St. Mary's Church in Krakow

Kraków is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life and is one of Poland's most important economic hubs. It was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1569; the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1596; Free City of Kraków from 1815 to 1846; the Grand Duchy of Cracow from 1846 to 1918; and Kraków Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1999. It is now the capital of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.

The city has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland's second most important city. It began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was already being reported as a busy trading centre of Slavonic Europe in 965. With the establishment of new universities and cultural venues at the emergence of the Second Polish Republic in 1918 and throughout the 20th century, Kraków reaffirmed its role as a major national academic and artistic centre. The city has a population of approximately 760,000 whereas about 8 million people live within a 100 km radius of its main square.

The different aspects of the monument shown on this card are those of the Church of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven (also known as St. Mary's Church), it is a Brick Gothic church re-built in the 14th century (originally built in the early 13th century), adjacent to the Main Market Square in Kraków, Poland. Standing 80 m (262 ft) tall, it is particularly famous for its wooden altarpiece carved by Veit Stoss.

On every hour, a trumpet signal—called the Hejnał mariacki—is played from the top of the taller of St. Mary's two towers. The plaintive tune breaks off in mid-stream, to commemorate the famous 13th century trumpeter, who was shot in the throat while sounding the alarm before the Mongol attack on the city. The noon-time hejnał is heard across Poland and abroad broadcast live by the Polish national Radio 1 Station.

St. Mary's Basilica also served as an architectural model for many of the churches that were built by the Polish diaspora abroad, particularly those like St. Michael's and St. John Cantius in Chicago, designed in the so-called Polish Cathedral style.

The church is familiar to many English-speaking readers from the 1929 book The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly.

Thank you Kasia for a very nice card.

Presidential Palace in Helsinki

Ella my friend sent me this this card which shows The Presidential Palace in Helsinki, which is one of the official residences in Helsinki of the President of the Republic of Finland. The present resident is Mr. Sauli Niinisto who is portrayed on the stamp affixed to the card. 

It is situated on the north side of Esplanadi, overlooking Market Square.

At the beginning of 19th century, a salt storehouse stood on the site. Johan Henrik Heidenstrauch, then one of the elite of Helsinki's merchants, purchased the entire lot and erected between 1816–1820 a stately residence designed by architect Pehr Granstedt. Heidenstrauch House more resembled a palace than a merchants house. In 1837 it actually became a palace when it was purchased for the price of 170 000 roubles to be converted into a residence for the Governor-General of Finland. However, Nicholas I desired that it should become the official residence in Helsinki of the Tsar of Russia/Grand Duke of Finland, and the building became the Imperial Palace in Helsinki.

After the new Constitution was passed in 1919 it was clear that the most suitable residence for the President was the Former Imperial Palace. Complete repairs were made at speed, with the furnishings and art collections of the Palace being returned from storage in the National Museum and the Ateneum Art Museum, and also being supplemented. Since then, it has been the official residence of the President. The Palace was again refurbished and modernised by Martti Välikangas in 1938.

The Dutch Royal Family

Millions of Dutch people dressed in orange flocked to celebrations around the Netherlands Tuesday 30^th April 2013, in honour of a once-in-a-generation milestone for the country's ruling House of Orange-Nassau: after a 33-year reign, Queen Beatrix abdicated in favor of her eldest son, Willem-Alexander.

At 46, King Willem-Alexander is the youngest monarch in Europe and the first Dutch king in 123 years, since Willem III died in 1890.Like Beatrix before him, Willem-Alexander has assumed the throne at a time of social strains and economic malaise.

King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and Princesses Catharina-Amalia, Alexia and Ariane on the balcony after the abdication of the former Queen Beatrix. This photograph was taken on 7^th May 2013.

This pretty card was sent to me by Dineke.

Frederic Sackrider Remington - painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer

Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 – December 26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in depictions of the Old American West, specifically concentrating on the last quarter of the 19th-century American West and images of cowboys, American Indians, and the U. S. Cavalry.

