The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) continues its World Heritage stamp series on 9 September showcasing “The Great Spa Towns of Europe”.

The set includes six stamps and three prestige booklets.

Eleven spa towns in seven countries make up the Great Spa Towns of Europe site, which was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2021. Together, they make one “property” as a transnational series.

The Great Spas, in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, represent a unique cultural phenomenon that reached its height in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), these spa towns all developed around natural mineral water springs, and they bear witness to the international European spa culture that led to international resorts.

Each stamp features a photograph of one of the six different sites as follows:

  1. Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic (60¢)

  2. Montecatini Terme, Italy ($1.40)

  3. SPA Belgium (CHF 1,10)

  4. Vichy, France (CHF 1,50)

  5. Baden-Baden, Germany (€1,00)

  6. Baden bei Wien, Austria (€ 1,80)

Three beautifully designed prestige booklets in English, French, and German accompany the stamp series which feature colourful photographs and detailed information about these World Heritage sites.

The stamp and prestige booklets were designed by Rorie Katz of the UNPA.

UNESCO seeks to encourage the identification, protection, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972.

The stamps are available online at www.unstamps.org and in-person from shops at the UN headquarters in New York, Geneva and Vienna where the stamps can be used for mailing.

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