The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!
Architecture is everywhere around us… but beyond its practical purpose to provide shelter and security, the buildings we inhabit and walk by everyday often say something about our culture, and can be works of arts in their own right. How do these look like, where you are? Are there architectural styles or details that are special to where you live?
So, I’ll go first! Our town of Tavira has a peculiar architectural detail that makes it unique: the special pyramid-shaped rooftops, called “telhados de tesouro” (or treasure roofs)! You can see some of them on this photo:
They’re very intriguing in a southern seaside region with little rain, where most of the houses have terraces instead of clay tiled roofs (so that fish can be dried in them). The treasure roofs came from the time of the great sailing expeditions, and the style is said to have been brought by adventurous sailors returning from the East, where it was adapted to the monsoon weather. They thought it was fashionable, perhaps, and tried it out. A few centuries have gone by, but these special roofs still exist today, giving the town a unique skyline that locals have come to recognize as home.
What about you? Is there something in your region or country that stands out, architecturally? We invite you to share it with others on the postcards you write this month!
13 comments so far
Hi,
In the City of Alamo, Texas there an historical marker that states that from 1902 to 1909 Ebenizer Blalock and George L. Hawkins bought 32,000 acres here. By 2008 they had built shipping pens at this site and called the railroad depot Ebenezer. Their ranching plans ended in 1909 when the tract was sold to the Alamo Land and Sugar Company. Directed by C. H. Swallow, the company began colonizing the land after 1914. Excursion trans brought prospective farmers who were housed at Camp Ebenezer. The depot was moved one mile eat in 1919 to serve the new town of Alamo.
Enjoy!
Demaris
I ❤❤❤ Postcrossing!
Hi, here on Vancouver Island BC, Canada, you find in some neighborhoods Victorian Style build houses, very beautiful with very nice gardens around them. In Canada you find also Historical Totem-Poles. Very picturest!
I am interested in architecture and was very lucky to receive a postcard of the construction of the ‘Flatiron Building’ in New York, 1902-Postcard US-6568839.
There is even a short film in Wikipedia of this iconic building at the time. There is also a Flatiron Building in London, a much more modern construction!
Hi
amazing theme B R A V O!
The most specific style in my country, Romania is the architectural style known as Neo-Romanian / Brancovenesc architectural style!
The name comes from Constantin Brancoveanu (1654 – 1714), who served as a Prince of Wallachia (a historical and geographical region, in the south of nowadays Romania) since 1688 up until his death.
The most important form of Brancovenesc art is its architectural style.
I will leave here some links for reading about it:
https://interestingtimes.ro/brancovenesc-diving-into-romanian-architecture/
this link has audio reading:
https://www.hisour.com/brancovenesc-style-29861/
so if you are in Bucharest you must visit Stavropoleos Monastery;
a nice text about it you can read here:
https://runawayjuno.com/runaway-to/architecture-bucharest-stavropoleos-monastery/
and if you travel from Bucharest to Brasov, first stop Sinaia to see peles castle then Buasteni to visit Cantacuzino castle, more read on the link:
http://www.cantacuzinocastle.com/homeeng
So Enjoy Reading and Happy Postcrossing!
:) :D
great....
Here on the edge of the West Coast region in Cape Town, nothing special I'm afraid to say. More and more high density, low cost housing. The old days of large, spacious bungalows on big properties with nice gardens are well and truly gone, as our province grows drier and drier.
good idea
It is by the architecture that we can tell that we are in a different country or region. Looking at architecture is part of travelling and it makes you feel different. My sister in law moved from the Netherlands to Tavira 20 years ago. It is a truly beautiful place. My area in the Artois, North-West France, has been agricultural area. The farmhouses were built with cob walls.
In Nürnberg (Nuremberg) you have the "emperors castle" on a hill over the historical centre of the town with its churches St.Lorenz, St.Sebald (both from 15th century) and more old churches, the Train-station was built in 1906. Then you have wonderful smaller towns around Nuremberg with their old architecture like Schwabach, Lauf/Pegnitz, Hersbruck or other bigger towns like Erlangen as a baroque "planned" town from 1685, Bamberg (the complete old centre is an UNESCO-monument) or Bayreuth with its Margravial Opera-House from 18th century (also an UNESCO-monument) ...
To Alazarina. We have a tiny flatiron building in Helsinki too. It's very cute, on a very wealthy area of Ullanlinna.
https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/395261304787121370/?nic_v1=1ascGqweUUJj3XCy0K%2BCqDrzaLmW1mfSR33%2BcAHIjnF%2FeaSV%2FjI2kObud2uv0duIsb
Hi, in my region are many nice architectural attractions,
for example:
a gothic castle Pernštejn
https://www.hrad-pernstejn.eu/en
a renaissance castle Litomyšl (Unesco Heritage)
https://www.zamek-litomysl.cz/en
a neo-renaissance castle Lednice (Unesco Heritage)
https://www.zamek-lednice.com/en
a romantic castle Bouzov
https://www.hrad-bouzov.cz/en
I wish you many tourist experiences
I'm living in Tabriz, Capital of east azerbayjan province of Iran, and about 60 km far from us as a part of sahand Mountains You can find the village KANDOVAN, where ppl are living with a very special architecture. They are living in Tuff Stone caves from the Olden Times, where ppl got hidden to save their lifes when got attacked. The Tuff stone ist very easy to carve, and so they made a living Area for themselves. Downstairs the stables, then the kitchen and livingroom und quite upstairs the bedroom. In Winter no need for heating and in Summer No need for air condition!!!! A Bit Strange to see there nowadays the Satellite antennas.. and it's really a pity that some of the owners sold their place to rich ppl from other cities as a Holiday Home...