One place I have been wanting to go to since we arrived in Sweden in Roskilde in Denmark. It's famous for several reasons - it was the location of the treaty between Sweden and Denmark in 1658 and it's also home to the Roskilde Viking Boat museum and a UNESCO listed Gothic cathedral from 1275.
Roskilde was the capital of Denmark from the 11th century until 1443 because of it's location and the fact it served as a trade hub in viking times. Roskilde means "Ro's Spring" and is likely derived from King Roar who lived in the 6th century. It's believed that Roskilde was founded in the 980's by Harald Bluetooth (yes, he is the person that bluetooth technology is named after).
The drive was only an hour and a half, but we had some tired kids who fell asleep on the way there:
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| Huh? Where are we? (Tomas' face in the background is interesting - in his words "I look murderey") |
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| The town square in Roskilde where we parked |
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| Roskilde Square |
From the square we walked over to Roskilde Domkirka (Roskilde Cathedral).
The cathedral was built around the 12th or 13th century and is a Gothic and Romanesque design. It has been used as the burial site for Danish monarchs since the 15th century.
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| First view of the Cathedral |
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| Cathedral Windows |
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| Sundial on the wall of the Cathedral |
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| The entrance |
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| The door |
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| The front of the Cathedral |
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| The dome |
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| Towers |
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| The towers with Tomas for a height reference |
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| The burial site of Frederick IX |
King Frederik IX died in 1972 and wanted to be buried outside the cathedral in sight of the fjord (he was a sailor). This was also a good thing as there was no room left inside the main chapel (Christian IX chapel) for burials. The burial site above was built in 1985 and the grave was sealed formally in 2000 when Queen Ingrid died and was buried there. At her request, the site is covered with wild vines and plants from throughout Denmark.
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| Frederick IX and Ingrid's gravestone |
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| The Gothic part of the church |
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| Statues on the walls |
After the cathedral we walked through the park down to the viking ship museum (Vikingeskibmuseet). The museum was opened in 1969 to house the remains of five viking ships found in 1962. It is used to study the artifacts as well as the create reconstructions of the ships.
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| Welcome to the VikingeskibsMuseet |
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| Heading in |
The first ship we saw was the
Brudpiga a reconstruction of a church boat from Dalarna:
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| Brudpiga |
Next was the large reconstruction the
Havhingsten Fra Glendalough (Sea Stallion from Glendalough). This was a reconstruction of the Skuldelev 2 ship and has been sailed from Roskilde to Dublin and back. It is also used to take groups on boat tours around Roskilde. Unfortunately the tours were booked out, but we got to stand onboard:
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| Sea Stallion from Glendalough |
The boat is 30m long and the original Skuldelev 2 was built in 1042 in Dublin. It's a warship that could carry 60 men and had a 112m2 sail.
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| Sea Stallion |
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| Climbing aboard |
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| Viking raiding party |
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| Info sign on what it took to make the ship |
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| Bow |
After the Sea Stallion we came across the smaller reconstructions:
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| Reconstructions |
These ships are Åttamannafar- or 8-man boats, a traditional European fishing boat.
Most of them are from the Faroe Islands and are flat bottomed for handling in the surf. They werecreated by eye measurements (not using measuring tools) and clamps.
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| Anne Stine |
The Anne Stine is an Oselver Faering ship created by broad planks (only three stakes in each side). This makes it stable and good for rowing. These boats were used for transporting light cargo and trading up the Norwegian skerries.
After the boats we came across the play area, where the kids experimented with boats, while I bought us lunch - the food was cooked with traditional ingredients available in viking times.
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| Testing various kinds of boats in the water pool |
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| Building boats in the wood working shed |
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| Concentration |
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| Kristine tying on her sails |
Next door to the woodworking shed was wood carving:
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| Wood Carving |
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| Testing the boat - (Spoiler: the wood base wasn't stable enough so it tipped) |
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| Rope making exhibit - Roskilde Viking Boat Museum makes their own rope for the boats |
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| More ropes |
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| Some examples of rope |
After lunch we spent some time watching the boats being made. They use traditional methods to create the recreations, but also have a boat workshop where they use modern technology to make boats for sale and under commission:
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| Boat Yard |
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| Making a replica of the Faroe Boat (Teinaeringer style) built by rule of thumb with no modern measuring devices |
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| Traditional Boat yard |
Next stop was the museum where the viking boats were held.
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| The boats |
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| Information |
In 1070, five viking ships were deliberately sunk at Skuldelev in the Roskilde Fjord. This was done to block access to the fjord and prevent the enemy from being able to launch an attack from the sea. These ships were excavated in 1962 and consist of:
Skuldelev 1 - A cargo vessel, possibly of the Knarr type. It is 16m long and 4.8m wide. It was constructed in 1030AD. 60% of the ship was recovered.
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| 1:10 scale model of Skuldelev 1 |
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| Details of Skuldelev 1 |
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| Details of Skuldelev 1 |
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| Skuldelev 1 |
Skuldelev 2 - A seagoing warship. A longship of Skeid type. 30m long, 3.8m wide. Built in Dublin in 1042. It is one of the longest viking ships ever found, but only 25% was recovered.
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| Skuldelev 2 |
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| Skuldelev 2 |
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| Skuldelev 2 |
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| Details of Skuldelev 2 |
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| Details of Skuldelev 2 |
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| 1:10 model of Skuldelev 2 |
Skuldelev 3 - A cargo shop, possibly of the byrding type. It was 14m long and 3.3m wide. It was made in Denmark around 1040. 75% was recovered.
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| Skuldelev 3 |
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| Skuldelev 3 |
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| Stem from Skuldelev 3 |
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| Details of Skuldelev 3 |
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| Details of Skuldelev 3 |
Suldelev 4 - Originally it was believed that Skuldelev 2 was two seperate ships (2 and 4), but when it was found that they were the same ship, Skuldelev 4 was removed from the list
Suldelev 5 - A small warship of snekkja type. 17.3m long and 2.5m wide. 50% was recovered
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| Skuldelev 5 |
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| Skuldelev 5 |
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| Details on Skuldelev 5 |
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| Details on Skuldelev 5 |
Skuldelev 6 - Unknown purpose. 11.2m long and 2.5m wide. 70% recovered.
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| Details of Skuldelev 6 |
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| Details of Skuldelev 6 |
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| Skuldelev 6 |
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| 1:10 model of Skuldelev 6 |
On our way out, we found a few viking games - the first was the Trojaborg, a stone labyrinth that could serve as a trap for fairy folk who btough bad luck. Fishermen could run through the labyrinth and then quickly set sail, while the fairies were stuck slowly following the path.
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| Trojaborg |
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| This game simulated tying off a boat alongside a dock - the rope had to be thrown between the pegs |
After leaving the museum we came across a the Skt Hans Kilde (Saint John's Spring):
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| The Spring |
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| Skt Han Kilde |
Saint John's Spring was named after St John the Baptist and the current overflow was built in 1834. It was believed that the spring had healing properties and excavations found multiple earthenware jugs.
Our final stop was back in Roskilde Byparken (Roskilde Town Park).
The kids had fun splashing in the stream with the other kids in the area. It was a pretty warm day so they enjoyed the chance to cool off.
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| The fountain - also runs off from Skt Han Kilde |
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| Ducklings in the pond |
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| Trying to dam up the overflow |
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| Tomas makes a dam |
After playing for about an hour we headed home. We'd had beautiful weather and a good chance to explore Roskilde.
