Bonifatius

Every Dutch citizen knows who Bonifatius was. The year 754 is probably one of the best known years in Dutch history lessons. Bonifatius was a bishop, who was murdered near Dokkum by the Frisians in 754 (probably because, being confirmed heathens, they did not want to be converted to Christianity).
As we are in Dokkum, we went to look for a bit of Bonifatius history. There is a Bonifatius spring, a fresh water spring which sprang to live in a place where he tapped the ground with his bishops' stave. Near there is also a rather large chapel for pilgrims who come here (it seats 2000 people but it was closed today and actually most days except for July and August). There is a second spring, which was discovered in the 1300's when building another Bonifatius chapel. Fresh water springs were considered miracles as the normal ground water here was brackish, Dokkum then being on the coast.

Here is the Bonifatius statue in front of the chapel:





Whilst looking for these Bonifatius signs, we walked around the pretty town of Dokkum:





And also saw an old lock:





I will finish off with a bit of a spring picture. It was almost 20C today, but only a bit of sun was seen. Still, spring is - very carefully - making a (late) entry:

Location:Diepswal,Dokkum,The Netherlands