Exhibitions at the Viking Ship Museum
The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde is focused on ships, seafaring and boatbuilding culture in ancient and medieval times. The Viking Ship Hall is designed as a large showcase to display the five Viking ships found at Skuldelev. Besides the five original ships the hall also houses special temporary exhibitions in the West Room. In the East Room at the’ Harbour bridge’ is to copies placed – a trading vessel and a war ship equipped with barrels, trading goods and weapons as an active part of the exhibition.
The cinema shows a film about the excavation and reconstruction of the Viking ships.
The exhibitions are communicated all over the Museum grounds.
The large collection of tradtional nordic wooden boats and Viking ship reconstructions berthed at the Museum Harbour gives an perspective to the exhibition at the Hall and helps create a image of what the Viking ships looked like a thousand years ago.
At the Boat yard the boat building tradition and culture of the Viking age are communicated through working boat builders and exhibitions showing the historical background.
As an active part of the museum you will find craftsmen working at the Museum Island and at the Archaeological Workshop, where ship finds from throughout Denmark are measured and recorded, maritime archaeology is communicated in the summer season.
The architectural style and the exhibitions expresses a definite attitude to the historical perspective. Visitors are not led back in time – the cultural history is brought in to the present.
The cathedral of Roksidle
Roskilde Cathedral (Danish: Roskilde Domkirke), in the city of Roskilde on the Island of Zealand (Sjælland) in eastern Denmark, was the first Gothic cathedral to be built of brick and its construction encouraged the spread of this Brick Gothic style throughout Northern Europe. It was built during the 12th and 13th centuries, and incorporates both Gothic and Romanesque architectural features in its design. It was the only cathedral in Zealand until the 20th century. The cathedral’s twin spires dominate the skyline of the town.
Roskilde Cathedral has been the main burial site for Danish monarchs since the 15th century. As such, it has been significantly extended and altered over time as individual rulers have added multiple burial chapels. Following the Reformation in 1536, the Bishop’s residence was moved to Copenhagen, and he from then on held the title Bishop of Zealand. Royal coronations normally took place in Copenhagen’s Church of Our Lady or the chapel of Frederiksborg Palace.
It is a major tourist attraction, bringing in over 125,000 visitors annually. Since 1995 the cathedral has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
