Struve chain

In Korpilahti, at the top of Oravivuori, lies one of Finland's six points in the Struve chain. This is a triangulation chain extending from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean that was used in the 19th century to establish the shape of the earth. On this spot a triangulation tower has been erected to commemorate the importance of the Oravavuori (or Puolakka) measuring station to the mapping of Finland. Struve's chain gained inclusion on the UNESCO world heritage list in 2005. Thank you dear Ella for this interesting card.

Christina Alexandra - Queen regnant of Sweden

Christina (18 December 1626 – 19 April 1689), later adopted the name Christina Alexandra, was Queen regnant of Sweden from 1633 to 1654, using the titles of Queen of Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, and Duchess of Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and Karelia. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. As the heiress presumptive, at the age of six she succeeded her father on the throne of Sweden upon his death at the Battle of Lützen. Being the daughter of a Protestant champion in the Thirty Years' War, she caused a scandal when she abdicated her throne and converted to Roman Catholicism in 1654. She spent her later years in Rome, becoming a leader of the theatrical and musical life there. As a queen without a country, she protected many artists and projects. She is one of the few women buried in the Vatican grotto.

Christina was moody, intelligent, and interested in books and manuscripts, religion, alchemy and science. She wanted Stockholm to become the Athens of the North. Influenced by the Counter Reformation, she was increasingly attracted to the Baroque and Mediterranean culture that took her away from her Protestant country. Her unconventional lifestyle and masculine dressing and behaviour would feature in countless novels and plays, and in opera and film.

These two cards show two views of the coronation pageantry. The First card shows Mars with his three knights in a tableau vivant. And the second card depicts Amor and Venus in a self-propelling carriage. The original paintings are in the National Museum in Finland. Thank you Dear Merja for these very interesting cards.

Dutch Fleet at Anchor

A lovely painting of the Dutch Fleet of the 1800's at anchor.

USS Missouri Memorial

USS Missouri (BB-63) ("Mighty Mo" or "Big Mo") is a United States Navy Iowa-class battleship and was the third ship of the U.S. Navy to be named in honour of the US state of Missouri. Missouri was the last battleship built by the United States and was the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II.

Missouri was ordered in 1940 and commissioned in June 1944. In the Pacific Theatre of World War II she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands, and she fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. She was decommissioned in 1955 into the United States Navy reserve fleets (the "Mothball Fleet"), but reactivated and modernized in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan, and provided fire support during Operation Desert Storm in January/February 1991.

Missouri received a total of 11 battle stars for service in World War II, Korea, and the Persian Gulf, and was finally decommissioned on 31 March 1992, but remained on the Naval Vessel Register until her name was struck in January 1995. In 1998, she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum ship at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. 

Thank you Duncan for this wonderful card.

The Archipelago Trail

Saaristotie in Finnish means Archipelago road in English. This Finnish national road 180 (regional road 180) runs from Kaarina to Korppo (Korpo) via Parainen (Pargas) and Nauvo (Nagu).

Archipelago Sea is a part of the Baltic Sea between the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland and the Sea of Aland , within Finnish Territorial waters . By some definitions it contains the largest archipelago (island group) in the world by the number of islands, although many of the islands are very small and tightly clustered.

The larger islands are inhabited and connected by ferries and bridges. The Aland Islands, including the largest islands of the region, form an autonomous region within Finland. The rest of the islands are part of province of Southwest Finland. The Archipelago Sea is a significant tourist destination.

Several of the islands have been developed for tourism. Accommodation facilities ranging from exclusive and luxurious beach villas to the more common simple sports cabins with good fishing opportunities are available. Several of the islands have been developed to provide coastal facilities.  

The Archipelago Trail. The Archipelago Ring Road allows travellers to access the archipelago by car, bus or boat. The circular route of the Archipelago Trail, even though only approximately 250 kilometres in length, offers a surprising number of varied experiences. During your trip from one island to another, you will experience various ferries and vessels.

Yes, indeed Ella, a holiday for tourists here would just be wonderful!

Provence

Provence is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The traditional region of Provence comprises the départements of Var, Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes and parts of Haues-Alpes. The important places in this region are shown on the card. The Romans made the region into the first Roman province beyond the Alps, their Provincia Romana, the origin of its present name.

Christiane who lives in this region sent me this card.

Sammallahdenmäki - Bronze age burial site

Sammallahdenmäki is a Bronze age burial site in Finland in Lappi municipality. It was designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1999, and includes 36 granite burial cairns dating back more than 3,000 years, to 1,500 to 500 BC. It is located on a hill in a remote area off the road between Tampere and Rauma. Originally, it was near the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, but the land has risen so it is now 15 kilometers from the sea. It is one of the most important Bronze Age sites in Scandinavia.

Four of the cairns were excavated by archaeologist Volter Högman in 1891, including Kirkonlaattia ("Church Floor"), an unusual rectangular cairn covering 16 x 19 metres with a flat top, and Huilun pitkä raunio ("long ruin of Huilu"), which is surrounded by an ancient stone wall.

The Bronze Age cairn cemetery of Sammallahdenmäki in Lappi was the first Finnish archaeological site to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in December 1999. Sammallahdenmäki was chosen to the list as the finest Western Bronze Age site in Finland and Scandinavia.

Thank you Ella for this card.