Postcard from Slovakia no. 8

Here's a postcard sent by our granny from Bardejov, in the east of Slovakia. It shows the Church of St. Giles (Aegidius), which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site: Historic Centre of Bardejov.

View Larger Map

The engraved EUR 0.80 stamp from 2011 shows Tatra 87, one of the classic Czechoslovakian cars, made by Tatra in Kopřivnice here in Moravia in 1936-1950. According to Wikipedia, John Steinbeck and Jay Leno, among others, drove this highly original car with the unmistakable shark's fin. The other stamp in the series shows the Prague-made Aero 30. Print-run 1 million each.

Postcard from Slovakia no. 7

View Larger Map



Here's a postcard we sent ourselves from a visit to the town of Medzilaborce (pop. approx. 6,600) in northeastern Slovakia, one of its most remote and undiscovered regions. Medzilaborce is now famous for its museum of Andy Warhol whose parents came from the vicinity of the town. There is also a Jewish cemetery and a large white Orthodox Church.

The stamp from 2008 shows a portrait of Slovak poetess Masa Halamova. The T1 100g denomination has been used in the period when Slovakia was leaving its koruna and accepting euro. Now almost all of the new stamps bear only euro denomination.

The 1 koruna definitives are from 1993, part of the long series showing the coats of arms of Slovak towns.

And talking of Andy Warhol I found in my collection of postcards this night skyline view of Corpus Christi in Texas, with the Andy Warhol stamp from 2002, along with a sad-looking dog on a neuter spay stamp from the same year, what a crazy combination of looks...

Cover from Slovakia no. 4

Here's another bunch of splendid mail received lately from around the world. Due to further time constraints I will reduce my comments, but will show the lovely covers and postcards anyway, they speak for themselves:)

Slovakia: registered letter sent from Bratislava, 2 x Topolčany Castle (2010) with two coupons of the State Geological Institute, with two engraved wooden churches (East Slovakia, protected as a UNESCO WHS) and one offset printed coupon in the middle, taken from a sheet issued in 2008.

Thank you, Marian!!

Cover from Slovakia no. 3

A great cover sent by Miloš. The 1.20 euro stamp was issued on 26 November 2010 in the ongoing art series (in the same tradition as the Czech one = large engraved stamps). This stamp shows a detail from the picture called the Coronation of Carl Robert of Anjou (1317), which can be found in the UNESCO WHS Cathedral Church of St. Martin in Spišská Kapitula. Another 1.20 euro portrait stamp (Madonna with the Child) was issued on the same day with the same nominal value.

The letter was sent through the town of Močenok in the Šala District, where a special cancellation was used on 31 January 2011, dedicated to St. Cyril and his discovery of the remains of St. Clement.

The list of the Slovak special cancellations can be found here. It looks like there are many more special cancellations on offer than in the Czech Republic.

Thank, you, Miloš!!

Postcard from Slovakia no. 6

Zvětšit mapu



A postcard which we sent ourselves this August during our stay in Slovakia, showing a part of the town of Vysoké Tatry (the municipality of Starý Smokovec). Vysoké Tatry (the High Tatras) are the highest mountain range in Slovakia (part of the Carpathian Mountains). The town of Vysoké Tatry was created artificially in 1947, and it is not a true town, but a conglomerate of separate and different settlements (originally separate villages), whose only common feature is that they are the main tourist resorts in the mountains. There are three cadastral areas and fourteen municipalities (the coats of arms of four of which are shown in the postcard, together with the coat of arms of the whole town).

The 33 eurocent Easter stamp was issued on 27 February 2009, in two forms, as a classic stamp in a sheet of 50, and in a booklet - my stamps is taken from there. The 10 eurocent stamp is a definitive showing a part of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Sedmerovec – Pominovce (issued on 1 January 2009), and the engraved T2 50g stamp (2nd class, up to 50 grams, currently corresponding to 40 eurocent) is a fantastic piece of art featuring an illustration by Einar Turkowski taken from the book ‘Es war finster und merkwürdig still’ (‘It was dark and eerily quiet’). The stamp commemorates the Biennial of Illustrations (competition of original book illustrations for children and youth) held in Bratislava. The reproduced illustration won the competition in 2007 (Grand Prix) and the stamp was issued on 14 August 2009, in 4,000,000 copies.

Cover from Slovakia no. 2

A very fine cover received on 20 April 2009 from Miloš, thank you! The complete series of the three engraved flower stamps was issued on 28 February 1995 during the Year of the Protection of the European Nature and features Ciminalis Clusii (2 SVK, print-run 3,46 million), Pulsatilla slavica (3 SVK, print-run 3,475 million) and Onosma tornense (8 SVK, print-run 2,26 million). The 18 SVK stamp, issued on 5 May 2006, bears the EUROPA logo, and is the Slovakia contribution to the theme Integration (immigrants as seen by young people, print-run 500,000). The stamp is printed in offset and is slightly embossed.

