Tyre ancient ruins | Lebanon

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Tyre is is an ancient Phoenician city located on the southern coast of Lebanon, 83 km south of Beirut.  It was an island in ages past, celebrated for its beauty.

Tyre emerges today from the debris of centuries. Excavations on the site have uncovered remains of the Crusader, Arab, Byzantine and Graeco-Roman cities.

Tyre is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Sambor Prei Kuk | Cambodia

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The archaeological site of Sambor Prei Kuk comprises more than a hundred temples. Sambor (many) Prei (forest) Kuk (temples) means, ‘many temples inside the forest’.

Temple Zone of Sambor Prei Kuk, Archaeological Site of Ancient Ishanapura is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Imperial Baths | Germany

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The Imperial Baths are a large Roman bath complex in Trier, Germany.

Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Together with the church and the cathedral, nine monuments are listed: Ampitheatre, Moselle Bridge, Barbara Baths, Igel Column, Porta Nigra, and Imperial Baths.

Persepolis | Iran

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Persepolis, meaning "city of Persians", Persepolis was an ancient ceremonial capital of the second Iranian dynasty, the Achaemenid Empire. The earliest remains of Persepolis date from around 515 BC.

The Gate of All Nations (or the Gate of Xerxes), is located in the ruins of this ancient city.
The construction was ordered by the Achaemenid king Xerxes I (486-465 BC).

Persepolis is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Paharpur Ruins | Bangladesh

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The ruins of this Buddhist monastic complex are located located to the north-west of Bangladesh, close to the village of Paharpur. The ruins date back to 770-810AD and represent an important pre-Islamic monument in Bangladesh.

Ruins of the Buddhist Vihara at Paharpur is UNESCO World Heritage site.

Pergamon | Turkey

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Pergamon was founded in the 3rd century BC as the capital of the Attalid dynasty. Located in the Aegean Region, the heart of the Antique World in todays Turkey, and at the crossroads between Europe and the Middle East, it became an important cultural, scientific and political centre.

Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage site. This is a serial property comprising nine component sites, of which the primary and most visually dominant is the acropolis on Kale Hill.

Archaeological Site of Volubilis | Morocco

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Volubilis is one of Morocco’s best-preserved Roman ruins. Established before the Christian Era, Volubilis was considered the administrative center of the kingdom of Mauretania and also one of the most remote cities within the Roman Empire.

Archaeological Site of Volubilis is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997.

Bomarsund Fortress | Aland

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The fortress of Bomarsund was built during the years 1832-1854. Åland was Russian at the time and the fortress was intended for the Russian contingents on the islands.

The fortress was thoroughly ruined in 1854 when attacked by the allied English-Frenchmen. At that time only two towers of the planned twelve subsidiary towers of the fortress had been completed.

Ulpiana and Novoberda | Kosovo

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Remnants of the Roman empire lie just 7 kilometres south east of Prishtina at the Ulpiana excavation site. The ancient city is believed to date back to the first century. At that time, the territories of Serbia, Kosovo, and portions of Macedonia and Bulgaria were known as the Roman province of Moesia Superior.

Novoberda was one of the biggest cities in Balkans and had a great importance. In 1400 it was the fourth largest city in Europe with a population of 60,000 (London had 40,000 at the time). It was regarded as one of the richest cities in Balkans because of its natural resources, and  was often called “the city of silver and gold”. All that remains today is the ruined castle, a derelict mosque and Byzantine era church.

Archaeological Area of Herculaneum | Italy

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Located in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, Herculaneum (Ercolano in Italian) was an ancient Roman town, destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in 79 AD. Its ruins are located in the commune of Ercolano, Campania, Italy.

Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Torre Annunziata is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Zvartnots Cathedral ruins | Armenia

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Zvartnots is a complex of structures built in the middle of the 7th century near Echmiatsin in Armenia.

Zvartnots remained standing until the end of the 10th century, but historical sources are silent as to the cause of its collapse. The ruins of Zvartnots remained buried until its remains were uncovered at the start of the 20th century. The site was excavated between 1901 and 1907.

The temple ruins are part of Unesco World heritage site inscribed under the name Cathedral and Churches of Echmiatsin and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots.

Archaeological Site of Monte Albán | Mexico

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Monte Albán is a large archaeological site in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Inhabited over a period of 1,500 years the terraces, dams, canals, pyramids and artificial mounds of Monte Albán were literally carved out of the mountain.

 

Together with nearby historic centre of Oaxaca it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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The El Universal newspaper is celebrating its centennial in 2016.  

The ruins of Timgad | Algeria

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The ruins of Timgad in Algeria are an impressive set of ancient Roman remains and rank among the best such ruins in North Africa. Timgad was both a military colony and an incentive to the African people to serve in the Roman army, as anybody who did so for twenty-five years would have a home in the base. 

Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro | Pakistan

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Mohenjo-daro is an archeological site in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. The site is an ancient Indus Valley Civilization city that flourished between 2600 and 1900 BCE. It was discovered in the 1920s. 

Ancient City of Polonnaruwa | Sri Lanka

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Polonnaruwa was the second capital of Sri Lanka after the destruction of Anuradhapura in 993. The Polonnaruwa Vatadage is an ancient structure dating back to the Polonnaruwa Period of Sri Lanka.

The vatadage is an ancient type of Buddhist structure. Vatadages were built around small stupas for their protection, which often enshrined a relic or were built on hallowed ground. Only ten vatadages now remain in Sri Lanka. 

 

The Ancient City of Polonnaruwa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ġgantija temples | Malta

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Gozo is the second largest island in the Maltese archipelago. The Ġgantija temples that can be found on this island are part of the UNESCO World Heritage site Megalithic Temples of Malta. 

These Temples are prehistoric monumental buildings constructed during the 3th and 4th millennium BC. They rank amongst the earliest free-standing stone buildings in the world. 

The medieval Armenian kingdom of Ani | Turkey

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Situated on the eastern border of Turkey, across the Akhurian River from Armenia, lies the empty, crumbling site of the once-great metropolis of Ani, known as "the city of a thousand and one churches". The postcard shows the ruins of the Church of Saint Gregory of Tigran Honents. 

Founded more than 1,600 years ago, Ani was situated on several trade routes, and grew to become a walled city of more than 100,000 residents by the 11th century. But in following centuries conquered hundreds of times. And by the 1300s, Ani was in steep decline. It was completely abandoned by the 1700s. Since the Armenian Genocide early 1900s the region is an empty, militarized no-man's land.

The Temple of Hadrian | Turkey

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The Ancient City of Ephesus is an outstanding example of a Roman port city, with sea channel and harbour basin (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1018).

The Temple of Hadrian, built around 118 AD, is one of the main attractions at Ephesus. Hadrian was a Roman emperor from 117 to 138.

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(left) The city of Safranbolu, a UNESCO World Heritage site (issue 2015). 

Olsztyn Castle | Poland

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I was looking for Hanse city Olsztyn but this is another place with same name. This version of Olsztyn is a small village with 2,300 inhabitants, in southern Poland.

The ruins of the castle, located on a hill, date back to the 14th century. It is part of the Trail of the Eagles' Nests, a system of fortifications to protect western Lesser Poland from the Czechs. 

The Ruins at Sarmizegetusa | Romania

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About 2,000 years ago the Roman Empire spread its territories towards eastern Europe. Sarmizegetusa Regia was the capital of the Roman Province of Dacia, located in today’s Romania.

Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains is an UNESCO World Heritage site. 

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Both stamps are part of a series of six stamps issued in 2013: “Flowers Clock”. Each stamp shows a flower and its blooming time on the clock featured on the stamp.