TEXAS - The Alamo, San Antonio

No sender name to thanks to..

"The Alamo Mission in San Antonio (Spanish: Misión de Álamo), commonly called The Alamo and originally known as the Misión San Antonio de Valero, is a historic Spanish mission and fortress compound founded in the 18th century by Roman Catholic missionaries in what is now San Antonio, Texas, United States. It was the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. Today it is a museum in the Alamo Plaza Historic District and a part of the San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site. 

The historic district was one of the early Spanish missions in Texas, built for the education of local American Indians after their conversion to Christianity. The mission was secularized in 1793 and then abandoned. Ten years later, it became a fortress housing the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras military unit, who likely gave the mission the name Alamo. During the Texas Revolution, Mexican General Martín Perfecto de Cos surrendered the fort to the Texian Army in December 1835, following the Siege of Béxar. A relatively small number of Texian soldiers then occupied the compound for several months. The defenders were wiped out at the Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. As the Mexican Army retreated from Texas several months later, they tore down many of the Alamo walls and burned some of the buildings."

CHINA - The Ruins of The Yuan Ming Yuan.

The Ruins of The Yuan Ming Yuan. It was pillage and burned by British and French troops in 1860 during the Second Opium War, along with several other imperial gardens in Beijing. Thanks to KwongYan for the card.

"British troops occupying Peking, China, loot and then burn the Yuanmingyuan, the fabulous summer residence built by the Manchu emperors in the 18th century. China’s Qing leadership surrendered to the Franco-British expeditionary force soon after, ending the Second Opium War and Chinese hopes of reversing the tide of foreign domination in its national affairs. In the 1870s, Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi began rebuilding the palace and its stunning gardens, renaming it Yiheyuan, or “Garden of Good Health and Harmony.” In 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion, the palace was burned again by Western troops, and it remained dilapidated until the Chinese Communists rebuilt it in the 1950s." Here

Those are 3 beautiful stamps for sure, well at least to me.  It was  issued in 2017 featuring Autonom region of Inner-Mongolia.

NORTH CYPRUS - Bellapais Monastry, Kyrenia

My 3rd card from North Cyprus.  Thanks so much  Jeannine!

"Bellapais Abbey, or "the Abbey of Beautiful Peace" (from French: Abbaye de la Belle Paix), is the ruin of a monastery built by Canons Regular in the 13th century on the northern side of the small village of Bellapais, now in Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus, about five kilometers from the town of Kyrenia. The ruin is at an altitude of 220m above sea level, and commands a long view down to Kyrenia and the Mediterranean sea. 

The site is also a museum, which hosts a restaurant and a cafe. The Abbey's refectory now serves as a venue for concerts and lectures. In early summer it is also a venue for a local music festival."

THAILAND Maxicard - Buri Ram

What a great maxicard from Thailand and nicely decorated, thanks Dee. .

"Phanom Rung (Thai: พนมรุ้ง, pronounced [pʰānōm rúŋ]), or full name, Prasat Hin Phanom Rung (Thai: ปราสาทหินพนมรุ้ง – Phanom Rung Stone Castle), is a Hindu Khmer temple complex set on the rim of an extinct volcano at 402 metres (1,319 ft) elevation, in Buriram Province in the Isan region of Thailand at the time when Khmer social-political influences were significant in Srisaket. It was built of sandstone and laterite in the 10th to 13th centuries. It was a Hindu shrine dedicated to Shiva, and symbolises Mount Kailash, his heavenly dwelling."

CHINA - Tusi Sites

"Tusi Sites (Chinese: 土司遗址) are sections of the ancient Tusi sites that have been designated by the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. On July 3, 2015, Tusi Sites were listed as World Heritage Site. It is the 48th World Heritage Site in China."

MALAYSIA - Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley, Perak

Situated in the lust Lenggong Valley, the property includes for archaeological sites in two clusters which spam closed to 2 million years, one of the longest records of early man in a single locality and the oldest outside the African continent.  Thanks to Isabella for the card.

GREECE - The Temple of Poseidon

"The temple of Poseidon was constructed in approx. 440 B.C., over the ruins of a temple dating from the Archaic Period. It is perched above the sea at a height of almost 70 m. The design of the temple is a typical hexastyle i.e. it had a front portico with 6 columns. Only some columns of the Sounion temple stand today, but intact it would have closely resembled the contemporary and well-preserved Temple of Hephaestus beneath the Acropolis, which may have been designed by the same architect. 

As with many Greek temples, the Poseidon building was rectangular, with a colonnade on all four sides. The total number of original columns was 36: 18 columns still stand today. The columns are of the Doric Order. They were made of locally-quarried white marble. They were 6.10 m (20 ft) high, with a diameter of 1 m (3.1 ft) at the base and 79cm (31 inches) at the top." Source

UZBEKISTAN - Khiva

Another card from Uzbekistan, thanks to Mike for this wonderful view of Itchan Kala in Khiva.

"Itchan Kala (Persian: ایچان قلعه‎) is the walled inner town of the city of Khiva, Uzbekistan. Since 1990, it has been protected as a World Heritage Site. The old town retains more than 50 historic monuments and 250 old houses, dating primarily from the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries. Djuma Mosque, for instance, was established in the tenth century and rebuilt from 1788 to 1789, although its celebrated hypostyle hall still retains 112 columns taken from ancient structures.

The most spectacular features of Itchan Kala are its crenellated brick walls and four gates, one at each side of the rectangular fortress. Although the foundations are believed to have been laid in the tenth century, present-day 10-meters-high walls were erected mostly in the late seventeenth century and later repaired."

PANAMA - Portobello, Colon

Third card from Blance.

"Portobelo is a port city in Colón Province, Panama, established during the Spanish colonial period. Located on the northern part of the Isthmus of Panama, it has a deep natural harbor and was used as a center for silver exporting before the mid-eighteenth century and destruction in the War of Jenkins' Ear." WIKI

PANAMA - Ruins of Old Panama Cathedral, Panama City

My first card from Panama, thank you Anyi.

"Panamá Viejo is the remaining part of the old Panama City and former capital of the country. It is located in the suburbs of the modern city. Together with the historical district of Panamá, it forms a World Heritage Site from 1997."

GUATEMALA - Antigua

"Antigua Guatemala (commonly referred to as just Antigua or la Antigua) is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved Spanish Baroque influenced architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruins of colonial churches. It served as the capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site."

GUATEMALA - Ruinas de la Compania de Jesus, Antigua

"La Iglesia Compania de Jesus (Compania de Jesus Church) is a church in ruins located within the Cooperativa Espanola (Spanish Cooperative) in Antigua Guatemala. The complex was planned for educational purposes, and its initial function was as a school. It is home to the Cooperativa Espanola (Spaniard International Cooperation Agency) but a few years ago (late 1990's) its Atreus was occupied by a craft market. It is a must visit in Antigua Guatemala.

The church was founded in 1561. The administration was in charge of the Jesuit Order, whom were expelled in 1767. Then the complex suffered damages from the earthquake of 1773. Like several of the temples in La Antigua Guatemala, it was left in ruins because of the different earthquakes that affected the colonial city, and has been restored as a historical center."

GUATEMALA - Tikal Temple

Tikal temple (Maya civilization) is the ruins of an ancient city found in a rainforest in Guatemala.

"Tikal  is the ruins of an ancient city found in a rainforest in Guatemala. Ambrosio Tut, a gum-sapper, reported the ruins to a La Gaceta, a Guatemalan newspaper, which named the site Tikal. The Berlin Academy of Sciences’ Magazine then republished the report in 1853. Archeologists and treasure hunters then began visiting the forest. Today tourism to the site may help protect the rainforest.[3] It is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala. Situated in the department of El Petén, the site is part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site."

MEXICO - Mayan World

An expedition to the Mayan world (1840 - 1843
by Frederick Catherwood (1799 - 1854)
Teocalli, Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico

Thanks to Ivinha for the swap.