POSTCARD N.254 - PORTUGAL

Postcard dated of 1st October; received on the 7th October 2026

Postcard image: Cabo Espichel, Portugal

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Postcrossing was a good idea and so was World Postcard Day, which I believe, was also the brainchild of the Postcrossing team, who established it in 2020, as a way to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the creation of the Correspondenz-Karte, the first  official post card, issued by the Austrian Post on the 1st October 1869.

Ever since the first edition of WPD, special commemorative cancellations have been created for the event by CTT, the  Portuguese Postal services provider and as usual I do not let pass the date without sending out a few postcards to friends and also one to my own self.

This year I used a postcard with a photograph of a place which I visit every now and then not only because it is absolutely beautiful but also because, come spring, I can find some wild orchids  there, something which is always a matter of joy and pleasure: Cabo Espichel, with its ancient sanctuary and church and its imposing lighthouse.

To send the postcard I chose a N20g (domestic up to 20g) stamp from this year's issue of the "Portuguese Contemporary art" series, dated of  12SEP2026, featuring a mural by Street Artist Vihls done with his trademark technique of surface perforation, part of his "Scratching the Surface" project.

Unfortunately, the work, dated of 2014, which was located in Avenida da Índia, Lisboa, very close to the Tagus river, does not exist anymore, since the building on which it was created, part of a sugar manufacturing plant,  was demolished in 2018.

The celebratory postmark is self-explanatory and was applied at the Chiado (Lisbon) Post office.