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| Royal Flag @Amalienborg |
There are three castles in Central Copenhagen which are major attractions. Technically,
you can cover these three in one day if you want to pack your schedule. Common
hours are from 10 to 5 and if you spend about 2 hours each, take lunch on the
go and walk fast (or take transit), then I think it is doable. We were on
chill-mode so we did these three over a day and a bit—with other stops in
between. I took a quick fam poll and we were all pretty unanimous in our
ranking of the castles. First, here are the Copenhagen castles in order of
preference. I will reveal at the end, our favourite castle, which is
technically not in central Copenhagen.
Rosenborg—we like this 17th
century castle, built by one of the most famous Danish kings, Christian IV.
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| Rosenborg |
We
walked up the spiral steps and discovered rooms filled with beautiful clocks,
armoires, writing tables and other furniture--many of which had an Asian
influence. These were so beautifully intricate, definitely screaming royal.
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Armoire at Rosenborg
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| One of the clocks on display at Rosenborg |
My
favourite and possibly one of the main attractions of this castle is the
Knights’ Hall with the coronation thrones. These were decorated with narwhal
tusks and had three life-size silver lions standing guard. Tapestries on the walls
commemorated battles between Denmark and Sweden. Guess who was winning in these
battles? The interiors were well-preserved and the castle housed an exquisite
collection of Flora Danica, ivory carvings (if you manage to think past the
material used) and an amazing Venetian glass collection. In the basement, they
had a collection of firearms and wine barrels (not sure if this is a wise
combo), leading up to the treasury. In the treasury, we saw the Crown jewels,
which was why the castle was watched by actual armed guards.
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| Danish Crown Jewels at Rosenborg |
Outside the castle,
you can find the gardens which was perfect for relaxing and just enjoying a
nice afternoon. |
| King's Garden, Rosenborg |
Christiansborg—was once the royal
residence but now houses the Danish Parliament, the Supreme court and the
Ministry of state.
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| Christiansborg |
We visited the Ruins under the castle, the Royal party kitchen
which had such an amazing collection of copper cookware and also the Royal Stables,
which was home to majestic white (Kladruber) horses. Unfortunately, the Royal
Reception rooms were closed at the time. It seemed like there was an official
event—it is, after all, where they hold functions and receive foreign
dignitaries. It was indeed unfortunate, as from the pictures, it seems that it
would have allowed us a glimpse of what we expected palaces to look
like—somehow like Versailles (but of course, not nearly as opulent or “golden”).
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| Ruins under the castle, Christiansborg |
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| Royal kitchens at Christiansborg |
Amalienborg—our least favourite
castle, and something we all said we could have skipped. While the history of
current King Frederik X was interesting, it was not so much compelling for us
to see many of the items in person.
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| one of the buildings at Amalienborg |
We did, however, stay for the changing of
the guards at noon. The guards marched from their barracks by Rosenborg Castle
through the streets of Copenhagen to Amalienborg. The whole process within
Amalienborg took over 20 minutes and while it was interesting, there were many
dull moments, wherein, according to DD#2, they were just staring at each other.
Hubby and I agreed that the Changing of the Guards in Athens was so much more
entertaining!
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| changing of the guards at Amalienborg |
Amalienborg is also close to the marble church, which was so beautiful.
Also called Marmokirken or Frederik’s Church, this Lutheran church has the
largest church dome in Scandinavia with a span of 31 metres.
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| Marmokirken |
Our
favourite castle (that we have seen in our Denmark trip), was actually about 50
minutes by train away from Central Copenhagen. We took a trip to Elsinore (Helsingør)
to visit Kronborg, the setting of Hamlet and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The castle
started off as a coastal fortress, Krogen, built by King Eric VII in the 1420s.
In the 1770s, King Frederick II had the
medieval stronghold transformed into a magnificent Renaissance castle.
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| Kronborg, Elsinore |
We took
the Hamlet’s tour where we saw the cellar, the beautiful 1580s chapel (with its
original interior fully restored), the Royal apartments showing the bedrooms, the
well-preserved tapestries and the ballroom, reminding me of many familiar
scenes with Kenneth Branagh.
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| 1580s chapel at Kronborg |
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| Royal apartments, Kronborg |
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| ballroom at Kronborg |
There were a few quotes from our tour guide
officially making it a Hamlet tour. If you happen to be here in the summer, I
heard they hold live performances of Shakespeare’s plays. After the tour, the fam (minus Grandma, of
course) took 145 steps up to the Cannon tower to take in the beautiful vistas
of the sea and the town. We also checked out the kitchen which was less
impressive than the Christiansborg kitchens. Hidden deep down under the castle,
in the casements, we saw the stone statue of Holger the Dane (Holger Danske). In
Danish legend, if Denmark is ever in trouble, Holger will wake from his rock
throne under Helsingør and defend her.  |
| Holger Danske at Kronborg |
The casements were eerie and cold,
hosting an extensive series of low-ceilinged dungeons, storerooms and soldiers’
quarters. I did not venture further down to where bats supposedly lived.  |
| casements at Kronborg |
We
also no longer went to the barracks/flag bastion as we wanted to catch an early
train back to the centre. The castle’s history and preservation/restoration
were amazing. This was our favourite castle of the trip and well-worth the day
trip!
