Lviv Market Square

The Rynok Square in Lviv   is a central square of the city of Lviv, Ukraine. It was planned in the second half of the 14th century, following granting city rights by Polish king Casimir III, who annexed Red Ruthenia. The king ordered Lviv to be moved more to the south, where a new city was built to the plan of a traditional European settlement: a central square surrounded by living quarters and fortifications. Old, Ruthenian Lviv had become a suburb of the new city. The square is rectangular in shape, with measurements of 142 meters by 129 meters and with two streets radiating out of every corner. In the middle there was a row of houses, with its southern wall made by the Town Hall. However, when in 1825 the tower of the Town Hall burned, all adjacent houses were demolished and a new hall, with a 65-meter tower, was built in 1835 by architects J. Markl and F. Trescher.

Around the square, there are 44 tenement houses, which represent several architectural styles, from Renaissance to Modernism. In the four corners, there are fountains—wells from 1793, probably designed by Hartman Witwer. The sculptures represent four Greek mythological figures: Neptune, Diana, Amphitrite and Adonis. In front of the Town Hall, there was a pillory. In 1998 the Market Place, together with the historic city center of Lviv, was recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Julia sent me this nice card, which shows the North side of Market Square.

Dresden - Frauenkirche

Further to my previous post (dated 01.6.2012) on the very same subject, namely the Frauenkirche in Dresden. I was fortunate to get another card depicting this famous church from Heike in Germany. So take another look.

Dresden Frauenkirche

The Dresden Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) is a Lutheran church in Dresden Germany. Built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden during World War II. It was reconstructed as a landmark symbol of reconciliation between former warring enemies. The reconstruction of its exterior was completed in 2004, its interior in 2005 and, after 13 years of rebuilding, the church was reconsecrated on 30 October 2005 with festive services lasting through the Protestant observance of Reformation Day on 31 October. Once a month, an Anglican Evensong in English is held in the Church of Our Lady, with clergy sent from St. George's Anglican Chaplaincy in Berlin.
The conviction that the Frauenkirche that had been totally destroyed simply had to be rebuilt was shared by many people within Dresden and elsewhere too. But it took 45 years for the realisation of this dream to become a feasible possibility. And, in total, 60 years went by before the Frauenkirche in all its baroque beauty could reopen its doors to the world. Initial endeavours to start rebuilding were already undertaken in the last months of the Second World War. As the reconstruction of a church was not, however, a priority issue in the GDR (former East Germany), conditions favourable to this didn't exist until after the political changes that led to the reunification of Germany. Thanks to the impressive efforts made by the citizen's action group, the reconstruction concept was spread throughout the entire world. Over a period of 11 years and more, the church was rebuilt piece by piece - in keeping with the design specifications set out by George Bähr for the old church and using original materials to the largest extent possible. On October 30^th 2005, the celebratory consecration took place to mark the conclusion of the church's reconstruction. My good friend Christina sent me this lovely card.

Turku

Turku is a city on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed to have been first settled around the end of the 13th century, making it the oldest city in Finland. It quickly became the most important city in Finland, a status it retained for hundreds of years. After Finland became part of the Russian Empire (1809), and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland was moved to Helsinki (1812), Turku continued to be the most populous city in Finland, until the end of the 1840s. Today it remains a regional capital and an important business and cultural center. This lovely card was sent to me by Pia. It shows Turku as seen from the tower of Turku Cathedral.  

Open Air Restaurant in Helsinki

This is a quaint little open air restaurant in Helsinki where my good friend Ella spends many of her lunch breaks I am sure. I would do the same if I were there :-))

Kamchatka Peninsula

The Kamchatka Peninsula   is a 1,250-kilometre (780 mi) peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about 270,000 km² (100,000 sq mi). It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west. Immediately offshore along the Pacific coast of the peninsula runs the 10,500-metre (34,400 ft) deep Kuril-Kamchatka Trench. The Kamchatka Peninsula, the Commander Islands, and Karaginsky Island constitute the Kamchatka Krai of the Russian Federation. The vast majority of the 322,079 inhabitants are Russians, but there are also about 8,743 Koryaks (2002). More than half of the population lives in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (179,526 people in 2010) and nearby Yelizovo (38,980).
The Kamchatka peninsula contains the Volcanoes of Kamchatka, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kamchatka receives up to 2,700 mm (110 in) of precipitation per year. The summers are moderately cool, and the winters tend to be rather stormy with rare amounts of lightning. Merja gave me this card which shows a Coast Guard vessel off the Kamchatka peninsula.

Rhinoceros Beetle

Dynastinae or rhinoceros beetles are a subfamily of the scarab beetle family. Other common names – some for particular groups of rhino beetles – are for example Hercules beetles, unicorn beetles or horn beetles. Over 300 species of rhinoceros beetles are known. Many rhinoceros beetles are well known for their bizarre shapes and large sizes. Some famous species are, for example, the Atlas beetle, common rhinoceros beetle, elephant beetle, European rhinoceros beetle, Hercules beetle, Japanese rhinoceros beetle or, ox beetle and the unicorn beetle. Rhinoceros beetles are popular as pets in parts of Asia, in part due to their being clean, easy to maintain and safe to handle. Also in Asia, male beetles are used for gambling fights. Since males naturally have the tendency to fight each other for the attention of females, they are the ones used for battle. To get the two male beetles to lock in combat, a female beetle or a small noisemaker is used to duplicate the female's mating call.
Some species can become major pests, e.g., in tree plantations. Usually though, beetle population densities are not as high as in some other pest insects, and food trees which are typically already sick or dying from some other cause are preferred. Some species' larvae, however, will attack healthy trees or even root vegetables, and when they occur in large numbers, can cause economically significant damage. 
Dr. MinJun Kim, leading a team of engineers in National Science Foundation-funded research, examined the function and aerodynamics of the Allomyrina dichotoma beetle, with the help of researchers in Drexel University's Mechanical Engineering Department and in collaboration with Konkuk University in South Korea. Rhinoceros beetles could play a big part in the next generation of aircraft design. Thank you Natalia for this lovely maxicard from Belarus.