Postcard from Slovakia no.5

A multiview postcard of the thermal spa in the town of Velky Meder in southern Slovakia (District of Dunajska Streda) which I sent myself from there on our way from Hungary in 2007. The large 16 SVK stamp commemorates the 750th anniversary of founding the city of Banska Bystrica in 1255 (even if it looks like it is engraved the stamp is printed in offset, print-run 300,000, issued on 14 February 2005). The smaller engraved definitive was issued in 1995 and is part of the long-running series of towns and their coats of arms, which has been replaced in 2009 by a new series with euro nominal values.

Postcard from Slovakia no. 4

Only now, 28 January 2009, have I received my first postcard from Bratislava, Slovakia's capital. It shows a view of the Castle and St. Martin's Cathedral across the Danube. The single 0.66 euro stamp is part of the previously mentioned series of the new Slovak definitives with the euro denomination (issued on 2/1/2009, print-run 1,000,000) and features a detail of the portal of St. Egidius church in Ilija near Banská Štiavnica.

Thank you, Jano.

Postcard from Slovakia no. 3

In August 2008 I received this nice postcard of the Slovak town of Myjava (Trenčín Region, 10 km from the Czech border, 12,000 inhabitants) and its International Folklore Festival. The stamp was sent from the town of Stará Turá.

I didn't know the Slovak post had ever issued a self-adhesive stamp, but looking at this 20 SVK Olympic stamp there can be no doubt about it. Digging deeper, I discovered that on 5 November 2004 the Slovak post issued a whole booklet with 6 souvenir sheets commemorating the Slovak medallists at the 2004 Athens Olympics. This one is celebrating the gold medalists Pavol and Peter Hochschorner (canoe slalom). There are 60,000 copies of each souvenir sheet.

As far as I know the Czech post has never issued any self-adhesive stamp.

Postcard from Slovakia no. 2

We spent the turn of the year in the east of Slovakia, and I took advantage of the change of currency (Slovak koruna to euro) to prepare a postcard featuring stamps of the three different types of denominations currently in use in Slovakia.

The old koruna is represented by the 1 SVK definitive stamp with the coat of arms of the town of Dubnica nad Váhom; the universal "code" denomination can be seen on the beautiful engraved stamp presenting the wooden church of Hervartov in the Bardejov District (T1 100g corresponded to 18 SVK) with the coupon depicting (this time only in offset) another UNESCO protected wooden church in Ladomírová. The new currency is represented by two brand new definitives issued on 2 January 2009 (the date the card is postmarked) showing the St. Marguerite Chapel near Kopčany (District of Skalica) and a detail of the romanesque church in Boldog (District of Senec). The new euro definitives are also engraved and were issued in a print-run of 2 million each.

The wooden churches souvenir sheet was issued on 9 October 2008 with a print-run of 100,000. Both churches from the stamp and the coupon are also shown on the front of the postcard, together with 3 others of these fairy-tale buildings, all of them located in villages of the eastern Slovakia.

Christmas cover from Slovakia

After Germany I received today this year's Christmas stamp also from the neighbouring Slovakia, from the town of Giraltovce in the eastern part of the country. The stamp, featuring a painting called "The Holy Family" by an unknown Flemish artist active in the mid-16th century, was issued on 13 November 2008 in a print-run of 4 million pieces.

It is the first Slovak Christmas stamp using the new system of denominations: T2 50g (2nd class item up to 50 grams, corresponding at present to 10 Slovak crowns).

Postcard from Slovakia

On 25 July 2008 I received this nice postcard from Trenčín in western Slovakia (actually closer to my hometown that Prague, for example). Trenčín is the capital of the Trenčín Region with 56,000 inhabitants and is dominated by the Slovakia's third largest castle.

The stamps on the card present the "old" and "new" of the Slovak stamp production. The ship stamp was issued 30 December 1994 as part of a series dedicated to the ships made at the Slovak Shipyards in Komárno and shows the cargo vessel Rýn (Rhine) [print run 5,050,000, engraved]. The other stamp was issued this year on 25 May and is part of the ongoing series "For Children". It depicts a many-headed dragon and is dedicated to the memory of Pavol Dobšinský, Slovak fairy-tales collector living in the 19th century (print-run 10 million, engraved).

Actually, both stamps were bought in one day in a news stand in the centre of Trenčín. I think that the Slovak Post tries to get rid of the stamps with the Slovak koruna denominations before the country's transfer to euro in 2009 and therefore, such old stamps can be bought quite frequently these days. The Slovak koruna stamps will still be used and valid during 2009.