These three maxicards were sent to me by Merja on 11.11.11. A worthy keepsake indeed.
These are Christmas stamps for the year 2011, issued by Cyprus. The exceptional thing about these cards is the palindromic date of the Century 11.11.11.
The first card pictures the birth of Christ. It was taken from a fresco in the Cathedral of Saint John, in Nicosia (1740 – 1750). The other two cards display snow crystals in all their majestic beauty.
Petra Tou Romiou (Rock of the Greek), or Aphrodite's Rock, is a sea stack in Pafos, Cyprus. Petra tou Romiou, a rock off the shore along the main road from Paphos to Limassol, has been regarded since ancient times as the birthplace of Aphrodite, goddes of love and fertility. This myth makes it a popular tourist location. According to ancient tradition, Aphrodite was born from the waves on the site off the coast of Cyprus. In his Theogony (178-206), Hesiod provides the following dramatic account of the event:
"Chronos took the great long jagged sickle; eagerly he harvested his father's (Zeus') genitals and threw them all off behind.... The genitals...were carried for a long time on the waves. White foam surrounded the immortal flesh, and in it grew a girl, her name is Aphrodite among men and gods, because she grew up in the foam (aphrizo).
Aphrodite was then escorted ashore on a shell by the soft breezes of the Zephyrs at the rocks known as Petra tou Romiou. This myth is, of course, most memorably depicted in Botticelli's Birth of Venus (on display in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence). A much older rendering of the event can be seen in a fine mural at Pompeii.
Homer's account of Aphrodite's birth is less dramatic. He said she was the daughter of Zeus and the fresh water nymph Dione, at whose bosom she would sometimes seek solace (Iliad 5.370-417). Petra tou Romiou means "the Rock of the Greek" and does not refer to Aphrodite but to another myth, that of the Byzantine hero Dighenis who threw the rocks at pirates to protect his lady.
It is said that in certain weather conditions, the waves rise, break and form a column of water that dissolves into a pillar of foam. With imagination, this looks for just a moment like an ephemeral, evanescent human shape. There is a long narrow pebbly beach at Petra tou Romiou that extends to either side of the largest rock and its satellites. Merja sent me this card with a fascinating story.
Taktsang is one of the holiest places in Bhutan the monastery is perched on a high granite cliff overlooking the northern Paro valley. This place is especially venerated because of its association with Guru Rinpoche, who is said to have flown to Paro Taktsang in the form of Dorji Drolo, mounted on a flaming dakini-tigress in the 747A.D. Guru visited Bhutan 3 times. His first visit to Bhutan 746 A.D from India was when he was invited to Bumthang to treat the Sindhu Raja, the ruler of Bumthang, who was seriously ill. The king was cured and was converted to Buddhism. He promised to return to Bhutan again to further propagate the Buddhist teachings. A year later, Guru was invited to Tibet by King Thrisong Deutsen to assist him in the construction of the Samye Monastery. He traveled to Tibet, by tantric powers, he cleared away the demonic forces that were disturbing the construction of the monastery, and so the monastery was successfully completed.
During this visit in 747 A.D to Tibet, Guru Rinpoche decided to visit Bhutan again with his Tibetan consort Khandro He travelled all over the country and blessed the people.
While in Singye Dzong inKurtoe, Guru is believed to have flown to Paro Taktsang in the form of Guru Dorji Drolo, the 8th and the final aspect that he assumed, mounting on a dakini-tigress. Before his arrival, the whole country was believed to have been inhabited by hostile evil spirits. On his arrival, he subdued eight categories of evil spirits and bounded them by solemn oath to be the protectors of teaching for all times to come. He also concealed various forms of Dharma treasures including 3 teachings of Yoga to be discovered later by his disciples called Tertons (Treasure Discoverers). According to his biography ‘Yidkyi Munsel’, he meditated there for 4 months and blessed this place as the best among the sacred places (Ney). The Tiger's Nest
Paro Taktsang (spa phro stag tshang / spa gro stag tshang), is the popular name of Taktsang Palphug Monastery (also known as The Tiger's Nest), a prominent Himalayan Buddhist sacred site and temple complex, located on the cliffside of the upper Paro valley, Bhutan. A temple complex was first built in 1692, around the Taktsang Senge Samdup (stag tshang seng ge bsam grub) cave where Guru Padmasambhava is said to have meditated for three months in the 8th century. Padmasambhava is credited with introducing Buddhism to Bhutan and is the tutelary deity of the country. Today, Paro Taktsang is the best known of the thirteen taktsang or "tiger lair" caves in which he meditated.
