Croatia

I was in Zagreb for two days in August and it was then that I realized I didn't have a single postcard from our capital, so I thought, why not to send myself one? I chose the beautiful St. Mark's Church, located at the St. Mark's Square, together with  Banski dvori (the seat of the Government of Croatia), Croatian Parliament and Constitutional Court of Croatia. 

The Romanesque window found in the church's south facade is the best evidence that the church must have been built as early as the 13th century. Outside, on the northwest wall of the church lies the oldest coat of arms of Zagreb with the year 1499 engraved in it.On the roof, tiles are laid so that they represent the coat of arms of Zagreb (white castle on red background) and Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia.

Croatia

I won the vintage postcard (above) printed quite some time ago in a lottery :) It shows the peristyle of the Diocletian's Palace in Split. Diocletian's Palace is a Roman palace that was built by the Roman emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century AD. Diocletian built the massive palace in preparation for his retirement on 1 May 305 AD. It lies in a bay on the south side of a short peninsula running out from the Dalmatian coast, four miles from Salona, the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. The terrain slopes gently seaward and is typical karst, consisting of low limestone ridges running east to west with marl in the clefts between them. It was added on the UNESCO's WHS list in 1979.

I've just realized that this is my 250th post on the blog! I have really overlooked it, because I was planning to hold a lottery in order to celebrate this, but will have to wait for another occasion obviously. Anyway, thank you, Nenad!

Croatia

Rajko, also a huge Postcrosser and blogger addict, visited Istria, my home-region a couple of days ago. Among many places he visited, he sent me a postcard of Medulian, a small coastal town near Pula. Such a shame he was in a big hurry so he didn't have enough time to visit my hometown Rovinj as well . . .  He has to come back!

 I am inviting you to visit his great blog: http://mnepostcards.blogspot.com/  Hvala, Rajko!

Croatia

The Pula Arena is the name of the amphitheater located in Pula, located app. 30 kilometers from my hometown Rovinj. The Arena is the only remaining Roman amphitheater to have four side towers and with all three Roman architectural orders entirely preserved. It and is among the six largest surviving Roman arenas in the whole world and the best preserved ancient monument in Croatia

The arena had a total of 15 gates. A series of underground passageways were built underneath the arena along the main axis from which animals, ludi scenes and fighters could be released; stores and shops were located under the raked seating. The amphitheater  was part of the circuit of the gladiators.

The amphitheater remained in use until the 5th century, when emperor Honorius prohibited gladiatorial combats. It was not until 681 that combat between convicts, particularly those sentenced to death, and wild animals was forbidden.

In the Middle Ages the interior of the Arena was used for grazing, occasional tournaments by the Knights of Malta and medieval fairs. In 1583 the Venetian Senate proposed dismantling the arena and rebuilding it within Venice. The proposals were rejected.

Nowadays, arena is used as a venue for many concerts. A Professional Hockey game will be played here on September 14th and September 16th, 2012. KHL Medveščak Zagreb, better known as the Bears, will be the host for these two games. I bet it will be a great show!

Croatia

I found this vintage map card of my home-region of Croatia, Istria, jus amazing! I have started to interest in this kind of vintage, historical, cards recently. My dear sister saw the map while her trip to Pula and immediately sent it to me . . . What a great sister I have!

If you haven't visited Istria yet, I higly recommend it to you. It's not just because I come from here, but because of long and interesting history, all those small coastal town built with a taste of Venetian arhitecture, beautiful countryside and overall clear blue sea with long rocky beaches. 

Here comes a spot that will show you all the beauties of Istria. Enjoy!  ;)

And the fairy stamp. It's part of the fairy stamp set issued by Croatian in 2009.

Croatia

I am posting one more postcard from my homeland Croatia. I sent it to myself during my school trip last September. This postcard has a special place in my collection. It shows a very small town in the southern part of the country called Zaostrog. We stayed in a hostel in Zaostrog for a couple of days and we had an amazing time. I think that was the best trip I've taken so far. We were singing, laughing, visiting bigger cities near Zaostrog such as Split, Šibenik, Dubrovnik and even Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina and having fun. Although it was pretty hot and we had no chance for swimming (the hostel is located like 50 meters from the beach), so many unforgettable memories were made.

I would like to thank to all of my classmates and friends for such an amazing school trip. Thanks, guys :)

Croatia, or Hrvatska - as we call it

Here comes a card from my homeland, Croatia, or Hrvatska as we call it. I sent this card to myself ( funny thing, but I always do that during trips) during my school journey to Dalmatia, the southern part of Croatia.

Dubrovik is one of the most beautiful towns in Croatia and on the Adriatic so some call it "Pearl of the Adriatic". It is famous for its walled old part of town. A feature of Dubrovnik are its walls that run almost 2 kilometers around the city. The walls run from four to six meters thick on the landward side but are much thinner on the seaward side. The system of turrets and towers were intended to protect the vulnerable city. In 1979, the city of Dubrovnik joined the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

The city really impressed me. Beside crowded streets and amazing atmosphere, there are many thing to see and try. The view from the walls is just unforgetable! This is a photo that I took from there.