Car/Minibus/Bus Tour "Castles of Northern Zealand"
| Price for 2 people (incl. transportation): |
From €600 |
| Durtaion |
5 hours |
Kronborg Castle is situated near the town of Elsinore in the north-western tip of the island of Zealand. At this point Oresund - the strait between Denmark and Sweden - is only 4 km wide, which gave the castle an important military-strategic importance for several centuries. Kronborg received its present name in the late 16 century, when King Frederick II made it one of the most magnificent European castles of Renaissance age.
In 1629 the castle almost completely burned down, and the restoration works were carried out by King Christian IV. 30 years later the castle was ravaged by the Swedes. Many unique treasures disappeared without trace - paintings, glassware, furniture and tapestries. When the castle returned into the possession of Denmark, it was decided to strengthen its landside approach, so the crownwork was built. Today Kronborg is widely known primarily as a castle of two Danish princes - Hamlet and Holger of Denmark who, according to ancient legend, sleeps in the underground dungeons and is prepared to wake up at any time when Denmark is in danger to protect his homeland from the enemy.
Fredensborg Palace (literally "Castle of Piece") - a palace on the eastern shore of Lake Esrum on the island of Zealand. This is one of the most used residences of Danish royalty. The palace is located 30 km from Copenhagen. At the end of the Northern War Danish King Frederik IV asked the architect I. Krieger, who worked as a gardener in the royal castle of Rosenborg, to build a small palace in the area of the farm Estrup. Krieger built a palace in French Baroque style. The palace was extended during the first half of XVIII century, but retained the basic structure since its opening on Oct. 11, 1722, the day of the 51th anniversary of the King.
Currently Fredensborg Palace is the spring and autumn residence of the Danish monarchs. Important royal events are also celebrates here - weddings, anniversaries, birthdays. The Queen gives the official receptions for foreign heads of state and governments attending Denmark, and also conducts the ceremony taking credentials from foreign ambassadors. There is a tradition that if a foreign head of state spends a night at Fredensborg Palace, she/he must scratch her/his name with a diamond on one of the windows.
One of the halls in the palace is called "Russian", as it contains an impressive collection of applied art and paintings associated with Russia, in particular, the portrait of Nikolai II. In connection with the 500th anniversary of the first Russian-Danish friendship treaty, Russian artist D. D. Zhilinskij (in 1993) painted ceremonial portraits of Margaret II and her husband. Now these paintings adorn one of the halls in Fredensborg.
Fredensborg Palace Gardens, some of the largest gardens in Denmark (300 acres), are made in Baroque style. They were originally designed by Krieger, but expanded and changed during the XVIII century. Long straight avenues, restored in 1970-1990 channel off from the castle like sun beams. Between them stretch wide forested areas with winding walkways. The gardens house plenty of sculptures. Of particular interest is the Norwegian valley in which there are 68 sculptures of Norwegian and Faroese farmers and fishermen.
Frederiksborg Castle situated in the town Hilered is today known as the Museum of National History. First castle was built here in 1560 by King Frederick II and was named Hileredsholm on behalf of the city nearby. The castle is located on three small island in the middle of Slotso lake (literally - Palace Lake). In 1599 Christian IV ordered a major reconstruction of the castle and named it in honor of his father – Frederiksborg.
All subsequent monarchs of Denmark also engaged in various works on reconstruction of the castle, to bring it into line with the tastes of the time, but the castle has managed to preserve its Renaissance appearance. Despite the fact that Christian draws its inspiration from the masters of the Renaissance, he decided to bring the characteristic features of the Danish building traditions in the architecture of the castle, for example, the external ladder towers (similar to Scottish fortified houses).
From 1671 to 1840 all Danish monarchs were crowned is in the chapel of Frederiksborg Castle. In 1693 the chapel of the castle was handed over to the Danish Order of the Elephant and Dannebrog. In the night between16 -17 December 1859 the castle had a large fire, which turned Frederiksborg into ruins. Immediately after the fire another reconstruction of the castle started.
February 1, 1882 renewed Castle Museum opened its doors to all visitors. The castle is surrounded by a huge park. By 1996 there were planted 65 thousand box bushes, 166 yew and 7000 hornbeam trees. In order to reach the castle, you must first pass the English style and then the French style parks, and finally walk past the shorn monograms of the current Queen Margrethe II.
Tour "Castles of Northern Zealand” takes 5-6 hours, the path to the castle goes along the coast called the" Danish Riviera" which contains exclusive yacht clubs and country residences of wealthy Danes.
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DaniaGuide | Postbox 136 | 1004 Copenhagen K | Denmark
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Phone: (+45) 23 26 10 29
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