VIETNAM

SERBIA

This R-letter from Serbia depicts a complete set issued in 2015 showing some frescoes of the Decani Monastery in Kosovo. Decani Monastery is one of the churches included on The "Medieval Monuments in Kosovo, World Heritage Site consisting of four Serbian Orthodox Christian churches and monasteries which represent the fusion of the eastern Orthodox Byzantine and the western Romanesque ecclesiastical architecture to form the Palaiologian Renaissance style. The construction was founded by members of Nemanjić dynasty, the most important dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages. The sites are located in the modern-day Kosovo. In 2004, UNESCO recognized the Dečani Monastery for its outstanding universal value. Two years later, the site of patrimony was extended as a serial nomination, to include three other religious monuments: Patriarchate of Peć Monastery, Our Lady of Ljeviš and Gračanica Monastery. In 2006 the property was inscribed on the list of World Heritage in Danger due to difficulties in its management and conservation stemming from the region's political instability.

MOROCCO

BELARUS

This nice cover from Belarus depicts 2 stamps celebrating the Nature reserve of "Bielovezhskaya Pushcha" (Bialowieza Puszcza in polish). Białowieża Forest (or Biełaviežskaja Pušča; Polish: Puszcza Białowieska) is one of the last and largest remaining parts of the immense primeval forest that once stretched across the European Plain. The forest is home to 800 European bison, Europe's heaviest land animal. UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme designated the Polish Biosphere Reserve Białowieża in 1976 and the Belarusian Biosphere Reserve Belovezhskaya Puschcha in 1993. The forest has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an EU Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation. The World Heritage Committee by its decision of June 2014 approved the extension of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Belovezhskaya Pushcha/Białowieża Forest, Belarus, Poland", which became "Białowieża Forest, Belarus, Poland".

RUSSIA

This cover from Russia depicts a complete set issued in 2008 celebrating the UNESCO Nature World Heritage Site "Central Sikhote-Alin". The Sikhote-Alin is a mountain range in Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krais, Russia, extending about 900 kilometres to the northeast of the Russian Pacific seaport of Vladivostok. The highest summits are Tordoki Yani at 2,077 metres above sea level, Ko Mountain (2,003 m) in Khabarovsk Krai and Anik Mountain (1,933 m) in Primorsky Krai. In 2001, UNESCO placed "Central Sikhote-Alin" onto the World Heritage List, citing its importance for "the survival of endangered species such as the scaly-sided (Chinese) merganser, Blakiston's fish-owl and the Amur tiger". The World Heritage site had a total area of 16,319 square kilometres, of which the terrestrial core zone of Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik comprised 3,985 square kilometres. In 2018, the World heritage site was expanded by 11,605 square kilometres by including Bikin National Park under the name "Bikin River Valley".

MOROCCO

MOROCCO

VIETNAM

MONTENEGRO

MONTENEGRO

A nice UNESCO cover from Montenegro, depicting 3 different stamps celebrating the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon, in the old town of Kotor. The Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor is a World Heritage Site located in Montenegro that was inscribed in 1979. It encompasses the old town of Kotor (Italian Cattaro), the fortifications of Venetian Cattaro, and the surrounding region of the inner Bay of Kotor. The old town of Kotor (called historically "Cattaro la Veneziana") is contained within the city walls and a well preserved and restored medieval cityscape with notable buildings including the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon (built in 1166). The Cathedral of Saint Tryphon Kotor was heavily damaged during the earthquake on April 15, 1979, and this prompted the site to be also listed on the Danger List in 1979 when the site was inscribed.

BELARUS

A beautiful cover from Belarus, depicting a miniature sheet and 4 stamps celebrating the "Mir Castle" in Grodno Province.
The Mir Castle Complex is recognized by UNESCO for its cultural significance since 2000, as an excepcional exemple of a central European castle, reflecting in its design and layout successive cultural influences (Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance) that blend harmoniously to create an impressive monumento to the history of this region.

BELARUS

A nice UNESCO cover from Belarus, depicting a miniature sheet issued in 2017 on topic "Struve Geodetic Arc". The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through ten countries and over 2,820 km, which yielded the first accurate measurement of a meridian arc. The chain was established and used by the German-born Russian scientist Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve in the years 1816 to 1855 to establish the exact size and shape of the earth. At that time, the chain passed merely through three countries: Norway, Sweden and the Russian Empire. The Arc's first point is located in Tartu Observatory in Estonia, where Struve conducted much of his research. In 2005, the chain was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a memorable ensemble of the chain made up of 34 commemorative plaques or built obelisks out of the original 265 main station points which are marked by drilled holes in rock, iron crosses, cairns, others. Measurement of the triangulation chain comprises 258 main triangles and 265 geodetic vertices. The northernmost point is located near Hammerfest in Norway and the southernmost point near the Black Sea in Ukraine. This inscription is located in ten countries, the second most of any UNESCO World Heritage after the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe.