The Influence of Christian IV

Saturday, April 3, 2010 (Part 8):

Following our brief rest in the Marble Church, we walked east toward Rosenborg Slot - The Rose Castle. This Castle, like so much else in Copenhagen, was built by Christian IV (C4) who ruled Denmark during the first half of the 17th Century. This was just one of several castles that the royal family lived in at the time, and this was one was the smallest. But is was Christian IV's favorite.

One of the things about Rosenborg Slot that makes it truly unique is that Christian IV planned that the rooms in this castle were to be preserved as a museum for future generations. So there are many original items of art and

furniture in this castle. And subsequent kings followed Christian IV's lead and made rooms here personal to them and aimed toward their preservation. [Footnote: Most of the kings of Denmark were named either Christian or Frederik.]

As already mention, Rosenborg Slot is relative small -- with only about 6 or 7 rooms on each floor, but they were all interesting. Some of the rooms that were the most memorable were the mirror room, the porcelain room, and the throne room where three life-sized silver lions guard the thrones. Also at Rosenborg Slot is the royal "treasury" where the crown jewels are kept. This display is not as large and extravagant as the crown jewel collection at the Tower of London, but it was still impressive. We saw three crowns, an orb and scepter set, and lots of ladies' jewelry.

Rosenborg Slot is also surrounded by some beautiful grounds, including some formal gardens. Today, it serves as a park -- open to the general public, and it is very well used -- even on a day as chilly as this particular Saturday.

The Disproportionate Marble Church

Saturday, April 3, 2010 (Part 7):

Very near the Amalienborg complex -- only about 200 yards from the front gates -- is a church that is referred to as the Marble Church, or Marmorkirken. It has a huge dome, and the dome is disproportionately too big for the facility upon which it sits. The church was originally designed to rival the churches in Italy, and the dome is apparently one of the largest in Europe. But the original building plans were much grander than the finally completed church. As the story goes, during construction, they ran out of funds. So the church was made considerably smaller, but the dome was

kept the same size.

The inside of the Marble Church is relatively simple and, compared to many churches, rather plain. This, of course, is in keeping with Danish style -- which is all about simplicity and functionality. The inside of the Marble Church is one large, circular sanctuary. The painted, domed ceiling is the most striking feature. We spent 5-10 minutes sitting in a pew and mostly staring at the ceiling.

Amalienborg (The Royal Palace Complex)

Saturday, April 3, 2010 (Part 6):

Once having completed our canal tour, the stop on our "Copenhagen in a day" whirlwind tour was Amalienborg. This is a complex of four large mansions where the royal family lives. The area in which these mansions are l

ocated is called Frederiksstaden. These grand houses were originally built as the private homes of some very wealthy merchants, but the royal family purchased them in the 1700's a

fter one of their palaces burned down. Interestingly, we had seen Amalienborg from the water, during our canal tour, but now we were seeing it from the land side.

As in London, the royal palaces are guarded by a special unit of palace guards. We entered the Amalienborg complex just after there had been a formal changing of the guard, and we were treated with the site of a contingent of about 16 soldiers formally marching out of the square. It was pretty neat!

Although some of the palaces are open to the public, there was a long line to get in, and we

had an aggressive agenda so we just took a quick look around and then proceeded along our way.

The View from the Water

Saturday, April 3, 2010 (Part 5):

The canal tour was a really great way to see the city. We started our tour at the inside end of Nyhavn. This canal is one of the most famous areas of the city. There are lots of old boats docked here and the buildings are all painted bright colors. It is also on this street, above the canal, that Hans Christian Anderson lived at different periods of time.

Some of the sites that we saw from the water on our canal tour were:

(1) The Opera House: This is a relatively new building and it is a very striking design. The center section is all rounded glass exterior, and I understand that the lighting changes

during the evening, but we never saw the building at night.

(2) Christianshavn: This is a residential area across the harbor from the central part of the city, and a canal runs right through it. Many areas around Copenhagen have been built on fill and much of Christianshavn has such a history.

(3) The Little Mermaid -- NOT! The Little Mermaid is a small statue that sits on a rock in teh harbor north of the city. The statue is based on a character in a story by Hans Christian Anderson, and this statue is one of the most famous sites in Copenhagen. Unfortunately, about one week before my visit, the statue was removed and shipped to Shanghai for an international world's fair. It will be gone for about six months. So, I missed seeing it! Instead, we were shown the spot where it usually sits. There was a family there taking

pictures of their daughter who had climbed onto the Little Mermaid's rock and was sitting where the statue usually sits. I am sure that this will become the new touristy thing to do.

(4) The City: The last part of the canal tour took us through a canal that runs by Slotsholmen, the Borsen, and Holmens Kirke. So although we had seen these spots earlier, we now got to see them from the water.

The Ultimate Copenhagen Experience

Saturday, April 3, 2010 (Part 4):

We next headed towards Kongens Nytorv (a plaza) and Nyhavn (a harbor, and the most famous harbor in Copenhagen). On the way, we made one quick stop at the largest department store in the city -- Magasin du Nord. Our goal was to check out the food gallery. This is a very common feature in European department stores. The lowest level of the store is typically a really nice gourmet grocery store, and Magasin du Nord is no exception. So we took advantage of

the selections to pick up some fresh fruit and snacks. We resisted the temptation to buy chocolate - notwithstanding all the really tempting displays of Easter candy.

Our primary goal this morning was to take a boat tour of the canals. We located the correct dock, at the innermost point of Nyhavn, and purchased our tickets. The next boat was pulling in just as we were completing our ticket purchase so we immediately made our way onboard.

These canal tour boats are uniquely designed. I did not appreciate that when we first boarded and started our journey, but their very special design purpose became evident later on in the tour. They are rather wide and relatively flat. The center section has a cover, or roof, constructed of glass panels. But at the front and back of the boat, the seating is open to the air. For most of our trip, we sat outside. It was a clear sunny day, but it was also cold and windy. And, being on the water, we got very cold at times. About three-quarters of the way through the trip, we were finally compelled to seek the warmth of the inside portion of the boat. But we had chosen to stay outside for so long because we wanted to have a clearer views of the sights and we knew we would take a lot of pictures -- which we did!

Back to the shape of the boat. We navigated several canals during our tour and we went under a dozen or more bridges. These bridges are not very high off the water and the opening through which the boat traversed provided very little clearance. Every time we went under a bridge, the tour guide reminded everyone to sit down and keep our hands in the boat. As it turns out, the

shape of these boats exactly fits the openings that we passed through under these bridges. Sometimes there was no more than a few inches of clearances on the sides and top. It was tense!

The First Church of Many

Saturday, April 3 2010 (Part 3):

Staying in the same general area of the Borsen, we crossed one more street, and our next stop was a small church called Holmens Kirke. What a wonderful find this was. We only stopped and peeked in on a whim, but it turned out to be a delightful surprise. And we had the place entirely to ourselves.

This church is relatively simple in design (and so Danish in that regard). On the inside, it has white plaster walls with only an occasional picture or tapestry. The primary

decorative features consisted of an elaborately wood carved pulpit and altar. Perhaps it was the overall simplicity of the space that made these features stand out as they did. The workmanship was incredible and quite unlike anything I can recall seeing before.

But the pulpit was truly the most engaging feature. It's base was a wood carving of Moses holding the 10 Commandments. And around the pulpit itself, there were carvings of each of the 12 Apostles.

The Copenhagen Stock Exchange

Saturday, April 3, 2010 (Part 2):

From Slotsholmen, we crossed the street and walked around the old stock exchange building, called the Borsen. The building is not open to the public, but it has a really interesting history and is pretty neat just to view from the outside. The building is many hundreds of years old and, like so many places in Copenhagen, was at one time almost completely surrounded by water. This was intentional and made it easy for merchants to buy and sell wares from boats as they pulled in and out of the exchange.

To me, the most interesting feature of the Borsen is its tower. Twisted up the spire on this central tower are four dragons. Their heads hang down over the edge of the base of

the tower and their tails wrap around the spire up to its topmost point. It's really unique. By the way, there seem to be an abundance of dragons and serpents depicted around Copenhagen. It must have something to do with the city's Nordic sea-faring past. Who knows!

I should mention, if not already apparent from the pictures, that the weather on this day was really wonderful. It was a clear, sunny day. It was also a bit on the chilly side, but the full sun kept us warm.