Not far from Rotterdam, on the bank of the picturesque Waal River, tourists can visit a beautiful Dutch city called Nijmegen. This is a peaceful and serene old city with an incredibly calm atmosphere. Don’t be surprised to see ducks that freely walk on the streets of Nijmegen. It is not rare to see them here. Local people enjoy a steady, unhurried lifestyle. They never hurry anywhere, relaxingly walking on local streets, and smile to even unknown people. There is one more distinctive feature of this settlement – the weather is usually warm in Nijmegen, which is not typical for the Netherlands.
During the Roman Empire period, there was a military camp in the valley of the Waal River. Later, a settlement named Batavorum appeared near the fortification. However, this settlement didn’t exist for a long time and was ruined during a battle. Soon after that, the settlement was rebuilt. The town started developing quickly, engaging itself in international trade with other countries. In 1230, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II granted the settlement the city status and rights. Seventeen years later, Nijmegen became a part of the Guelders County. During several centuries, the city fought with the Spanish. During the reign of Louis XIV, the French occupied this Dutch city.
Do you like cycling? Many people know how to cycle, and some people cannot imagine a day spent without their “two-wheeled friend”, but not everyone knows about the history of the bicycle. In Nijmegen, guests of this city can visit an interesting museum dedicated the bicycle. The collection of the Velorama is astonishingly large and diverse. The museum was founded in 1981, and its collection has significantly grown in size since then. New models of bicycles are added to the Velorama on a regular basis.
The collection is so big that it occupies the whole three floors of the museum’s building. On every floor, there are bicycles of different designs and historic periods. Visitors can see the unusual and clumsy bicycles of the past, slowly moving to more modern and sophisticated models. The excursion ends near the latest bicycle styles, and it is easy to notice how sleek and polished the modern models are. In total, there are approximately five hundred different bicycles in the collection. This number is not fixed as new models are being constantly added to the exhibition of the museum.
Valkhof Park is one more notable attraction of Nijmegen. Initially, there was a Roman military camp on the site of the modern park. Later, Charlemagne’s castle stood here. As it is not hard to guess, both the formations haven’t survived to this day. The old chapel dedicated to Saint Nicolas is the only historic building in the park. This old stone chapel also had to endure different troubles over the centuries. The chapel was turned into a warehouse at some period of time. During the French Revolution, the ruler had to escape to Valkhof Palace. When Napoleon and his army entered the city, they almost completely ruined the stone building.
The city administration didn’t have enough money to restore the old castle, and so it was decided to completely demolish the building. Only two chapels dedicated to Saints Nicolas and Martin were saved. To immortalize this place, the ground level was raised in the area. Later, at the beginning of the 19th century, famous Dutch garden architect Johan David Zocher came up with an idea to make a picturesque park in the area that is so important for the heritage of Nijmegen. Local authorities decided to build a precise copy of a tower in 2005, but the construction works haven’t ended until now.
Weeze Airport, which is located in Germany, is the closest airport to Nijmegen. It receives flights from numerous German cities such as Dusseldorf. To get to Nijmegen from Weeze, tourists need to get on a bus going in the right direction. The journey time is approximately one hour and twenty-five minutes. Eindhoven Airport is situated sixty kilometers from Nijmegen. Travelers can reach Nijmegen from Eindhoven by train, and it will take one and a half hours to get to the final destination in this case. When traveling from other cities in the Netherlands, the train is also the most comfortable means of transport.
