These postcards published over a hundred years ago capture the natural world at that time, from a lighthouse on a remote outcropping in Wales to a glacier in the Pacific Northwest to a trip to the beach in locations across the world.

Take a tour of the climes of yesteryear through a now-obsolete technology called photochrom with these images obtained by the . The selection of postcards above shows the rich, natural beauty of Europe, the Middle East and Canada from 1890 to 1900.

These colored landscapes may look like photographs, but are actually ink-based photolithographs, that were produced by the Photoglob Company in Zurich, Switzerland, and the Detroit Publishing Company in Michigan.

"Like postcards, the photochroms feature subjects that appeal to travelers, including landscapes, architecture, street scenes, and daily life and culture,” the library states on its website. "The prints were sold as souvenirs and often collected in albums or framed for display."

The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division purchased most of the photochroms in 1985 in near mint condition. Howard L. Gottlieb, a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, donated an additional set to the library in 2004.

To see all 6,500 photos obtained by the Library of Congress, visit the on their website. Additional photochroms can be found in the online collection of the .

MORE ON WEATHER.COM:Before the Bikini - Rare Vintage Beach Photos

Circa 1911: Bathers at Ostend in Belgium. (F J Mortimer/Getty Images)