This lovely card with the pretty stamps, was sent to me by Shashi and Jyotsna from Bhutan during their recent visit there.
Merja sent me this nice scene from Larnaca in Cyprus, showing the monument to Kimon the Athenian. For those who are not familiar with Kimon, the next two paragraphs should tell you who he was.
Kimon was an Athenian general and statesman, a member of the distinguished Philaid family and the son of the great Miltiades, the victorious general at Marathon. Kimon first came to public notice when he tried to obtain his father’s corpse for burial. Militiades had convinced the Athens to put him in charge of a fleet which he used for his own private purposes. Returning to Athens, he was fined the enormous sum of fifty talents, which he could not pay, and so died in prison in 489. According to Athenian law Kimon was required to take his father’s place in prison until the fifty talents were paid, which it eventually was by Kallias, a very rich Athenian who married Kimon's sister Elpinike. Kimon was a passionate opponent of the Persians and met them in battle many times as general in the 470’s and 460’s BC. In the years following the defeat of the Persians at Plataia in 479 he and Aristeides gained the support of the Aegean islanders for the new Delian league. Kimon was commander of the Athenian naval contingent, and thus (since the Athenians provided most of the ships) the commander of the allied Greek navy arrayed against the Persians in the Aegean Sea. One of his earliest acts as commander was to seize the island of Skyros in 476 BC from the Dolopians, the native inhabitants (who were accused of piracy), and to settle Athenian colonists in their place. It was at this time that Kimon claimed that he had found the bones of the legendary Athenian king Theseus, which were brought to Athens with great ceremony. Shortly after this Karystos on the island of Euboia was forced to joined the Delian League, and the island state of Naxos, which had seceded from the League, was put under siege and forced to return, the earliest actions which showed that the League was no longer a voluntary association. Both actions were almost certainly carried out under the command of Kimon, who now had the most influential voice in Athenian foreign policy. Domestically, Kimon led the aristocratic opposition to Themistokles, the leader of the democratizing forces in Athens. The death of Aristeides (probably about 468) and the ostracism of Themistokles (in 470) left Kimon as Athens' most influential leader for several years.
Kimon's greatest military success was the Eurymedon campaign in 467, when he destroyed the Persian fleet on the south coast of Asia Minor. Kimon’s next achievement was the expulsion of the Persians from the Chersonese in the northern Aegean, and its inclusion in the Delian League. The combination of these various victories put the Persians permanently on the defensive. Kimon’s efforts against Persia were eventually crowned by the famous peace of Kallias (448), named for Kimon's brother-in-law and chief negotiator for the Athens. This treaty imposed humiliating conditions on the Persians, that no Persian satrap would approach within three days' march of the coast and that no Persian ship would sail into the Aegean controlled by the Athenians.
Harlingen is a municipality and a city in the northern Netherlands, in the province of Friesland at the Wadden Sea. Harlingen is an old town with a long history of fishing and shipping. Harlingen is served by two stations on the railway line from Leeuwarden, operated by Arriva: Harlingen Haven railway station and Harlingen railway station. From 1904 to 1935 there was a passenger service on the North Friesland Railway, freight being carried until January 1938. Rederij Doeksen operate ferries to the Wadden islands of Vlieland and Terschelling depart from Harlingen. The famous Dutch writer Simon Vestdijk was born in Harlingen and used to depict his hometown in his writings as Lahringen. The Admiralty of Friesland was established in Dokkum in 1597 but moved to Harlingen in 1645.