Remington was the most successful Western illustrator in the “Golden Age” of illustration at the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century, so much so that the other Western artists such as Charles Russell and Charles Schreyvogel were known during Remington’s life as members of the “School of Remington”. His style was naturalistic, sometimes impressionistic, and usually veered away from the ethnographic realism of earlier Western artists such as George Catlin. His focus was firmly on the people and animals of the West, with landscape usually of secondary importance, unlike the members and descendants of theHudson River School, such as Frederic Edwin Church, Albert Bierstadt, and Thomas Moran, who glorified the vastness of the West and the dominance of nature over man. He took artistic liberties in his depictions of human action, and for the sake of his readers’ and publishers’ interest. Though always confident in his subject matter, Remington was less sure about his colors, and critics often harped on his palette, but his lack of confidence drove him to experiment and produce a great variety of effects, some very true to nature and some imagined.

In 1888, he achieved the public honor of having two paintings used for reproduction on U. S. Postal stamps. Remington Himself was honored in the, Famous Americans Series postal Issues of 1940.

Thank you Dear Jenny for this card with the lovely painting by Fredrick Remmington. As a little boy I admired cowboys. I still like Western movies.

Vologda

Vologda is a city and the administrative, cultural, and scientific center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Vologda River. Population: 301,755 (2010 Census), 293,046 (2002 Census), 282,802 (1989 Census). This is a city with many important events in its history. Ivan the Terrible had made it his alternate capital too for a few years. I earnestly recommend that those interested in Russian history search the internet for more info on Vologda.

The city serves as a major transport hub of the Northwest of Russia. Vologda has been classified by the Ministry of Culture of Russian Federation as a historical city, one of the forty-one in Russia and one of only three in Vologda Oblast. 224 buildings in Vologda have been officially recognized as cultural heritage monuments.

During the Russian Civil War, Vologda was the location of the headquarters of the 6th Red Army. The card sent to me by Lenashows the View of the 6^th Army Embankment and the Church of St Dmitry Prilutsky (1710-1711). The army opposed the White Army under command of Evgeny Miller and the military forces of Entente in northern Russia.

Tsar Nicholas II and Admiral Arsenjev aboard the Imperial Yacht Standart

Viktoria of SwedenThis historical card sent to me by my friend Merja shows, Tsar Nicholas II and Admiral Arsenjev aboard the Imperial Yacht Standart waiting for King Gustav V and Queen Viktoria of Sweden.

As I had mentioned in my post dated 14^th July 2013, The Russian Imperial Yacht Standart, which served Emperor Nicholas II and his family, was in her time (late 19th/early 20th century) the largest Imperial Yacht afloat.

Icons of Christchurch

This pretty card of one of New Zealand’s most beautiful cities was sent to me by Michelle. It shows as the card says the icons of Chritchurch by night. Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's third-most populous urban area. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of Christchurch. The usual Māori name for Christchurch is Ōtautahi ("the place of Tautahi").   

The three pictures on the card are those of icons of Christchurch by night. They are:

The Christchurch Art Gallery, with the formal name of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, is the public art gallery of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is funded by Christchurch City Council. It has its own substantial art collection and presents a programme of New Zealand and international exhibitions. The gallery opened on 10 May 2003, replacing the city's former public art gallery, the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, which opened on 16 June 1932 and closed on 16 June 2002.

ChristChurch Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. The cathedral was built in the second half of the 19th century, and is located in the centre of the city, surrounded by Cathedral Square. It is the cathedral seat of the Bishop of Christchurch in the New Zealand tikanga of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

The February 2011 Christchurch earthquake destroyed the spire and part of the tower – and severely damaged the structure of the remaining building. The cathedral had been damaged previously by earthquakes in 1881, 1888, 1901, 1922 and 2010. In late March 2012 work began demolishing the building.  A temporary replacement cathedral is being built. On 15 December 2012 demolition was halted on the cathedral, following the issuing of a judgment by the High Court of New Zealand, which granted an application for judicial review of the decision to demolish made by the church.

The Millenium Chalice. Celebrating the new millennium, Chalice is a permanent sculpture located in Christchurch's Cathedral Square. Chalice celebrates the new millennium and the 150th Anniversary of the founding of Christchurch and Canterbury by the Canterbury Association. The official lighting ceremony was held 10 September 2001 and Chalice will be lit at night with one floodlight situated inside the base of the cone and one spotlight aimed at the exterior of the structure from the pavement. Sculptor Neil Dawson was commissioned to produce a major contemporary, public artwork for Christchurch by The Turning Point 2000 Trust.