"Nijmegen, residence of ancient emperors " a Nijmegen Travel Page by Pavlik_NL

Nijmegen, 15 kilometres South of my hometown Arnhem is the oldest town in The Netherlands. Already in the year 111 a.D. Roman emperor Trajanus gave the town it's cityrights and on the hill besides the Waalbridge the remainders of the Roman fortress can still be visited. In those times the name was Noviomagus, which ment "New Roads".

However, Trajanus was not the only emperor that had a love for Nijmegen. It was with emperor Karl the Great that the town blossomed and walking the narrow allies that raise up from the Waalkade (kade=kay) many old houses remained from these early medieval times. Especially when one stands on the old Market, the West and Southside of the beautiful square are wonderful (see pictures).

Nijmegen is old, yet also new. It is a universitytown with a relatively young population. The university however is not that old as some others within the Netherlands. It started out in 1923 under Catholic regime. Because of the many students it is the town with the highest terrace-density (amount of terrace-chairs towards the total amount of inhabitants). All over the citycentre caf?s and bars as well as restaurants and lunchrooms have their cosy places where people chat, mingle and drink.

Nijmegen and it's inhabitants have a love/hate relationship with Arnhem (and vice versa). Competitors as well as sister and brother. The cityconcept is practically opposit. Both are build on a main river, that actually is the same one (the river "Waal" is the main-branch of the "Rijn"=Rhine). Bridges dominate the success, but in Nijmegen the hills are situated South of the river and in Arnhem that is North. Opposit lay the flat riverlands. The Netherlands are in geografical and cultural way devided strongly by the rivers, for example: Catholic South, Protestant North. This made the nicknames of both towns. Nijmegen is sometimes called the most Northern of the South. Arnhem has the name to be the most Southern of North. Quiet different towns, yet ... related closely.