Postcard Friendship Friday - rare countries

Some of the countries are considered more rare than others among the postcrossers. Most often, the reason is the size of the country, therefore the size of the population. Recently, I had a chance to receive 2 of the cards from more rare countries. One is from Montenegro (14 postcrossers registered) and another one is from Cyprus (only 10 people registered). The card from Montenegro comes via Yelena (vergi) from Russia, who visited the country on vacation this summer.Montenegro ( Montenegrin: Црна Гора/Crna Gora) (meaning "Black Mountain" in Montenegrin) is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It is on the coast on the Adriatic Sea. Its capital and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinje is designated as the Prijestonica (Пријестоница), meaning the former Royal Capital City. From 1918, it was a part of former Yugoslavia. The independence was declared on June 3, 2006. The population is about 670,000 people, who mostly speak Serbian language and belong to Orthodox Christian church. The town of Bečići is a resort town on the sea.

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Another rare card comes from a Finnish user, who lives in Cyprus. It was actually an official card, so I can consider myself lucky for receiving it, I guess. :)By the look of the ruins in the top picture, I was able to find out that they are located near the city of Limassol and used to a beautiful Temple of Apollo. Apollo Hylates, God of the Woodland, was the protector of the city of Kourion. The cult of Apollo was celebrated here from the eighth century B.C. to the A.D. fourth century. The second picture might be from the ancient Roman city of Salamis in the northern (Turkish) part of Cyprus. Legend has it that one of the heroes of Trojan war, Teucer, built the city and it became the capital of Cyprus as long ago as 1100 BC. The ruins that remain are from the Roman period. Salamis was a very important economic center. The Romans built a lot of buildings with beautiful colorful decorations and columns. Later, the city became base for the early Christianity, as Apostle Barnabas lived and died there. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the location of the third picture. Maybe, one day I could visit Cyprus and find out for myself? I sure hope so!

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