After entering Kronborg we had a few options of places to go, so we chose to start in the chambers.
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| Entering the castle |
The first thing we saw was a sculpture of one of the ornate fountains that was captured as spoils of war by the Swedish army:
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| Model of the fountain |
The ceilings of several of the rooms had very detailed paintings and all of the rooms had examples of the furniture or paintings of the times.
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| Alana admires the ceiling of the Chancellery |
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| One of the paintings in the Chancellery |
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| Another of the Chancellery ceiling paintings |
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| The door to the King's chambers |
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| A dining area and tapestry |
We then passed into the Queen's Gallery, where the Queen and her ladies would pass on the way to the Grand Ballroom.
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| One of the paintings in the Dronningens Galleri (Queen's Gallery) |
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| Another painting in the Dronningens Galleri |
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| The Dronningens Galleri |
The Grand Ballroom was amazing:
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| The Grand Ballroom |
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| Authentic coffee rings on the windowsill of the Grand Ballroom - Were they left there by a Queen? Probably not but oh well |
Our next stop was the
kasematterne (casemates), the location of Holger Danske (Holger the Dane). Casemates are a reinforced structure for firing, in this case, under the castle allowing the soldiers to move below the castle, take shelter or fire on attackers.
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| Cam heads into the unknown... well it was actually the Casements, and it was well labelled, but Cam heads into the known doesn't have the same ring to it. |
Holger the Dane is a statue that is situated below the castle. There is a story that he was a legendary warrior who never lost a battle and fell asleep under the castle and turned to stone. It is said that in times of danger to Denmark he will awaken and fight again. Unfortunately since he is armed with a sword and shield and most threats to Denmark in this day and age would likely be jets, submarines or even nukes, he may have waited a bit too long...
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| Holger the Dane |
We then went on a tour through the dark and claustrophobic casements:
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| One of the bigger paths |
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| One of the smaller paths - it came to my chest height |
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| Another path |
It was a bit of a maze but we found our way out and over to the Chapel.
Even the entrance to the chapel was ornate:
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| Chapel Entrance |
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| Walking into the chapel |
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| Above the pews |
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| The Organ |
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| The altar |
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| The altar and pulpit |
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| You might think, "Wow, they're really enjoying it and Alana is explaining it to Cam", but nope. She is telling him how they would create the chandelier in minecraft. |
Next stop included the kids area with a dollshouse version of the castle
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| Dollshouse Kronborg |
and a Danish version of a popular book:
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| Hvor er Hvolver? |
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From there we headed into the tapestry halls. Tomas saw the first one and then pulled Kristine aside. "No offence mum, you are good at sewing, but the person who made these is MUCH better."
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| One of the smaller tapestries |
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| She doesn't look too impressed that the two men on the left are checking out her bum |
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| Tapestry and chest |
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| More tapestries |
Overall it was a great castle to explore. I'd expected to spend only about an hour taking a few quick shots, but instead we spent almost three hours. The kids agreed that it was worth the trip, but unfortunately so did the parking inspector, who took issue with the fact we paid for an hour and stayed for three..
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| 650DKK is about AUD$140 - I guess they have to charge so much to pay for the amount of paper they waste on the ticket (this one is folded in half) |
After cursing ticket inspectors in general, we had a quick lunch and headed off to our next stop - Fredensborg Castle.
An interesting aside- when I went to pay the ticket online the website where you pay refers to the payment as a "transaction at their e-shop". It earned the website some choice words.
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