Russian Beauty

This lovely card was sent to me by Elena.

Winter in Germany

Roland sent me this card showng a typical winter's scene in Germany.

Painting by Ivan Aivazovsky

The painting shown on the card is by Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900). He was a famous marine painter. Maria from Samara in Russsia who sent me this nice card says she like the works of this artist. Thank you Samara.

Brig "Mercury" Attacked by Two Turkish Ships

This wonderful card was sent to me by Mikhail Timona from the Republic of Mordovia.

Brig "Mercury" Attacked by Two Turkish Ships is an 1892 oil on canvas painting by Russian painter Ivan Aivazovsky (1817–1900). Aivazovsky painted over 6,000 works, more than half of which are seascapes.

It depicts three ships in close combat on a rough sea; as the name suggests, the battle occurs between two Turkish warships, and another ship referred to in the painting's title as the Russian brig Mercury. While Aivazovsky painted many seascapes, often involving ships and boats of various descriptions, and many showing ships that were damaged or shipwrecked, few of his works featured ships in close naval combat.

The battle portrayed was part of the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-29, a war sparked by the Greeks' struggle for independence and ensuing events. The Turkish Sultan became hostile to the Russians due their participation in the Battle of Navarino and, as a result, proceeded to close the Dardanelles for Russian ships and revoked the 1826 Convention of Akkerman.

After the conflict had ended, one of the navigators of the Turkish ships made a comment commending theMercury for her seaworthiness, and the captain for his bravery:

If in the great deeds of ancient or our times there are the feats of bravery, so this act put the others in the shade and the name of a hero should be wrote by the gold letter in the shrine of glory: the captain wasKazarsky, and the name of this brig was “Mercury”

Water Towers in Netherlands

Since 1839 Water towers form a characteristic part of the environment in the Netherlands. The first towers were used for the water supply of the steam locomotives of the railways, followed by that of the tramway. This type of water tower was not very successful because of its small size and capacity.  

Most notable are the bigger water towers. From 1856 more than 260 water towers were built for the benefit of the central water supply.  

 Finally, by hospitals and private water towers built as part of small drinking water supplies in places where there was no mains present. The number of decommissioned towers are rising constantly. In addition, it does not appear that there would be many water towers built in the Netherlands in the future due better technological advances.

This card sent to me by Marianne show ten of the prominent water towers in Holland.

Children’s Philharmonic Hall, Minsk

Anastasia from Minsk sent me this lovely card.

The Church of the Holy Spirit was built in the 17^th century. Today it is reconstructed and serves as the Children’s Philharmonic Hall. Some researchers believe that the stone temple of the Holy Spirit was built around 1616. It is believed that the construction took place later - in the 30 - 40 years of the 17th century. Originally the church was Uniate, but in 1795, was handed to the Orthodox Church, and has since become known as the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

After the reunification of the Uniate chirch with the Orthodox (1839) Minsk icon of the Mother of God was returned to the Orthodox sanctuary in the Cathedral.

In 1835 there was a fire, after which the church was mostly rebuilt. Second restructuring of the church took place in 1893. In 1930, the cathedral was closed and transferred to the organization to collect grain. In the same year it was denied the bells in the city. In 1936, the church was blown up. At the site of the church was constructed a menagerie.

In 2009 began the restoration of the church building, designed by architect Baglasov S.G. You can have a look on the ancient foundations of the church by going down to the basement of the building.

A Concert hall for 240 seats has balcony where the choir can be placed. At the side of the restored buildings are administrative offices, costume, artistic room and cloakroom. Special hinged gallery connects the structure to the music school located in the neighbourhood.

The Arc de Triomphe in Paris

Annick sent me this card from Paris. The famous Arc de Triomphe is the centre piece of this photograph.