Sunday, September 20, 2009

Unesco cards from Cyprus

Luís "ludovico", a portuguese postcrosser, went on holidays to Cyprus and sent a bunch of cards to his postcrosser friends. I asked him if he could try to get me an unesco card from there.... well, he sent me not 1 but 3 cards from 2 differents unesco places :)


He sent this 3 of the Painted Churches in the Troodos Region from Portugal.
"The Troodos region is characterized by one of the largest groups of churches and monasteries of the former Byzantine Empire. The complex of 10 monuments included on the World Heritage List, all richly decorated with murals, provides an overview of Byzantine and post-Byzantine painting in Cyprus. They range from small churches whose rural architectural style is in stark contrast to their highly refined decoration, to monasteries such as that of St John Lampadistis." - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/351
This 1st card shows the Ayiasmati Church, located near Platanistasa village (about 45 km's west of Nicosia). The church was built by Father Petros Peratis and painted by Philip Goul in 1494 A.D.. It is named in honour of the Holy Cross and contains many excellent paintings.

The Archangelos Church in Pedhoulas was built and painted in 1474 by a local painter Minas.

Luís also sent a written and stamped card from Cyprus, showing the ancient theatre and the lighthouse of Paphos.
"Paphos is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus. Paphos is the mythical birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty and the founding myth is interwoven with the goddess at every level. In Greco-Roman times Paphos was the island's capital and it is famous for the remains of the Roman Governor's palace, where extensive, fine mosaics are a major tourist attraction. The apostle Paul of Tarsus visited the town during the first century. The town of Paphos is included in the official UNESCO list of cultural and natural treasures of the world's heritage." - in: wikipedia

The Odeon is a small 2nd century theatre, as you can see next to Paphos lighthouse. It was badly hit during a 7th century earthquake and was abandoned.T he theater has been partially restored and holds occasional events.

1 comment:

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Thanks
Alain