Nimeguen

Nimeguen (Dutch Nijmegen), a town of Holland, in the province of Guelderland, on the left bank of the Waal, 73 miles by rail E. of Rotterdam. It is built on the slope of the Hoenderberg ('Hill of the Huns'), on which the Romans formed the permanent camp of Noviomagum; and some of its streets are steep and narrow, but others are broad and handsome. On a neighbouring height stood till 1796 a castle, said to have been founded by Cæsar and inhabited by Charlemagne; and towards the brow of this height there still stands a little sixteen-sided Romanesque baptistery of the 12th or 13th century. On another eminence is the modern Belvidere, whose summit commands a wide view. The fortifications have been demolished; but Nimeguen retains its Renaissance town-hall (1554), adorned with medallions of German emperors, and the fine Gothic church of St Stephen (dating from 1272). The manufactures include tobacco, Eau de Cologne, metal-work, beer, &c. Pop. (1875) 22,929; (1890) 32,326. Regained by the Spaniards (1585-91), Nimeguen is celebrated in history for its great peace congress, which on 12th August 1678 concluded a treaty between France and Holland, on 13th December between France and Spain, and on 5th February 1679 between Austria and France.