Saturday, October 23, 2010

Nijmegen, Netherlands


I got this card from Desiree for the October "surprise me" round robin. Nijmegen, near the German border, is the oldest city in the Netherlands, having celebrated its 2000th anniversary in 2005. This card is a map of the center of the city. Nijmegen is famous for its International Four Day Marches, held every year in July since 1916. Participants walk 30, 40, or 50 kilometers each day for four days. Originally it was mainly a military event, but nowadays civilians greatly outnumber military participants. Those who finish are showered with gladiolus flowers and receive a medal. Naturally, there are also festivities to accompany the march, drawing as many as a million visitors to Nijmegen.

The stamp on the right features Petrus Plancius, a Dutch cartographer of the 1500s. I think this stamp was issued in 1996. The stamp on the left is dated 1992. Thank you Hans for the information on this stamp! (See comment below.)

1 comment:

  1. The stamp to the left (you accidentally wrote 'to the right') is one of a block and/or series series of special children stamps. These are issued once a year in November and have a surcharge (70+35 ct) for children charities. The theme was Children and Music in 1992.

    Hans Hermans (born in Nijmegen)
    p.s. I have NO profile

    ReplyDelete