular political, social and cultural conditions that prevailed in Spain after the Reconquista. This art, influenced by Islamic tradition, also reflects various contemporary European styles, particularly the Gothic. Present until the early 17th century, it is characterized by an extremely refined and inventive use of brick and glazed tiles in architecture, especially in the belfries.

In the Province of Zaragoza there are the Palace of La Aljafería, initially an Islamic royal palace; the Cathedral of La Seo del Salvador, built over a former Moorish mosque; the Church of San Pablo, which has a octagonal tower, and its Almohad-type minaret remains largely intact although with some Renaissance additions and a Baroque spire; the Collegiate Church of Santa María, Calatayud, replacing a former Moorish mosque, with the 14th-century cloister on the north side (the largest of such Mudejar constructions); the Parish Church of Santa Tecla, Cervera de la Cañada, built on top of an old castle; and the Church of Santa María, Tobed, which is well preserved and with fine interiors with carved and painted ceilings, built to the order of Pope Benedict XIII under the patronage of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

Sender: mapilast, Sent on: 16 Jan, 2014, Received on: 10 Feb, 2014, Travel time: 25 days

Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/804

From a historiographical point of view, the Hospital de Sant Pau is of immense importance because it is the largest hospital complex in Modernist style. Historically, the Hospital de Sant Pau, at one and the same time original and daring, demonstrates how Doménech i Montaner had studied the problem of modern hospitals. Work began in 1901 and by 1911 eight blocks of the complex had been built and were in use. In 1913 the architect brought his son, Pere Doménech i Roura, into the project, and they worked together on the church and further hospital blocks until Lluis Domènech i Montaner's death in 1923. Pere Doménech i Roura was responsible for completion of the project, which continued until 1930.

Sender: sandrapostcards, Sent on: 8 Nov, 2013, Received on: 21 Nov, 2013, Travel time: 13 days

Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/804

The Palau de la Música Catalana is one of the most emblematic buildings of Art Nouveau (Modernism), exceptional both for its qualities and its setting in the historic centre of Barcelona. It was outstanding from the moment of its conception because of two factors that were to be of great future importance: a special concept of space and a very intelligent use of new technologies developed during the Rationalist revolution. The Palau was the most important source of an architectural concept of great future relevance: the reticulated metallic structure, free floor space, and non-load-bearing outer walls like continuous curtains of glass. The entire building was designed as an intelligent interplay of spaces stemming from the abrupt separation between the exterior and the interior and making maximum use of natural light.

Sender: sandrapostcards, Sent on: 8 Nov, 2013, Received on: 21 Nov, 2013, Travel time: 13 days

Poblet Monastery, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/518

This Cistercian abbey in Catalonia is one of the largest in Spain. At its centre is a 12th-century church. The austere, majestic monastery, which has a fortified royal residence and contains the pantheon of the kings of Catalonia and Aragon, is an impressive sight.

Sender: sandrapostcards, Sent on: 8 Nov, 2013, Received on: 21 Nov, 2013, Travel time: 13 days

Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/311

The Roman aqueduct of Segovia, probably built c. A.D. 50, is remarkably well preserved. This impressive construction, with its two tiers of arches, forms part of the setting of the magnificent historic city of Segovia. Other important monuments include the Alcázar, begun around the 11th century, and the 16th-century Gothic cathedral.

Sender: manrico, Sent on: 21 Oct, 2013, Received on: 11 Nov, 2013, Travel time: 21 days

Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/314

Rising above the modern lower town, the Alhambra and the Albaycín, situated on two adjacent hills, form the medieval part of Granada. To the east of the Alhambra fortress and residence are the magnificent gardens of the Generalife, the former rural residence of the emirs who ruled this part of Spain in the 13th and 14th centuries. The residential district of the Albaycín is a rich repository of Moorish vernacular architecture, into which the traditional Andalusian architecture blends harmoniously.

Sender: manrico, Sent on: 15 Oct, 2013, Received on: 1 Nov, 2013, Travel time: 16 days

Historic Centre of Cordoba, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/313

Cordoba's period of greatest glory began in the 8th century after the Moorish conquest, when some 300 mosques and innumerable palaces and public buildings were built to rival the splendours of Constantinople, Damascus and Baghdad. In the 13th century, under Ferdinand III, the Saint, Cordoba's Great Mosque was turned into a cathedral and new defensive structures, particularly the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos and the Torre Fortaleza de la Calahorra, were erected.

Sender: manrico, Sent on: 15 Oct, 2013, Received on: 1 Nov, 2013, Travel time: 16 days

San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/929

San Cristóbal de La Laguna, in the Canary Islands, has two nuclei: the original, unplanned Upper Town; and the Lower Town, the first ideal 'city-territory' laid out according to philosophical principles. Its wide streets and open spaces have a number of fine churches and public and private buildings dating from the 16th to the 18th century.

Sender: manrico, Sent on: 15 Oct, 2013, Received on: 1 Nov, 2013, Travel time: 16 days

Teide National Park, Spain (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1258

Situated on the island of Tenerife, Teide National Park features the Teide-Pico Viejo stratovolcano that, at 3,718 m, is the highest peak on Spanish soil. Rising 7,500 m above the ocean floor, it is regarded as the world’s third-tallest volcanic structure and stands in a spectacular environment. The visual impact of the site is all the greater due to atmospheric conditions that create constantly changing textures and tones in the landscape and a ‘sea of clouds’ that forms a visually impressive backdrop to the mountain. Teide is of global importance in providing evidence of the geological processes that underpin the evolution of oceanic islands.

Sender: manrico, Sent on: 15 Oct, 2013, Received on: 1 Nov, 2013, Travel time: 16 days