Slovensko

Finally a cover from Eastern Europe! Here we have a neat little cover from Slovakia with two nice stamps. The one on the right depicts the Raftsmen of the Dunajec River and was issued on 03 Sep 04.

This stamp celebrates the Dujanec River, a part of Slovak culture which is found between Poland and Slovakia. More on this from the Slovak Post website:

The coexistence of Slovak and Polish peoples in the Pieniny region has deep-seated roots. People here shared not only common fates or a particular Goral culture, but also a natural waterway down the Dunajec River. Local raftsmen utilised the flow of the river for a long time, and from this picturesque countryside they sailed through the mouth of the Dunajec River to the Visla River down to the Baltic Sea. Even today, the Dunajec River and raftsmen in Goral folk costumes are intrinsically intertwined and have become inseparable features of both the Slovak and Polish side of the Pieniny. The fact that the territory of the Pieniny was designated the first international Natural Park in Europe as early as 1932 is testimony that people appreciated the beauty and values of the local nature regardless of their nationality. Today, the Dunajec on its winding course through the largest natural canyon in Central Europe constitutes a common Slovak – Polish border along a distance of approximately 20 km.

The stamp on the left is a definitive issued 3 Nov 1998 that shows what looks like a heritage building in Presov, a city in Eastern Slovakia with a long history, as you can see from this excerpt also from Slovak Post:

Present-day Prešov is only the latest incarnation of a site that has known many earlier settlements, notably Paleolithic, Neolithic, Eneolithic, Bronze Age, Hallstatt and La T ne. Under the Romans (145 B.C. to 169 A.D.) a depository of coinage was maintained there and at the time of the migration of nations it was the location of the Prešov-type culture (3rd - 5th centuries). There were continuously inhabited Slav settlements from the 8.th to 12.th centuries. Its earliest recorded mention dating from 1247, Prešov was incorporated in 1299 and became a free royal town in 1405. A series of privileges and a propitious location facilitated the growth of trades and of commerce with Poland and Transylvania, and since feudal times Prešov has been the political, economic and cultural heart of the Šariš region. The seat of the Šariš žup or county up to 1923, the town has been the administrative centre of an eponymous county since 1996. Events of note in the town's history include the execution by Imperial soldiers in 1687 of twenty-four people for the town's participation in the Thököly revolt - referred to as the Prešov massacre -and the declaration of the Slovak Republic of Councils in 1919. Since 1950 Prešov has been an Urban Heritage Area.

The postmarks were affixed on 27 Apr 08 at Zilina, an important industrial center and the fourth largest city in Slovakia.