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Christianborg Slot Slot is Danish for Castle, first off. As such, there are many of them dotting the face of this country, more per square kilometer than most other European countries, I would say. Christianborg Slot is part of Slotsholmen, and is the seat of Denmark's government. This castle, or more accurately, palace, is the centerpiece of it. It was built in 1730, and through several fires and restorations, it has achieved it's present appearance. It's worth noting that underneath the building shown here, are the excavated foundations of the two castles that preceeded this one- the 12th century Absalon's Fortress, and Copenhagen Castle, from about 1400 or so. Left images ©2001, Jeffrey L. Cooper Right image ©2000, Jeffrey L. Cooper |
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| Kronborg Slot Located in the city of Helsingør, Kronborg Slot was the setting for Hamlet. It's main purpose was to extract tolls from the ships that passed through the narrow Øresund straight. It was originally built in a smaller version in the 1420's, but revenues collected enabled the enlargement in the 1570's to the present structure. It is surrounded by a moat and a high wall, and makes for an impressive sight from land or sea (I took the ferry over from Sweden here). Helsingør is about a 30 minute drive north of Copenhagen. Both images ©2000, Jeffrey L. Cooper |
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| Frederiksborg Slot Just about 20 minutes west of Helsingør is Hillerød, the home of Frederiksborg Slot. This Dutch Renaissance castle sits on three small island on the east side of Lake Slotsø. Parts of the castle date from the 1560's, while most of the visible structure comes from the 1600's. The top photo shows a good shot of the fortress proper, while the bottom photo shows the main building on the site, including the church on the left side of it. Neptune Fountain is in the foreground. This castle was the home of Danish royalty for more than a century. It was restored by JC Jacobsen, the owner of Carlsberg beer. Both images ©2000, Jeffrey L. Cooper |
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Egeskov Slot This is probably the best of the Danish castles. Go in the summer, though, because it it closed from October to April. The castle is still lived in, and the family graciously has opened it up to extensive tourism, including tours of a significant part of the castle itself. The castle reflects stunningly in it's moat, and, well, there is not a much better site around. Egeskov Slot is on the middle island of Fyn. It was built in 1554 and is complete with a moat and a drawbridge. All images ©2001, Jeffrey L. Cooper |
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| Holckenhavn Slot This great castle was built in 1634. It is also located on Fyn, just south of Nyborg. It is also a private residence, but the owners have also here graciously opened it up for the public. In this case, though, you cannot go inside the castle itself- just keep to the grounds. But then, it is free. And, no one else was there- I had the place completely to myself- you can feel the quietness and serenity in these pictures (and the 3D gallery as well). All images ©2001, Jeffrey L. Cooper |
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| Tranekær Slot This castle, though nice, was not so open to the public. Oh, they will take your money to get a glimpse of it, but you cannot go inside and it's difficult to get any good shots for free. The left and middle shots were only viewable from a park that had an entrance fee, while the right shot was taken from a free area. I had a basic problem in that the family who lives here wants to capitalize off the obvious interest of the public, but they don't want to open up the actual castle or closer grounds- a few small changes would give much better and more direct views of the front of the castle (the left two pictures are actually the front and main grounds). All images ©2001, Jeffrey L. Cooper |
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Rosenborg Slot Back in Copenhagen, Rosenborg Slot was built in the early 17th century by King Christian IV as a summer home. It is now a museum and has the royal crown jewels. ©2000, Jeffrey L. Cooper |
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