BELGIUM - Brugge

Bruges’ City Hall (1376) is one of the oldest in the Low Countries. It is from here that the city has been governed for more than 600 years. An absolute masterpiece is the Gothic Hall with its late 19th-century murals and polychrome vault. In the historic chamber next door original documents and artefacts are used to evoke the history of the city’s administration through the centuries. On the ground foor there is a free multimedia exhibition that illustrates the structural development of the Burg square and the City Hall. Source

USA - Old Water Tower

Thanks to Kelly for the card.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHICAGO WATER TOWER

The Chicago Water tower was constructed out of limestone in 1869 by architect William Boyington and is the second oldest water tower in the United States. The tower grew in popularity after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, as it was the only public building that survived within the burn zone. The tower was named an American Water Landmark in 1969 and has come to symbolize old Chicago and the city’s recovery since the fire.

RUSSIA - Holy Trinity Izmailovsky Cathedral

Thanks to Diana for the card.

RUSSIA - Series/Asceticsm

Thanks to Anna for the card.

CHINA - Bird Island in Qinghaihu Lake, Qinghai Province

Thanks to Gin for the card.

POLAND - Church dedicated to St Sigismund

Thanks Agnes for yet another wonderful wooden church card. Card no 16.

Church dedicated to St Sigismund funded by Bishop John Debowski in 1762 located in Rosacha (Lodz Province) near Tomaszow Mazowiecki.  (Update)

CHINA - Jinshanling Section of the Great Wall

Thanks to Moyuan for the great card and beautiful set of stamps!

The Great Wall at Jinshanling is one of the best preserved parts of the Great Wall with many original features. It got its name because it was built on the Greater and Lesser Jinshan ('Gold Mountain') Ranges. A tablet with the Chinese inscription for 'Jinshanling Great Wall' was set into this section.

The Jinshanling section of the Great Wall is 10.5 km long with 5 passes, 67 towers and 3 beacon towers. The initial section of the wall has been restored to original condition, but the condition of the wall deteriorates towards its natural state as it approaches Simatai."

Where is the Jinshanling Great Wall Section?

Jinshanling's Great Wall is in a mountainous area 130 km (80 miles) northeast of central Beijing. This section of wall connects the Simatai Great Wall section in the east, and Gubeikou Section in the west. Officially it extends from Longyukou (龙裕口 Lóngyùkǒu /long-yoo-koh/ 'Dragon Abundance Pass') in the west to Houchuankou (后川口 Hòu chuānkǒu& /ho-chwan-co/ 'Back River Pass') in the east. (More reading)

GERMANY - Fürstenwall

The Fürstenwall in Magdeburg-Altstadt, part of the historic city fortification. Altstadt is a district of Magdeburg , which includes residential areas, commerce and the Saxony-Anhalt government district.

Thanks to Josefin for the card.

CHINA - Changcheng

Thanks Zheng for the card.

RUSSIA - Novodevichy Convent

Thanks to Roman for the card.

CHINA - The Badaling section of the Great Wall

Thanks to Teng for the card.

NETHERLANDS - Boat

Thanks to Liesje for the card.

SPAIN - Museum Picasso

Thanks Anja for the card from your trip to Spain. :) Simply love this museum building.

TURKEY - Dolmabahçe Palace

Thanks to Ipek for the card.  This card show a hall in a Dolmabahçe Palace.

"Dolmabahçe Palace (Turkish: Dolmabahçe Sarayı, IPA: [doɫmabahˈtʃe saɾaˈjɯ]) located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coast of the Bosphorus, served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and 1909 to 1922 (Yıldız Palace was used in the interim)."

Fairy Chimneys

"The chimneys are a result of a geologic process that began millions of years ago, when volcanic eruptions rained ash across what would eventually become Turkey. That ash hardened into tuff, a porous rock, which was covered by a layer of basalt. Finally, the long work of erosion began. As millennia passed, the softer tuff wore down, giving way to pillars that stand as tall as 130 feet. The harder basalt erodes more slowly, forming a protective, mushroom-shaped cap over each one. Just like that, a fairy chimney is born — no pixie dust required." Source

TURKEY - Safranbolu

Thanks to Peri for the great card of Safranbolu.

