Snippets of Roskilde.
Snippets of Roskilde.
July 2002.
Cover photo courtesy of Mariusz Paździora.
One long ago summer I found myself touring Denmark for a couple of weeks. The journey began in the sleepy coastal city of Kalundborg before I moved onto the Danish capital Copenhagen for a few days.
As those who’ve been following this series may recall, it was a strange trip in many ways. One that had been informed by a doomed romance and subsequent change of plans that saw me unexpectedly travelling solo. Still, I pressed on and tried to make the best of it. The third stop of my Danish adventures was the handsome city of Roskilde, where I’d booked into a hostel for a few nights.
Roskilde Convent.
As longtime readers of my snippets articles already know, this was a long ago trip where a muddy memory sits compounded by a limited number of photographs. Nevertheless, when I think back on Roskilde I remember an incredibly handsome place full of characterful old churches, cobblestone squares and atmospheric cafes and pubs.
The 11th century Old Church of Our Lady.
The weather was not kind to me during my stay. In fact, the chilly temperatures, grey skies and a near-constant rain made a total mockery of what was supposed to be a summer trip. I think you can see how soggy I was by the time I stopped for a photograph at the dramatic facade of Roskilde Cathedral.
Snippets of Roskilde.
Roskilde Domkirke.
Dating back to 1170, this UNESCO World Heritage site is Scandinavia’s first Gothic church built from red brick. As such, the cathedral became a huge inspiration for the subsequent construction boom of brick churches across Europe.
Snippets of Roskilde.
You might expect Denmark’s most important church to be located in Copenhagen. But Roskilde proudly holds that claim, with the cathedral serving as the country’s official royal burial church from 987 right through to the present day.
Snippets of Roskilde.
Photo courtesy of Cucombre Libre.
No less than forty kings and queens lie in the cathedral, including Queen Margaret I, a wise and fair monarch who succeeded in creating a union of the Scandinavian countries which would last for over a hundred years.
The sarcophagus of Queen Margaret I (1353-1412).
After exploring the cathedral I wiled away several hours looking around the fascinating Viking Ship Museum. Focusing on ancient vessels of the prehistoric and mediaeval periods, this is one of just two such museums in Scandinavia (the other one is in Oslo).
The Viking Ship Museum.
Snippets of Roskilde.
Photo courtesy of Jose Antonio.
Established in 1969, the museum’s main draw is a an exhibition of skudelev viking ships excavated locally in 1962. These skeletal creatures come in different shapes and sizes and had different uses, from a standard cargo boat to a fearsome ship of war.
Snippets of Roskilde.
The Viking Ship Museum.
The museum boatyard meanwhile specialises in full-scale reconstructions of historic ships. Best of all, back when I visited there was even a group who’d booked one for a sailing trip around The Roskilde Fjord. Hopefully that’s still a thing they do.
The Viking Ship Museum.
Last but not least, (oh scrap that, it actually is the least impressive part of the museum) there’s also a large viking-themed playroom with a giant model ship. Onboard I found a number of costume chests and a wide variety of plastic weapons. More for the kids really… and err… me.
Snippets of Roskilde.
On my last evening in Roskilde I made friends with two guys at the hostel. First there was Dave, a tanned, silver-haired Brit who’d been teaching English in Japan.
The other guy was Niels, a softly spoken Danish man who’d been doing some travel around his native country. Following a brief chat we decided to head out for beers at a traditional pub in the town centre. Man, I wish I had jotted down the name of that place.
Snippets of Roskilde.
Forgotten watering hole, Roskilde.
It was an early taste of the sudden and unlikely friendships that one can forge while travelling. Forever frozen in this one moment of our lives, I can’t help but wonder what happened to Dave and Nils in the twenty two years that have since passed. Cheers!
For more on my adventures in the country, check out my other reports from around Denmark.
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51 Comments
It’s funny that you don’t have many pictures from that trip, but there’s one from the pub! I’d like to visit the viking museum, and go on that ship if they still do it. Maggie
Ha right, I guess that little gathering really had an effect on me, resulting in that sudden desire to capture the moment. I would like to think the Viking Ship Museum still does the cruises. Thanks for reading Maggie! 🙂
It’s a miracle that you can keep the ticket for 22 years 🙂 I might lose it within days. The photos of the sacrophagus and the reconstructed Viking ship are quite nice.
Hey Len it’s great to hear form you, I have been enjoying your recent articles. The ticket… I used to obsessively collect all things related to my travels up until I was about 30. I still have a lot of that stuff in my life boxes at my mum’s place in northern Scotland. Cheers!
Would love to see all the old churches. The Royal Burial Church sounds especially fascinating. Were there sarcophagi for all the royals or were some royals interred underground or in caverns? Interesting detail on Queen Margaret’s sarcophagus. You make a fierce Viking warrior but need a helmet to complete the picture. Thanks for the tour.
