Roskilde

Description

NV Cruising Guide

Navigation

The harbor can only be accessed during the day. The mighty Roskilde Cathedral is an unmissable landmark.

Berths

The harbors are heavily occupied by local yachts. However, guests can find berths in free boxes or at guest pier A.

After consultation with the harbour master, there may be places at the bridgehead. The outer piers of the marina with their high sheet piling are only suitable for larger yachts.

Anchoring:
In calm weather, you can anchor to the east of the harbour in front of the Viking Museum at a water depth of 2-3 m.

Surroundings

Excellent sanitary facilities (in the clubhouse), a crane and a slip are available in the cozy harbour. The ship chandlery near the harbor offers limited supply options. The town center of Roskilde is 1 km away by park.

In addition to the restaurants right on the harbor, there are other culinary options. 

You are right next to the remarkable Viking Museum.

There is a barbecue area, even with a pizza and smoking oven and a small aquarium with local fish.

NV Land Guide

The picturesque location on the fjord, the mighty cathedral and the Roskilde music festival probably come to mind for almost everyone who is asked about Denmark's old capital. Pop greats such as the roaring rock bard Joe Cocker have sung at the summer open-air festival in Bygården. Of course, heading to the city with the musical accompaniment of this powerful voice would be the perfect listening and viewing experience all in one. But you won't be so lucky and will therefore have to make do with the impressive sight of the approaching cathedral.

About 1000 years ago, you wouldn't have been able to get this close to the city without a few wooden warships with curved sterns already appearing in your wake. The very sight of the Viking ship hall against the green silhouette of the shore would have sealed your fate. And you wouldn't have had to think much more about the unimaginative architecture of this building. The ships of those who once lay in wait for unwelcome visitors in the side bays and ensured that no one succeeded in conquering the city from the water are exhibited in the large hall. Even the Swedes, 500 years later, only managed to do so by land. For the population, however, it did not matter from which side the enemy succeeded in taking the city. The result would probably have been the same: an almost completely destroyed city.

The cathedral survived the Swedish destructive fury and still has a special reputation today as the preferred burial place of the royal family. Since the 15th century, the church has been constantly extended because many a Danish ruler did not want to lie in the same burial chamber as his predecessor. Four large burial chapels have since been added, which, together with the church choir, contain the tombs of 20 kings and 17 queens.

The first chapel that visitors enter is the chapel of Christian I. It was built around 1460 and was intended by the king to be the meeting place for an order of knights that he founded. Both Christian I himself (1426-1481) and Queen Dorothea (1430-1496) were buried under the floor; two unadorned stones from more recent times mark the graves. The royal couple evidently regarded the chapel itself as a tomb.

Today, two enormous monuments in Dutch Renaissance style give the room its character, designed in the manner of classical temples and guarded by satellites in Roman costume.

The oldest tomb was erected in memory of Christian III (1503-1559) and his wife Dorothea, although only the alabaster images of the king adorn the tomb. He rests in full armor on the lid and kneels in prayer on the canopy. This tomb, made by Cornelius Floris in 1575, is considered one of the most accomplished works of the Renaissance in Denmark.

Opposite the monument to Christian III is that of his son Frederik II. (1534-1588) and his wife Sofie (1557-1631). Reliefs here depict scenes from the king's Dithmarschen campaign in 1559 and from the Northern War (1563-70). Soldiers can be seen advancing to battle in the typical battle formation of the time. The two tombs are empty, as both Christian III and Frederik II and their wives rest in low, underground crypts. The frescoes and the trombone-blowing angels in the chapel still give a vivid impression of the appearance of a church interior in the late Middle Ages.

To describe the other tombs in detail would go too far at this point. We recommend purchasing a booklet from the tourist information office, which provides interesting facts about the tombs, the magnificent altarpiece, the tower chapel and the royal gallery.

King Bluetooth built a wooden church in Roskilde around 960. King Harald and his successor King Tvæskæg opened the long series of funeral ceremonies here, even before the powerful Bishop Absalon ordered the construction of a cathedral in 1158. Roskilde was one of the richest ecclesiastical centers of the Middle Ages. In addition to the churches, monasteries and abbeys, the clergy alone owned 30 large manor houses - but only until the Reformation, after which the riches and absolute glory of clerical life came to an end. The bishop's residence, the Palais am Dom, has remained in the church. It is also the visiting quarters of the royal family.

The second outstanding attraction next to the cathedral is the aforementioned Viking Ship Hall near the harbor, where five almost 1000-year-old Viking ships are on display. The five ships were once used to block one of the shipping lanes at Skuldelev, 20 kilometers north of Roskilde (see also there). Filled with large stones, they were sunk across the channel. The remains of the boats were successfully salvaged in 1962 and, after the wood had been preserved and the parts identified, it was established that they were five different types of boat: a fishing and ferry boat, a seaworthy Greenland boat (ocean-going vessel), a merchant boat, a small warship for 24 oarsmen and a longship. Unfortunately, the least of the latter, with its enormous length of 28 meters, has survived (about 25 percent). Around three quarters of the original wood from the other ships was salvaged. All the boats have a slender hull, clinker construction and shallow draft in common, making them ideal for the shallow waters of the fjord.