"Safranbolu (Greek: Σαφράμπολις, Saframpolis) is a town and district of Karabük Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is about 9 km north of the city of Karabük, 200 kilometres north of Ankara and about 100 km south of the Black Sea coast. The town's historic names in Greek were Theodoroupolis (Θεοδωρούπολις, i.e. city of Theodorus or female Theodora) and later Saframpolis (Σαφράμπολις). Its former names in Turkish were Zalifre and Taraklıborlu. It was part of Kastamonu Province until 1923 and Zonguldak Province between 1923 and 1995.

The Old Town preserves many historic buildings, with 1008 registered historical artifacts. These are: 1 private museum, 25 mosques, 5 tombs, 8 historical fountains, 5 Turkish baths, 3 caravanserais, 1 historical clock tower, 1 sundial and hundreds of houses and mansions. Also, there are mounds of ancient settlements, rock tombs and historical bridges. The Old Town is situated in a deep ravine in a fairly dry area in the rain shadow of the mountains. The New Town can be found on the plateau about two kilometers west of the Old Town.
The name of the town derives from "saffron" and the Greek word polis (πόλις) meaning "city",since Safranbolu was a trading place and a center for growing saffron.[5][6] Today, saffron is still grown at the village of Davutobası to the east of Safranbolu,"

Safranbolu old town

TAIWAN - Early Morning Sunlight at Hualien, Hualien Country

Thanks to Sophia for the card.

TAIWAN - Taiouan

Thanks to Yi-Tiang for the card.

RUSSIA - "The Cat and Its Artists"

Thanks to Kate for the card.

POLAND - Little Church of Larch Wood

Little Church of Larch Wood built in 1818 and dedicated to St. Sophia.  The church is located in Blizyn (Swietokrzysvie).

Thanks to Agnes for the 15th card. :)

RUSSIA - The Moscow Kremlin, Kutafya and Troitskaya Towers

Thanks to Tatyana for the card.

"The Troitskaya Tower (Russian: Троицкая башня, literally Trinity Tower) is a tower with a through-passage in the center of the northwestern wall of the Moscow Kremlin, which overlooks the Alexander Garden. The Troitskaya Tower was built in 1495-1499 by an Italian architect Aloisio da Milano (known in Russia as Aleviz Fryazin Milanets).

The tower has borne several names, including Rizopolozhenskaya, Znamenskaya, and Karetnaya. It received its current name in 1658 from the Troitskaya Coaching Inn (Троицкое подворье) in the Kremlin. The two-story basement of the tower housed a prison in the 16th-17th centuries. There is the Troitsky Bridge, which is protected by the Kutafia Tower and leads to the gates of the Troitskaya Tower. There was also a clock on top of the tower between 1585 and 1812. In 1707, due to a threat of Swedish invasion, the gun slots of the Troitskaya Tower were enlarged to fit heavy cannons. In 1935, the Soviets installed a red star on top of the Troitskaya Tower. Prior to Soviet rule the tower had an icon of the Holy Trinity atop its outward face. Because this tower was the formal entrance for huge Communist Party Congresses the icon was totally removed rather than just plastered over as were those on the Spasskaya and Nikolskaya Towers.

The Troitskaya Tower is the tallest tower of the Moscow Kremlin. Its current height on the side of the Alexander Garden together with the star is 80 metres (260 ft). Today, the gate of the tower is the main visitors' entrance into the Kremlin."

USA - Saturday Bath

Thanks to Jen for the card. Click here for more on Oregon Trail.

UNITED KINGDOM - Around Dartmouth

Thanks to June for the card.

"Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and South Hams District, and had a population of 5,512 in 2001, reducing to 5,064 at the 2011 census. There are two electoral wards in the Dartmouth area (Townstal & Kingswear). Their combined population at the above census was 6,822"

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

I must be very lucky today to receive a card from Central African Republic from official Postcrossing. The card show Quebec but Esther enclosed MS from CAR.  It is nice to introduce new country in my collection.

Central African Republic is country number #164 in my list.

"The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south, the Republic of the Congo to the southwest and Cameroon to the west. The CAR covers a land area of about 620,000 square kilometres and had an estimated population of around 4.6 million as of 2016."

GERMANY - KonigsschioB Linderhof

Thanks to Hannelore for the card.