The town of Harlingen, Texas, in the United States is named after this city because many of the original settlers of the Texas town came from Harlingen. This pretty card was sent to me by Janneke.
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to its south. Singapore is highly urbanised but almost half of the country is covered by greenery. More land is being created for development through land reclamation. Singapore had been a part of various local empires since it was first inhabited in the second century AD. It hosted a trading post of the East India Company in 1819 with permission from the Sultanate of Johor. The British obtained sovereignty over the island in 1824 and Singapore became one of the British Straits Settlements in 1826. Singapore was occupied by the Japanese in World War II and reverted to British rule after the war. It became internally self-governing in 1959. Singapore united with other former British territories to form Malaysia in 1963 and became a fully independent state two years later after separation from Malaysia. Since then it has had a massive increase in wealth, and is one of the Four Asian Tigers. The economy heavily depends on the industry and service sectors. Singapore is a world leader in several areas: it is the world's fourth leading financial centre, the world's second biggest casino gambling market, the world's top three oil refining centre. The port of Singapore is one of the five busiest ports in the world, most notably being the busiest transshipment port in the world. The country is home to more US dollar millionaire households per capita than any other country. The World Bank notes Singapore as the easiest place in the world to do business.
Singapore is a parliamentary republic with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The People's Action Party (PAP) has won every election since the British grant of internal self-government in 1959. The legal system of Singapore has its foundations in the English common law system, but modifications have been made to it over the years, such as the removal of trial by jury. The PAP's popular image is that of a strong, experienced and highly qualified government, backed by a skilled Civil Service and an education system with an emphasis on achievement and meritocracy; but it is perceived by some voters, opposition critics and international observers as being authoritarian and too restrictive on individual freedom. Some 5 million people live in Singapore, of whom 2.91 million were born locally. Most are of Chinese, Malay or Indian descent. There are four official languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. One of the five founding members of the Association of South East Asian Nations, Singapore also hosts the APEC Secretariat, and is a member of the East Asia Summit, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Commonwealth. This lovely picture card depicting a spectacular Singapore at night was sent to me by Shashi.
The Palais Garnier is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier in recognition of its opulence and its architect, Charles Garnier. The theatre was also often referred to as the Opéra Garnier, Opéra de Paris or simply the Opéra. It was the primary home of the Paris Opera and its associated Paris Opera Ballet until 1989, when a new 2,700-seat house, the Opéra Bastille, with elaborate facilities for set and production changes, opened at thePlace de la Bastille. The Paris Opera now mainly uses the Palais Garnier for ballet.
The Palais Garnier is "probably the most famous opera house in the world, a symbol of Paris like Notre Dame cathedral, the Louvre, or the Sacré Coeur basilica." This is at least partly due to its use as the setting for Gaston Leroux's 1911 novel The Phantom of the Opera and the novel's subsequent adaptations in films and Andrew Lloyd Weber's popular 1986 musical. Another contributing factor is that among the buildings constructed in Paris during the Second Empire, besides being the most expensive, it has been described as the only one that is "unquestionably a masterpiece of the first rank."
The Palais Garnier also houses the Bibliothèque-Musée de l'Opéra de Paris (Paris Opera Library-Museum). Although the Library-Museum is no longer managed by the Opera and is part of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the museum is included in unaccompanied tours of the Palais Garnier.
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter became the Académie Royale de Musique. Currently called the Opéra National de Paris, it primarily produces operas at its modern theatre Opéra Bastille which opened in 1989, and ballets at the older Palais Garnier which opened in 1875.
The Paris Opera, as well as the Paris Opera Ballet founded in 1661, are the oldest and amongst the most renowned theatre and company in the world. The ballet is the parent company of the Paris Opera Ballet school (French: École de danse de l'Opéra de Paris) created in 1713 and which shared the same residence than the ballet until 1987. The school has become a world-leading school of ballet, whose former pupils won a record of 17 Benois de la Danse awards since 1992. It will celebrate its tercentennial in 2013.This pretty card was sent to me by Maria.
