The Cathedral Nuestra Señora de la Huerta de Tarazona, first called Nuestra Señora de Hidria, features in this souvenir sheet that depicts a side view of the temple with the dome over the transept, whilst the stamp features a panoramic view of the tower.

The building works began in 1162 but it wasn’t consecrated until 1235. During the reign of James I the Conqueror it was expanded and in the XIV century suffered significant damage during the War of the two Pedros. It was then rebuilt and underwent various changes over the centuries merging architectural elements of the Gothic, Renaissance and Moorish periods.

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published November 29th, 2011

Magyar Posta is issuing a special stamp to commemorate Saint Martin, the bishop of Tours, who was born in the province of Pannonia and is the patron saint of the diocese of Savaria (today Szombathely), Gaul (today France) and Burgenland (Austria) as well as of soldiers, beggars and many crafts. Many hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of places and churches around the world bear his name. His legend has inspired a multi-tude of artworks and the events of his life are captured by folk traditions. Besides religious deference, many folk traditions enliven his feast day, 11 November, and the surrounding period. Saint Martin’s day is the start of winter, when it is the custom to taste the new wine and to eat goose. The bird’s wishbone is then used to forecast the weather.  (read more)

published November 18th, 2011

The Philatelic Bureau of MaltaPost p.l.c. has issued a philatelic commemorative set of three stamps titled ‘Christmas 2011’ on the 15th November 2011. This year’s Christmas set reproduces Old Master paintings representing The Holy Family. The philatelic stamps which values €0.20, €0.37 and €0.63 reproduce the paintings: “The Holy Family in an interior”, “The Madonna and Child with Infant Saint John the Baptist” and “The Rest on the Flight into Egypt” An amount of 1,800,000 stamps carry a face value of €0.20, 400,000 stamps carry a face value €0.37 and an amount of 120,000 carry a face value of €0.63.

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published November 16th, 2011

Christmas stamps recreate the art works of the past and present. This year’s Spanish Christmas issue is made up of two stamps, one depicting the sculpture of the Holy Family with the baby Jesus beginning to walk, by Spanish artist Luisa Roldán (1654-1704), whilst the other stamps features a neoclassical version of the Holy Family by painter J. Carrero.

Luisa Roldán, popularly known as La Roldana, is the daughter and disciple of the famous Sevillian sculptor, Pedro Roldán. In this sculptural composition, she has skilfully captured the concept which emanates a unique and overwhelming sensibility.

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published November 15th, 2011

This souvenir sheet summarizes the foundations of the Nativity; the family with Joseph, the Virgin Mary and child, the majesty of the newborn, the homage of the Magi, the Star of Bethlehem that guided the visitors, the exultance of the heavenly choir of angels, the symbolic appeal of the ox and the ass and the light that sallies forth from the divine, “light to illumine the people …” on the Christian Way. Mount Titano also takes part in this great celebratory day of Christmas.

Technical Details:

Issue date: 11^th October 2011

Stamp Size: 30 x 40mm

Designs: Cristian Ceccaroni

Source: San Marino Post

published November 7th, 2011

This year’s Christmas issue includes two stamps with a religious theme and three that focus on the more secular elements of Christmas.

The beautiful religious stamps show two episodes from the Biblical story. In the 55c stamp the Virgin Mary, dressed in her traditional deep blue robe, gazes tenderly at the newborn baby Jesus. In the $1.50 stamp, the three Kings or Wise Men, Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, are shown journeying from the east to Bethlehem in order to worship the Christ Child. They are dressed in rich robes as befi ts their royal station. The guiding star can be seen in the night sky.

The three secular stamps offer an alternative to those who celebrate the festive season (read more)

published November 3rd, 2011

The image Vatican Post selected to celebrate Christmas this year is taken from a painting in the Pinacoteca of the Vatican Museums. The tempera and oil painting on wood is a triptych, a work of Cretan art from the 15th century. The painting measures 23 x 34.5 cm and was kept in the Sacred Museum of the Vatican Apostolic Library until 1762. The small wooden panel belongs to a series of 30 artworks, collected by the Prefect, Francesco Vettori, given his interest in icons of the post-Byzantine period.

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published October 25th, 2011

The Holy Father Benedict XVI made five pastoral journeys outside Italy in 2010. The first one took place in April when he travelled to Malta for the 1950th anniversary of shipwreck of Paul of Tarsus. In May he went to Portugal for the tenth anniversary of the beatification of two of the three visionaries of Our Lady of Fatima. The Pope visited the cities of Lisbon, Fatima and Porto. On May 13th, the anniversary of the first apparition, he celebrated Mass with 500 thousand faithful gathered at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima.  (read more)

published October 24th, 2011

The stamp shows a tapestry from the early eighteenth century inspired by a drawing by Peter Paul Rubens and depicting a scene of the institution of the Eucharist, a work commissioned by the Confraternity of the Most Holy Sacrament of Ancona and held in the Diocesan Museum of Ancona. The words “XXV CONGRESSO EUCARISTICO NAZIONALE” (25th National Eucharistic Congress), “ITALIA”, and the denomination “€ 0,60” complete the stamp.

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published September 27th, 2011

The stamp depicts the bell tower whilst the souvenir sheet features a panoramic view of the cathedral and the surroundings.

The town of Albarracín is located in the province of Teruel by the river Guadalaviar at an altitude of 1,171 meters. It belongs to the diocese of Teruel – Albarracín and was declared National Monument in June 1961.

Although the Cathedral of Albarracín is built on the ruins of an ancient Roman temple, construction of the Renaissance building as we know it today was started around 1530 by Bishop Gaspar Jofre de Borja and was completed around 1595 under Bishop Martin Terrer Valenzuela who commissioned the construction of the bell tower. In the building of the cathedral were involved masters such as Quinto Pierres Vedel, who was responsible for the construction of the roof and several chapels, and Martín de Castañeda who participated in the building of the choir and the apse of the temple. (read more)

published August 25th, 2011

Christ Church Cathedral (15c stamp) is the “Mother Church” of the Anglican/Episcopal Diocese of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The word ‘Anglican’ denotes that this church was originally the Church of England which came to the region during the colonial expansion and that this church is the same as the “Episcopal Church” in the United States of America. The Turks and Caicos Islands, though politically separate, are a part of this Diocese.

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published August 19th, 2011