Viking fans will be wowed by the superb Viking Ship Museum, which displays five Viking ships discovered at the bottom of Roskilde Fjord. The museum is made up of two main sections – the Viking Ship Hall, where the boats themselves are kept; and Museumsø, where archaeological work takes place. There are free 45-minute guided tours in English daily at noon and 3pm from late June to the end of August, and at noon on weekends from May to late June and in September. Viking Ship Hall Roskilde’s Viking-era inhabitants were expecting trouble in the mid-11th century. Five clinker-built ships, all made between 1030 and 1042, were deliberately scuttled in a narrow channel 20km north of Roskilde, presumably to block an attacking army. Once they had been holed and sunk, a mass of stones was piled on top to create an underwater barrier.In 1962, a coffer dam was built around the barrier and sea water was pumped out. Within four months, archaeologists were able to remove the mound of stones and excavate the ships, whose wooden hulks were in thousands of pieces. These ship fragments were painstakingly reassembled onto skeleton frames in the purpose-built Viking Ship Hall. This brutal-looking minimalist construction becomes something magical inside, where the ghostly boats seem to float once more on the waters of the fjord.The ships, known as Skuldelev 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, show off the range of the Viking shipwrights: there’s an ocean-going trading vessel, a 30m warship for international raiding, a coastal trader, a 17m warship probably used around the Baltic, and a fishing boat. Carbon dating and dendrochronology have discovered further secrets, including their builders’ geographical scope – Skuldelev 1, for example, was made in Norway, whereas Skuldelev 2 came from Dublin.Interesting displays about the Viking Age put the boats into a historical context, and the basement cinema runs a 14-minute film (in Danish, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish) about the 1962 excavation. There’s also a fascinating exhibition and film documenting the nail-biting 2007 voyage of the Havhingsten fra Glendalough from Roskilde to Dublin and back. Based on the 60-oared warship Skuldelev 2, it’s the largest Viking ship reconstruction to date (an incredible 340 trees went into its creation).Museumsø On Museum Island, adjacent to the Viking Ship Hall, craftspeople use Viking-era techniques and tools to build replicas of Viking ships. Ottar, Havhingsten fra Glendalough, Roar Ege, Helge Ask and Kraka Fyr (reconstructions of Skuldelev 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 respectively) are moored in the harbour, where you can really appreciate their light, flexible designs.In summer, a shipwright, blacksmith, tar-burner, weaver, rope-maker and fletcher demonstrate their crafts. Children can join in the fun by striking coins and painting their own shields.Boat Trips If you’ve always had an urge to leap aboard a longboat for a spot of light pillaging, join one of the museum’s hour-long boat trips. Traditional Nordic boats are propelled across the water by you and the rest of your shipmates.From mid-May to the end of September, 50-minute trips run one to three times daily, with an additional two to three trips daily from late June to mid-August, weather dependent. Call ahead to confirm sailing times. Tickets (Dkr90) are additional to the main museum entry ticket.
Not merely the crème de la crème of Danish cathedrals, this twin-towered giant is a designated Unesco World Heritage site. Started by Bishop Absalon in 1170, the building has been rebuilt and tweaked so many times that it’s now a superb showcase of 800 years’ worth of Danish architecture. As the royal mausoleum, it contains the crypts of 37 Danish kings and queens – contemplating the remains of so many powerful historical figures is a moving memento mori. No fewer than 11 spectacular chapels and crypts sprout from the main body of the cathedral. The chapel of King Christian IV , off the northern side of the building, contains the builder-king himself. His ocean-green coffin, surrounded by processing angels, is quite low-key for such an extravagant monarch. Most of the decoration in the chapel – vast, overly dramatic paintings of Christian’s life surrounded by trompe l’oeil details – is actually from the 19th century, as the original sepulchre burned down a year before Christian’s death. The only contemporary features are the chapel gates, so ornate they were said to have been created by the devil himself (although really the work of Christian’s favourite metalsmith Caspar Fincke).There are some fantastic 15th-century frescoes (the largest in Denmark) in the chapel of the Magi . It also contains the Renaissance sepulchres of Christian III and Frederik II, the most ornate in the cathedral. They look like antique temples, guarded by halberd-bearing soldiers. Another interesting feature of the chapel is the Royal Column, which shows the heights of visiting princes – from Christian I at a lofty 219.5cm down to titchy Christian VII at 164.1cm.The neoclassical chapel of Frederik V whispers ‘death’ like no other part of the cathedral. You’ll find 12 members of the royal family here, all interred in white alabaster sepulchres, surrounded by skulls, angels and weeping women.The nave contains Christian IV’s private box, and an intricate 17th-century pulpit (1610) made of marble, alabaster and sandstone by Copenhagen sculptor Hans Brokman. A killjoy dean disconnected the mechanism of the wonderful clock in the 18th century, annoyed that his parishioners paid more attention to it than to him, but today’s church-people have relented. St George slays the dragon on the hour; the poor beast lets out a pitiful wheeze; and two ballad characters ting the bells.Margrethe I’s elegant sarcophagus and the shining golden altarpiece in the choir usually attract crowds of admirers. We prefer the wonderfully lively 15th-century choir-stall carvings: highlights from the New Testament line the northern side, and fearsome Old Testament tales adorn the south – Joseph being stuffed down a hole, Judith chopping off Holofernes’ head, and Noah’s family crammed into the ark…Free concerts on the 16th-century baroque pipe organ are usually held at 8pm on Thursday in June, July and August. It’s not unusual for the cathedral to be closed on Saturday for weddings, particularly in spring.
This 13th-century church is adorned with superb frescoes. The oldest, from 1350, depicts St Christopher carrying Christ across a ford, but most of the vaults are covered with a cartoon-like ‘paupers’ Bible’ by the ‘Elmelunde master’. Unique images include a gruesome one of Judas, with two devils pulling out his soul; Mary on doomsday, tipping the judgment scales in humanity’s favour; and a gleeful horny-kneed demon listening to two women gossiping!
