On November 18, 1993, Vatican City issued a series of five stamps commemorating the journeys made by Pope John Paul II in 1993.
The stamps are horizontal in format, measure 52 x 31.11 mm, and have a perforation of 13. The Papal Tiara and Crossed Keys, the value, and CITTA DEL VATICANO appear along the top of each stamp, left to right. Each stamp also includes the dates and venue of the journey depicted. The illustrations on the stamps feature John Paul II on the right, one or two young people on the left, and a different ornamental design along the bottom. The values and designs by J. Larriviere are as follows:
600-lire - Benin, Uganda, and Sudan (February 3-10, 1993): African lodgings, the Mahdi's mausoleum in Omdurman, Sudan, and the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lodonga, Uganda
700-lire - Albania (April 25, 1993): the Church of St. Mary in Apollonia, the Mosque and Scanderbeg's equestrian statue in Tirane
1000-lire - Spain (June 12-17, 1993): the Church of the Saint in the Huelva province, the Giralda, the Real Maestranza and the Golden Tower, Seville
2000-lire - Jamaica, Mexico, and Denver (August 9-16, 1993): Skyscrapers and St. Thomas Theological Seminary, Denver, and "El Castilo," the pyramid in Kukullkan, Mexico
3000-lire - Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia (September 4-10, 1993): The towers, belfries, and buildings of Talinn, Estonia, the Monument "Hymn to Liberty" in Riga, Latvia, and the tower of the Cathedral Square in Vilnius, Lithuania
The stamps were printed on white, chalky paper in multicolor taille-douce and issued in sheets of twenty. ITVF (France) printed 450,000 complete series.