The museum's film room also regularly hosts screenings in German about the excavation work - usefully complemented by a permanent exhibition about the Viking Age. Replicas of the Viking boats are on moorings in front of the museum.

The ship finds prove that Roskilde was an important Viking seafaring town. Why else would Knut the Great have made it a bishop's see in 1020? Copenhagen was still an insignificant fishing town at the time. The center of power was in Roskilde.

The archaeologists' excavations in the city park extending to the cathedral hill confirm Adam von Bremen's description of Roskilde around 1070 as the largest city in Zealand and a stronghold of trade. Traces of houses from the 11 . Century houses, clay floors, pottery shards and the remains of fireplaces came to light. In 1168, King Waldemar gave the town to his favorite, Bishop Absalon (after the king had previously ensured that Absalon was elected bishop). The gift also included Havn Castle, then Copenhagen. Absalon created a trade axis between Roskilde and Copenhagen, which helped the economic life in both places to flourish, which only ended with the Reformation. Until then, Roskilde was undoubtedly the spiritual center of the kingdom with a disproportionate influence of the church, which at the height of its power owned one-sixth of all farms in Zealand.

The everyday life long before the episcopal glory days of that time is relived by "leisure ancestors" ten kilometers southwest of Roskilde - in the historical-archaeological research center Lejre, which is definitely worth seeing. Volunteer prehistoric families live in an Iron Age village here and let you look over their shoulders. The large grounds of the research center also include an antiquity trail, a sacrificial bog, an ancient farmland, a ritual dance labyrinth and a giant stone tomb from the Stone Age. In a weaving room, visitors can try to copy the production of archaeological textile finds, and in a pottery workshop, pottery is fired in the prehistoric way. In a "fire valley", firewood is set alight and hollowed-out dugout canoes are used to sail on the valley's lake.

A few farmhouses do not fit into the chronological context. They mainly serve as a separate attempt to recreate the everyday life of small farmers and village craftsmen 150 years ago.

The focus, however, is on life in the Iron Age village, where the meagre conditions of over 2000 years ago dominate the scene. Surrounded by a row of palisades are reconstructions of four longhouses, two smaller houses, three shelters and four fireplaces, as well as the site of a chieftain's court.

The inhabitants slept on furs and the flour for their groats or daily bread was ground in a stone trough. The inhabitants of the settlement drew water from the pond, collected firewood in the forest and sewed their clothes from sharp animal bones. Many of the "Stone Age amateurs" describe their excursion into this prehistoric world as a search for themselves. Near the entrance to the center, film and photo presentations are used to explain the archaeological benefits of the experiments, such as ironworking in the Lejre smithy. Plant cultivation using prehistoric methods also provides valuable information for archaeology, although agriculture was still in its infancy in the days of hunter-gatherers. In any case, Lejre is one of the outstanding sights on Zealand. It can be reached quickly from Roskilde by train and bus.

In addition to the three described above, there are of course a whole host of other sights in and around the former capital. You can choose between the Tool Museum in Ringstedgade, the City Museum in St. Olsgade 18 and the Gambling Chamber in St. Hans Gade not far from the harbor. The Spielkammer houses the largest collection of games and playing cards in Scandinavia, while the City Museum exhibits traditional costumes and finds from the Middle Ages. A historic general store and children's toys from grandma's time can also be seen there, while the aforementioned palace by the cathedral houses a collection of furniture and paintings.

Also worthy of note is the large number of springs in the city area, including the St. Gertruds spring in Frederiksborgvej 23a (at the entrance to the city park) and the Magdekilde spring in Magdekildevej.

Outside Roskilde, the Ledreborg Castle (near Lejre), a large baroque complex with an English-French park, and Roskilde Sommerland, a large leisure park with a narrow-gauge railroad, are also worth a visit. The village of Gammel Lejre and a stone settlement not far from this old settlement are also worth a visit. There is therefore a wide range of excursion destinations to choose from, not forgetting the old settlement of St. Jørgensberg, immediately south-east of the harbor. It was once a small village with courtyards around the medieval church of St. Jürgen and is still a gem with lovingly maintained, mostly whitewashed thatched-roof cottages. Where the picturesque courtyards now surround the Romanesque church, there was a hospital in the Middle Ages where the "lepers" were housed.

Marina Information

Contact

Surroundings

Electricity

Water

Toilet

Shower

Restaurant

Playground

Imbiss

Crane

Atm

Internet

Fuel

Diesel

Grocery

Boatyard

Ramp

Travellift

Public Transport

Bikerental

Garbage

Sewage