UNITED NATIONS - Geneva Office

A nice UNESCO cover from United Nations (Geneva Office), depicting a complete set issued in 2007 with 6 World Heritage Sites in South America: Rapa Nui National Park in Easter Island (Chile), Tiwanaku: Spiritual and Political Centre of the Tiwanaku Culture (Bolivia), Iguaçu National Park (Brazil), Historic Sanctuary of Macchu Picchu (Peru), Cueva de Las Manos, Río Pinturas (Argentina) and Galápagos Islands (Ecuador).

SPAIN

This UNESCO cover from Spain depicts a 0,24€ stamp celebrating La Foncalada, a hydraulic engineering structure that is part of the World Heritage Site Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of Asturias. The Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of the Asturias are six pre-Romanesque constructions all dating from the 9th century. At that time, Asturias was a stronghold of Christianity. A distinctive and innovative pre-Romanesque architectural style developed in this isolated region north of the Cantabrian mountains. The 6 included locations are: Church of Santa María del Naranco (a former palace), Church of San Miguel de Lillo, Church of Santa Cristina de Lena, The Cámara Santa, Basilica of San Julián de los Prados and La Foncalada.

AUSTRIA

This cover from Austria depict a miniature sheet issued in 2010 celebrating Sissi, teh Empress of Austria, and showing the Palace of Schönbrunn in Vienna. Schönbrunn Palace park in Vienna, which has been open to the public since 1779, is home to the Desert House, the Orangery, the Privy Garden, and the Palm House built in 1882. It is featured on the commemorative stamp and used to be the world’s largest glass structure. Schönbrunn Palace was the residence of the Habsburg emperors from the 18th century to 1918. It was built in the Rococo style as a single, unified project. It was designed by the architects Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Nicolaus Pacassi and is the site of the world's oldest continuously operating Zoo. The Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn are inscribed as an UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996.

UNITED KINGDOM

This cover from United Kingdom depicts a stamp celebrating the City of Bath, one of The Great Spa Towns of Europe. The Great Spa Towns of Europe is a transnational UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of a selection of 11 spa towns across seven European countries. They were developed around natural mineral water springs. From the early 18th century to the 1930s, Western Europe experienced an increase in spa and bathing culture, leading to the construction of elaborate bath houses. These would often include gardens, casinos, theatres, and villas surrounding the springs and the bath houses. The city of Bath was originally inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1987. The efforts to get the Great Spas of Europe onto the World Heritage List began in 2012, and the nomination was submitted in 2019. On 24 July 2021, the Great Spas of Europe were officially inscribed on the World Heritage List.

BRAZIL

A nice cover from Brazil, depicting a miniature sheet issued in 2012 celebrating the 100th. anniversary of Bondinho. This cable car, which was inaugurated on October 27, 1912, was created in order to make life easier for tourists who climbed Sugar Loaf to admire the view of the Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro. We can consider this as a part of the UNESCO site Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes Between the Mountaion and the Sea.

KAZAKHSTAN

This cover from Kazakhstan depicts a 750 stamp celebrating the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmad Yasawi. The Mausoleum of Khawaja Ahmed Yasawi is a mausoleum in the city of Turkestan, in southern Kazakhstan. The structure was commissioned in 1389 by Timur, who ruled the area as part of the expansive Timurid Empire, to replace a smaller 12th-century mausoleum of the famous Turkic poet and Sufi mystic, Khoja Ahmed Yasawi (1093–1166). However, construction was halted with the death of Timur in 1405. The religious structure continues to draw pilgrims from across Central Asia and has come to epitomize the Kazakh national identity. It has been protected as a national monument, while UNESCO recognized it as the country's first site of patrimony, declaring it a World Heritage Site in 2003.

AUSTRALIA

This UNESCO cover from Australia depicts a single stamp celebrating Lord Howe Island Group. Lord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. UNESCO records the Lord Howe Island Group as a World Heritage Site of global natural significance since 1982. Most of the island is virtually untouched forest, with many of the plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. Other natural attractions include the diversity of the landscapes, the variety of upper mantle and oceanic basalts, the world's southernmost barrier coral reef, nesting seabirds, and the rich historical and cultural heritage.

BRAZIL

This FAUNA stamp from Brazil depict a stamps with a Luminous mound (cupinzeiro in portuguese). These termite mounds can grow quite large with diameters up to 30 meters, and towers reaching heights of 7 meters or more. Not only do they provide a home for up to several million termites, they’re also used as nesting sites for the Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher and as home to hundreds of glowing Pyrophorus beetle larvae. At night, the termite mounds look like they’re wrapped in Christmas lights. These luminous mounds can be find at Emas National Park, a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site called Cerrado Protected Areas.

BOSNIA (REP. SRPSKA)

A nice cover from Bosnia (Rep. Srpska), depicting 4 stamps celebrating the Primeval forest Janj, which is part of UNESCO site Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe. This site comprises undisturbed examples of temperate forests that demonstrate the postglacial expansion process of European beech from a few isolated refuge areas in the Alps, Carpathians, Dinarides, Mediterranean, and Pyrenees. The site was originally listed in 2007 as the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians, shared by Slovakia and Ukraine, extended in 2011 to include the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany, and further extended in 2017 and 2021 to include forests in a total of 18 countries. The Janj forest in Bosnia and Herzegovina was listed in 2021.

AUSTRIA

This cover from Austria depict a joint stamps with Ukraine, celebrating the Historic Centre of L'viv. The city of L'viv was founded in the late Middle Ages and it still preserves its medieval topography. The city has been shaped by the interactions of different communities that have lived there through centuries, including various Christian groups, Muslims, and a Jewish community. The architecture of the city represents a fusion of styles form Eastern Europe with the influences coming from Italy and Germany. Several buildings from the Renaissance and Baroque periods have been preserved. Since 1998, UNESCO has listed Lviv's historic centre as part of "World Heritage". On 5 December 1998, during the 22nd Session of the World Heritage Committee in Kyoto, Lviv was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

SWITZERLAND

This cover from Switzerland depict 2 stamps celebrating the UNESCO site Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes . The Albula and Bernina lines of the Rhaetian Railway are two historic railway lines that cross the Swiss Alps. They were built in the early 20th century, providing a rapid and easy route into many formerly isolated alpine settlements. Building the railroads required overcoming technical challenges with bridges, galleries, and tunnels. The site is shared with Italy and is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2008.

SPAIN

This UNESCO cover depict a 0,24€ stamp celebrating the Catalan Romanesque Churches of the Vall de Boí. The small valley at the edge of the Pyrenees contains churches in Romanesque style decorated with Romanesque murals, statues, and altars. The churches are unique for their tall, square bell towers. UNESCO declared World Heritage Sites in 2000 to nine of these churches.