San Simon Island | Spain

 

Postcard

San Simon is a small archipelago of four islands located in the Vigo bay to the south of Galicia. The two main islands are San Simon and San Anton. These islands have been inhabited since the fifth century by numerous monastic communities.

During the Spanish Civil War the islands became a prison island, much like Alcatraz, and its prison was reputed to hold as many as two thousand prisoners at any one time. 

La Toja Island | Spain

Postcard
La Toja ("Toxa" in Gallego) is a little island in the "rias baias" (lower bays) connected to the Galician mainland by a carriageway elevated above the sea.

Although small and only a couple of hundred metres from shore, it is a well known and popular destination for Galician holiday makers.

Poblet Monastery | Spain

Postcard
The Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet is a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1151, located at the foot of the Prades Mountains.

This Cistercian abbey in Catalonia is one of the largest in Spain. The Monastery is structured as three enclosures, surrounded by a defensive wall.

Poblet Monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Escorial | Spain

Postcard
The Escorial is a vast building complex located in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, near Madrid, in central Spain. Built in the 16th century, the amazing building complex comprises a library, the royal residence of Phillip II, a basilica, a crypt, a convent, an architecture museum and the gardens.

Monastery and Site of the Escurial, Madrid is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Las Médulas | Spain

Postcard
Las Médulas is a historic gold-mining site in the Léon Province of Spain. It was the most important gold mine, as well as the largest open-pit gold mine, in the entire Roman Empire.

Las Médulas is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Casa Vicens by Gaudi | Spain

Postcard
Casa Vicens is a house in Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaudí, now a museum. It is considered one of the first buildings in Art Nouveau style and was the first house designed by Gaudí.

Seven of Gaudi’s works were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO:
- Parque Güell
- Palacio Güell
- Casa Mila
- Casa Vicens
- Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Sagrada Familia
- Casa Batlló
- Crypt at the Colònia Güell.

Town of Cuenca | Spain

Postcard
Built by the Moors in a defensive position at the heart of the Caliphate of Cordoba, Cuenca is an unusually well-preserved medieval fortified city.

Historic Walled Town of Cuenca is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Sevilla | Spain

Postcard
Seville (Sevilla in Spanish) is the fourth-largest city in Spain.

Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The cathedral with its five naves is the largest Gothic building in Europe. It houses the tomb of Christopher Columbus.

Church tower of San Martín de Teruel | Spain

Postcard
The Torre de San Martín is a medieval structure in Teruel, Aragon, northern Spain. Built in Aragonese Mudéjar style in 1316. Mudejar art is a mixture of Islamic traditional style and contemporary European styles, particularly the Gothic.

Mudejar Architecture of Aragon is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The property comprises ten religious and secular monuments in the provinces of Teruel and Zaragoza:
-  tower, roof, and cimborio of the Cathedral of Santa María de Mediavilla de Teruel
-  tower and church of San Pedro de Teruel
-  church tower of San Martín de Teruel
-  church tower of Salvador de Teruel
-  apse, cloister, and tower of the collegiate church of Santa María de Calatayud
-  parish church of Santa Tecla de Cervera de la Cañada
-  church of Santa María de Tobed
-  the surviving Mudéjar features of the Aljafería Palace of Zaragoza
-  tower and parish church of San Pablo de Zaragoza and
-  the apse, parroquieta, and cimborio of la Seo de Zaragoza.

El Torcal de Antequera | Spain

Postcard
El Torcal de Antequera is a nature reserve in the Sierra del Torcal mountain range located south of the city of Antequera, Spain. It is known for its unusual landforms, and is regarded as one of the most impressive karst landscapes in Europe.

Antequera Dolmens Site is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The site comprises three megalithic monuments: the Menga and Viera dolmens and the Tholos of El Romeral, and two natural monuments: La Peña de los Enamorados and El Torcal mountainous formations.

Casa de las Veletas - Cáceres | Spain

Postcard
Old Town of Cáceres is an historic walled city in Cáceres, Spain. The Cáceres Museum is housed in two historic buildings in the historic town centre. One of these buildings is Casa de las Veletas. This palace was built in the 16th century.

Old Town of Cáceres is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city's history of battles between Moors and Christians is reflected in its architecture, which is a blend of Roman, Islamic, Northern Gothic and Italian Renaissance styles.

San Cristóbal de La Laguna | Spain

Postcard
San Cristóbal de La Laguna is located on the Island of Tenerife, part of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands in Spain. It was founded in the late 15th century on an inland plateau 550 m above sea level next to a lagoon.

San Cristóbal de La Laguna is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Of the 1470 buildings in this town, 361 were built between the 16th and 18th centuries and belong to the so-called Mudéjar architecture.

Baeza and Úbeda | Spain

Postcard
Baeza is an Andalusian town in the province of Jaén in southern Spain. Together with neighbouring Úbeda, both cities are fine examples of all the grandeur of the Renaissance in Andalusia in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda and Baeza is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Tambo island | Spain

Postcard
Pontevedra is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula.

Tambo island is an uninhabited island located in the middle of the Pontevedra estuary. With a size of only 0,28 square kilometers it is very small island. Its highest peak is 80 meters. 

District of Albayzin in Granada | Spain

Postcard
The Albaicín or Albayzín as it was known under Muslim rule, is a district of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.

It retains the narrow winding streets of its Medieval Moorish past dating back to the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada.

Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Palacio de Generalife | Spain

Postcard
The Palacio de Generalife (meaning something like the Architect's (alarife) Garden) was the summer palace and country estate of the Nasrid rulers of the Emirate of Granada, Spain.

Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Roman theatre of Mérida | Spain

Postcard
The Roman colony of Augusta Emerita (present day Mérida, Spain) was founded in 25 BC by Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. The city was the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania. The modern city of Mérida has been built on top of Emerita, yet, archaeological remains are well preserved.

Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The 22 component parts of the property comprise an area of 31 ha. One of these components is the Roman Theatre.

Cíes Islands | Spain

Postcard
The Cíes Islands are an archipelago off the coast of Pontevedra in Galicia (Spain). The archipelago comprises three islands, Monteagudo, do Faro and San Martiño.

Cies Islands are part of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park.

The Escorial | Spain

Postcard
The Escorial is a vast building complex located in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, near Madrid, in central Spain.

Built in the 16th century, the amazing building complex comprises a library, the royal residence of Phillip II, a basilica, a crypt, a convent, an architecture museum and the gardens.

Monastery and Site of the Escurial, Madrid is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Palmeral of Elche | Spain

Postcard
The old city of Elche is basically built within a forest of 200,000 palm trees. One tree for every inhabitant! Its origins date back to the time the Muslim city of Elche was erected, towards the end of the tenth century A.C., when much of the Iberian peninsula was Arab.

The Palmeral of Elche is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Palmeral is an oasis, a system for agrarian production in arid areas. It is also a unique example of Arab agricultural practices on the European continent.