The events of the 83rd Day of Stamps – including the Alps-Adriatic International Stamp Exhibition – will be organised in the town of Sopron between 26-28 March 2010. The amount coming in from the surcharge of the miniature sheet issued on the day of stamps – HUF 200 per sheet sold – will be transferred by Magyar Posta to the National Association of Hungarian Stamp Collectors to support national organised stamp collection. Sopron is a town situated at the western border of Hungary, at the feet of the Alps, 60 km-s from Vienna and 220 km-s from Budapest. The town rests between the Sopron Mountains and Balfi Hills near Fertő Lake, in the valley of Ikva stream. According to the evidence of finds from the Neolithic and the Bronze Age the area has been inhabited since prehistoric times. In the Roman age a prosperous town was standing here, which became a ruined town during the migration period. It was only after the Hungarian Conquest when a new settlement was erected here. Around the 9-11th century the old town wall was supplemented and the castle was built. It was at this time when the town was named after its overseer called Suprun. The settlement around the castle grew into a town in the 13th century. In 1277 King Leslie IV declared it a free royal town. Although the Turkish ravaged the town in 1529, they never occupied it. It became a centre of the propagation of reformation in Hungary, in 1557 an Evangelic school operated here. In 1676 there was an enormous outbreak of fire in Sopron, which destroyed most of the town. After the fire buildings in the Baroque style were erected, today’s inner city was established and the Fire Tower was rebuilt too. In the following century, at the initiative of Count István Széchenyi the first railway of the Transdanubian region was built, which connected Sopron with Wiener Neustadt and Vienna. After the war of independence in 1848-1849 the town’s administrative power extended to the whole of the Transdanubian region. During the period of the dual monarchy it experienced rapid progress and accomplished itself by the millennium. In 1921, after the Treaty of Trianon it was decided by referendum which country Sopron and eight other settlements in its region wanted to belong to. The town decided to stay with Hungary, and since then it bears the title of Sopron, “the most faithful town” (Civitas fidelissima). The town and its inhabitants suffered a lot in World War II, in 1944-45 it was attacked by air-raids several times. In 1950 it was deprived of its rank as a county town. In its small region first it became a town of district rank, and after the termination of this rank it was made into the centre of secondary services for about 40 settlements mostly forming its former district. In 1991 it was awarded the rank of a county town. The town is rich in monuments, sights, its cultural and musical events are known even beyond the country borders. (Source: http://portal.sopron.hu, an essay by Dr. Imre Tóth PhD.) On the HUF 80 stamp the Church of Saint Ursula and Virgin Mary’s Church can be seen, while the HUF 105 denomination contains a picture of Mary’s Column and the Gates of Faith. The sheet priced HUF 500+200 is decorated with a picture of the Statue of the Holy Trinity, and the frame drawing shows the Main Square of the town. The Main Square can be seen in the drawing of the special envelope belonging to the stamp series too, and in the envelope drawing belonging to the sheet there is the building of the House of Hungarian Culture, where the events of the Day of Stamps are organised. The illustration on the special cancellation stamp contains a stylised drawing of the Fire Tower.
