The church of kings

Roskilde, Denmark’s first capital, was historically known as a thriving trade centre through the Middle Ages as well as the sight of Zealand’s first Christian church by Viking king Harold Bluetooth in 980 AD.

Fast forward to 1026 when Canute 1 and his brother-in-law Ulf Jarl had words over a chess match. Family squabbles being what they were, Canute decided to take the upper hand and assassinate his bro-n-law in the Roskilde church. Canute’s sister and Ulf’s wife, Estrid, decided she could no longer worship in the church (yea…guess so), and so she torn down the existing church and built the present day Roskilde Cathedral on its foundations.

As Catholicism flourished, nearly 20 churches and monasteries were built in the town of Roskilde, in addition to this cathedral which became the burial site of Danish royalty for centuries. After the Reformation swept Denmark, and the trade centre and national capital moved to Copenhagen, Roskilde (the town) became a blip on the map.

An easy train ride west of Copenhagen, the Budman and I found ourselves waiting out a major thunderstorm inside the cathedral. Today, Roskilde Domkirke is a Unesco World Heritage Sight and boasts a splendid interior as well as the crypts of 37 Danish kings and queens. I’d love to show you a photo of the church’s exterior, but ...yes, you guess it…the exterior was under renovation and covered in tarps and scaffolding. Still, it was a fascinating place to visit and the interior was quite exquisite.

Frederiksborg Slot

Hillerod, a small city to the northwest of Copenhagen, is centered on a grand lakeside castle, Frederiksborg Slot (palace). We actually continued "our castle day" on the same day we visited Helsingor; by the time we reached Hillerod, it was raining cats and dogs, though, so the photos are not as dramatic as they would most certainly have been in the sunlight.

This castle, built by the Danish king Frederik II, is really more of a Renaissance castle that owes it extravagances and beauty to Frederik II’s son, Christian IV. Because of the rain and gray skies, many of the rooms were quite dark although they were still dramatic. Highlights included the Coronation Chapel (where Danish monarchs were crowned by 1671 to 1850) and the Knights Hall.

My personal favourite of the two castles as definitely this one...rain and all.















The Coronation Chapel.











The Knight’s Hall.



Other interiors of Frederiksborg Slot.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark

Helsingor (Elsinore in English) is a busy port town north of Copenhagen. Perhaps most famous for Kronborg Slot, known as Elsinore Castle in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, this castle’s primary purpose was not really a castle or royal residence but rather as a magnificent tollhouse where tolls and taxes were exacted from ships passing through the narrow port of Oresund.

Originally built in the 1420’s by the Danish king, Erik of Pomerania, the tollhouse and small fortress was built using much of the shipping taxes collected. Expanded and restored by Frederik II between 1574 and 1585, the tollhouse was rebuilt to form much of what is the present day castle. Future kings embellished the castle’s interior, but sadly, the castle fell into disrepair after a fire in 1629, the war with the Swedish in 1658 in which it was turned into barracks for soldiers, and fewer and fewer visits to the castle by Danish royalty. Today, it serves as a museum.

Now, back to Will…Shakespeare, that it. There is no evidence that W.S. ever visited Helsingor, but apparently the news of the magnificent tollhouse and castle spread throughout Europe in the early 1500’s. Maybe it struck Will as a fitting setting for his tragedy. Although the play was fiction, he did include two real-life Danish nobles in the storyline, Rosenkrantz and Gyldenstierne, both of whom visited the English court in the 1590’s.

Today, it is often simply referred to as Hamlet’s Castle and is considered the most widely known castle in all of Scandinavia.

Kronborg, Slot, Helsingor.



















Much of the castle’s interior has been restored to include furniture, paintings, tapestries, marble fireplaces, and art from the Renaissance period in Denmark. Photos include the king’s and queen’s chambers and the great hall and its tapestries.

Interior of Kronborg Slot.















Chapel at Kronborg Slot.









The town of Helsingor.