Tuesday 9 June 2015

Beach Life

Its summer so lets go to the beach.  Every space of this beach is filled with activity and the artist calls it "Resort 'Energetik'".  I keep smiling at all the little stories going on although I have never seen anyone frying eggs on a beach before, however if you are lucky enough to have a beach hut it is always a possibility. The artist is Angela Djerih who comes from Donetsk but the card came from Ukraine's neighbour Belarus and Natalya who says she lives in one of the beautiful cities of that country, Minsk.

The card came with
one of the 'Architectural Monuments' definitives.  This shows the Church Fortress in Muravanka. I'd never heard of church fortresses before but I learn that there are lot of them in middle and eastern Europe and as the name implies were built both as a church and also a retreat and defensive position for the local population.  As can be seen on the stamp they consist of defensive towers and curtain walls;  no wonder Belarus was called the 'Land of Castles' in the middle ages.

The Church Fortress in Muravanka has certainly had a turbulent history.  Described as Belarusian Gothic with renaissance elements it was built in 1524 and damaged in the Russian-Poland war (middle of the 17th Century) and reconstructed only to be shelled and ruined in 1706.  At the beginning of the 19th Century it was restored and reconstructed.  Described as one of the seven wonders of the Schuchin district I believe it is being restored once again in the hopes it will be given UNESCO recognition.  
    

1 comment:

~JarieLyn~ said...

That is quite a busy beach but the card is really cute.