Poland:EUROPE. Former Postal Routes

9 May 2020 was Europe Day, which traditionally also marks the start of the prestigious philatelic competition for the most beautiful EUROPA 2020 stamp. All postal administrations associated in PostEurop can submit a stamp on a given topic, which in 2020 was "Old Postal Routes". Polish Post issued a competition stamp which presents the most important communication and postal routes of the 16th century.

Issue Description
The Vistula, the longest and largest river of Poland, has been the main communication and postal route of the country for centuries. Alongside significant political and economic development of Poland in 15th and 16th century, the Golden Ages, the Vistula with its tributaries, and a systematically developing road network, connected royal cities situated on its banks, like Kraków, Sandomierz, Warszawa, Toruń, Elbląg, Gdańsk and other parts of the country as well as Europe and Asia. Royal and private merchant postal systems of letter carriers and horse rides had been functioning since the Middle Ages, finally resulted the establishment of the public postal service founded by the king Sigismund II Augustus in 1558.

The stamp design presents a fragment of a schematic map of Poland with marked main postal routes of the 16th century, along with images of foot and horse messengers.

The central part of the stamp shows the course of the Vistula River with the silhouettes of royal cities situated on its banks and the names of the cities: Kraków, Sandomierz, Warszawa, Toruń, Elbląg, Gdańsk.

Stamp
The postage stamp depicts a fragment of a schematic map of Poland with marked main postal routes of the 16th century.

Sheet
The sheet with formatted margins contains six (3 x 2) stamps (one design).

EUROPA Series
Other Issues under the EUROPA theme include: