FRANCE - Arles, Roman and Romanesque Monuments

 Postcard sent by me during a trip to France
Sent 08/07/2019

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 1981

Arles is a good example of the adaptation of an ancient city to medieval European civilization. It has some impressive Roman monuments, of which the earliest – the arena, the Roman theatre and the cryptoporticus (subterranean galleries) – date back to the 1st century B.C. During the 4th century Arles experienced a second golden age, as attested by the baths of Constantine and the necropolis of Alyscamps. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Arles once again became one of the most attractive cities in the Mediterranean. Within the city walls, Saint-Trophime, with its cloister, is one of Provence's major Romanesque monuments.

FRANCE - Canal du Midi

 Postcard sent by me during a trip to France.

Sent 08/07/2019.

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 1996

This 360-km network of navigable waterways linking the Mediterranean and the Atlantic through 328 structures (locks, aqueducts, bridges, tunnels, etc.) is one of the most remarkable feats of civil engineering in modern times. Built between 1667 and 1694, it paved the way for the Industrial Revolution. The care that its creator, Pierre-Paul Riquet, took in the design and the way it blends with its surroundings turned a technical achievement into a work of art.

Located in the Occitan region, the Canal du Midi has 360 navigable kilometers and 328 structures (locks, aqueducts, bridges, spillways, tunnels, etc.). This civil engineering achievement, amongst the most extraordinary of the modern era, built between 1667 and 1694, paved the way for the Industrial Revolution. The concern for architectural aesthetics and man-made landscapes that inspired its designer, Pierre-Paul Riquet, made it not only a technical feat, but also a work of art.

The only thing I can remember from this trip was the weather. The heat wave was awful, fortunately we have spent most of the time in a pool!

FRANCE - Chartres Cathedral

 Postcard sent by cannelle124 in a Direct Swap.

Sent 11/02/2023.

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 1979

Partly built starting in 1145, and then reconstructed over a 26-year period after the fire of 1194, Chartres Cathedral marks the high point of French Gothic art. The vast nave, in pure ogival style, the porches adorned with fine sculptures from the middle of the 12th century, and the magnificent 12th- and 13th-century stained-glass windows, all in remarkable condition, combine to make it a masterpiece. Notre-Dame de Chartres Cathedral, located in the Centre-Val-de-Loire region, is one of the most authentic and complete works of religious architecture of the early 13th century. It was the destination of a pilgrimage dedicated to the Virgin Mary, among the most popular in all medieval Western Christianity. Because of the unity of its architecture and decoration, the result of research of the first Gothic era, its immense influence on the art of Middle Age Christianity, Chartres Cathedral appears as an essential landmark in the history of medieval architecture. The outstanding stained-glass ensemble, monumental statuary of the 12th and 13th centuries and the painted decorations miraculously preserved from the ravages of humankind and time, make Chartres one of the most admirable and the best-preserved examples of Gothic art.

Thank you so much for this card, Nadia! I love the big artistic stamps on it.

FRANCE - Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge

 Postcard sent to myself during a trip to France

Sent- 08 of July of 2019.

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 1983

In the 14th century, this city in the South of France was the seat of the papacy. The Palais des Papes, an austere-looking fortress lavishly decorated by Simone Martini and Matteo Giovanetti, dominates the city, the surrounding ramparts and the remains of a 12th-century bridge over the Rhone. Beneath this outstanding example of Gothic architecture, the Petit Palais and the Romanesque Cathedral of Notre-Dame-des-Doms complete an exceptional group of monuments that testify to the leading role played by Avignon in 14th-century Christian Europe.

Located on the banks on the Rhône River in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region, Avignon is known as the City of the Popes. Its historic centre, comprising the the Papal Palace, the Episcopal ensemble and the Avignon Bridge, is an outstanding example of medieval architecture.  Resulting from an exceptional episode in history, which involved the seat of the Church leaving Rome for a century, it played a major role in the development and diffusion of a particular form of culture throughout a vast region of Europe, during a time of primordial importance in the establishment of sustainable relations between the papacy and the civil authorities.

The massive Papal Palace, “the most well-fortified house in the world” as described by the writer Froissart, forms with the city and the Rocher des Doms a homogeneous ensemble and outstanding landscape. Inside the Palace, the intricate painted decor of the 14th century reflects the brilliance of the papal court and its artistic ambitions.

It is one of the most magnificent edifices of Gothic architecture of the 14th century. To the north is the Palais Vieux (Old Palace) built in the reign of Benedict XII; to the south is the Palais Neuf (New Palace) built by his successor, Clement VI, which houses the papal chapel.

The most characteristic elements of the Palais Vieux are the vast Consistory Hall leading to the Chapel of St John, decorated by Giovannetti, and above it the Tinel, or Feast Hall, decorated by the same artist. Two towers rise to the north of this wing of the palace, including the Trouillas Tower (at a height of 52 m), one of the highest medieval towers. The palace also houses the private papal apartments. The day room of Clement VI, the Stag Room, is decorated with very important frescoes representing rustic scenes. This room gives access to the Great Chapel of the Palais Neuf; its heavy vault is braced by a massive flying buttress that spans the neighbouring street. The west wing of the Palace, known as the Wing of the Great Dignitaries, is occupied by the Grande Audience (Great Audience Chamber) or Hall of Justice.

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame des Doms, lying to the north of the Papal Palace, dates from 1150. The Gothic chapels were added between the 14th and 17th centuries: the apse was demolished and rebuilt in an enlarged form in 1671-72, work which resulted in the destruction of the medieval cloister.

The Petit Palais (Small Palace), begun in 1317, was originally the residence of the bishops of Avignon. It was later expanded during the 14th and 15th centuries.

At the foot of the north side of the Rocher des Doms, the ramparts, the Tour des Chiens (Dog Tower), Châtelet (Gatehouse) constitute the defences of the city.

Only four of the twenty-two original arches that comprised the Saint Bénézet Bridge have survived. The Chapel of St Nicolas, partly Romanesque and partly 15th century, occupies part of the second pier.

FRANCE - Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct)

 Postcard sent by me during a trip to France.

Sent- 08 of  July of 2019.

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 1985

The Pont du Gard was built shortly before the Christian era to allow the aqueduct of Nîmes (which is almost 50 km long) to cross the Gard river. The Roman architects and hydraulic engineers who designed this bridge, which stands almost 50 m high and is on three levels – the longest measuring 275 m – created a technical as well as an artistic masterpiece.

Located in the Occitanie region, the Pont du Gard is the major element of a 50.02 km aqueduct built in the middle of the 1st century to supply the city of Nîmes, the ancient Roman colony of Nemausus, from the Eure source located near Uzès. A three-storey aqueduct bridge rising to nearly 48.77 m, it enabled the water conduit to cross the Gardon River.

This triple bridge, whose longest floor, at the very top of the edifice, measured 360 m, is a feat and a masterpiece of Roman architectural technique, but also a work of art whose presence transfigures the landscape. Set in a natural site that enhances its imposing appearance and its lines of force, the Pont du Gard rests on a rocky base, notched by the river spanned by its major arch. The gentle and symmetrical tapering of the arches, the span of the lower arches and the regularity of the upper gallery give it an extraordinarily airy appearance for a work of such magnitude. 

The Pont du Gard is an outstanding example of bridges built in ancient times. It achieves a triple performance with its three levels of arches of unequal dimensions and is characterized by the use, for the construction of the arches of the lower levels, of juxtaposed rollers composed of voussoirs bearing engraved positioning marks. In the series of Roman aqueducts, this exceptional edifice is the result of an extensive adaptation to the river regime of the Gardon whose floods are sudden and devastating. The lips installed in front of the piers are designed to resist high water, and the opening of the principal lower arch (24.52 m instead of 21.87 m for the arches of the extremes) facilitates the flow of water.

Built, on the first two levels, of large stone blocks and, at the upper level, of small stone rubble which hold the abutting flagstones of the canal, the Pont du Gard is one of the most revealing monuments as to the construction processes of the early Imperial era. On the dressing of the stone can still be seen the marks of the quarrymen’s and stonecutters’ tools, and sometimes the coding of the stones, with figures and letters, showing their position in the assembly schema. The precision in execution meets to perfection a challenging design, and the Pont du Gard has, ever since the 16th century, been considered as one of the major accomplishments of the Roman civilization.

 

FRANCE - Episcopal City of Albi

Postal enviada por Aleksandra por un Direct swap a cambio de una UNESCO de Marruecos.

Envío - 15 de Noviembre del 2017.

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 2010

On the banks of the Tarn river in south-west France, the old city of Albi reflects the culmination of a medieval architectural and urban ensemble. Today the Old Bridge (Pont-Vieux), the Saint-Salvi quarter and its church are testimony to its initial development (10th -11th centuries). Following the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathar heretics (13th century) it became a powerful episcopal city. Built in a unique southern French Gothic style from local brick in characteristic red and orange colours, the lofty fortified Cathedral (late 13th century) dominates the city, demonstrating the power regained by the Roman Catholic clergy. Alongside the Cathedral is the vast bishop’s Palais de la Berbie, overlooking the river and surrounded by residential quarters that date back to the Middle Ages. The Episcopal City of Albi forms a coherent and homogeneous ensemble of monuments and quarters that has remained largely unchanged over the centuries.

Situada en el sudoeste de Francia, a orillas del río Tarn, la antigua ciudad de Albi es una muestra del desarrollo floreciente de un conjunto arquitectónico y urbano medieval del que son testigos, todavía hoy, el Puente Viejo y el arrabal de Saint-Salvi con su colegiata (siglos X y XI). En el siglo XIII, después de la cruzada albigense contra los cátaros, Albi llegó a ser una poderosa ciudad episcopal. Construida durante ese mismo siglo en estilo gótico meridional, sumamente original, con ladrillos de tonos rojos y anaranjados fabricados in situ, su catedral fortificada domina el conjunto de la ciudad e ilustra el poderío recobrado por el clero católico romano al término de la cruzada. En las proximidades del edificio catedralicio, rodeado por barrios de viviendas que datan de la Edad Media, se yergue, dominando el río, el vasto palacio episcopal de La Berbie. La ciudad episcopal de Albi está constituida por un conjunto coherente y homogéneo de monumentos y barrios que apenas ha experimentado cambios importantes con el correr de los siglos.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1337

Gracias por esta postal tan genial Aleksandra! Es dificil conseguir postales de Francia, así que me ha alegrado recibir esta postal tuya. ¡Gracias!

FRANCE - Historic Site of Lyons

Postal enviada por Kévin en un Direct swap.

Envío - 01 de Abril del 2016.

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 1998

The long history of Lyon, which was founded by the Romans in the 1st century B.C. as the capital of the Three Gauls and has continued to play a major role in Europe's political, cultural and economic development ever since, is vividly illustrated by its urban fabric and the many fine historic buildings from all periods.

La ciudad de Lyon fue fundada en el siglo I a.C. por los romanos, que establecieron en ella la capital de las Tres Galias. Desde entonces, Lyon ha desempeñado a lo largo de toda su historia un papel importante en el desarrollo político, cultural y económico de Europa. Su estructura urbana y sus numerosos monumentos de todas las épocas son vivos testimonios de esa importancia.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/872

Mi primera postal de Francia!

Thanks for this awesome card Kévin! I love it!