Yo Memo. I’m pretty sure some of those (lesser important ha ha) royals got dumped underground, but I’d need to double check to be sure. A fierce Viking warrior? Ha ha, you are FAR too kind, I mean look at me. Not even sure the helmet would have helped.
Chance meetings and spontaneous friendships – all part of the joys of travel!
Absolutely Phil. Thanks for reading, commenting and “enjoy” tonight, if that’s the right word.
another great piece leighton and again i feel glad that you didn’t give up on this as a blogging project. i particularly enjoy the addition of the original ticket and the closing paragraphs were the briefest of friendships still remembered so many years later
Thank you Stan. I think I have always been overly nostalgic about these kinds of fleeting encounters. I look at this photo and actually feel kinda emotional. I am a different person, 22 years older, while the other two may no longer even be alive for all I know. I would love to find out what happened to them over these past decades.
Wow, you appear so young in that photo!
Thanks for sharing these snippets. Bug my curiosity is now triggered. I am curious as to how ‘Roskilde’ found its way onto your bucket list. I have not heard of it before this post, though that does not necessarily disqualify it as a destination.
Hey hey. I don’t think Roskilde was ever on my bucket list. Or indeed anyone’s perhaps outside of a favourite rock band appearing at Roskilde Festival. Rather, it just happened to be a place I could get to quickly from Copenhagen so I thought what the heck. It was / is a pretty low-key place and there are definitely some charms that go with that.
👍🏼
I loved Roskilde, but it will forever be ‘taxi gate’ where we had to pay over £150 to get a taxi to Copenhagen as all the trains had been cancelled.
That sounds pretty rough. Not to mention incredibly overpriced for what is just a 40 minute drive.
I’ve never heard of this place but now I have. Thank you for sharing your adventures and about the town. I’d love to visit Denmark one day especially how their Queen was an ex-Australian!!! We still call her “our Queen Mary”. 😊
Hey Helen, it’s great to have you on the comment thread. I am familiar with the Queen Mary story and keep meaning to check out the movie one of these years. Thanks for reading about my long-ago visit to Roskilde.
You still have a lot of good photos. I don’t have hardly any good photos from old trips. I can add about the Scandinavian Union (Kalmar Union), that Sweden rebelled in 1523 during the reign of Christian the Good (the Danish name) or Christian the Tyrant (the Swedish name) and it was not a peaceful divorce. In fact, Sweden celebrates its independence day on June 6. It was June 6 1523 when Sweden declared independence from Denmark. That is old history now.
Hey Thomas, thanks for the kid words and the historical info that I certainly wasn’t familiar with. The history of the region is really absorbing once you get into it. As always thanks for reading and taking the time to make a contribution, it’s always appreciated.
You always manage to find yourself in a pub with random blokes no matter where you are in the world! 🤣🤣🤣
Ha ha you made me laugh Anna though I think that really hasn’t been true for twenty plus years! I’m guessing you might be remembering my Gibraltar article where there were some random folk whose office home I ended up in enjoying champagne and piano. Anyway, good times!
Hahaha yes maybe that was an article in the past that I recall. My memory is shocking but it does feel to me that you are always in pubs drinking! lol. Probably your older stories though, I am sure you are much more “grown up” these days 🤣
I enjoyed seeing your photos and reading about Roskilde where my sister lived. I’m going to share this with her. The Viking museum looks quite interesting, as do the churches. Thanks for sharing Leighton!
Thanks Tricia. I hope it’s interesting for your sister to see these glimpses of Roskilde from over 22 years ago. When did she move to the city?
She lived there about 30 years ago, so my guess is your photos will look quite familiar to her.
Never heard of Roskilde, but what a charming little place! Looks like it’s a perfect day trip from Copenhagen, as it’s not too far from the Danish capital. Admittedly, I haven’t seen much of Denmark during my last trip over a decade ago, but I’m hoping to discover more upon a return trip– hopefully, very soon! Thanks for sharing another travel archive of yours, Leighton; I’m sure you thought back on all the fond memories as you were writing these posts!
Denmark is just packed with charming little places like Roskilde. I really wish I had enough photos to do something on Kalundborg (the town I spent a few days in at the very start of the trip) but alas I have a grand total of 3 patchy shots. Here’s hoping you get back to Denmark soon and get to know more of the country, it’s definitely something I’d like to do one day too.
The viking museum looks like an entertaining place to visit! Taking a sail on the replica ship would be a neat way to see the coastline. It’s great that you can meet people on your travels, I think I’d be too shy to go up and make conversation with people.
I was always very sociable in my 20s and right into my early 30s. In recent years I have become much less interested in making friends on the road and more and more happy in my own company. Sladja is much the same and now of course we have each other. I wouldn’t have thought of you as shy Lyssy.
