Barcelona

Clockwise from left to right: L'Hotel Arts and Torre Mapfre, Caixaforum, the interior of Sagrada Família, the Barcelona Cathedral, a lizard from Park Güell, Magic Fountain of Mont Juïc, Casa Battlò, Torre Agbar, the rooftop of Casa Milá, the Sagrada Família

Barcelona is a truly amazing city – that's my personal opinion, but I think many agree with me. The capital of Catalonia region and the second-largest city of Spain among the Mediterranean coast. I visited Barcelona in February 2015 and I purchased nice postcards so I'm going to write more about my memories when I upload those. Barcelona became one of my favourite places and the thing that certainly enchanted me was the architecture of Antoni Gaudí. So let's return to the subject later ;)

From: R. J.
Date: June 2012

Koh Samui

Koh Samui is a touristic paradise in Thailand, the second largest island (after Phuket) off the southeastern coast of the country. It is abundant in sandy beaches, coral reefs and, therefore, tourist resorts. The island basically makes it's living from tourism but it exports large amounts of rubber and coconut as well. The most populous place is the Chewang Beach.

The background story: my university friend and her boyfriend went on vacation to Koh Samui but it was a visit at the same time, 'cause her boyfriend's father lives there. I remember watching their photos of riding elephants and hand-feeding tigers... so cool, would love to do that! :))

I love the photos of this postcard so much, especially the purple sunset. :)

From: T. V.
Date: June 2012

Little Omiš in Dalmatia

Omiš is a small ancient town located at the Adriatic Sea in Dalmatia region, South Croatia. 

It was a Roman settlement called Oeneum during antiquity. In the Middle Ages it was famous for its pirates who used to sack the South Italian and crusader ships.

From: H. Á.
Date: August 2012

Nesebar

An old black and white photo of an old street of an old town Nesebar in Bulgaria :)

Nesebar is a seaside resort among the Black Sea Coast, due to its richness in historic buildings, among them many Byzantine Eastern Orthodox churches, ancient Nesebar became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

From: P. M.

Date: August 2012

Isztambul, óóóóó Isztambul

Galata Tower on the left, Ortaköy Mosque with the Bosphorus Bridge at the upper right, and the cityscape at the lower right

 Istanbul, the capital of Turkey has a long history which dates back to antiquity. It was first called Byzantium until Constantine the Great made it as the capital of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire in 330 BC, then it was called Constantinopolis. It received its present-day name gradually after the Ottoman conquest of the city in the 1453. It was referred concurrently Constantinopolis in the West, and the city was officially renamed Istanbul in 1928 by president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
About the monuments on the postcard: The Galata Tower is a Romanesque style structure constructed in 1348, it was built by the Genoese colony in the city. The tower is 66,9 m tall and it was the tallest building of Constantinopole at that time. For those who climb the tower can see a great panorama of the city from the top. The Ortaköy Mosque Neo-Baroque style building designed by Armenian architects (a father and his son) and was constructed between 1854-56. Behind the mosque, the First Bosphorus Bridge can be seen, which connects Europe and Asia. The suspension bridge is 1560 meters long and was opened in 1973.
Istanbul is a popular holiday destination in my country, it looks like a lovely place with a lot of things to discover.

From: R. J.
Date: July 2012

Il Cenacolo

Leonardo da Vinci: The Last Supper (ca. 1495-1497)

One of the most well-recognized artworks of the world, like many other pieces of the Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci. It appeared numerous times in popular culture, lately in Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code giving a new iconographic explanation of the mural. The famous fresco in the refectory of the Santa Maria delle Grazie church in Milan, Italy. It was commissioned by Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan of that time, whose court Leonardo worked in.
Leonardo's Last Supper depicts the moment when Jesus announces to his Disciples that one of them would betray him. The scene becomes dynamic by the fervent reactions of the Twelve Disciples to the announcement. According to records, Leonardo was eagerly looking for the best models to study various expressions, not only on the face, but the hands too. The picture plane is designed with linear perspective to provide the sense of a three-dimensional space. Space-designing with linear perspective is a novelty appeared exactly in Renaissance painting. The converging lines meet in a vanishing point which, in the case of this picture, is in the right-eye of Jesus. This leads the eye of the viewer to the head of Jesus, the protagonist of the scene. Leonardo divided the Disciples into four groups and it is the first time that Judas is on the same side of the table with the others (in Medieval times, he is usually depicted on the opposite side to lay emphasis on his betrayal). He appeares on the left of Jesus in green and blue, clutching the bag of the thirty silver coins. In the three lunettes there are the heraldic symbols of the members of the Sforza family: Ludovico's combined coat of arms with his wife's Beatrice d'Este's in the middle, his first son's Massimiliano's on the right and his second son's Franceso's on the left.
I was lucky to see the painting during my Erasmus year in Milan and it remains a remarkable memory. Visitors are let inside the refectory in every 15 minutes and you have these 15 minutes to study the mural as much as you can. I remember I was surprised how dead are the colours of the painting (even though I knew about it's bad conditions) and it was lighted by a strange blue light which gave the feeling of a Power-point presentation projected on the wall. Anyways, it is a great work of art indeed.

From: T. A.

Date: July 2012