Roskilde

Roskilde is one of the oldest cities in Denmark.
More than 1000 years ago the Vikings established a trading post that developed into a major town. In the medieval period, Roskilde was one of the most important cities of northern Europe, the seat of the Danish crown and an episcopal residence.

Today, the city is rich in historical and cultural sights and attractions. In the beautiful red-brick Roskilde Cathedral the kings and queens of Denmark are buried.

The islands and islets of Roskilde Fjord can be viewed from a viking ship or a small cruiser docked at Roskilde Harbour the atmosphere of which hums with activity. The former gasworks at the same location now houses one of the many art galleries of the town and a glassblower.

The city centre offers a pedestrian precinct as well as a market square with plenty of commercial life. Culture flourishes all year round and the city has a rich musical life ranging from summer concerts at the cathedral organ dating back to 1554 to the Roskilde Festival.

The lovely scenery around Roskilde offers numerous historical sights as well as a landscape perfect for biking and trekking.

On Saturday, May 14th, Cx, Cg, and I went on a day trip to Roskilde which is only a 30 minute train ride from where I live.  Once leaving the station at Roskilde we saw these three huge vases,  near the center of town is not far from the station. Not far from these vases was a small church behind a old brink wall and gate. I looked around for information about this small church but I could not find anything, but at least I got some good pictures. 

 

The brick wall and gate of the church.

The church behind the gate.

The three of us continued walking towards the center of town we passed many shops and restaurants and the farmer's market. We did not have time to go through the large farmer's market, but did Cx purchased some fresh cherries.  There were also many different crafts for sale and many flea markets, there was one wood craftsman that was selling these beautiful hand carved bowls. 

 Walking through Roskilde you could get the sense that is such a beautiful clean, and relaxing town. The houses were in typical European style, small but cute with flower gardens.  Just by looking at the buildings you cold get a sense of the history and heritage in the town.

While walking around town we found an interesting fountain inside a brick wall along side the street. Over the top of fountain it said the word maglekide, which means "The Large Spring." The one thing that we really noticed was the creepy red eyes.

This spring yields 15,000 liters of water an hour, about one sixth of what is used to. The spring supplied 5 mills in the beginning of industrial life in Roskilde. In 1842 a hydro was built in connection with the spring, and was pulled down again in 1972. The Neptune head at the outflow and the weather vane on the well house date from 1842.  The well house itself dates from 1927.

 

The Roskilde area has a lot of history, there were these green signs everywhere stating the history of the area. The was this one sign in the middle of small open area with a nice gravel path.  Next to the sign was what looked like the ruins of a small building. I read the sign and thought the information on it was interesting:

The church of St. John the Baptist was probably built in the 12th century as a parish church for the clergy of the cathedral.  It was pulled down after the Reformation. The surround field is protected area, below which lie the remains of a medieval town with streets and houses. Finds from the excavation of the church can be seen at Roskilde Museum.

I did not have time this trip to go to the Roskilde Museum this trip, which means I have another excuse to go to Roskilde. 

Roskilde is also well know for the Dome Church or The Roskilde Cathedral, we also went see this national landmark.  This church was huge and there is so much history surrounding this church since so many Danish Kings and Queens are buried there.  I took lots of pictures and there is so much to tell about this church that it deserves its own blog post.

After walking through this beautiful park with many trails, steams and small lakes we made our way to the inlet or fjord.  We noticed a strange 'thing' near the road. Once we got closer we discovered that was a small replica of the town Roskilde on display. However, it did look like the birds had fun destroying parts of it. I really liked the detail you could see in this replica.  We continued on our way to the Roskilde Viking Museum.

After spending four hours at the Roskilde Viking Museum (which will get its own blog post) we walked back through town in a thunderstorm and since main street was not as packed I took a few pictures of the area.  Just so that you could get a feel for the town but remember when we first arrived in town in the late morning the streets were packed with people.