Thomas à Kempis' city — IJssel river trading town and the Netherlands' blue fingers
Zwolle is a handsome Hanseatic League city at the confluence of the IJssel and Vecht rivers in Overijssel, enclosed within a star-shaped ring of bastions. Its skyline is defined by the massive Peperbus — a Gothic church tower so wide at the base and narrow at the spire that locals call it the Pepper Shaker. Thomas à Kempis, author of 'The Imitation of Christ' (one of the most-read books in history after the Bible), spent most of his life in a monastery just outside Zwolle. The annual Blue Fingers (Blauwvingers) festival celebrates the city's identity with street performances and music.
Zwolle received city rights in 1230 and became one of the most important Hanseatic League members in the eastern Netherlands, trading textiles, grain, and timber along the IJssel. Thomas à Kempis (1380–1471) entered the Monastery of Saint Agnes near Zwolle in 1399 and wrote 'The Imitation of Christ' here around 1418–1427 — a devotional guide that became the most widely read Christian text after the Bible. The city's unique star-shaped fortifications (built 1623–1644) are among the best-preserved Renaissance bastioned systems in the Netherlands.