A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 23 December 2025 - T for Christmas!!, and Cordoba (photo heavy!)

 

Hello my lovely ladies,

It's Chriiiist--maaass!! Well, nearly. 

So, I have a really christmassy postcard for you with what looks like angels on it.

It is a detail from a work by Fra Angelico called Engelreigen:

"Engelreigen" (Angel Dance/Choir of Angels) refers to specific depictions of angels in the works of the Renaissance painter Fra Angelico, notably found in the frescoes at the San Marco Convent in Florence, Italy, where his serene, spiritual art, especially scenes of angels and the Annunciation, earned him the nickname "Angelic Friar," showcasing his devotion and skill with colors like lapis lazuli for heavenly skies.

Wikipedia tells me that Fra Angelico was born around 1395 named Guido di Pietro in the Tuscan area of Mugello near Fiesole, not far from Florence. 

He changed his name to Fra Giovanni (Friar John) when he joined the Dominican order but was called Fra Giovanni Angelico ("Angelic Brother John") by his fellow monks.

The back of the postcard is beautifully decorated:

And the stamps are spectacular:

The above stamp celebrates the visit of Pope John Paul II to Kevelaer in 1987.

Below a stamp from 2015 featuring Mary with Baby Jesus:

The image is taken from a larger work:

2012, 500 Years Sixtine Madonna.

The third stamp celebrates the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the historic centres of  Wismar and Stralsund. The medieval towns of Wismar and Stralsund, on the Baltic coast of northern Germany, were major trading centres of the Hanseatic League in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Riga (also in the Hanseatic league, but situated in Latvia) was also made a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has a different stamp. (See above).

Saturday I went on an excursion to Cordoba to visit the Madinat Al Zahra.  Wikipedia writes: Madinat sl Zahra, (or the radiant city) was a fortified palace-city on the western outskirts of Córdoba in present-day Spain. Its remains are a major archaeological site today. The city was built in the 10th century by Abd ar-Rahman III (912–961), a member of the Umayyad dynasty and the first caliph of Al-Andalus. It served as the capital of the Caliphate of Córdoba and its center of government.

It is quite a large complex to walk through.

Of course I had to photograph a palm tree for Elizabeth.

The weather was awful as you can see, but it didn't rain.

I was impressed with the structures that were there:

It was difficult to take pictures without people in it, but the above couple were in my group, so that was OK.

Further down there were more arches:

And the columns were heavily decorated:

These arches were made in the same style as the famous mosque in the center of Córdoba.

They (the arches) form part of the Parade Ground and were meant to impress.

And lastly an aerial photo:

Then we drove into Córdoba and had lunch in a restaurant:

I'm at the back in my red sweater.

In the afternoon we visited a Nativity Scene and we saw the Christmas light come on, but I will leave that until Friday as this post is long enough.

That leaves me with my best Christmas wishes (or Season greetings if you don't celebrate Christmas) for everyone.

Lisca