At the evening 5th of december, we celebrate the birthday from the 6th of december of Sinterklaas (Saint Nicolas). This is probably his memorial day. The history tells us that he was a bishop in the town of Myra, wich lays in Turky, where he did good things to the children who lived in poverty. At a slavery market he bought a boy free and this boy followed him as his knight al his live and is called Zwarte Piet (Black Piet). The tradition of Sinterklaasfeest we find from 1447 in the town of Utrecht, where the gifts, given in the church from the rich were used to put something into the shoes of children and were the rest was divided amongst the poor at the 6th of december. In 1500 we see a painting of Jan Steen of this celebration. It became a tradition around 1850 when a teacher called Jan Schenkman (1806-1863) made a picture book about this noble Saint Nicolas.
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Barry Huyett 21 Nov 2009
WOW!....great image!pusy 21 Nov 2009
leukkk, wanneer kan ik me schoen zetten?? :)Peter Rivron 18 Nov 2009
Lovely images, and story.Sharon Gonzalez 17 Nov 2009
VERY AWESOME IMAGE AND LOVE THE HISTORY TOO, BEN. I KNOW THAT I LEARNED THIS IN MY LIFE, SINCE MY GRANDPARENTS CAME FROM HOLLAND. THANK YOU FOR REFRESHING MY MEMORY.Annette Labedzki 17 Nov 2009
fantastic!!!! I love it!!! my pic of the day