Thanks for showing us this place, Leighton. Always meant to get to Scandinavia, but have not made it yet. The church does look stunning, as does the local architecture. Glad to see you managed a fierce Viking pose. Hope the kids weren’t too scared. Nice to meet folks when you travel and share stories and wobbly-pops. I am with you on wishing I had taken more photos in the day or had deeper memories, but perhaps their lack makes the story even better. Have a fabulous week. Allan
I have always meant to get back to Scandinavia but never got round to it. Maybe we’ll both make amends one of these years. Had there been any kids around I think they would have been more baffled/amused than scared but thanks for the compliment Allan.
If you ever cross the Atlantic, there’s a Viking museum in Newfoundland where the Vikings once had a settlement. Easier still, if you’re interested, I’ve written about it under Canada—Maritime Provinces.
That’s interesting Mallee thanks for the heads up, I’ll take a look.
I have actually heard of Roskilde before due to the Viking museum. It’s incredible that anything of those old ships remain after such hard seas and such a span of time. I love that you honored the kid inside and played with the plastic swords and shields…let’s be honest, all of us would have done the same thing if we were there. I did not however know about the cathedral which just looks so beautiful and timeless with that red brick. I hope you have a great week 🙂
Thanks Meg 🙂 I agree that it is miraculous that these things even exist and can be displayed. I’m sure the museum is much more impressive and interactive today with all the technology we have compared to 22 years ago.
Thanks to you, I’ve learnt the name of Roskilde, which I didn’t know or hadn’t remembered, as well as its place in Danish history. These ephemeral encounters of yesteryear are no longer so today, thanks to the social media that allow us to stay in touch beyond the moment of crossing paths.
Very true. Moreover, those people I have connected with over the years on Facebook mostly lie dormant in my friend list with very little if any contact years later. That’s why meetings like this feel extra nostalgic I guess. Thanks for reading!
Bummer about the crappy weather, but at least the historic buildings still look beautiful, especially the Roskilde Cathedral. And of course you would check out the viking-themed playroom! Love the shot of you with the sword and shield.
Yes the weather was crap but I have always liked that damp look in the photo where I’m standing outside the cathedral. Somehow there is something inherently nostalgic about it. Thanks for keeping up with the series! 🙂
I only knew Roskilde by name Leighton so your snippets have helped to fill in the blanks. It’s a great photo of you outside the cathedral, really shows the scale. Making friends on the road no matter how brief is always a special experience in this looks like one of those special moments. You look too friendly to be a convincing viking ha ha ha
Thanks James and yes I can only agree that I lacked the basic ingredients to be a convincing viking. Maybe today I would fare better in such a pose: stockier, beardier, a bit more wrinkled and impatient with people ha. Thanks for your contribution!
22 years past wow, I can’t remember 22 hours ago so hats off to you plus wish I’d been a hoarder as never kept photos or anything like that and now wish I had.
Ha I’m the opposite. Was a hoarder for the first half of my life and chucked it all in for digital nomadcy back in 2017. That bought me my freedom but I still miss bits and bobs, my record, books and movie collection particularly.
Ah……past memories….. people and places……but……nostalgia is not what it used to be…. haha. Keep them coming!
Cheers Geoff, glad you enjoyed my ‘Snippets of Odense’!
Oh, summer in Denmark … seems to me this is the one country where you might not have to rely on a specific season when planning trips! But there are beautiful buildings (like the cathedral), which I’m sure looked good in the rain. As always, it’s the travel friendships that stands out – and just the fact that you remember Dave and Nils’ names is proof that these are always fond memories!
Thank you Corna. That photo reminds me of how young I was and that in those days I was much more open to chatting and with strangers and heading off wherever with new people to see sights or have a drink and a bite. I do hope Dave and Nils are well and still exploring new places.
The Viking museum was quite fascinating. I never would have chosen it, but my son wanted to go there. He often is the bringer of new experiences. The burial church seems a little creepy although it’s a lovely looking building.
Hey Ruth, I seem to have missed this comment from your last batch. How cool that Roskilde is a shared location of ours. Did your son specifically want to see the boats or was it something else that drew him there?
I have never heard of Roskilde, but your article certainly made me very curious about visitng this city, That’s one very handsome looking cathedral. Plus, the Viking ship museum must be fascinating. The summer in this part of Europe can be quite unpredictable weather vise. But, I’m sure you made the best of it. Perhaps one of these two guys will read your article some day and get in touch. Wouldn’t that be great?
You know, I have always secretly hoped that someone who I have completely lost touch with gets back in contact after reading one of my articles. There are maybe a dozen or so folk from across my posts who seemingly have no online footprint. So it feels like the only way we might ever reconnect is if they happen to stumble upon one of my posts. Thanks as always for your considered thoughts Helena.