TURKEY

P. R. CHINA

SENEGAL

My first cover from Senegal. A new country in my collection.

PHILIPPINES

PHILIPPINES

P. R. CHINA

UKRAINE

This beautiful cover with a minisheet issued in 2023, celebrates the Ukranian Karol at the Monastery of the Caves (Kiev-Pechersk Lavra), in Kiev. The monument is part of the Unesco World Heritage Site Kyiv: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. This is a monastic ensemble which was developing from the 11th to the 19th centuries. It comprises churches, monasteries, and caves where saints were buried. It was an important centre of Eastern Orthodox Church. The site was recognized by the UNESCO World Heritage Program in 1990 as one complex. The Church of the Saviour at Berestove, adjacent to the Lavra, was added to the site in 2005.

GERMANY

This cover from Germany depicts 2 stamps of the same type celebrating the ShUM Sites of Speyer, Worms and Mainz. The ShUM communities, named after the initial letters of Hebrew city names Speyer, Worms, and Mainz, were crucial in the development of the Ashkenazi culture in central Europe, especially between the 10th and 13th centuries. The sites, which comprise the Jewish Cemetery in Worms, Worms Synagogue, Jewish courtyard in Speyer (pictured), and the Old Jewish Cemetery in Mainz, were influential in the architecture of Jewish communities in Germany, northern France, and England. The site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2021.

TAIWAN

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

P. R. CHINA

UNO VIENNA

This cover from UNO Vienna depicts 2 stamps of the same type celebrating the World Heritage Site Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple. The Buddhist complex was founded in the 8th century under the Silla kingdom. The Seokguram Grotto, an artificial grotto constructed of granite, is a masterpiece of East Asian Buddhist art and contains a large statue of Buddha. The Bulguksa Temple was completed in 774. It comprises several wooden buildings on stone terraces. Both the temple and the grotto have been renovated several times, in line with traditional techniques. In 1995, Seokguram was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List together with the Bulguksa Temple. It exemplifies some of the best Buddhist sculptures in the world.