Roskilde Domkirke

Bei der Domkirche von Roskilde handelt es sich um einen gewaltigen und imposanten Kirchenbau. Die Kirchtürme der auf einer Anhöhe stehenden Kirche sind schon von weitem zu sehen. 38 Königinnen und Könige wurden hier beerdigt. Da viele einen eigenen Anbau erhalten haben ist ein Kirchenbau mit unterschiedlichen architektonischen Einflüssen entstanden.

Admission is included with the Copenhagen Card. The hours seem to vary a lot by the day, depending on services. We got there at 230 and they were closed, so we checked out the little modern art museum in the yellow mansion nearby until they opened back up at 3, but only for an hour until they were closed again. There was a choir practice going on while we were there, so it was nice to hear the signing as we toured around. After seeing the main area, it is interesting to go around and see the many grave sites of the royal family, dating back hundreds of years.

Another outstanding historical site. The ignorant, untraveled American inside of me just isn’t exposed to building this old or opulence this grand, so being able to wander freely inside of a church that pre-​dates your country by several hundred years. For your 60 DKK admission fee, you basically get just that — nearly free run of the place, plus a very nice booklet describing each of the tombs/​chapels/​graves/​whatever you call them in more details. The varying styles of the each monarch’s burial make for very interesting viewing, and the church itself is quite imposing in its… brickness. Seemingly built when brick was becoming popular in Denmark… well, it’s certainly brick. Not much to look at outside, but quite spectacular in a lot of different ways once inside. The floor on the inside of the church is even strewn with the graves of wealthy parishoners — some of the stone grave markers are worn smooth from millions of walkers. It seems a shame to walk on some of them.
I would recommend you maybe call to check opening hours. The Saturday I visited, they were supposedly only open from 9 – 10 and then again in the afternoon, probably for a wedding or something. I got up early to get there right at 9, anticipating correctly that I could spend more than an hour inside. But it turns out they stayed open long after 10, because I stayed inside long after 10. Also worth noting is that maybe the early mornings are tour group times? It was basically me and then a million old people in tour buses. Not that they don’t have as much right to view the place as you do, but there’s not a lot of time for quiet viewing when there are enormous groups of identically dressed people filling up every room.
Finally, there is a small museum dedicated to the history of the building itself, and not just to the occupants. The museum is largely in Danish only, with a few markings and some pamphlets in English. Too bad for me — the little I could read was very interesting. All in all, extremely worthwhile for just a shade over $ 10.